firenze~finally

that is my hostel! its called ostello archi rossi and its a bit too cool actually. its a huge place, and you always have to have your keys and check in with a lot of people all the time. its almost like we're only known by our numbers. but either way it is still very nice. free internet, webcams(which is used to take that picture), free breakfast, encouraged grafitti, and paintings of classic works of art, and other random paintings.

getting to florence was quite a bit of trouble. first the trains out of zurich were overbooked, then the heat in our car was broken, then rather than get on another overbooked train and stand for 3 hours we hopped on the closest one. ofcourse no one spoke english(another plus of switzerland, spriechen sie englisch!)- but a lot of people reassured us it would stop in firenze. BUT it was sort of broken, so we were waiting on that train for about an hour and a half before it left the station- slowly as well. we said ciao to milan, along with a crazyish old italian woman and a little boy that we befriended. he taught us some italian and was named massimo. we gave him paper and he drew pictures for us and everything was great. the old lady befriend the man and woman who were with him and we all sat in the same car. THEN THINGS CHANGED. he became a devil child. screaming at us, hitting and kicking, and he pulled my hair, then made fun of me. abra and i think he called us buttheads. he also kept taking more of our stuff and trying to throw it away. sometimes his parents(?) would scold him, or give him little slaps. but other times they were just in the corridor and we had to totally fend for ourselves. and none of them spoke any english. and the train kept stopping and being really slow. and it was ridiculous. the whole time we were unsure if it would actually stop in florence. when it finally did, it was at the wrong station so we had to catch another train to the right main station. and then we had to walk to our hostel.

but then we got to have a nice dinner, use the internet, and go to sleep. we woke up to free breakfast and rain. which lasted all day. my feet still feel soaked and cold. we saw david, the duomo, the baptistry, san lorenzo and the museum with the actual door panels of the baptistry.

unfortunately the ufizzi was closed, and it will be tomorrow as well. so our trip has been shifted(once again!). but it is all ok. we comforted ourselves with gelato!

we don't have real plans for new years yet, but i'm sure something fun will turn up. though we already got randomly acosted by a drunk italian who tried to give us a piece of plaster, and called us ugly. i just want to wish a happy new year to everyone who is reading this! i love you all!

i love switzerland!

getting out of paris was so much trouble, and when we finally got on the train to switzerland we were quite happy. the scenery on the way was great, very snowy yet beautiful. and there were many strange trees that i am quite enamored with. maybe someday i can have my own garden of odd european trees, but that may be too much money and trouble. so to solve that problem i will move to zurich.

ok, i know that sounds a bit drastic, but i am in love. in paris everyone hated us, and as we slowly got closer to switzerland everyone was nicer. even though things did not quite work out perfectly in basel(our first introduction to the country) there were actual timetables we could read for ourselves(unlike in paris...typing about it would stress me out) and free candy. also once we found the train we were able to just get on and people were actually friendly. everything was cute and pretty as well(still weird trees...YES!). also when we got to zurich people were helpful, even strangers on the street offered directions when we looked lost. and the "alley" that led to our hostel was really just a cool, cobbled, car-free, food and shopping conglomeration. though the hostel was up about 4 flights of stairs(UGH), there is a spaghetti factory restaurant below and later that night one of the cooks gave us free bread! also other hosteliers were always friendly, and usually interesting and mostly nice.

and beyond that there was:
a candy shop across the street
free tea at the hostel
an amazing vintage store that sold classically designed pieces we studied in 20th century design and it was also a hair salon!
a choclate factory(though closed, so just one more reason to go back)
all the public transportation was free, they never make you pay
AMAZING chocolate treats as well
1,026 fountains, all drinkable- i think that is enough drinking water even for me!
kunsthaus- an amazing art museum, with lots of FAMOUS artists and cool modern stuff, and no boring old stuff
a free MODERN art museum(small but cool!)
lots of nice walking places
a cool river and decorations
2 awesome gothic cathedrals(and i love me some gothic cathedrals) they are called fraumunster and grossmunster and both have giacommetti stained glass windows and the fraumunster has amazing ones by marc chagall
also umlats are everywhere(i should have used ones over the u's above, but i am in florence now so i dont know how to find them.
i could probably go on and on, but i am very tired because actually leaving switzerland and getting to florence was my worst ever trainday, which is just another reason i should have stayed!
happy new year's eve eve (that is especially for dave! much better e-mail, though a bit short)
and i will write tomorrow!

abra and i find each other...in paris

christmas with the walshes was great! such nice people- dave and i taught his family "little sally walker" so that was a bit silly, but all in good fun! the weather the whole time i was there was spectacular as well, very mild and sunny!

