Is it Thanksgiving? No! But it’s TURKEY day! On the ship, we have one day before we arrive in Turkey, so all day was spent preparing the passengers for port – and there are NO classes! I got to sleep in today – until 9:30 – and then went to a morning session on Turkey culture. I had lunch on the sixth deck and then blogged and did some research about Turkey (things to do, see, and eating).
In the afternoon, my Student Affairs at Sea class had a meeting about Sabanci University, which is the university we will visit while in Turkey. After this orientation, we had a Q and A-type meeting with Randy Lewis, a fellow voyager who has had a long career in Student Affairs and who has sailed on SEVEN Semester at Sea voyages! Can you imagine?! He had a lot of interesting stories to tell, that’s for sure. Later that afternoon, I went to a session with inter-port student from Turkey, did some more blogging (I AM trying to catch up!), then went to super-sweet faculty/staff lounge for a happy hour/reception hosted by the deans.
Right after the reception, one elderly couple on board (the Huey’s) celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary by renewing their vows at sunset. The Captain said a few words and then they each exchanged vows. It was one of the simplest ceremonies that I’ve ever seen, but it was really touching. How special to be able to do that! They asked their Semester at Sea “extended family” to stand beside them throughout the ceremony, which was really sweet. Both she and he were choked up during their vows. There were not many dry eyes in the house! (I, of course, was a mess the entire time…what can I say??) It was beautiful.
We had a 20:00 (8PM!) pre-port logistics meeting in the union to get some further advice for our stay there. I’m not sure what to expect from Turkey. Many past-travelers have said that Istanbul is their favorite port on this voyage, so I am excited, but I am not sure of what to make of the political and social situation…there are some interesting/oppressive laws in Turkey - youtube is banned, for one thing. Also it’s illegal to disrespect/disagree/make fun of the government or Ataturk, the leader…interesting to think about.
After all of the pre-port sessions, I headed back up to the Lounge to hang-out for a bit that night. Tom, the assistant dean, set up a karaoke night – totally hilarious. I did not sing, however, on account of they did not have any Spice Girls. Haha It was fun to chill for bit and watch everyone being silly.
It’s crazy – I am losing track of time this summer. I no longer look at a calendar and when I talk about things in the past, I always say things like “Remember Croatia…Day 3? That was awesome…” or “When is that assignment due? C15?” I never really know what day of the week it is, but I am always acutely aware of what time it is at the present because everything that happens on the ship is so precisely timed. Isn’t that weird? Also, if it weren’t for this blog, I wouldn’t even know what date it is!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Day 4 in Greece – Athens (Sunday, July 18)
Today was pretty low key…I woke up and headed into Athens with Greg to do some exploring in the Plaka (the shopping area below the Acropolis). One of the things that I love about Athens is that you will just be walking around and all of a sudden, you glance down a street and have a magnificent view of the Acropolis, or an ancient church, or some ruins. History is just everywhere – it’s hard not to be awed by this. We only had a few hours to spend there today, unfortunately, because we had to get back to the ship to sail out that night.
Greg and I had one last gyro at a hole-in-the-wall food stand/restaurant. This was the first place that we have been that had NO English on the menu. It was an interesting ordering experience, and I am still not 100% sure what it was that we ended up with. No problem, though, because it was a very good gyro (aka “ear-row”) and it only cost 1 euro (about 1.25 US dollars)!
We got back to the ship a few hours early to avoid the lines. I had dinner that night with my Student Affairs family, went to port reflection at 8:30, and then had a Sea meeting (for my deck) at 9:15 PM. Exhausted but happy from my time in Greece, I went to bed early for some much-needed rest.
Greg and I had one last gyro at a hole-in-the-wall food stand/restaurant. This was the first place that we have been that had NO English on the menu. It was an interesting ordering experience, and I am still not 100% sure what it was that we ended up with. No problem, though, because it was a very good gyro (aka “ear-row”) and it only cost 1 euro (about 1.25 US dollars)!
We got back to the ship a few hours early to avoid the lines. I had dinner that night with my Student Affairs family, went to port reflection at 8:30, and then had a Sea meeting (for my deck) at 9:15 PM. Exhausted but happy from my time in Greece, I went to bed early for some much-needed rest.
Day 4 in Greece – Paros back to Athens (Saturday, July 17)
This morning, Erin and I took the buggy out for coffee and breakfast supplies and then we ate in our little patio area. We returned the buggies and walked back to the port where we did some last minute shopping and then caught the speedboat back to Pireaus. It was a three hour ride, but the ferry was about 45 minutes late, which is pretty common here, apparently. The Dramamine I took in combination with not a lot of sleep the night before made me super sleepy, so I was passed out pretty much the entire time. The boat was really rocky, though and even though we were on the top floor, there were waves hitting the windows like every 2 seconds! It would have freaked me out a lot more if I hadn’t been so tired. After returning to Piraeus around 4 PM, we walked the 30 minutes back to the Semester at Sea ship, refreshed, and then went out at 7:30 PM for dinner in Athens. We found a rooftop bar/restaurant overlooking the Parthenon, which was gorgeous because it is all lit up at night. After more delicious Greek food, I called it an early night (at eleven) and came home to get some much–needed sleep.
Day 3 in Greece – Paros (Friday, July 16)
Woke up this morning in our little villa rooms with sunshine streaming in the windows. We sat in the cute little patio outside of the building underneath a ceiling of vines and flowers. I had some thick and creamy Greek yogurt drizzled with honey that we had bought the night before in the little market nearby. After getting ready for the day, Erin, Haley, Amanda and I walked about 20 minutes into town and rented 2 seater dune buggies! Picture a rugged golf cart with seats low to the ground. They were such a great way to get around the island. Plus it was fun to drive and we didn’t have to worry about parking. I asked the rental lady for a lock or something so that we could secure them when we were walking around. She just looked at me and said that we didn’t have to worry about it on the island. That’s one nice thing about being so isolated…there’s just not a lot of theft. Also, we asked her for directions to get to the next town and she laughed a little because there are no street names here…there is only one big road that goes all the way around the island! Wow…no need for directions! I think I could probably live here simply because of that! I would never get lost again!
It was really a great day…it was super hot, but we were driving most of the time so the wind kept us cool. We got to see so much of the island because it was about a 20 minute drive from Parikia to Naoussa, which is another little town on the north part of the island that is mainly a fishing village/port. I saw dozens and dozens of little octopus (octopuses? octopi?) hanging over poles near the water…I guess they have to dry them out before they can sell them and cook them? I don’t know! We walked around the beautiful white-washed village area and stopped into shops along the way. Before we left Naoussa, we grabbed a few gyros (pronounced “ear-row” in Greece, apparently) and ate them on a wall by the water. They were delicious with the creamy yogurt sauce, crunchy red onions, salty roasted meat, and fresh FRESH pita bread. They only cost 2 euro each, which is less than 3 dollars!
Next on the agenda was a visit to a little village called Lefkies, which is a very traditional Greek village about a 30 minute drive inland. The views on the way to Lefkies were amazing – the terrain is very dry but also quite mountainous. In Lefkies, we bought some jewelry and walked around taking in the quaintness of the town. We had lunch at a restaurant with a great view of the city before getting back in the buggies for another 30 minute ride to Pounda. In Pounda, we caught a water ferry (with our dune buggies on board as well!) to Antiparos – which is a smaller island off of the coast of Paros. This was seriously my favorite boat ride of the trip because it was only 5 MINUTES! No time to get seasick at all! Once we landed, we assessed the map of the island – which has only one road as well, but it doesn’t even loop around, so it is just one straight road and you have to come back the same way. We drove for a while and then went to see a cave at the top of one of the mountains. We spent a few minutes soaking in the lovely view – you have a great view of Paros from where we were on Antiparos. After that, we went to a small beach. There were maybe 10-15 people there and it was in a little bay area, so there were no waves at all and the water was SO clear! We swam and took a nap on one of the hammocks. There was a little open-air restaurant appropriately names “Still waters” where we drank some sangria (a sweet remembrance of our time in Spain) as well as some salty olives and this interesting polenta cake, which reminded me of corn cake, expect it was sweet. After that, we rode back to the main village which was beautiful – even more beautiful than Paros, if you ask me. It seemed as if there were not as many tourists there. It seemed like a beach town where Greek families come to spend their holiday time (most Greeks get a month or two off per summer!). We ferried it back to Paros after that, drove home as the sun was setting and the showered before heading out for some dinner. We found a small restaurant not too far from where we were staying where there were 2 men playing instruments and singing. It was totally relaxing and it seemed like the family who owned the place was just having a good time. The owner, who was also the host and the waiter, was dancing in the middle of the restaurant. It was fun to watch! He came over and offered to show me a dance or two as well. I think made up most of the moves, but it was fun! Yes, there will be a demonstration when I get home. Haha Just kidding.
We walked through town for about 20 minutes after dinner checking out the sites. We had drinks at a sea-side bar and met some people who were going to another bar afterward and gave us directions. We ended up finding this bar complex, called the Dubliner (strangely enough), which was a lounge area with a few rooms with different types of music playing. We beelined straight to the dance party room and then… what can I say? There was dancing long into the night!
It was really a great day…it was super hot, but we were driving most of the time so the wind kept us cool. We got to see so much of the island because it was about a 20 minute drive from Parikia to Naoussa, which is another little town on the north part of the island that is mainly a fishing village/port. I saw dozens and dozens of little octopus (octopuses? octopi?) hanging over poles near the water…I guess they have to dry them out before they can sell them and cook them? I don’t know! We walked around the beautiful white-washed village area and stopped into shops along the way. Before we left Naoussa, we grabbed a few gyros (pronounced “ear-row” in Greece, apparently) and ate them on a wall by the water. They were delicious with the creamy yogurt sauce, crunchy red onions, salty roasted meat, and fresh FRESH pita bread. They only cost 2 euro each, which is less than 3 dollars!
Next on the agenda was a visit to a little village called Lefkies, which is a very traditional Greek village about a 30 minute drive inland. The views on the way to Lefkies were amazing – the terrain is very dry but also quite mountainous. In Lefkies, we bought some jewelry and walked around taking in the quaintness of the town. We had lunch at a restaurant with a great view of the city before getting back in the buggies for another 30 minute ride to Pounda. In Pounda, we caught a water ferry (with our dune buggies on board as well!) to Antiparos – which is a smaller island off of the coast of Paros. This was seriously my favorite boat ride of the trip because it was only 5 MINUTES! No time to get seasick at all! Once we landed, we assessed the map of the island – which has only one road as well, but it doesn’t even loop around, so it is just one straight road and you have to come back the same way. We drove for a while and then went to see a cave at the top of one of the mountains. We spent a few minutes soaking in the lovely view – you have a great view of Paros from where we were on Antiparos. After that, we went to a small beach. There were maybe 10-15 people there and it was in a little bay area, so there were no waves at all and the water was SO clear! We swam and took a nap on one of the hammocks. There was a little open-air restaurant appropriately names “Still waters” where we drank some sangria (a sweet remembrance of our time in Spain) as well as some salty olives and this interesting polenta cake, which reminded me of corn cake, expect it was sweet. After that, we rode back to the main village which was beautiful – even more beautiful than Paros, if you ask me. It seemed as if there were not as many tourists there. It seemed like a beach town where Greek families come to spend their holiday time (most Greeks get a month or two off per summer!). We ferried it back to Paros after that, drove home as the sun was setting and the showered before heading out for some dinner. We found a small restaurant not too far from where we were staying where there were 2 men playing instruments and singing. It was totally relaxing and it seemed like the family who owned the place was just having a good time. The owner, who was also the host and the waiter, was dancing in the middle of the restaurant. It was fun to watch! He came over and offered to show me a dance or two as well. I think made up most of the moves, but it was fun! Yes, there will be a demonstration when I get home. Haha Just kidding.
We walked through town for about 20 minutes after dinner checking out the sites. We had drinks at a sea-side bar and met some people who were going to another bar afterward and gave us directions. We ended up finding this bar complex, called the Dubliner (strangely enough), which was a lounge area with a few rooms with different types of music playing. We beelined straight to the dance party room and then… what can I say? There was dancing long into the night!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Day 2 in Greece: Athens, ferry to Paros (Thursday, July 15)
I woke up this morning around 9 AM, headed into the city of Pireaus where the ship is docked. It is actually a decent-sized neighborhood. On the way to the metro station (about a 30 minute walk from the ship), the girls (Erin, Haley, and Amanda) and I stopped to get a coffee. One of the things that I LOVE about Greece is that they understand the convenience of coffee-to-go. In the past 3 countries (Spain, Italy, and Croatia), the people drink their coffee in bars or at cafes. I loved that it is a part of the culture to sit and enjoy an espresso with your neighbors/friends. In Greece, however, there are these trendy little shops everywhere that make really good iced coffee in to-go cups (think like a Starbucks plastic cup with a straw). I am really enjoying the “cappuccino freddo” – which is some sort of strong espresso shot/shots with some DELICIOUS foam milk on top. The magic of this coffee is all in the foam – I’ve never seen or tasted anything like it. It is ALMOST the consistency of marshmallow fluff, but is only slightly sweet. You don’t need to add any sugar – just slowly stir the foam into the iced coffee on the bottom. The coffee I had this morning had just the tiniest bit of cinnamon on the top…mumm…heaven. (I might have to invest in a frother (spelling?) when I get home!) The best part about the coffee here, though, is that you can just take it with you. I just think it is interesting that this is the first culture so far where it is acceptable to walk around with your coffee. I wonder if this is a new trend? Not sure…but this morning I did have a moment when I very much felt as if I were in the United States walking down the street with my Starbucks.
Anyway, we jumped on the metro and spent the morning walking around the Plaka – a shopping area at the base of the Acropolis. It was really nice to just walk around and browse in the markets and shops. There were so many cool things – jewelry, beads, clothing – and also some really cool street foods! There is fresh coconut, rings of sesame-covered bread (I can’t remember the name for this), and fire-roasted corn. Not even kidding! Erin, Haley, and Amanda all got a piece of corn on the cob which some nice young man had roasted on a pit of coals…in a little stand on the middle of the street! I tried a little and it was really good. I decided to hold out for lunch, which was a great idea because we ate at a beautiful little restaurant and split a Greek salad with good feta, some grilled eggplant spread, mousakka (ground meat, eggplant and some sort of soufflé baked like a casserole), and a kebap with yogurt and dill sauce. Yum. For dessert, we shared some thick, creamy Greek yogurt with sweet honey and candied figs on top. Holy. Moly. Sometimes there just aren’t words to describe the deliciousness.
