This post is a bit belated and does not mention my current inability to get back to England thanks to Iceland and its stupid volcano! Off to Madrid for a few days and trying to catch a train to Paris then bus to London...ahhh!
For the first time since I've been in Europe, I got off of the train station in Naples and was completely underwhelmed. Not entirely sure why Naples gets built up as such a tourist destination (or how I got the impressions I had of it) but the reality is that the streets are rather dirty, littered with grafitti and there is a complete lack of the charm that has made the rest of Italy so wonderful. The dodgy walk to the hostel kept us all on our toes for what we thought as an imminent attack. Upon our arrival at the acclaimed hostel known as "Giovanni's House" which has recently been rated the world's best hostel, a lot of our perceptions changed. We walked in the door to find a nice old man that greeted us with glasses of water and had us all sit around his small computer desk. We got settled, he pulled out a map, a few books and proceeded to give us a description of everything Naples had to offer complete with history, pictures and crime statistics. Turns out that, contrary to popular perceptions, Naples is actually one of the least dangerous places in Italy due to the prescence of the mafia. Armed with 5 colors of highlighters, Giovanni mapped out a tour and showed us pictures of all the things to see in the city of Naples. We all just sat there with smiles on our faces, unable to believe the wonderful hospitality of the hostel owner when compared to some of the places we have stayed in the past. It was also funny how he didn't hesitate to frown upon many of the places around Naples to attempt to sway us to stay within the city. He called the Amolfi Coast, famous for its gorgeous cliffs, villages and tourism just "water and rocks," which, according to Giovanni you could find anywhere: "Naples is a beautiful city." After his historical presentation, he called and made reservations for us at what he called "the best pizza place in Naples" - it should also be noted that pizza was invented there so we had to go try it! After the pizza and calzones we all had, it was hard to not believe Giovanni about his reccomendations. To top off the evening, he brought chocolate around for all of us before bed..what a guy!
For our first full day in Naples, our group split up with a few people to head to the island of Capri just of the Naples coast and a few of us to make an attempt to do the tour Giovanni had given us. The things he told us to do weren't quite as cool as we had built them up to be after his speech but spending the day outside in gorgeous weather and spending a few hours tanning totally made up for. Not to mention we bought a real cheap little soccer ball and showed off our lack of talent in various public spaces around the city. Coming back to the hostel in early afternoon and spending some time relaxing and reading on Gio's rooftop balcony was just what the doctor ordered for me after a week of hiking and travelling. He even greeting us with home made spaghetti pie when we all returned for our day's explorations! The night concluded with another pizza run and a good night sleep since we had to get up real early to head off to Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii.
After a short train ride, the first thing on our list was to hike up the volcanno infamous for destroying, and in turn, perserving Pompeii. We got a rather unsteady van about 3/4 way up the summit then set off on foot to the crater. Vesuvius isn't really a lava volcanno but looking into an active crater is still a pretty cool experience. More incredible than the mountain itself were the panoramic views of the surrounding area and the deep blues and greens of the Sea. Positively glorious! A barrage of pictures later, we hiked back down, got on the train and headed south towards Pompeii. Keeping pace with our usual quota of 1 travel mishap per city and end up going backwards before we could get there but it was all in good fun and we made the best of it. Pompeii itself isn't much for exciting to blog about however it was really awesome to see. So much of the city is preserved that you can pretty easily imagine what life used to be like for the great Roman city before the infamous volcano. Remains of the entire city are pretty intact instead of just monumental structures like in Rome or Athens so you can distinguish between the different dynamics that make up a city as a whole. With a map in hand and a little book that gives a brief description of each site we made our own sort of walking tour by having someone read the information outloud as we went. Like I said, not much to write about but still a great day.
From Pompeii we headed back to Giovanni's to grab out stuff, bid him farwell and thank him for the wonderful hospitality. To the train station we went where we hopped on a train for Rome! Of course, our train got delayed almost an hour but we were so excited it didn't much matter. We arrived in Rome three hours later, checked in, and immediately went out to check out the city at night passing by Treviso Founain and the Coloseum, both of which were absolutely glorious all lit up! It would only be the beginning of a few wonderful days :)
Just relaxing in my hostel in Athens at the moment, wishing I had another week here or on the islands. It may just be infatuation but I dare say I am in love with this place after only two days! If nothing else, I now have a wonderful excuse to come back when I have a bit more disposable income...if anybody wants in just let me kno :) I also can't believe that I head back to London in a few short days, maybe even before this gets posted. What a trip it has been!