ofcourse now i am in paris and the weather is... bipolar would actually describe it well. but yesterday after much, much, MUCH not finding each other or the right places- abra and i arrived at our hostel, got food, and then planned the rest of our europelandtrip (as well as our future hostel/bookstore/haven; you all will have to visit, you will get a discount!) but this morning we awoke to clouds, left the hostel to rain THEN after getting some tea there was hail; then we popped into a candy shop( photos are my #1 goal, cathedrals are #2, but candy is #3!). ofcourse then there was snow. but after leaving notre dame we exited to sunshine. though still chilly!
ah; i'm out of internet time and abra and i must depart for dinner and our last night in pareeeeeè

belfast, dublin, dundrum, newcastle

ok, so i've gotten a lot done since i last got the chance to write! right now i am sitting at dave's computer in his actual house in dundrum, we got here today. i really have been pretty lucky with the weather! everyone has said so. on wednesday dave, his friend netta and i took a bus tour of belfast. i got some great pictures, and it was very interesting. even though our tourguide told us all about the troubles and bombings (and also how much it would cost to live in each neighborhood) she also informed us that belfast is the 2nd safest city in the world (tokoyo is #1) and this is according to some world wide organization. so anyone who was worried or who had ever read europe on a shoestring, no more fears!


on thursday we took a ride down to dublin. we slept the whole way down, but when we got there random people on the streets gave us mulled wine, minced pies and crackers. and it was 'quarter 11' as dave would say. so we walked over to the spike. and now i will clear up all the lingo- minced pies are good, and there is no meat in it! crackers are not food, they're these things you pull each side of, and mine had a small hairbrush inside of is, as well as a joke so bad i can't even recall it. we had a fun day walking around the city. oh i guess now is a good time to mention the disaster that is my camera. i tried to take a million film pictures, but something screwed up and the film dislodged from the case, and was all spooled on the far side. so i have about 10 pictures of dublin. but its ok! we also had 'probably the best coffee in dublin' and went by the national library. it was cool, but mostly because i love libraries. on the bus ride back we talked to some awesome kids, who i do have some great quotes from- ask me when you see me :)




today we drove to dundrum, where dave lives- and its breathtaking. the mountains are so close! we're going there tomorrow. but today we went to the castle that is basically in dave's backyard! and then to the irish sea, which is in his front. well ok, not all connected to his house, but within about 7 minutes at most walking. and all in eyesight. and then we went to newcastle, which is closer to the sea, and the sky was miraculous, i took a million pictures of the clouds and the sun streaming over the mountains.




well i am quite beat, so it is time for bed. i am having a great time, and i miss and love you all very much (especially you mom, if you're reading this, which you should be, and you should also comment!) tomorrow the mountains and a walk and more pictures, then christmas, then paris. then who knows! ahhh!

the importance of being irish

well i've arrived safe and sound. pretty tired though, lots of traveling- commuter rail, T, airport shuttle, planeing and deplaning, buses, more planes, carrides, etc. but now i am in the geography department of Queens, the 5th building we found. it was sort of fun sneaking into it though, but it turns out we're able to use it. so all is well.
i got a driving tour of belfast when we got a bit lost, but the buildings all look very cool. there was a sculpture outside of dave's school where a man blows fire every few minutes. i'll try and get a picture of it!
i sort of talked to two annoying americans, so my overall goal is to not be one of them- so far so good, i hope!
the views from my plane rides were amazing, i saw a great sunrise this morning! the weather in ireland is actually much nicer than it was in london, and i would say nicer than in boston/worcester as well!
ok- well i also wanted to thank all the kids at brandeis for being so welcoming, and letting me tag along and get all wrapped up in their lives!

g'bye clark, 'ello brandeis

well i'm at brandeis! packing was pretty rushed, cause of the power outage we had last night. but i made it here with everything i needed, probably a few things i don't need. but thats expected and pretty much okay.
now i just have to help abra pack and spend all of her points at the c-store. we're also going to some sort of chrismakkah party. as long as there is cider i'll be happy!

i still have a million christmas songs stuck in my head, but robyn and i sang some while we rode the T. saying good bye to everybody at clark was crazy, and if i didn't get to see you i'm sorry! but we'll be together again at some point! so happy travels and breaks and holidays to all!

getting ready to get ready

in exactly one week i will be in belfast, but right now i am still sitting in my room. it almost seems as if i will never move from my bed. though hopefully in a few days i'll be at brandeis.

i realized that while traveling for the next month, i may not do a great job of writing in a journal about my trip, and i should maybe set something else up. i also decided that this would be a good way to let others know how my trip went- or is going!

so i am in the process of getting out of here- but what i still have left to do feels like a lot. besides the school work (a paper), i have to clean and pack and get things organized as well as iron out some last minute travel plans and find all the places i need to make sure i go while in each city. but rather than actually DOING any of it, i am just thinking about it.
....or writing about it.