After lunch, we headed back to Pireaus where the ship is docked, quickly threw together an overnight bag and power-walked to a port on the other side of town to catch the 4:30PM boat to Paros, as I mentioned before - one of the smaller and more traditional Greek Islands. Since we only bought the tickets yesterday, the girls and I were not able to get seats together, but it turned out well because I got to zone out and work on updating this darn blog! : )
Arriving in Paros was very nice once we got out of the congested port. We had arranged to have rooms in a little villa-like home. The lady who owned the establishment came to pick us up from the port, which was so sweet. When we got there and saw our rooms, she brought us cake and cold water, which was so nice! Paros is a beautiful vacation/beachy-type island. We were able to walk right into town and buy some cheese bread and olives to snack on. Afterward, we went to this great restaurant right by the water. Dinner was great, but the most impressive food item of the night was this fried feta cheese appetizer we tried. It had a crunchy sesame crust, was drizzled with honey, and was nice and oozy in the middle. OMG. So good. I will definitely be trying to recreate this recipe at home (everyone’s invited to come over!), however it might take some time to perfect because when I talked to the waiter about the method and ingredients, I THINK some of the more specific details may have gotten lost in translation. Hmm… we shall see!
Anyway, we jumped on the metro and spent the morning walking around the Plaka – a shopping area at the base of the Acropolis. It was really nice to just walk around and browse in the markets and shops. There were so many cool things – jewelry, beads, clothing – and also some really cool street foods! There is fresh coconut, rings of sesame-covered bread (I can’t remember the name for this), and fire-roasted corn. Not even kidding! Erin, Haley, and Amanda all got a piece of corn on the cob which some nice young man had roasted on a pit of coals…in a little stand on the middle of the street! I tried a little and it was really good. I decided to hold out for lunch, which was a great idea because we ate at a beautiful little restaurant and split a Greek salad with good feta, some grilled eggplant spread, mousakka (ground meat, eggplant and some sort of soufflé baked like a casserole), and a kebap with yogurt and dill sauce. Yum. For dessert, we shared some thick, creamy Greek yogurt with sweet honey and candied figs on top. Holy. Moly. Sometimes there just aren’t words to describe the deliciousness.
After lunch, we headed back to Pireaus where the ship is docked, quickly threw together an overnight bag and power-walked to a port on the other side of town to catch the 4:30PM boat to Paros, as I mentioned before - one of the smaller and more traditional Greek Islands. Since we only bought the tickets yesterday, the girls and I were not able to get seats together, but it turned out well because I got to zone out and work on updating this darn blog! : )
Arriving in Paros was very nice once we got out of the congested port. We had arranged to have rooms in a little villa-like home. The lady who owned the establishment came to pick us up from the port, which was so sweet. When we got there and saw our rooms, she brought us cake and cold water, which was so nice! Paros is a beautiful vacation/beachy-type island. We were able to walk right into town and buy some cheese bread and olives to snack on. Afterward, we went to this great restaurant right by the water. Dinner was great, but the most impressive food item of the night was this fried feta cheese appetizer we tried. It had a crunchy sesame crust, was drizzled with honey, and was nice and oozy in the middle. OMG. So good. I will definitely be trying to recreate this recipe at home (everyone’s invited to come over!), however it might take some time to perfect because when I talked to the waiter about the method and ingredients, I THINK some of the more specific details may have gotten lost in translation. Hmm… we shall see!
Day 1 in Greece: Piraeus and Athens (Wednesday, July 14, 2010)
We docked this morning at 2 AM in Piraeus, although I didn’t even feel it (I sleep SO SOUNDLY in the cave which is my cabin!). After a quick breakfast, I went to the diplomatic briefing which is a lecture from an ambassador from the US embassy in Greece. They talked a lot about internship opportunities, which was a little irrelevant for me, but whatever! I felt like the time could have been used more efficiently – like actually off the ship! Haha Anyway, I left ship around 10:15 AM, walked 25 minutes to the ferry launching site, and booked a trip to one of the Greek islands with Erin, Amanda, and Haley. We chose an island called Paros, which is a rather large island but not as populated with tourists as other islands such as Mykonos or Santorini. After making our travel plans, we came back to the ship for a quick lunch. After that, we walked about 30 minutes to get to the metro and took it to the center of Athens – about a 30ish minute ride (not bad at all!). We ended up right in the middle of the shopping area and we sat down to get a refreshment. I had an amazing iced coffee. As we were leaving the café, I saw greek coffee being made in a little copper-looking cup over an open flame! So cool!
We then walked to the Acropolis and first went to the New Acropolis Museum. It was really interesting because I don’t think it was here when I visited in 2006! It is really interesting because the entire museum is built over the remains of an old civilization, so most of the floors in the museum are glass so that you can look down and see the ruins beneath your feet! Also, there is a huge controversy going on right now with the Elgin marbles, which are the marble sculptures and freezes that once decorated the Parthenon. I remember studying the isse in my Art History classes at Penn State, so it is interesting to see how the conflict is playing out. From what I gather, Lord Elgin of Great Britain “stole” marbles from the Parthenon during a war and took them back to Britain. They were (and currently are) housed in the British museum. Greece has been trying to get these precious pieces of art back for years now, but the Brittish government refuses to give them back because they are now such a huge draw to London. It’s a sticky situation because if Elgin hadn’t of looted the marbles, they probably would not be in existence today. It’s a dilemma then, to try and figure out who this art “belongs” to. Interesting, right?
Anyway, after the museum, we visited the Parthenon which was AMAZING, of course. So old and impressive, there are hardly words to describe the beautiful structure. It was VERY hot, though. By the time we climbed down the hill again, we were pretty famished. We went to a awesome restaurant that night. It was a restaurant that had been recommended to us by a friend of Haley’s. We arrived at 7 pm and there was no one there..which made me a tiny bit skeptical. We sat down and instead of handing us menus, the waiter (who happened to be the owner as well) asked if we would like to accompany him to the kitchen so he could show us what they had made that day! (!!!!) You can just imagine how excited I was!! Of course it was amazing and I took an embarrassing amount of pictures. We ended up ordering one of everything – about 8 dishes. The food was amazing – the best Greek food I’ve had ever! We had chilled white wine and enjoyed every bite of that food. It was delicious and so inexpensive, too! As we were leaving the restaurant, we met two Greek men, Mario (who was Albanian, technically, although he lives in Athens now) and Alexander. We ended up having another drink at the restaurant with them and then they took us to a nearby lounge. It was pretty empty, though, because there were no Greeks there! Mario and Alex informed us that everybody in Athens heads to the islands for the summer.
We jumped the metro back to Piraeus at the end of the night. I then took advantage of some free wireless in the port terminal to skype home. It was nice to chat with Mom and Dad and Laura too! : ) Miss you guys.
We then walked to the Acropolis and first went to the New Acropolis Museum. It was really interesting because I don’t think it was here when I visited in 2006! It is really interesting because the entire museum is built over the remains of an old civilization, so most of the floors in the museum are glass so that you can look down and see the ruins beneath your feet! Also, there is a huge controversy going on right now with the Elgin marbles, which are the marble sculptures and freezes that once decorated the Parthenon. I remember studying the isse in my Art History classes at Penn State, so it is interesting to see how the conflict is playing out. From what I gather, Lord Elgin of Great Britain “stole” marbles from the Parthenon during a war and took them back to Britain. They were (and currently are) housed in the British museum. Greece has been trying to get these precious pieces of art back for years now, but the Brittish government refuses to give them back because they are now such a huge draw to London. It’s a sticky situation because if Elgin hadn’t of looted the marbles, they probably would not be in existence today. It’s a dilemma then, to try and figure out who this art “belongs” to. Interesting, right?
Anyway, after the museum, we visited the Parthenon which was AMAZING, of course. So old and impressive, there are hardly words to describe the beautiful structure. It was VERY hot, though. By the time we climbed down the hill again, we were pretty famished. We went to a awesome restaurant that night. It was a restaurant that had been recommended to us by a friend of Haley’s. We arrived at 7 pm and there was no one there..which made me a tiny bit skeptical. We sat down and instead of handing us menus, the waiter (who happened to be the owner as well) asked if we would like to accompany him to the kitchen so he could show us what they had made that day! (!!!!) You can just imagine how excited I was!! Of course it was amazing and I took an embarrassing amount of pictures. We ended up ordering one of everything – about 8 dishes. The food was amazing – the best Greek food I’ve had ever! We had chilled white wine and enjoyed every bite of that food. It was delicious and so inexpensive, too! As we were leaving the restaurant, we met two Greek men, Mario (who was Albanian, technically, although he lives in Athens now) and Alexander. We ended up having another drink at the restaurant with them and then they took us to a nearby lounge. It was pretty empty, though, because there were no Greeks there! Mario and Alex informed us that everybody in Athens heads to the islands for the summer.
We jumped the metro back to Piraeus at the end of the night. I then took advantage of some free wireless in the port terminal to skype home. It was nice to chat with Mom and Dad and Laura too! : ) Miss you guys.
Sailing to Greece: Day 2 at Sea (Tuesday, July 13)
After my early morning classes, I worked all day on catching up on some University of Maryland apprenticeship assignments. I met with my extended family at lunch. I don’t know if I have mentioned this program before, but it is really cool and is becoming one of my favorite parts of Semester at Sea. At the beginning of the voyage, the students can sign up to be a part of a “family” while they are at Sea. They usually ask Life Long Learners to be the “parents” or heads of the families. Because there are so many students who sign up, I volunteered to be a leader and was assigned to have four students in my family. My “family” members are Alex, Danielle, Stephanie, and Brianna. They are so cute, I can’t even talk about it. We have lunch together after each port to talk about all of our adventures, swap notes about upcoming ports, or catch up on some good ship gossip. : ) A lot of my cohort-mates have had trouble getting their families to come together, but all of my students show up every time. They are awesome and I am really enjoying getting to know them.
After lunch, I hit the gym and then worked like a mad person all afternoon to catch up on stuff before Greece! I had dinner with Kathy, Keith, and CJ, an undergrad student on the ship on the deck before meeting with my student committee for my internship. That evening was all about preparations for Greece. I went to the Greek student’s lecturejavascript:void(0), the pre-port briefing, and the inter-port lecture (which was from a woman who had been living in Greece for a while).
After lunch, I hit the gym and then worked like a mad person all afternoon to catch up on stuff before Greece! I had dinner with Kathy, Keith, and CJ, an undergrad student on the ship on the deck before meeting with my student committee for my internship. That evening was all about preparations for Greece. I went to the Greek student’s lecturejavascript:void(0), the pre-port briefing, and the inter-port lecture (which was from a woman who had been living in Greece for a while).
Sailing to Greece: Day 1 at Sea (Monday, July 12)
Today, it was pretty difficult to wake up so early for classes. It’s pretty strange to just have to jump right back into student-mode, rather than travel-mode. The good thing about the ship though, is that it is so casual. Wearing sweatpants or pajamas to class at 8 AM is totally acceptable. Ahh…it takes me back to my early days at Penn State!
Today was AWESOME because I felt NO seasickness whatsoever! I didn’t have to take any medicine so I actually felt like a normal person with lots of energy!
Right after lunch, there was a “man-overboard drill” (which I don’t feel is sensitive to “women” who might fall overboard! But whatever…I guess women are too smart to fall overboard?? Haha I don’t know!). It was cool, though. The captain made an announcement on the intercom that the drill was in fact a drill and then they sounded the alarm. As soon as that happened, the entire ship took a hard right turn – I was standing at the time and almost fell over (yes, despite the warning!). The entire drill took less than 20 minutes and I watched it from the seventh deck. They actually threw a dummy overboard and rescued it. After they threw it overboard, the crew first turned the ship all the way around and headed back to the site where the dummy was thrown over. From there, they lowered a rescue boat and then that boat gathered up the victim. As soon as they pulled the dummy on to the boat, spontaneous cheering broke out from all of the people on the deck who were watching the rescue. It was really funny.
In the afternoon, I helped Kathy (my professor) in her Race and Gender class. She was doing an exercise called Archy Bunker’s Neighborhood, which is a stimulation that highlights the differences in socioeconomic status. It was pretty interesting to see how the system is oppressive to some people (the poor) and beneficial to others (the wealthy). It was an interesting discussion and her students were really receptive and reflective about the experience.
In the evening, I went to a Real Talk session – which was a seminar on race and inclusive language. On the ship, I hear a lot of pretty shocking language from students who are unaware of their position and privilege. This session was a chance for students to express their concern over this type of inappropriate language. The coordinators had a great turn out – the classroom was packed and people were sitting all over the floor. It was a breath of fresh air to hear these students’ concerns and brainstorm ways to cope with language or phrases which alienate or offend people.
After Real Talk, I helped judge a contest called “The Quest.” It is a cruise game and is sort of a mix of a scavenger hunt and silly tasks. Three different “Seas” or resident area groups played against each other. For example, one task was to collect three different kinds of currency and the first team to get it together would win that round. There was also a human pyramid task as well – no one got seriously hurt, so that was good. Afterward, I was feeling too wound up to get any work done, so I watched Eclipse with some friends on the big screen in one of the classrooms. Greg got a bootleg copy on the street in Montenegro for like 3 euro (about 4 bucks). It was funny because the entire thing was dubbed with Croatian/Montenegran subtitles and there were definitely some fuzzy moments. : ) Oh dear…
Today was AWESOME because I felt NO seasickness whatsoever! I didn’t have to take any medicine so I actually felt like a normal person with lots of energy!
Right after lunch, there was a “man-overboard drill” (which I don’t feel is sensitive to “women” who might fall overboard! But whatever…I guess women are too smart to fall overboard?? Haha I don’t know!). It was cool, though. The captain made an announcement on the intercom that the drill was in fact a drill and then they sounded the alarm. As soon as that happened, the entire ship took a hard right turn – I was standing at the time and almost fell over (yes, despite the warning!). The entire drill took less than 20 minutes and I watched it from the seventh deck. They actually threw a dummy overboard and rescued it. After they threw it overboard, the crew first turned the ship all the way around and headed back to the site where the dummy was thrown over. From there, they lowered a rescue boat and then that boat gathered up the victim. As soon as they pulled the dummy on to the boat, spontaneous cheering broke out from all of the people on the deck who were watching the rescue. It was really funny.