Talk to everyone soon :)
Cheers,
Patrick
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Chillin in the Home of the Renaissance - Florence
My initial views of the beautiful city of Florence were a bit negative due to the downpour we arrived into and the decrepid state of our hostel, the "David Inn." We arrived at the hostel soaking wet despite umbrellas and raincoats to be checked in by a gangly looking Italian man with one large sideburn. We were trying to stay positive about it but the fact that there was one sink, one toilet and one shower for the 20 people there was absolutely horrible. Moreover, upon showing us around, our less than gracious host introduced the entire kitchen as 'broken.' How the hell is the entire kitchen broken? Nonetheless, we had two days there so we tried to make the best of it.
After another instance as the proverbial 'loud Americans' at an authentic Italian pizzeria, the next day greeted us with sunshine and a laundry list of thins to do and see. Florence is unlike any other city I have every been to. All of the architecture, from the size of the buildings to the classic terra cotta tile roofs give the entire Florence area an unparalleled sense of togetherness and unity. Even the gigantic Duomo at the center of the city holds the traditional color scheme while acting as the center piece for a city most well known for its intellectual role during the Renaissance. Walking around the streets of Florence can be somewhat overwhelming if you sit down and think about what you're doing - just imagining the people that walked through the same streets can be baffling. Notable Florentine inhabitants were not just celebrities but those who helped make the discoveries that shaped the world we live in.
Us guys met up with a group of girls from USC who are also studying in London and got in line to hike up the winding, narrow steps of the Duomo to get a birds eye view of the city. I spent the majority of the clime ducking and thankful that I was skinny. The builders of the dome were clearly under 5'10" and rather fit. Regardless of who they were, it still baffles me how such an enormous and gradiose structure was built by anyone over 500 years ago. Absolutely incredible. The view from the top gave a few of the city that really did its part to try and take your breath away. Again, I strongly adivse anyone to take 30 seconds and run a google search, it will be completely worth your time! For the rest of the day we all wandered the streets and outdoor markets, taking in the sights as we went. We made sure to head towards the Palazzo Vecchio, a large public square and Medici palace filled with some of the most impressive sculptures I have ever seen. There was also Ponte Vecchio, a nearby bridge which is covered with shops and houses similar to London Bridge a few hundred years ago. To end the day we found or selves some cheap bottles of wine and headed up to the Piazza Michealangelo which sat upon a hill south of the river giving a brilliant panoramic view of the city. We spent more than an hour up there passing bottles and watching the sun set. Normally, I dont consider going out to dinner a particularly notable occasion but we managed to find a place that gave unlimited amounts of free wine with dinner to student groups :) Lets just say we took advantage of it - Thank you Pizzaria Dante!
On our last day in Florence we tourned the world famous Uffizi Gallery and its beautiful collection of Renaissance art from some of the most notable artists in world history. Aside from that we took some time to enjoy the gorgeous day before hoping on our train down to Naples where our adventure would continue. I am currently in the last few hours of my ferry adventure (as of when I'm writing this, not when it will be posted) from Italy to Greece and excited to get into Athens for the evening. Along the way I have met a wonderful Australian couple taking a 3.5 month tour of the world who have been kind enough to buy me a few beers and breakfast :)
More to come and I promise I will put up pictures eventually! Hope all is well with everyone and I'll be in touch with a great deal of you once I get back to the UK :)
Cheers,
Patrick
After another instance as the proverbial 'loud Americans' at an authentic Italian pizzeria, the next day greeted us with sunshine and a laundry list of thins to do and see. Florence is unlike any other city I have every been to. All of the architecture, from the size of the buildings to the classic terra cotta tile roofs give the entire Florence area an unparalleled sense of togetherness and unity. Even the gigantic Duomo at the center of the city holds the traditional color scheme while acting as the center piece for a city most well known for its intellectual role during the Renaissance. Walking around the streets of Florence can be somewhat overwhelming if you sit down and think about what you're doing - just imagining the people that walked through the same streets can be baffling. Notable Florentine inhabitants were not just celebrities but those who helped make the discoveries that shaped the world we live in.