In the afternoon, I helped Kathy (my professor) in her Race and Gender class. She was doing an exercise called Archy Bunker’s Neighborhood, which is a stimulation that highlights the differences in socioeconomic status. It was pretty interesting to see how the system is oppressive to some people (the poor) and beneficial to others (the wealthy). It was an interesting discussion and her students were really receptive and reflective about the experience.
In the evening, I went to a Real Talk session – which was a seminar on race and inclusive language. On the ship, I hear a lot of pretty shocking language from students who are unaware of their position and privilege. This session was a chance for students to express their concern over this type of inappropriate language. The coordinators had a great turn out – the classroom was packed and people were sitting all over the floor. It was a breath of fresh air to hear these students’ concerns and brainstorm ways to cope with language or phrases which alienate or offend people.
After Real Talk, I helped judge a contest called “The Quest.” It is a cruise game and is sort of a mix of a scavenger hunt and silly tasks. Three different “Seas” or resident area groups played against each other. For example, one task was to collect three different kinds of currency and the first team to get it together would win that round. There was also a human pyramid task as well – no one got seriously hurt, so that was good. Afterward, I was feeling too wound up to get any work done, so I watched Eclipse with some friends on the big screen in one of the classrooms. Greg got a bootleg copy on the street in Montenegro for like 3 euro (about 4 bucks). It was funny because the entire thing was dubbed with Croatian/Montenegran subtitles and there were definitely some fuzzy moments. : ) Oh dear…
Day 4 in Croatia (July 11, 2010)
Today was so nice. I slept in a little this morning and then woke up and had some early lunch on the ship. I caught the bus into town with a few of my classmates and then spent the afternoon with Greg taking in a beautiful sand and rock beach right outside the walls of the old city. It was sunny and gorgeous and the water was totally refreshing. It was great to just sit and chat and sip a cold Croatian beer.
After spending one or two hours on the beach, I took off to catch a few last glimpses of the old city on my own. Dubrovnik is such a safe place – there are hardly any pickpockets and the people were so friendly, so I didn’t even have to worry about being by myself. I pretty much felt safer in Dubrovnik than I do in College Park! Anyway, it was really nice to just walk around the old city and discover the beautiful little churches and cathedrals in the city. They weren’t huge by any means, but the rather simplistic decorations were really nice…lots of gold and marble. I did a little shopping and then wandered back to the ship at 4:30PM well before the 6:00 PM on ship time. I had dinner in a side dining room with Kathy (my professor), Keith (her partner), and my Student Affairs at Sea cohort. It’s really nice because we are creating a sort of tradition by having dinner together after each port. It sort of feels like coming home to your family after a long weekend – like a Sunday dinner! That night, we had a reflection time in the union on the ship where students, staff, and faculty gather to talk about their experiences and share insights about their time in port. I love going to that, because I am always amazed at the diversity of experiences other folks have in the same city that I was in!
There was an amazing sunset that night which I watched from sixth deck. The captain passed the ship by the old city so we had a great view from the sea. On the way out of the port, our ship had an impromptu honking contest with another cruise ship, which is not something you hear every day!
After spending one or two hours on the beach, I took off to catch a few last glimpses of the old city on my own. Dubrovnik is such a safe place – there are hardly any pickpockets and the people were so friendly, so I didn’t even have to worry about being by myself. I pretty much felt safer in Dubrovnik than I do in College Park! Anyway, it was really nice to just walk around the old city and discover the beautiful little churches and cathedrals in the city. They weren’t huge by any means, but the rather simplistic decorations were really nice…lots of gold and marble. I did a little shopping and then wandered back to the ship at 4:30PM well before the 6:00 PM on ship time. I had dinner in a side dining room with Kathy (my professor), Keith (her partner), and my Student Affairs at Sea cohort. It’s really nice because we are creating a sort of tradition by having dinner together after each port. It sort of feels like coming home to your family after a long weekend – like a Sunday dinner! That night, we had a reflection time in the union on the ship where students, staff, and faculty gather to talk about their experiences and share insights about their time in port. I love going to that, because I am always amazed at the diversity of experiences other folks have in the same city that I was in!
There was an amazing sunset that night which I watched from sixth deck. The captain passed the ship by the old city so we had a great view from the sea. On the way out of the port, our ship had an impromptu honking contest with another cruise ship, which is not something you hear every day!
Day 3 in Croatia (July 10, 2010)
Woke up at 6:30 AM today for my adventure to Bosnia! Erin, Amanda and I signed up for a day trip with a local independent travel agency that organizes a bus trip for Mostar. We left at 7:45 AM and drove for about an hour before hitting the first border crossing. It’s pretty interesting because Bosnia owns one small strip of land along the shore, so we actually had to go from Croatia, through Bosnia, and then back through Croatia before the ACTUAL border crossing into Bosnia. This takes a while because the tour guide has to give border control a list of passengers to check tour buses. The interesting part about it is that Croatia is trying to build a bridge to avoid this time-consuming crossing, but because of the recent downturn in the economy, they had to stop construction. It was sad to go by the area where the cranes and construction has ceased.
All in all, it took us like 3 and a half hours total to get to Mostar, with the border crossing(s) as well as two quick rest stops. All along the way to Mostar, our tour guide on the bus told us all about the history of Bosnia and the recent conflict that area. In the past 15 years or so, 2 million Bosnians to flee the severe bombings that were happening. The younger generation ended up staying where they had fled – mostly US, Canada, and Australia. The war had a huge impact on the population - now there are only 5 million people left in Bosnia. It’s estimated that 100,000 Bosnians and 20,000 Croatians were killed. It was only about 15 years ago that this war was happening, but I was too young at the time to really understand or be aware of what was going on. It was sobering to be driving along and see buildings that had been bombed and deserted. Other remnants of the war include millions of landmines that are still active in certain areas throughout Bosnia. They estimate that it will take about 50 years to deactivate the mines. In our pre-port session, they told us to look out for signs warning against mines, which is something that I’ve never had to be cautious of before!
Although the peace treaty was signed in 1995, Bosnia is still recovering from the war. There is a 42% unemployment rate (except that there is a lot of trade on the black market, so this statistic might not be as accurate). Today, there is still a Muslim side and a Christian side of Mostar – it is separated by a bridge. They have separate schools, hospitals, universities and there are no more mixed marriages between Christians and Muslims – it’s crazy to think that this type of segregation still exists.
The city of Mostar was smaller than I expected it to be…the main site to visit is the old bridge which was completely destroyed in a 1993 bombing. They had the video footage in the photo museum which was really sad to watch. In Mostar we also walked through the market place, visited the city’s main mosque, and toured a Turkish mansion. After the tour, we got some delicious Bosnian food at a local diner-type place and then sadly, it was time to head out. It was a powerful day because I really learned a lot about the history of the area. On Semester at Sea, there are always a million choices to make about where to go and what to see. You really have to prioritize in order to maximize your experience. I was hesitant about Mostar at first, but I’m really glad that I ended up going because it opened my eyes to a culture and history that I hadn’t known about before.
It was a three-and-a-half trip back to Dubrovnik after the visit to Mostar. That night was opening of the summer festival in Dubrovnik, so after refreshing ourselves at the ship, we hopped a city bus into Dubrovnik where we sat by the water and ate some light dinner – just cheese, olives, and salads with wine. There was a fireworks show that we could watch from our seats at the restaurant…the fireworks were shot off over the beach beyond the walls of the city. It was really nice!
After dinner, we walked into the old town and saw some sort of concert happening in the town center. It was so crowded and there were a ton of families with children out and about even though it was like 11:30 PM or so! We kept walking closer to the beach and on the way heard some awesome music. It turned out to be a concert for one of the most popular bands in Croatia – called Jinx. Erin haggled with the woman in the box office and then cut a shady deal with the security guard to let the five of us (Erin, Amanda, Christine, Greg and I) into the concert for 200 kuna – which is like less than 7 bucks a person. The concert was in an old part of the city – in a courtyard surrounded by walls that were about 20 feet high. So the band was playing right under the stars and it was a gorgeous night to be outside – it was really balmy and there was a slight breeze. The band’s name was Jinx and it was so much fun – everyone there was dancing and having a great time. We didn’t know any of the lyrics to the songs, but it didn’t even matter. The music was catchy and we were singing a long and dancing with all of the Croatians before long. After the show ended around 2AM, we met a couple from northern Croatia who were going to a “beach” party and invited us to join. The party ended up being around the corner from this dock on the rock cliff outside of the city walls. It was a party that happens ONCE a year on the first night of the summer festival. What are the chances that we would be there? Awesome.
It was a great night and I ended up getting back to the ship around 5:30 AM where I saw the morning light come up on the horizon. It’s a funny feeling when you go to bed after they turned off the street lights! Haha Great day, though – I don’t think I could have packed much more into the day if I had tried!
All in all, it took us like 3 and a half hours total to get to Mostar, with the border crossing(s) as well as two quick rest stops. All along the way to Mostar, our tour guide on the bus told us all about the history of Bosnia and the recent conflict that area. In the past 15 years or so, 2 million Bosnians to flee the severe bombings that were happening. The younger generation ended up staying where they had fled – mostly US, Canada, and Australia. The war had a huge impact on the population - now there are only 5 million people left in Bosnia. It’s estimated that 100,000 Bosnians and 20,000 Croatians were killed. It was only about 15 years ago that this war was happening, but I was too young at the time to really understand or be aware of what was going on. It was sobering to be driving along and see buildings that had been bombed and deserted. Other remnants of the war include millions of landmines that are still active in certain areas throughout Bosnia. They estimate that it will take about 50 years to deactivate the mines. In our pre-port session, they told us to look out for signs warning against mines, which is something that I’ve never had to be cautious of before!
Although the peace treaty was signed in 1995, Bosnia is still recovering from the war. There is a 42% unemployment rate (except that there is a lot of trade on the black market, so this statistic might not be as accurate). Today, there is still a Muslim side and a Christian side of Mostar – it is separated by a bridge. They have separate schools, hospitals, universities and there are no more mixed marriages between Christians and Muslims – it’s crazy to think that this type of segregation still exists.
The city of Mostar was smaller than I expected it to be…the main site to visit is the old bridge which was completely destroyed in a 1993 bombing. They had the video footage in the photo museum which was really sad to watch. In Mostar we also walked through the market place, visited the city’s main mosque, and toured a Turkish mansion. After the tour, we got some delicious Bosnian food at a local diner-type place and then sadly, it was time to head out. It was a powerful day because I really learned a lot about the history of the area. On Semester at Sea, there are always a million choices to make about where to go and what to see. You really have to prioritize in order to maximize your experience. I was hesitant about Mostar at first, but I’m really glad that I ended up going because it opened my eyes to a culture and history that I hadn’t known about before.
It was a three-and-a-half trip back to Dubrovnik after the visit to Mostar. That night was opening of the summer festival in Dubrovnik, so after refreshing ourselves at the ship, we hopped a city bus into Dubrovnik where we sat by the water and ate some light dinner – just cheese, olives, and salads with wine. There was a fireworks show that we could watch from our seats at the restaurant…the fireworks were shot off over the beach beyond the walls of the city. It was really nice!
After dinner, we walked into the old town and saw some sort of concert happening in the town center. It was so crowded and there were a ton of families with children out and about even though it was like 11:30 PM or so! We kept walking closer to the beach and on the way heard some awesome music. It turned out to be a concert for one of the most popular bands in Croatia – called Jinx. Erin haggled with the woman in the box office and then cut a shady deal with the security guard to let the five of us (Erin, Amanda, Christine, Greg and I) into the concert for 200 kuna – which is like less than 7 bucks a person. The concert was in an old part of the city – in a courtyard surrounded by walls that were about 20 feet high. So the band was playing right under the stars and it was a gorgeous night to be outside – it was really balmy and there was a slight breeze. The band’s name was Jinx and it was so much fun – everyone there was dancing and having a great time. We didn’t know any of the lyrics to the songs, but it didn’t even matter. The music was catchy and we were singing a long and dancing with all of the Croatians before long. After the show ended around 2AM, we met a couple from northern Croatia who were going to a “beach” party and invited us to join. The party ended up being around the corner from this dock on the rock cliff outside of the city walls. It was a party that happens ONCE a year on the first night of the summer festival. What are the chances that we would be there? Awesome.
It was a great night and I ended up getting back to the ship around 5:30 AM where I saw the morning light come up on the horizon. It’s a funny feeling when you go to bed after they turned off the street lights! Haha Great day, though – I don’t think I could have packed much more into the day if I had tried!
Monday, July 19, 2010
Day 2 in Croatia - University Visit (Friday, July 9)
Had an EARLY wake-up time of 6:30 AM today. After breakfast on the ship, I went with the other 16 members of Student Affairs at Sea (plus 3 other SASers, Kathy, and her partner Keith) to our first “official” university visit of the trip. We went to the American College of Management and Technology which is an international branch campus of RIT. The entire university has about 500 students and is housed in one five-story building overlooking the old town of Dubrovnik. My class met with a Croatian woman named Ana who spent the morning talking to us, orienting us to the college, and answering all of our (endless) questions about Croatian higher education. We had lunch at a local restaurant called Sesame and then went back in the afternoon for a long art history lecture (which seemed out-of-place for our purpose there) as well as discussion time with students of ACMT.
A few interesting things about higher ed in Croatia:
1. Public education – even higher education – is free for Croatian students. There is private higher ed, but there is a stigma attached to a private degree. Croatians (in general) feel that if one is paying for education, credit is not necessarily earned, but rather purchased. This may suggest that students from private institutions are buying a diploma rather than actually earning their degree. On the other hand, if Croatian students decide to go the public route, it is not uncommon that it will take them eight or nine years to graduate with a bachelor’s degree, due to the indifference that free education causes (on the part of the students and the faculty).
2. As a branch campus of RIT, ACMT serves two distinct groups of students - American students who are studying abroad as well as Croatian students. While the American students struggle to become orientated to a new city, the Croatian students must adjust to the American university style of teaching and learning – which requires much more participation and challenging/providing a critical view of the course material or the teacher’s expertise. It seems as if there is a crucial opportunity here for students to engage with others who are unlike themselves and yet the system (having Americans live with Americans and take classes separately from Croatians) does not encourage this interaction.
3. The third issue that was very salient to me during the visit was the ethical considerations of implanting the American college experience in foreign countries. I have a lot of questions about “right-ness” of American institutions setting up shop in a foreign country and I feel like I need to learn more about it. In the meantime, I’m wondering: In creating American institutions of higher education in other regions of the world, are we (as Americans) being sensitive to the host cultures? What are the benefits for the non-American students? What are the benefits to the American institution? We began to discuss these questions in our conversations at ACMT, but I still wonder if ACMT (and other branch institutions like it) are examples of Americans imposing their beliefs and ideas about education on to a foreign system. Who says that the US way is really the best? Wouldn’t a more collaborative effort be more effective? It’s interesting to think about.
After the visit to ACMT, I walked down to the old part of Dubrovnik, where the whole city is built of beautiful smooth stone. Also, the city is set up in a way that allows the breeze to pass through, so inside the city is pretty cool rather than being scorching hot in the sun. Clever, right? We paid a few kuna (Croatian currency) and then climbed the stairs to walk around the top of the walls that surround the old city – think: big fortress. Much of the city is touristy with souvenir shops and gelato places everywhere you look! Parts of the city (near the back)are also a little run down – with no windows or garbage spewed around. Mostly, though, it was a very pleasant city. It reminded me of Disney World a little, not sure why…maybe because the stones just made everything seemed so polished and there was a gift shop everywhere you looked?
The walls of the city hug the coast, so I got a great view of the ocean. As we were walking around, we saw a ton of cliff divers jumping from the rocks outside the city walls. It was crazy to watch how close they were coming to hitting the rocks! A ton of Semester at Sea students jumped and were all black and blue when they returned to the ship. It’s so stupid and dangerous and I just don’t understand it…
After catching a city bus back to the port and stopping at the ship to refresh a little, a group of us went out for drinks before dinner at this awesome bar just outside the walls of the city called Māla Buzo. The bar is built into the rocks that stagger down to the ocean level. To get inside, you have to climb through a hole in the wall of the city. It was awesome to watch the boats on the water and watch the light fade away during the sunset. Afterward, we went to dinner in the old town at a restaurant called the Taj Mahal. Yes, I know it is a funny name of a restaurant in CROATIA, but it served Bosnian food, which I had never tried before! It was really good – kind of a mix between Greek and what I imagine Turkish food will be like. We ordered a pita and sausage platter with garlicy yogurt dip, cold cucumber soup, some cheese fritter type things, cheese phylo dough “pie,” grilled veggies, and a phylo dough wrapped pastry with cheese and veal. It was really great to experience a new cuisine. It made me excited to visit Bosnia and Turkey! We didn’t get back to the ship until 1 AM, then crashed for a few hours of precious sleep. : )
A few interesting things about higher ed in Croatia:
1. Public education – even higher education – is free for Croatian students. There is private higher ed, but there is a stigma attached to a private degree. Croatians (in general) feel that if one is paying for education, credit is not necessarily earned, but rather purchased. This may suggest that students from private institutions are buying a diploma rather than actually earning their degree. On the other hand, if Croatian students decide to go the public route, it is not uncommon that it will take them eight or nine years to graduate with a bachelor’s degree, due to the indifference that free education causes (on the part of the students and the faculty).
2. As a branch campus of RIT, ACMT serves two distinct groups of students - American students who are studying abroad as well as Croatian students. While the American students struggle to become orientated to a new city, the Croatian students must adjust to the American university style of teaching and learning – which requires much more participation and challenging/providing a critical view of the course material or the teacher’s expertise. It seems as if there is a crucial opportunity here for students to engage with others who are unlike themselves and yet the system (having Americans live with Americans and take classes separately from Croatians) does not encourage this interaction.
3. The third issue that was very salient to me during the visit was the ethical considerations of implanting the American college experience in foreign countries. I have a lot of questions about “right-ness” of American institutions setting up shop in a foreign country and I feel like I need to learn more about it. In the meantime, I’m wondering: In creating American institutions of higher education in other regions of the world, are we (as Americans) being sensitive to the host cultures? What are the benefits for the non-American students? What are the benefits to the American institution? We began to discuss these questions in our conversations at ACMT, but I still wonder if ACMT (and other branch institutions like it) are examples of Americans imposing their beliefs and ideas about education on to a foreign system. Who says that the US way is really the best? Wouldn’t a more collaborative effort be more effective? It’s interesting to think about.
After the visit to ACMT, I walked down to the old part of Dubrovnik, where the whole city is built of beautiful smooth stone. Also, the city is set up in a way that allows the breeze to pass through, so inside the city is pretty cool rather than being scorching hot in the sun. Clever, right? We paid a few kuna (Croatian currency) and then climbed the stairs to walk around the top of the walls that surround the old city – think: big fortress. Much of the city is touristy with souvenir shops and gelato places everywhere you look! Parts of the city (near the back)are also a little run down – with no windows or garbage spewed around. Mostly, though, it was a very pleasant city. It reminded me of Disney World a little, not sure why…maybe because the stones just made everything seemed so polished and there was a gift shop everywhere you looked?
The walls of the city hug the coast, so I got a great view of the ocean. As we were walking around, we saw a ton of cliff divers jumping from the rocks outside the city walls. It was crazy to watch how close they were coming to hitting the rocks! A ton of Semester at Sea students jumped and were all black and blue when they returned to the ship. It’s so stupid and dangerous and I just don’t understand it…
After catching a city bus back to the port and stopping at the ship to refresh a little, a group of us went out for drinks before dinner at this awesome bar just outside the walls of the city called Māla Buzo. The bar is built into the rocks that stagger down to the ocean level. To get inside, you have to climb through a hole in the wall of the city. It was awesome to watch the boats on the water and watch the light fade away during the sunset. Afterward, we went to dinner in the old town at a restaurant called the Taj Mahal. Yes, I know it is a funny name of a restaurant in CROATIA, but it served Bosnian food, which I had never tried before! It was really good – kind of a mix between Greek and what I imagine Turkish food will be like. We ordered a pita and sausage platter with garlicy yogurt dip, cold cucumber soup, some cheese fritter type things, cheese phylo dough “pie,” grilled veggies, and a phylo dough wrapped pastry with cheese and veal. It was really great to experience a new cuisine. It made me excited to visit Bosnia and Turkey! We didn’t get back to the ship until 1 AM, then crashed for a few hours of precious sleep. : )
Day 1 in Croatia – Dubrovnik (Thursday, July 8)
After the diplomatic briefing upon arrival in Dubrovnik, a group of seven of us SAS-ers walked out of the port and rented a car to drive to Korcúla (pronounced Kore-shoe-la), an island to the north of Dubrovnik. It was an adventurous morning and we all felt really excited to get away from the ship and explore the country of Croatia! We had a big brown van and it felt like a road trip. : ) The scenery was beautiful – the road we took followed the coastline, so we got to see both the mountains and the sea. Seriously – it was the bluest and clearest water that I’ve have seen on shore! With all of the mountains, it looks like the backdrop of a fairytale or something. So pretty.
On the way to Korcúla, we stopped around lunchtime in a town called Ston. The entire town consisted of 4 restaurants, a church with no roof (it looked like it had been bombed, actually), and one small produce stand. We stopped at a restaurant and had the most delicious seafood that I have ever eaten! I had my very first oyster – it was outrageously inexpensive as it was farmed/harvested just right down the road from the town. We also ate mussels is a delicious white wine and garlic sauce, and black seafood risotto (the squid’s ink gives it a dark black color!). The waiter also gave us some Croatian brandy to sip – on the house. I was not a fan!
We continued driving about 2 hours to Orebic where we parked and took a 15 minute ferry ride to the island of Korcúla. The big draw to this island in particular was that there was this traditional sword dance that happened every Thursday for the past 200 some years. When we got there and went to buy tickets we found out that this week – THIS WEEK – they changed it to Wednesday night. It was totally a bummer, but our trip was not wasted as we got to check out the old town center, explore the little shops and restaurants, and stick our feet in the sea.
Before we left, we stopped at a really neat bar that was on top of a tower. We had to climb up a ladder through a narrow opening to get to the bar – it was challenging with a backpack on! The bartender makes the drinks below and then the waiter pulls them up to the roof with a pulley! I got a special drink called Massimo, I think – it was cool and fruity and tasted like pineapple juice.
We caught the 8 PM ferry back to Orebic, had some DELICIOUS fried calamari and pizza for dinner, and then we were on our way again. We drove the 2 and a half hours home to the ship in Dubrovnik. This was the first day that our plans had not gone the way that we were intending, but we definitely made the most of the experience. Got back really late and were pretty exhausted, which was unfortunate because we had an early day planned for the next day. Sometimes, it’s just sad going to bed knowing you are only going to get four hours of sleep!
On the way to Korcúla, we stopped around lunchtime in a town called Ston. The entire town consisted of 4 restaurants, a church with no roof (it looked like it had been bombed, actually), and one small produce stand. We stopped at a restaurant and had the most delicious seafood that I have ever eaten! I had my very first oyster – it was outrageously inexpensive as it was farmed/harvested just right down the road from the town. We also ate mussels is a delicious white wine and garlic sauce, and black seafood risotto (the squid’s ink gives it a dark black color!). The waiter also gave us some Croatian brandy to sip – on the house. I was not a fan!
We continued driving about 2 hours to Orebic where we parked and took a 15 minute ferry ride to the island of Korcúla. The big draw to this island in particular was that there was this traditional sword dance that happened every Thursday for the past 200 some years. When we got there and went to buy tickets we found out that this week – THIS WEEK – they changed it to Wednesday night. It was totally a bummer, but our trip was not wasted as we got to check out the old town center, explore the little shops and restaurants, and stick our feet in the sea.
Before we left, we stopped at a really neat bar that was on top of a tower. We had to climb up a ladder through a narrow opening to get to the bar – it was challenging with a backpack on! The bartender makes the drinks below and then the waiter pulls them up to the roof with a pulley! I got a special drink called Massimo, I think – it was cool and fruity and tasted like pineapple juice.
We caught the 8 PM ferry back to Orebic, had some DELICIOUS fried calamari and pizza for dinner, and then we were on our way again. We drove the 2 and a half hours home to the ship in Dubrovnik. This was the first day that our plans had not gone the way that we were intending, but we definitely made the most of the experience. Got back really late and were pretty exhausted, which was unfortunate because we had an early day planned for the next day. Sometimes, it’s just sad going to bed knowing you are only going to get four hours of sleep!
Two days at Sea (Tuesday, July 6 and Wednesday, July 7)
After leaving Italy, the ship took two days before getting to Dubrovnik, Croatia. I had two very busy days of classes, meetings, and work. It was like trying to catch up from a long weekend and then jam all of your work for a week into two days. Crazy! Also, we had our first midterm exam in our Global studies class. Everyone on the ship takes the course and people were rushing about like mad to cram before the test. I also attended some sessions to get ready for my time in Croatia. Something that I really like about Semester at Sea is that they invite one student from each country that we are visiting to board the ship a few days prior to when we arrive. It is great because that student is available to talk with you about their culture. The Croatian student’s name was Maria Popovic. I’m not even kidding! Isn’t that funny that it’s so similar to my last name? I didn’t think that Dad’s side of the family had any Croatian roots, but now I’m not so sure… (Anybody able to clear that up for me???)
One really awesome thing that happened was that I got invited to go to the Captain’s dinner on Tuesday night. The Captain’s dinner is something that only happens about 4-5 times a voyage. The staff and life-long learners are all invited to one over the course of the voyage. It was super fancy, so I had to get really dressed up, which is so fun and rare on the otherwise super-casual ship! The evening began at 7:30 PM with appetizers and drinks in the faculty/staff lounge. At 8:00, we proceeded to the fifth floor dining room for dinner. I sat with Tom (the Assistant Dean), Rebecca (his wife), Sendy (a living-learning coordinator), Chris (the voyage photographer), Dr. Tanya (the ship doctor who works with the Pittsburgh Steelers!), and her husband Dave. Every group of staff is clumped with a different member of the crew for dinner. At our table was the hotel director, John. The dinner was super fun – it was a great mix of people...not to mention, the food was delicious! We started with bruschetta, then had French onion soup, and a salad. I chose the lamb with roasted vegetables for my entrée and then finished the meal with a tower of chocolate squares with vanilla mousse in between each level. The wine was delicious as well. Afterward, we went back to the super-exclusive faculty and staff lounge for the after-party where all of the other Student Affairs folks came up as well. So much dancing! It was a great night!
One really awesome thing that happened was that I got invited to go to the Captain’s dinner on Tuesday night. The Captain’s dinner is something that only happens about 4-5 times a voyage. The staff and life-long learners are all invited to one over the course of the voyage. It was super fancy, so I had to get really dressed up, which is so fun and rare on the otherwise super-casual ship! The evening began at 7:30 PM with appetizers and drinks in the faculty/staff lounge. At 8:00, we proceeded to the fifth floor dining room for dinner. I sat with Tom (the Assistant Dean), Rebecca (his wife), Sendy (a living-learning coordinator), Chris (the voyage photographer), Dr. Tanya (the ship doctor who works with the Pittsburgh Steelers!), and her husband Dave. Every group of staff is clumped with a different member of the crew for dinner. At our table was the hotel director, John. The dinner was super fun – it was a great mix of people...not to mention, the food was delicious! We started with bruschetta, then had French onion soup, and a salad. I chose the lamb with roasted vegetables for my entrée and then finished the meal with a tower of chocolate squares with vanilla mousse in between each level. The wine was delicious as well. Afterward, we went back to the super-exclusive faculty and staff lounge for the after-party where all of the other Student Affairs folks came up as well. So much dancing! It was a great night!
Day 7 in Italy: Napoli (Monday, July 5)
Today, I hiked Mount Vesuvius! I went with the Semester at Sea tour, so it was really easy to just jump on the bus outside the ship in the morning and go! It was a great trip all in all. Vesuvius was really eerie because the clouds had not burned off yet when we got there, so there was all of this mist that was swirling around the opening of the volcano because of the wind currents. It was really awesome to watch. The hike wasn’t too bad at all because the “base” – where you get a ticket to go up – is already up a good portion of the mountain. (It was nothing like the hiking I had done in Cinque Terre!). Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to see too much of the city because of the cloud cover, but I got some really cool pictures from above the clouds! It's also cool that it is still an active volcano and is about 30 years overdue for an eruption!
Afterward, we were bussed back to the ship and then I went out to lunch at what is arguably the Best Pizzeria in the world! It was fantastic! When we got there, there was a crowd of people outside of the door waiting to get in – a sure sign that the restaurant serves good food. We waited about 45 minutes to get inside. There were only two selections on the menu – margarita pizza or marinara pizza. I got the marinara – which was tomato sauce, oregano, garlic, and olive oil. The pizzas were huge and came to the table directly from the wood-fired oven – piping hot! So, so good. In my book, Naples has redeemed itself through it’s pizza. : )
After a quick grocery-store run, I went back to the ship to check in before departure. The crew had set up a (one day late) Fourth of July celebration picnic on the sixth and seventh decks. They served burgers, corn on the cob, barbeque ribs, mac and cheese, coleslaw and other picnic foods. It was really nice, but super crowded because everyone on the ship (800 plus) was basically trying to eat at the same time!
Afterward, we were bussed back to the ship and then I went out to lunch at what is arguably the Best Pizzeria in the world! It was fantastic! When we got there, there was a crowd of people outside of the door waiting to get in – a sure sign that the restaurant serves good food. We waited about 45 minutes to get inside. There were only two selections on the menu – margarita pizza or marinara pizza. I got the marinara – which was tomato sauce, oregano, garlic, and olive oil. The pizzas were huge and came to the table directly from the wood-fired oven – piping hot! So, so good. In my book, Naples has redeemed itself through it’s pizza. : )
After a quick grocery-store run, I went back to the ship to check in before departure. The crew had set up a (one day late) Fourth of July celebration picnic on the sixth and seventh decks. They served burgers, corn on the cob, barbeque ribs, mac and cheese, coleslaw and other picnic foods. It was really nice, but super crowded because everyone on the ship (800 plus) was basically trying to eat at the same time!
Day 6 in Italy: Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast (Sunday, July 4th)
Happy Fourth of July! (Although it doesn’t feel like it at all!) I woke up on the sixth day in Italy ready to get out of Naples. Unfortunately, this port is not the nicest place to be – there is garbage and graffiti all over the place which is really sad because it’s a city right on the water and could be really attractive! For me, actually, the unattractiveness of Naples has less to do with the aesthetics and more to do with the uneasy feeling that I had while I was there. In every other port so far, I’ve felt pretty comfortable walking around – during the day and at night. In Naples, I didn’t even want to be out during the day! : ( It is just a pretty sketchy place to be for a tourist. The people there seem desperate for you to buy their goods and the taxi drivers are equally as aggressive. The city has the highest rate of crime in all of Italy. Tom (our Assistant Executive Dean) said that the pickpockets in Rome were taught by the masters in Naples, so I felt very defensive of my personal belongings when I was there as well. Also, they told us that Naples is where a lot of the mafia action takes place – which makes everything a little shady – although we’re told that they don’t really care about tourists.
Not wanting to spend too much time feeling uneasy, Erin, Amanda, and I jumped on a train to go to Sorrento, a beautiful coastal city about 1 and a half away from Naples. In Sorrento, we had lunch overlooking the water. I had the gnocchi, but I also tried a deep fried pumpkin flower blossom stuffed with mozzarella and ricotta, which was every bit as wonderful as it sounds. I had never had pumpkin flower before – it was really good! The girls had mushroom risotto which was also delicious. Also, during lunch, we saw a procession of boats go by. They were all honking their horns and following one bigger boat which had the icon of a Madonna or some saint on it. It was interesting to see a Catholic procession happening on the water. It was awesome and there were fireworks, too! (For the fourth of July!! Haha not really, but it was ironic!)
Afterward, we explored the town a little, doing a little shopping here and there. Around 3 PM, we hopped on a bus to go to the Amalfi Coast. Having just returned from Cinque Terre, I thought it would be difficult to convince me that there were more beautiful views of the coast, but…Amalfi really had the best views on my trip so far! We spent a few hours in Amalfi, which is a town right on the sea. We had some cappuccino and browsed through the town. I visited one cool little artist’s shop where they make paper. It was so cool because the artist was actually making it in the store while we were there! I bought some little note cards made with purple flowers. : ) It was also cool because I found out that Samantha Brown (from the Travel Channel) had been there before!
We grabbed the 7:00 PM bus out of Amalfi, then hopped the train back to Naples arriving around 10:30 PM. We went to a late-night pizzeria for some pizza before heading back to the ship!
Not wanting to spend too much time feeling uneasy, Erin, Amanda, and I jumped on a train to go to Sorrento, a beautiful coastal city about 1 and a half away from Naples. In Sorrento, we had lunch overlooking the water. I had the gnocchi, but I also tried a deep fried pumpkin flower blossom stuffed with mozzarella and ricotta, which was every bit as wonderful as it sounds. I had never had pumpkin flower before – it was really good! The girls had mushroom risotto which was also delicious. Also, during lunch, we saw a procession of boats go by. They were all honking their horns and following one bigger boat which had the icon of a Madonna or some saint on it. It was interesting to see a Catholic procession happening on the water. It was awesome and there were fireworks, too! (For the fourth of July!! Haha not really, but it was ironic!)
Afterward, we explored the town a little, doing a little shopping here and there. Around 3 PM, we hopped on a bus to go to the Amalfi Coast. Having just returned from Cinque Terre, I thought it would be difficult to convince me that there were more beautiful views of the coast, but…Amalfi really had the best views on my trip so far! We spent a few hours in Amalfi, which is a town right on the sea. We had some cappuccino and browsed through the town. I visited one cool little artist’s shop where they make paper. It was so cool because the artist was actually making it in the store while we were there! I bought some little note cards made with purple flowers. : ) It was also cool because I found out that Samantha Brown (from the Travel Channel) had been there before!
We grabbed the 7:00 PM bus out of Amalfi, then hopped the train back to Naples arriving around 10:30 PM. We went to a late-night pizzeria for some pizza before heading back to the ship!
Day 5 in Italy: Cinque Terre to Napoli (Saturday, July 3)
Today, I slept in until 9 AM, then we packed up and after a simple breakfast of toast and assorted leftovers from the night before, grabbed a shuttle to train station. Erin, Greg, Colleen and I did a little shopping in Vernazza (the fourth village) and then hopped the train back to the starting point, called La Spezia. There we met up with Amanda, Tim, and Haley who had decided to hike part of the way back to La Spezia. We had to wait an hour or so until our train left, so I grabbed a sandwich for the train in the station. The ship, which we had left in Civitavecchia, had sailed to Naples (Napoli) while we were in Cinque Terre. We elected not to travel with the ship, because we didn’t want to be committed to come back early. The train ride from northern Italy to the southern part, where Napoli is located was hot and crowded and long. In addition to no AC, everyone kept getting kicked out of our seats because we had a general ticket which did not assign us a specific seat. Grrr…it was a little frustrating but we were thrilled when we finally got off in Napoli. I think the trip was supposed to be about 6 hours long, but it took us like 7 and a half hours with all of the stops and delays (typical of the Italian train system, so I’m told!). Once we made it to Napoli, it was close to 11 PM and we were all beat. We grabbed a few cabs and found the ship where we grabbed some dinner at the snack bar on the seventh deck before crashing.
Day 4: Italy – Cinque Terre (Friday, July 2)
The second day in Cinque Terre, I woke up in the apartment to the sounds of the village coming awake. From my bed, I heard church bells, the fish vendor shouting, groceries being unloaded out of trucks, and restaurant waiters clanking dishes and getting ready for the day. The sun was streaming through the open windows as well. What a nice way to wake up!
For breakfast, we sat on our patio and ate chunks of baguette with fig preserves, fruit salad (with peaches, kiwi, and blood oranges), soft cheese, and scrambled eggs. After fueling up, we set out on another trek. Our goal was to hike from the third village to the fifth. In total, I think it was about 7 kilometers that day, but it was SO steep. Most of the hike from the fourth to the fifth village was big stone stairs. In addition, it was probably the hottest temperature that we had experienced so far! Not a great combo! Although it was rougher than the first day, the view was gorgeous. Every time we turned a bend, we would have to stop and take a picture. I am pretty sure I took like 300 pictures in Cinque Terre, but I know none of them will do justice to the real thing! No way could I capture that loveliness in a photo!
At mid-day, we took a break in Veneazza (the fourth village) for gelato (mango and limon), and for pesto pizza in the plaza. (YES, Rachy, PESTO pizza! It was so good and I am going to make it for you when I get home…and when you get home…so like Christmas? It’s a date!) Also, I bought a delicious cookie from a bakery – it had a little pool of chocolate in the middle, which of course was melted because of the heat. While we were sitting on some steps in the street eating lunch, we saw a bride and groom walk by with their families following them. It looked like they were going to the church! They were so pretty (she had a Greek-goddess-like dress) and they looked really happy! It was like something out of a movie.
Once we made it to the fifth village, we jumped in the sea and spent some time resting on the beach. The beach was totally rocky (very common here – not like in the US!) so it hurt a little to walk around, but at that point in the day I would have done anything to jump in that water! It was blue and very clear. We also saw some stupid kids jumping off the cliffs. It was crazy and very scary to watch. I kept thinking they were going to crack open their heads right there on the rocks! It was fine, though, just a little senseless, in my opinion! After a nice refreshing swim, we caught the train back to Cornigilia (the third village) and I made pasta primavera and bruchetta for dinner along with some nice vino, two types of salami, cheese, and limoncello.
That night, we went up the street (there is only one in the entire town!) to the gelato place. I had a cone of fruit de bosco, which is like mixed berry. We hung out in the street eating our gelato and met some other travelers from Oklahoma which was fun. It was another physically exhausting day and another late night, but it was fun to be able to say that we made it to all five of the villages!
For breakfast, we sat on our patio and ate chunks of baguette with fig preserves, fruit salad (with peaches, kiwi, and blood oranges), soft cheese, and scrambled eggs. After fueling up, we set out on another trek. Our goal was to hike from the third village to the fifth. In total, I think it was about 7 kilometers that day, but it was SO steep. Most of the hike from the fourth to the fifth village was big stone stairs. In addition, it was probably the hottest temperature that we had experienced so far! Not a great combo! Although it was rougher than the first day, the view was gorgeous. Every time we turned a bend, we would have to stop and take a picture. I am pretty sure I took like 300 pictures in Cinque Terre, but I know none of them will do justice to the real thing! No way could I capture that loveliness in a photo!
At mid-day, we took a break in Veneazza (the fourth village) for gelato (mango and limon), and for pesto pizza in the plaza. (YES, Rachy, PESTO pizza! It was so good and I am going to make it for you when I get home…and when you get home…so like Christmas? It’s a date!) Also, I bought a delicious cookie from a bakery – it had a little pool of chocolate in the middle, which of course was melted because of the heat. While we were sitting on some steps in the street eating lunch, we saw a bride and groom walk by with their families following them. It looked like they were going to the church! They were so pretty (she had a Greek-goddess-like dress) and they looked really happy! It was like something out of a movie.
Once we made it to the fifth village, we jumped in the sea and spent some time resting on the beach. The beach was totally rocky (very common here – not like in the US!) so it hurt a little to walk around, but at that point in the day I would have done anything to jump in that water! It was blue and very clear. We also saw some stupid kids jumping off the cliffs. It was crazy and very scary to watch. I kept thinking they were going to crack open their heads right there on the rocks! It was fine, though, just a little senseless, in my opinion! After a nice refreshing swim, we caught the train back to Cornigilia (the third village) and I made pasta primavera and bruchetta for dinner along with some nice vino, two types of salami, cheese, and limoncello.
That night, we went up the street (there is only one in the entire town!) to the gelato place. I had a cone of fruit de bosco, which is like mixed berry. We hung out in the street eating our gelato and met some other travelers from Oklahoma which was fun. It was another physically exhausting day and another late night, but it was fun to be able to say that we made it to all five of the villages!
Day 3: Italy – Cinque Terre (Thursday, July 1)
I woke up early on Thursday morning, had a quick breakfast, then rushed to the train station to get ticket to Cinque Terre (Chink-wah-tear-a). Cinque Terre is an area off the northern shore of Italy near Genoa. It is a series of five small villages on mountain cliffs overlooking the sea. We (Erin, Haley, Colleen, Greg, Tim - one of the living-learning coordinators, and I) took one train to La Spezia (about 3 hours) and then another train to the first of the Cinque Terre villages. We arrived around 2 pm.
Cinque Terre was so beautiful. The entire hiking trail is right on the side of the mountain. The views were really breathtaking because all the vegetation on the mountains was so green and the sea was a vibrant blue. We started out on the trek to the third village – where we were planning to spend the night. It’s a good thing that we packed light because the hiking gets progressively more difficult. One cool thing is that we passed a “Kissing Point” – which is a special bench where you can sit with your partner and have a beautiful view of the ocean. It was cute because everyone who goes there brings a little padlock that you can connect to the fence around the area. So there are hundreds of these little locks all around with different messages and names. It was really sweet and I’m sure a ton of engagements were made there! Another thing that was cool was that we’d be hiking, seemingly in the middle of nowhere and all of a sudden the path would lead you right to a bar/restaurant that was tucked away on the cliff – just in case you needed a break. It was neat. Also we passed terraces of lemon and olive trees – growing right on the side of the mountains. Also, every once in a while, there was a set of steep stairs that veered off the path and led your straight to little swimming holes at the bottom of the cliff. The hiking was awesome – it was great to be outdoors (and out of crowded Rome!) – but it was also scary because of the steep cliffs and tiny width of the path. It was rocky and the path was sometimes only a foot or so wide – with no railings! We really had to watch our footing. The cool thing is that the trains connect to each town, so it’d be a great place to visit even if you weren’t a hard-core hiker. In total, we hiked about 9 kilometers that first day.
We hiked all the way to the third village called Cornigilia and then had to climb up about 400 stairs to get to the top of the mountain where the village is located. Since there were 7 of us in a group, we had rented an apartment for our stay. It was beautiful and airy, with a balcony, open windows (no screens, of course), and a KITCHEN! It was great. We got settled and waited for our friends Amanda and David to get there – they were driving separately and arrived around 4 PM.
Once we were all there, we went down another 400 stairs to get to this secluded little concrete pier where a few locals were sunbathing and swimming. The water was freezing, but it felt good after a long hot hike that afternoon. After we had taken in our fill of the gorgeous Ligurian Sea (which is between Italy and the French Island of Elba – where Napoleon was exiled), we hiked back up to the top of the mountain and I got to make good use of that kitchen! We went to the grocery store – which was actually just a market the size of a walk-in pantry – for supplies and before you know it, I was serving steaming bowls of pasta and tomato sauce, sautéed zucchini with garlic and tomatoes, bruchetta with chunks of fresh mozzarella and bread, slices of spicy salami, cheese, and bottle after bottle of red local wine. We ate and drank and chatted on our patio late into the evening. It was an exhausting but fantastic day!
Cinque Terre was so beautiful. The entire hiking trail is right on the side of the mountain. The views were really breathtaking because all the vegetation on the mountains was so green and the sea was a vibrant blue. We started out on the trek to the third village – where we were planning to spend the night. It’s a good thing that we packed light because the hiking gets progressively more difficult. One cool thing is that we passed a “Kissing Point” – which is a special bench where you can sit with your partner and have a beautiful view of the ocean. It was cute because everyone who goes there brings a little padlock that you can connect to the fence around the area. So there are hundreds of these little locks all around with different messages and names. It was really sweet and I’m sure a ton of engagements were made there! Another thing that was cool was that we’d be hiking, seemingly in the middle of nowhere and all of a sudden the path would lead you right to a bar/restaurant that was tucked away on the cliff – just in case you needed a break. It was neat. Also we passed terraces of lemon and olive trees – growing right on the side of the mountains. Also, every once in a while, there was a set of steep stairs that veered off the path and led your straight to little swimming holes at the bottom of the cliff. The hiking was awesome – it was great to be outdoors (and out of crowded Rome!) – but it was also scary because of the steep cliffs and tiny width of the path. It was rocky and the path was sometimes only a foot or so wide – with no railings! We really had to watch our footing. The cool thing is that the trains connect to each town, so it’d be a great place to visit even if you weren’t a hard-core hiker. In total, we hiked about 9 kilometers that first day.
We hiked all the way to the third village called Cornigilia and then had to climb up about 400 stairs to get to the top of the mountain where the village is located. Since there were 7 of us in a group, we had rented an apartment for our stay. It was beautiful and airy, with a balcony, open windows (no screens, of course), and a KITCHEN! It was great. We got settled and waited for our friends Amanda and David to get there – they were driving separately and arrived around 4 PM.
Once we were all there, we went down another 400 stairs to get to this secluded little concrete pier where a few locals were sunbathing and swimming. The water was freezing, but it felt good after a long hot hike that afternoon. After we had taken in our fill of the gorgeous Ligurian Sea (which is between Italy and the French Island of Elba – where Napoleon was exiled), we hiked back up to the top of the mountain and I got to make good use of that kitchen! We went to the grocery store – which was actually just a market the size of a walk-in pantry – for supplies and before you know it, I was serving steaming bowls of pasta and tomato sauce, sautéed zucchini with garlic and tomatoes, bruchetta with chunks of fresh mozzarella and bread, slices of spicy salami, cheese, and bottle after bottle of red local wine. We ate and drank and chatted on our patio late into the evening. It was an exhausting but fantastic day!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Day 2: Italy - Service Visit and Frascotti (Wednesday, June 30)
This morning, I went on my first Semester at Sea field trip. It was a service trip to the Republica de Ragazzi. It is an orphanage in Civitavecchia that was founded in 1945 – it is a home for Italian children whose parents can’t or won’t care for them properly. The children in the Republica are ages 9-18. They live in “families” with other children – there are 4 houses. About 30 Semester at Sea-ers went and we met with the priest and one of the directors who told us about the organization. Afterwards, we got a tour of the facilities. Everything seemed really nice and clean. It looked very cheerful – there were lots of colors, the kitchen smelled of garlic and bread.
We got to meet some of the kids during our tour. The interaction was a little difficult because of the language barrier, but it was really fun to converse with them despite the lack of total understanding. The only disappointing part of the morning was that we didn’t really do anything at the site. I expected to help paint, or clean, or build something. After being a staff adviser for the Alternative Spring Break program to Chicago this year, I was definitely prepared to get my hands dirty and pitch in to help a bit! So, a tour and a visit wasn’t quite what I had expected. One cool thing about the trip was that the tour company (who organized the trip) donated the bus and the other fees, so Semester at Sea donated the fees from our admission (which was a couple hundred dollars altogether) to the Republica. Although it was a nice thing to do, I have some questions about this type of service format. I wonder if this is the best type of service-learning trips that Semester at Sea can arrange (on account of it is more informational than experiential). After doing some hard-core volunteer work, I think that just showing up, taking a tour, and giving money is sort of an easy way to say that you helped a community. My roommate, Erin, is working the Service-Learning program on the ship and is going to have a post-service reflection session soon. It will be interesting to hear what the students got out of the visit.
After the service, Erin and I took a train to Rome and then another to a small hill top village called Frascoti (pronounced Fres-scottie). We missed two trains (not our fault, just bad timing) – so it took us like four hours to get there. As I mentioned before, Erin were eager to get out of Rome to a smaller town to just explore a bit. We picked Frascoti somewhat randomly. The only thing that we knew about this small town was that the area was famous for it’s Frascoti wine. Basically, we saw it on a map and asked the inter-port Italian student (Mario) on board if it would be worth a day-trip. He said yes, so we decided what the heck – might as well check it out.
I cannot stress enough that this was seriously the best decision that I have made in a really long time.
Ahhh Frascotti…even now as I type this, I am flooded with memories of this charming little hill-top town. It is located just 40 minutes from Rome, but it seemed worlds away. Frascotti is the opposite of Rome in almost every way possible. For as crowded and touristy as Rome is, Frascotti is sleepy and quiet. Erin and I were the only Americans there. Heck, we were the only tourists! I’d be willing to bet that all of the other people there had families that had been living in Frascotti for generations. When we got off the hot and grimy train, we climbed a bunch of steps to get to the center of the city. There was one small street that weaved in and out of main area surrounded by a web of narrow streets. After enjoying a generous chilled glass of the Frascotti wine, we soaked in the view and walked around the town, stopping in shops and chatting with the friendly people. We stopped in the “Frascotti checkpoint” – which is the closest thing they had to a tourist info center. There we met a very tall young Italian man who we think was a little surprised to see visitors. After we asked for some help, he proceeded to pull out a map and a chunky pink highlighter to outline the route which we should take to see the best of Frascotti. With his limited English skills, our limited understanding of Italian, and the help of Google images, we were able to understand what we had to do in order to get the most out of our visit.
First, we went to a plaza on the other side of town – and by other side, I mean a five-minute walk. There, there were stands set up selling a variety of market foods. We purchased some cheese (recommended by the woman behind the counter), some assorted olives and sundried tomatoes, two giant slices of pane (bread), and porchetta (which is a specialty of the area – it’s roasted pork that’s sort of the consistency of Thanksgiving turkey coated with rough-ground peppercorns). We gathered up our enormous amount of food and walked around to kill some time before 6 PM. We found a gelato place that had POPCORN gelato and had a free sample. Seriously, the popcorn was on the top and it tasted exactly like buttered popcorn!
At 6 PM, we strategically walked to this little Cantina in the middle of a small random square. There was an older woman who was setting up tables out in the middle of the street. This place was exceptional for a few reasons. First, it was unique because as a Cantina, it was a bring-your-own-food restaurant/bar – you buy the wine there. Secondly, it was cool because Erin and I were the only customers. We sat down and ordered a jar of Frascotti wine (has a very apple-ly flavor and is stored in giant barrels) and proceed to attack the small mountain of food we had just purchased. We savored every moment of that porchetta, let me tell you. YUM. I wish I had just one more bite to eat right now. Also, Erin had just purchased a balsamic glaze made with figs at a gourmet food store. It was fantastic with the bread and pork. One nice grocer-man walked by with a basket of produce and gave Erin and I both a fig. Now, I have only ever eaten dried figs, so I didn’t even know what it was! The nice man gave us a demonstration on how to open and eat it – you can eat the skin and all! After we had made our way through most of the food, the Cantina owner brought us over another jar of wine – on the house. They were so happy that we were there. Also, as we were sitting there, the locals would stop and stare a little at us. One sweet old man came over with bright white sneakers came over and talked to us for about 10 minutes. He didn’t speak a word of English and I know about 10 words of Italian, so the translation was a little rough, but surprisingly, it didn’t matter one bit. Erin and I could actually understand a lot of what he said – turns out that Italian is not really that different from Spanish!
After eating almost all of the food, we were pretty stuffed. The whole time that we were eating, several older folks had congregated at a long table with benches around it. As we were enjoying the evening and just sipping the last of the wine, the man at the head of this “neighborhood” table called out and motioned for us to join them. Before we knew it, extra chairs appeared and we were whisked into the whirlwind of conversation and laughter. The 10-12 people sitting at the table were so curious about us, asking all kinds of questions about where we were from and what we were doing there. They poured us more wine (YIKES!) and offered us generous portions of the modest food they had brought. Maybe I wasn’t clear before, but we had already eaten a TON of food…and we were VERY full, but it would have been very rude to say no. So, we sucked it up and ate slices of bologna olive loaf, salty pancetta, creamy creamy cheese, more olives, crusty bread, and finished with a delightful ring of a cookie that tasted like biscotti (the locals dipped this is the wine to soften before eating it – so we did the same!). The conversation (and did I mention the wine?) flowed freely, despite the language barrier.
As the shadows began to fall and the streetlights came on, Erin and I reluctantly agreed that it was time to go, despite the protests of our hosts. With great sorrow, we kissed our new Frascotti friends goodbye and lovingly received an open invitation to visit their table any Wednesday from now until forever. I loved so many things about this town, but the warmth and hospitality of the Fracotti people is right up at the top of the list. Even as we caught the last train out, we kept wondering to ourselves…WHY were we leaving? WHERE could we travel that we would have a more meaningful experience than that town and those people? We have no pictures of our friends at the Cantina and their names have since slipped from my memory. It’s nice, though, because the only souvenir I have is that wonderful memory – one that I know I will hold dear for a long time.
We got to meet some of the kids during our tour. The interaction was a little difficult because of the language barrier, but it was really fun to converse with them despite the lack of total understanding. The only disappointing part of the morning was that we didn’t really do anything at the site. I expected to help paint, or clean, or build something. After being a staff adviser for the Alternative Spring Break program to Chicago this year, I was definitely prepared to get my hands dirty and pitch in to help a bit! So, a tour and a visit wasn’t quite what I had expected. One cool thing about the trip was that the tour company (who organized the trip) donated the bus and the other fees, so Semester at Sea donated the fees from our admission (which was a couple hundred dollars altogether) to the Republica. Although it was a nice thing to do, I have some questions about this type of service format. I wonder if this is the best type of service-learning trips that Semester at Sea can arrange (on account of it is more informational than experiential). After doing some hard-core volunteer work, I think that just showing up, taking a tour, and giving money is sort of an easy way to say that you helped a community. My roommate, Erin, is working the Service-Learning program on the ship and is going to have a post-service reflection session soon. It will be interesting to hear what the students got out of the visit.
After the service, Erin and I took a train to Rome and then another to a small hill top village called Frascoti (pronounced Fres-scottie). We missed two trains (not our fault, just bad timing) – so it took us like four hours to get there. As I mentioned before, Erin were eager to get out of Rome to a smaller town to just explore a bit. We picked Frascoti somewhat randomly. The only thing that we knew about this small town was that the area was famous for it’s Frascoti wine. Basically, we saw it on a map and asked the inter-port Italian student (Mario) on board if it would be worth a day-trip. He said yes, so we decided what the heck – might as well check it out.
I cannot stress enough that this was seriously the best decision that I have made in a really long time.
Ahhh Frascotti…even now as I type this, I am flooded with memories of this charming little hill-top town. It is located just 40 minutes from Rome, but it seemed worlds away. Frascotti is the opposite of Rome in almost every way possible. For as crowded and touristy as Rome is, Frascotti is sleepy and quiet. Erin and I were the only Americans there. Heck, we were the only tourists! I’d be willing to bet that all of the other people there had families that had been living in Frascotti for generations. When we got off the hot and grimy train, we climbed a bunch of steps to get to the center of the city. There was one small street that weaved in and out of main area surrounded by a web of narrow streets. After enjoying a generous chilled glass of the Frascotti wine, we soaked in the view and walked around the town, stopping in shops and chatting with the friendly people. We stopped in the “Frascotti checkpoint” – which is the closest thing they had to a tourist info center. There we met a very tall young Italian man who we think was a little surprised to see visitors. After we asked for some help, he proceeded to pull out a map and a chunky pink highlighter to outline the route which we should take to see the best of Frascotti. With his limited English skills, our limited understanding of Italian, and the help of Google images, we were able to understand what we had to do in order to get the most out of our visit.
First, we went to a plaza on the other side of town – and by other side, I mean a five-minute walk. There, there were stands set up selling a variety of market foods. We purchased some cheese (recommended by the woman behind the counter), some assorted olives and sundried tomatoes, two giant slices of pane (bread), and porchetta (which is a specialty of the area – it’s roasted pork that’s sort of the consistency of Thanksgiving turkey coated with rough-ground peppercorns). We gathered up our enormous amount of food and walked around to kill some time before 6 PM. We found a gelato place that had POPCORN gelato and had a free sample. Seriously, the popcorn was on the top and it tasted exactly like buttered popcorn!
At 6 PM, we strategically walked to this little Cantina in the middle of a small random square. There was an older woman who was setting up tables out in the middle of the street. This place was exceptional for a few reasons. First, it was unique because as a Cantina, it was a bring-your-own-food restaurant/bar – you buy the wine there. Secondly, it was cool because Erin and I were the only customers. We sat down and ordered a jar of Frascotti wine (has a very apple-ly flavor and is stored in giant barrels) and proceed to attack the small mountain of food we had just purchased. We savored every moment of that porchetta, let me tell you. YUM. I wish I had just one more bite to eat right now. Also, Erin had just purchased a balsamic glaze made with figs at a gourmet food store. It was fantastic with the bread and pork. One nice grocer-man walked by with a basket of produce and gave Erin and I both a fig. Now, I have only ever eaten dried figs, so I didn’t even know what it was! The nice man gave us a demonstration on how to open and eat it – you can eat the skin and all! After we had made our way through most of the food, the Cantina owner brought us over another jar of wine – on the house. They were so happy that we were there. Also, as we were sitting there, the locals would stop and stare a little at us. One sweet old man came over with bright white sneakers came over and talked to us for about 10 minutes. He didn’t speak a word of English and I know about 10 words of Italian, so the translation was a little rough, but surprisingly, it didn’t matter one bit. Erin and I could actually understand a lot of what he said – turns out that Italian is not really that different from Spanish!
After eating almost all of the food, we were pretty stuffed. The whole time that we were eating, several older folks had congregated at a long table with benches around it. As we were enjoying the evening and just sipping the last of the wine, the man at the head of this “neighborhood” table called out and motioned for us to join them. Before we knew it, extra chairs appeared and we were whisked into the whirlwind of conversation and laughter. The 10-12 people sitting at the table were so curious about us, asking all kinds of questions about where we were from and what we were doing there. They poured us more wine (YIKES!) and offered us generous portions of the modest food they had brought. Maybe I wasn’t clear before, but we had already eaten a TON of food…and we were VERY full, but it would have been very rude to say no. So, we sucked it up and ate slices of bologna olive loaf, salty pancetta, creamy creamy cheese, more olives, crusty bread, and finished with a delightful ring of a cookie that tasted like biscotti (the locals dipped this is the wine to soften before eating it – so we did the same!). The conversation (and did I mention the wine?) flowed freely, despite the language barrier.
As the shadows began to fall and the streetlights came on, Erin and I reluctantly agreed that it was time to go, despite the protests of our hosts. With great sorrow, we kissed our new Frascotti friends goodbye and lovingly received an open invitation to visit their table any Wednesday from now until forever. I loved so many things about this town, but the warmth and hospitality of the Fracotti people is right up at the top of the list. Even as we caught the last train out, we kept wondering to ourselves…WHY were we leaving? WHERE could we travel that we would have a more meaningful experience than that town and those people? We have no pictures of our friends at the Cantina and their names have since slipped from my memory. It’s nice, though, because the only souvenir I have is that wonderful memory – one that I know I will hold dear for a long time.
Italy: Day 1 (Tuesday, June 29)
SO, I am outrageously far behind in my blogging, I KNOW! But I am working on it and am going to post as much as I can in the next few days to try to catch up!
After 2 days at sea, the MV Explorer arrived in Italy! The ship docked sometime during the night and I woke up in Civitavecchia (pronounced Chviv-a-ta-veck-ee-a) – sleepy little Italian city an hour from Rome, about five blocks long, all of which we saw before 10 AM the day that we arrived. Because the name of the town is difficult to say, I’ve just been referring to it as “the Chiv” to make it simpler. Plus it sounds funny.
So, Erin and I had big plans to rent a car and see some of the country side – but unfortunately all three of the rental places in the Chiv were out of automatics. Whua Whaaaa… After deciding that Italy was NOT the best place to learn how to drive a manual, we hopped over to the train station and for nine euros had a round trip ticket to Rome for the day!
Erin and I arrived in Rome at lunch time, randomly picked a place to visit, got on a bus outside of the Termini station, got on it and went about 6 stops too many before we realized it. Whoops! We walked for a while in a slightly deserted part of town and then finally gave up trying to figure out where we were and sat down at a quiet little pizzeria. The pizzas were bigger than the plate! Margarita pizza and a little red wine…what more could we ask for?
After refueling, we found Villa Borghese – a beautiful park in the middle of Rome, rented bikes, and rode around for about 2 hours. We saw cool views of the city, ate some (sadly) sub-par gelato, then walked ALMOST the entire bus route back because we didn’t have a ticket and we couldn’t buy it on the bus (for some reason). Turned out to be a blessing, though, because when we finally found bus tickets, I also bought an international phone card…and I use the term “card” loosely. It was really just a sketchy little receipt with an access code on it. I was able to call Momma from a payphone on street. I caught her before she went to work! It was so nice to say hi, even though the conversation was brief! (Miss you!)
After making another quick phone call to connect with our friends, Erin and I met up with Greg, Colleen, Haley, Amanda, and her friend David at the Pantheon. David is from Milan (Northern Italy), but went to college in the US with Amanda. He came down to Rome to hang with her for a few days and this was pretty much the best thing that could have happened to us. It was like we had a personal translator! Also, something funny is that Amanda told us that his name was pronounced “Dave-veed.” She started calling him that freshmen year because she “felt like he should have an Italian-sounding name.” haha So everyone called him that the entire visit, too! He was really laid back about it and it’s just one of those things that cracks me up!
We walked around to many of the beautiful plazas, walked to the Spanish Steps, and then found a cute little “ristorante” by the Piazza Populo (pronounced Poop-a-low). I had Spaghetti Carbonara – yum – and some wine. At the end of the meal, the restaurant owner gave us some homemade limoncello because we were such good customers. : ) Refreshing!
After dinner, we strolled back to the Pantheon in want of some more gelato… I remember from my 2006 visit that the best gelato place EVER is right down a side street of the Pantheon, so I guided our group in that direction. My memory served me well! In this gelato shop, there are about a hundred flavors and everything is so fresh. I had mango and raspberry (but only because I had chocolate and strawberry (fragola) – my favorite – earlier in the day…). SO good.
After gelato, we realized that we had to hustle to get the next train out of Rome, so the seven of us jumped into a small taxi van. The ride back to the train station was honestly the most frightening experience that I’ve ever had in a vehicle. Italian drivers are nuts. We went the OPPOSITE way down a one way street and literally came within a half an inch of flattening an individual riding a motorbike.
Anyway, we made it (with a little jogging to the platform). The trip back to the Chiv was long and I was super tired when we got back to the ship at 11:45 PM, so I only had energy for a shower before I collapsed into bed by 12:30 am. Such a good day. Sigh.
After 2 days at sea, the MV Explorer arrived in Italy! The ship docked sometime during the night and I woke up in Civitavecchia (pronounced Chviv-a-ta-veck-ee-a) – sleepy little Italian city an hour from Rome, about five blocks long, all of which we saw before 10 AM the day that we arrived. Because the name of the town is difficult to say, I’ve just been referring to it as “the Chiv” to make it simpler. Plus it sounds funny.
So, Erin and I had big plans to rent a car and see some of the country side – but unfortunately all three of the rental places in the Chiv were out of automatics. Whua Whaaaa… After deciding that Italy was NOT the best place to learn how to drive a manual, we hopped over to the train station and for nine euros had a round trip ticket to Rome for the day!
Erin and I arrived in Rome at lunch time, randomly picked a place to visit, got on a bus outside of the Termini station, got on it and went about 6 stops too many before we realized it. Whoops! We walked for a while in a slightly deserted part of town and then finally gave up trying to figure out where we were and sat down at a quiet little pizzeria. The pizzas were bigger than the plate! Margarita pizza and a little red wine…what more could we ask for?
After refueling, we found Villa Borghese – a beautiful park in the middle of Rome, rented bikes, and rode around for about 2 hours. We saw cool views of the city, ate some (sadly) sub-par gelato, then walked ALMOST the entire bus route back because we didn’t have a ticket and we couldn’t buy it on the bus (for some reason). Turned out to be a blessing, though, because when we finally found bus tickets, I also bought an international phone card…and I use the term “card” loosely. It was really just a sketchy little receipt with an access code on it. I was able to call Momma from a payphone on street. I caught her before she went to work! It was so nice to say hi, even though the conversation was brief! (Miss you!)
After making another quick phone call to connect with our friends, Erin and I met up with Greg, Colleen, Haley, Amanda, and her friend David at the Pantheon. David is from Milan (Northern Italy), but went to college in the US with Amanda. He came down to Rome to hang with her for a few days and this was pretty much the best thing that could have happened to us. It was like we had a personal translator! Also, something funny is that Amanda told us that his name was pronounced “Dave-veed.” She started calling him that freshmen year because she “felt like he should have an Italian-sounding name.” haha So everyone called him that the entire visit, too! He was really laid back about it and it’s just one of those things that cracks me up!
We walked around to many of the beautiful plazas, walked to the Spanish Steps, and then found a cute little “ristorante” by the Piazza Populo (pronounced Poop-a-low). I had Spaghetti Carbonara – yum – and some wine. At the end of the meal, the restaurant owner gave us some homemade limoncello because we were such good customers. : ) Refreshing!
After dinner, we strolled back to the Pantheon in want of some more gelato… I remember from my 2006 visit that the best gelato place EVER is right down a side street of the Pantheon, so I guided our group in that direction. My memory served me well! In this gelato shop, there are about a hundred flavors and everything is so fresh. I had mango and raspberry (but only because I had chocolate and strawberry (fragola) – my favorite – earlier in the day…). SO good.
After gelato, we realized that we had to hustle to get the next train out of Rome, so the seven of us jumped into a small taxi van. The ride back to the train station was honestly the most frightening experience that I’ve ever had in a vehicle. Italian drivers are nuts. We went the OPPOSITE way down a one way street and literally came within a half an inch of flattening an individual riding a motorbike.
Anyway, we made it (with a little jogging to the platform). The trip back to the Chiv was long and I was super tired when we got back to the ship at 11:45 PM, so I only had energy for a shower before I collapsed into bed by 12:30 am. Such a good day. Sigh.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Days 2, 3, and 4 in Spain (June 25, 26, and 27)
The four days I spent in Barcelona have been non-stop! I haven’t had one second to write and update my blog, because I have been running around literally all day and night!
My visit to Barcelona can pretty much be summed up in two words: deliciousness and exhaustion. Please beware, this bog post contains a many descriptions of food, so sorry for those of you who find that to be redundant/boring! It happens to be one of my favorite things to think/talk about, so I have a feeling that might be the theme of more than one future post. : )
Something that I forgot to mention about the first day in Barcelona is the fantastic lunch that I had that day. We were in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona when we walked by this old, tavern-looking bar called Sagardi. At first it looked a little sketchy, but when we went inside it was very elegant. The inside of the restaurant had this long bar with platters and platters of piled with tapas! (Tapas, by the way, are just little bites of food.) At this restaurant, you ask for a plate at the bar and then just grab whatever you want to eat. Each bite is on a piece of bread with a toothpick in it – you leave your toothpicks on the plate and when you go to pay, the bartender just adds up how much you owe according to the number of toothpicks. I had delicious jamon, some soft cheese (reminded me of goat cheese, but can’t be sure), a mushroom croquette, and tortilla (potato and egg omelet). Yum…all of my favorite foods in one place!
Thursday night (the first night in Barcelona), I went to this AWESOME restaurant located semi-close to Placa Catalyuna. It’s customary in Spain to eat later, so we went around 10:30 pm. The restaurant was called Tapas 24 and we went there because one girl in my program, Haley, had eaten at a restaurant owned by the same chef and said it would probably be just as good. It was a small restaurant with mostly counter seating. Because we were such a big group (12 of us ended up going together from the ship) and the restaurant was so busy, the hostess sat us as there was space available in smaller groups. I ate with Erin and Haley, who take eating very seriously. So naturally, we all get along well. : ) My FAVORITE part of the night was that Haley, Erin and I sat at the bar (it was all bar seating) and got to watch the kitchen as they prepared the food and beverages. It was so cool.
The tapas that night were SO incredibly good. We ordered one delicious tapa after another – grilled buffalo mozzarella and truffle sandwiches, MORE croquettes, patatas bravas (fried potatoes with 2 sauces – creamy mayo and spicy tomato…omg!), lamb and chicken skewers, and more tortilla (of course!). My hands-down favorite item of the night, though, was pan con tomate, which is exactly what it sounds like – bread with tomato. There was one man in the kitchen whose only job was only to crank out dishes and dishes of the pan con tomate. It was fascinating! He just toasted the bread, cut a ripe tomato in half, rubbed the tomato on the bread, gave it a quick squirt of good Spanish olive oil, added a tiny pinch of salt and was on to the next batch before you knew it. I know it sounds so simple, but I am telling you it would NEVER taste that good when I make it at home. The pan-con-tomate man is a magician. ‘Nuff said.
The drinks that night also made that meal totally special. We started the meal with a bottle of red wine from a local region in Spain and we finished the meal with a pitcher of sangria made from cava (which is like Spanish champagne) as well as rum, brandy, and cointreau (orange liqueur). It was yellow and bubbly and tasted citrus-y. It was totally refreshing after a long, satisfying meal. Afterwards, we walked around the city and then, of course, there was dancing long into the night. Ah. Barcelona!
On Friday, I visited the University of Barcelona in the morning with my class. My professor Kathy and her partner, Keith, took us to one of the campuses in Barcelona. We weren’t able to have a tour, unfortunately, because we were there during their final exam period, but we walked all around the building/complex. The interior honestly reminded me of Hogwarts –it had grand staircases, huge tapestries and paintings on the walls, scary statues, and lofty ceilings. No moving pictures, though.
After the tour, I went with Greg and Colleen (2 other Student Affairs at Sea-ers) to check out El Corte Ingles, which is the main department store here (the “Macy’s” of Spain). We got some picnic food – a baguette, some good cheese, spicy Catalan sausage, and grapes and then ate outside in the Plaqa de Cataluña near the Font de Cataletes. Totally fun and relaxing afternoon.
Afterwards, we met up with more friends to tour the Sagrada Familia (“Holy Family” church) – one of the most beautiful places in the world (in my opinion!). The church itself is incomplete. It started being built in 1882 and construction continues today. It is one of the greatest works of the famous architect/artist Gaudi and is a symbol of the city, for sure! I visited this church when I was in Barcelona last, but it was cool to see the progress that they have made in the past two years! Mostly the interior was more complete than the last time I saw it. Although the pamphlet says that construction should be completed by 2030, some believe that it may not be finished in our lifetime. That’s weird to wrap my head around. It’s also cool that the funds from the tourists’ admission fees go directly to the continuing of the construction, so when you visit, you can feel as if you are becoming a part of the building process.
On Friday night there was a World Cup futbol (soccer) game between Spain and Chile. We watched it in a touristy tapas bar in Las Ramblas (the main pedestrian street), expecting there to be a big celebration when the Spanish team won. It was funny, though, because there was not really a big reaction at all when they did! I think all of the Spaniards must have been at home watching the game on their own TV’s! After the game, we went out to the waterfront area which is a crazy stretch of about 20 or so bars/clubs. It wasn’t too-too busy that night (surprising), but there were a lot of people out and about. We danced and hung out until about 3 AM or so. On the cab ride home, I jumped in the front in order to give the driver directions back to the pier. It was an awesome experience because my Spanish was as fluid as it’s ever been! I really had like a ten minute conversation with the driver completely in Spanish! (And we understood each other! Mostly. haha) I got out of the car and my friends (who were in the back and didn’t talk during the ride) were like, “Sarah! We didn’t know you could speak Spanish like that!” haha Honestly, neither did I! To put things into perspective - I am definitely not claiming to be fluent here, but it was nice to know that I remembered more Spanish than I thought I did!
The next day, we (Erin, Haley, Colleen, Greg, and I) woke up a little later then we had planned (about 11 am), grabbed an early lunch on the ship, and then took off for the main Renfe train station in Barcelona. With only a slight delay (we accidentally got on a train going in the opposite direction – whoops!), we hopped a train out to Villa Franca, a small town about an hour outside of Barcelona. I’m so glad that we had the time to do this. The little town was totally sleepy and cute and the train ride there was gorgeous. There were vineyards and farms and beautiful wineries all along the way. Once we got to our destination, we jumped into a few cabs and drove about 5 minutes to the Torres Vineyard. It was huge! I thought it would be this little place, but it was a giant complex with tons of production buildings as well as vast fields of grapes! The tour we took was quite extensive. We first watched a short documentary about the history of the vineyard and the family who owned it (with special ear plugs to hear it in English, of course). Then we walked into a sensory tunnel – which was a tunnel with an I-max type wall and ceiling showing views of nature in the four seasons. While this was happening, you also heard sounds of those seasons and music, but they were also pumping scents into the tunnel, so when you saw flowers on the wall and heard bees buzzing like they do in summer, you also SMELLED a beautiful floral scent. It was supposed to highlight the differences between the different flavors/scents a wine can have – oaky, musky, etc. Very cool, except it gave everyone a little bit of a headache. We took the rest of the tour in a tram – it was well coordinated and informational. We drove through the buildings and the cellars, and then went to the main building for a tasting – I think we tasted about 8 wines total. It was amazing. Everything was so delicious! After picking up a few bottles to take home, we headed back to Barcelona for dinner at this great restaurant called Inopia. I know I have already raved about the food, but seriously. This was seriously my best meal in Spain.
Again, it was counter seating, so I ended up sitting with Greg and Haley. We started with a bottle of Cava and then proceeded to order a ton of delicious tapas. We enjoyed little toasts with creamy cheese and salmon (sprinkled lightly with dill and drizzled with honey), a jamon (ham), cheese, and truffle sandwich that was even MORE delicious than the night before (if you can believe it), a meat pie, more pan con tomate, little skewers of chicken, and lightly friend eggplant with an AMAZING balsamic, fig, and molasses reduction. It was unbelievable – and I am definitely trying that eggplant dish out at home. We finished the meal with a few bites of caramel cake. As we were sitting there, we saw the cooks making a tomato and tuna dish that looked mouthwatering, so we ordered that too – after dessert! Finest meal in Barcelona, without question.
That night, we came back to ship at 1:00 AM, showered, then went back out at 1:30AM for some night-time fun. This, my friends, is where the exhaustion part comes in since we didn’t get back until 5 AM! It didn’t matter though that it was late and we had been out all day…I might have been tired, but there was no way I was missing out on my last night in Barcelona!
Our final day in port, we went out for churros con chocolate near the Cathedral and happened to walk by as an amazing acrobatic group was building a human pyramid (about 6 or 7 people high!). Apparently, they do that every Sunday. We also happened to see these dancers who are people from the community who gather outside each weekend to do a traditional dance in the square outside the Cathedral. Our timing was impeccable! Afterwards, we hopped a bus to Park Güell to see the famous area designed by Gaudi. It was really hot outside, but also a very cool place to visit. After that, we headed back to the ship to check in and prepare for our voyage to Italy!
Ahh…it was so hard to stand on the deck and watch us sail away from the first port of this voyage! I just had such a great visit and (as much as I am looking forward to Italy) I am not ready to go! The people, the language, the food, the culture, the history….there are so many reasons why I am fascinated with this country. Even though we are sailing away now, I feel like a little part of myself is still in Spain – and somehow I know that I’m not done with Spain yet! I don’t know when or why, but I know I’ll be back someday…and I can’t wait!
My visit to Barcelona can pretty much be summed up in two words: deliciousness and exhaustion. Please beware, this bog post contains a many descriptions of food, so sorry for those of you who find that to be redundant/boring! It happens to be one of my favorite things to think/talk about, so I have a feeling that might be the theme of more than one future post. : )
Something that I forgot to mention about the first day in Barcelona is the fantastic lunch that I had that day. We were in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona when we walked by this old, tavern-looking bar called Sagardi. At first it looked a little sketchy, but when we went inside it was very elegant. The inside of the restaurant had this long bar with platters and platters of piled with tapas! (Tapas, by the way, are just little bites of food.) At this restaurant, you ask for a plate at the bar and then just grab whatever you want to eat. Each bite is on a piece of bread with a toothpick in it – you leave your toothpicks on the plate and when you go to pay, the bartender just adds up how much you owe according to the number of toothpicks. I had delicious jamon, some soft cheese (reminded me of goat cheese, but can’t be sure), a mushroom croquette, and tortilla (potato and egg omelet). Yum…all of my favorite foods in one place!
Thursday night (the first night in Barcelona), I went to this AWESOME restaurant located semi-close to Placa Catalyuna. It’s customary in Spain to eat later, so we went around 10:30 pm. The restaurant was called Tapas 24 and we went there because one girl in my program, Haley, had eaten at a restaurant owned by the same chef and said it would probably be just as good. It was a small restaurant with mostly counter seating. Because we were such a big group (12 of us ended up going together from the ship) and the restaurant was so busy, the hostess sat us as there was space available in smaller groups. I ate with Erin and Haley, who take eating very seriously. So naturally, we all get along well. : ) My FAVORITE part of the night was that Haley, Erin and I sat at the bar (it was all bar seating) and got to watch the kitchen as they prepared the food and beverages. It was so cool.
The tapas that night were SO incredibly good. We ordered one delicious tapa after another – grilled buffalo mozzarella and truffle sandwiches, MORE croquettes, patatas bravas (fried potatoes with 2 sauces – creamy mayo and spicy tomato…omg!), lamb and chicken skewers, and more tortilla (of course!). My hands-down favorite item of the night, though, was pan con tomate, which is exactly what it sounds like – bread with tomato. There was one man in the kitchen whose only job was only to crank out dishes and dishes of the pan con tomate. It was fascinating! He just toasted the bread, cut a ripe tomato in half, rubbed the tomato on the bread, gave it a quick squirt of good Spanish olive oil, added a tiny pinch of salt and was on to the next batch before you knew it. I know it sounds so simple, but I am telling you it would NEVER taste that good when I make it at home. The pan-con-tomate man is a magician. ‘Nuff said.
The drinks that night also made that meal totally special. We started the meal with a bottle of red wine from a local region in Spain and we finished the meal with a pitcher of sangria made from cava (which is like Spanish champagne) as well as rum, brandy, and cointreau (orange liqueur). It was yellow and bubbly and tasted citrus-y. It was totally refreshing after a long, satisfying meal. Afterwards, we walked around the city and then, of course, there was dancing long into the night. Ah. Barcelona!
On Friday, I visited the University of Barcelona in the morning with my class. My professor Kathy and her partner, Keith, took us to one of the campuses in Barcelona. We weren’t able to have a tour, unfortunately, because we were there during their final exam period, but we walked all around the building/complex. The interior honestly reminded me of Hogwarts –it had grand staircases, huge tapestries and paintings on the walls, scary statues, and lofty ceilings. No moving pictures, though.
After the tour, I went with Greg and Colleen (2 other Student Affairs at Sea-ers) to check out El Corte Ingles, which is the main department store here (the “Macy’s” of Spain). We got some picnic food – a baguette, some good cheese, spicy Catalan sausage, and grapes and then ate outside in the Plaqa de Cataluña near the Font de Cataletes. Totally fun and relaxing afternoon.
Afterwards, we met up with more friends to tour the Sagrada Familia (“Holy Family” church) – one of the most beautiful places in the world (in my opinion!). The church itself is incomplete. It started being built in 1882 and construction continues today. It is one of the greatest works of the famous architect/artist Gaudi and is a symbol of the city, for sure! I visited this church when I was in Barcelona last, but it was cool to see the progress that they have made in the past two years! Mostly the interior was more complete than the last time I saw it. Although the pamphlet says that construction should be completed by 2030, some believe that it may not be finished in our lifetime. That’s weird to wrap my head around. It’s also cool that the funds from the tourists’ admission fees go directly to the continuing of the construction, so when you visit, you can feel as if you are becoming a part of the building process.
On Friday night there was a World Cup futbol (soccer) game between Spain and Chile. We watched it in a touristy tapas bar in Las Ramblas (the main pedestrian street), expecting there to be a big celebration when the Spanish team won. It was funny, though, because there was not really a big reaction at all when they did! I think all of the Spaniards must have been at home watching the game on their own TV’s! After the game, we went out to the waterfront area which is a crazy stretch of about 20 or so bars/clubs. It wasn’t too-too busy that night (surprising), but there were a lot of people out and about. We danced and hung out until about 3 AM or so. On the cab ride home, I jumped in the front in order to give the driver directions back to the pier. It was an awesome experience because my Spanish was as fluid as it’s ever been! I really had like a ten minute conversation with the driver completely in Spanish! (And we understood each other! Mostly. haha) I got out of the car and my friends (who were in the back and didn’t talk during the ride) were like, “Sarah! We didn’t know you could speak Spanish like that!” haha Honestly, neither did I! To put things into perspective - I am definitely not claiming to be fluent here, but it was nice to know that I remembered more Spanish than I thought I did!
The next day, we (Erin, Haley, Colleen, Greg, and I) woke up a little later then we had planned (about 11 am), grabbed an early lunch on the ship, and then took off for the main Renfe train station in Barcelona. With only a slight delay (we accidentally got on a train going in the opposite direction – whoops!), we hopped a train out to Villa Franca, a small town about an hour outside of Barcelona. I’m so glad that we had the time to do this. The little town was totally sleepy and cute and the train ride there was gorgeous. There were vineyards and farms and beautiful wineries all along the way. Once we got to our destination, we jumped into a few cabs and drove about 5 minutes to the Torres Vineyard. It was huge! I thought it would be this little place, but it was a giant complex with tons of production buildings as well as vast fields of grapes! The tour we took was quite extensive. We first watched a short documentary about the history of the vineyard and the family who owned it (with special ear plugs to hear it in English, of course). Then we walked into a sensory tunnel – which was a tunnel with an I-max type wall and ceiling showing views of nature in the four seasons. While this was happening, you also heard sounds of those seasons and music, but they were also pumping scents into the tunnel, so when you saw flowers on the wall and heard bees buzzing like they do in summer, you also SMELLED a beautiful floral scent. It was supposed to highlight the differences between the different flavors/scents a wine can have – oaky, musky, etc. Very cool, except it gave everyone a little bit of a headache. We took the rest of the tour in a tram – it was well coordinated and informational. We drove through the buildings and the cellars, and then went to the main building for a tasting – I think we tasted about 8 wines total. It was amazing. Everything was so delicious! After picking up a few bottles to take home, we headed back to Barcelona for dinner at this great restaurant called Inopia. I know I have already raved about the food, but seriously. This was seriously my best meal in Spain.
Again, it was counter seating, so I ended up sitting with Greg and Haley. We started with a bottle of Cava and then proceeded to order a ton of delicious tapas. We enjoyed little toasts with creamy cheese and salmon (sprinkled lightly with dill and drizzled with honey), a jamon (ham), cheese, and truffle sandwich that was even MORE delicious than the night before (if you can believe it), a meat pie, more pan con tomate, little skewers of chicken, and lightly friend eggplant with an AMAZING balsamic, fig, and molasses reduction. It was unbelievable – and I am definitely trying that eggplant dish out at home. We finished the meal with a few bites of caramel cake. As we were sitting there, we saw the cooks making a tomato and tuna dish that looked mouthwatering, so we ordered that too – after dessert! Finest meal in Barcelona, without question.
That night, we came back to ship at 1:00 AM, showered, then went back out at 1:30AM for some night-time fun. This, my friends, is where the exhaustion part comes in since we didn’t get back until 5 AM! It didn’t matter though that it was late and we had been out all day…I might have been tired, but there was no way I was missing out on my last night in Barcelona!
Our final day in port, we went out for churros con chocolate near the Cathedral and happened to walk by as an amazing acrobatic group was building a human pyramid (about 6 or 7 people high!). Apparently, they do that every Sunday. We also happened to see these dancers who are people from the community who gather outside each weekend to do a traditional dance in the square outside the Cathedral. Our timing was impeccable! Afterwards, we hopped a bus to Park Güell to see the famous area designed by Gaudi. It was really hot outside, but also a very cool place to visit. After that, we headed back to the ship to check in and prepare for our voyage to Italy!
Ahh…it was so hard to stand on the deck and watch us sail away from the first port of this voyage! I just had such a great visit and (as much as I am looking forward to Italy) I am not ready to go! The people, the language, the food, the culture, the history….there are so many reasons why I am fascinated with this country. Even though we are sailing away now, I feel like a little part of myself is still in Spain – and somehow I know that I’m not done with Spain yet! I don’t know when or why, but I know I’ll be back someday…and I can’t wait!
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