Us guys met up with a group of girls from USC who are also studying in London and got in line to hike up the winding, narrow steps of the Duomo to get a birds eye view of the city. I spent the majority of the clime ducking and thankful that I was skinny. The builders of the dome were clearly under 5'10" and rather fit. Regardless of who they were, it still baffles me how such an enormous and gradiose structure was built by anyone over 500 years ago. Absolutely incredible. The view from the top gave a few of the city that really did its part to try and take your breath away. Again, I strongly adivse anyone to take 30 seconds and run a google search, it will be completely worth your time! For the rest of the day we all wandered the streets and outdoor markets, taking in the sights as we went. We made sure to head towards the Palazzo Vecchio, a large public square and Medici palace filled with some of the most impressive sculptures I have ever seen. There was also Ponte Vecchio, a nearby bridge which is covered with shops and houses similar to London Bridge a few hundred years ago. To end the day we found or selves some cheap bottles of wine and headed up to the Piazza Michealangelo which sat upon a hill south of the river giving a brilliant panoramic view of the city. We spent more than an hour up there passing bottles and watching the sun set. Normally, I dont consider going out to dinner a particularly notable occasion but we managed to find a place that gave unlimited amounts of free wine with dinner to student groups :) Lets just say we took advantage of it - Thank you Pizzaria Dante!
On our last day in Florence we tourned the world famous Uffizi Gallery and its beautiful collection of Renaissance art from some of the most notable artists in world history. Aside from that we took some time to enjoy the gorgeous day before hoping on our train down to Naples where our adventure would continue. I am currently in the last few hours of my ferry adventure (as of when I'm writing this, not when it will be posted) from Italy to Greece and excited to get into Athens for the evening. Along the way I have met a wonderful Australian couple taking a 3.5 month tour of the world who have been kind enough to buy me a few beers and breakfast :)
More to come and I promise I will put up pictures eventually! Hope all is well with everyone and I'll be in touch with a great deal of you once I get back to the UK :)
Cheers,
Patrick
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Cinque Terre National Park - The Hike of a Lifetime!
This entry is still a bit dated but I'm catching up :) Sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes...I'm without spellcheck!
Although I had a great couple of days with random folks in Genoa, it was good to be with a gang again and headed off to the Cinque Terre National Park on the northwest coast of Italy. The park consists of cliffside paths that wind between five seperate villages that are embedded into the clifs and are about as quintessentially Italian as anything can get. I didn't really know much about the place myself but I had heard such good things that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to make the hike. Our plan was to hike from the first village to the third village where we would spend a night at the hostel there and then finish the last two villages and catch a short train to Florence to continue the adventure. The weather wasn't perfect when we arrived which, at first, seemed rather unfortunate. The opinions about the clouds quickly changed when we found ourselves hiking up at least 500 uneven and skinny steps to get our way up the cliff side with 35 pound backpacks on! I soon realized that I am not exactly in the best shape of my life. Regardless, it felt great to be out hiking and in the outdoors again. Not to mention, the views of the sea and the mountains we were hiking were absolutely incredible. Even if you were tired and sweating the idea of what the next corner could hold always kept us going. Plus, with our group there were never a lack of picture stops so we were always somewhat rested.
Complimenting the hikes, the time we got to spend in each of the small little seaside villages will not soon be forgotten. Each village seemed to take you back about 20 or 30 years when things were more simple and life was good all of the time (at least in theory). The old square buildings shone brightly in pastel shades of yellow, pink and orange. Without exception green shutters lined every window and closelines were filled with the days laundry. The cobble stone alleys zig-zagged back and forth inbetween a plethora of small shops, gelaterias and pizza places. The locals were some of the most friendly people I have ever met, embracing the large amounts of tourism the get and eager to help out a lost traveller looking for a good lunch or the direction to the next village. I do not have anywhere near the amount of literary skill or descriptive ability to do the villages justice and I highly reccomend that anyone who reads this does a quick Google search for "Cinque Terre"- you will not be dissapointed, I promise!
Between the second and third village, we ran into a few American girls who were on spring break from Barcelona. We shared a few laughs and broke into a few verses of KC and Jojo songs along the hike. Unfortunately, when one girl from Texas Tech tried to tell us about how her school had made a remix of Soulja Boy into "Crank that Crabtree" for their famous RUNNING BACK..we could hold a serious conversation for the remander of the hike haha! It felt great to arrive at the third village towards the end of the afternoon. A long day of hiking seemed like a perfect excuse to pig out on gelato and get an authentic Italian pizza! We also made sure to grab a few bottles of cheap local wine and some Lemoncello, a thick lemon liquor, as if we needed any more assistance in passing out after a long day of strenuous hiking and laughing.
Day two of hiking was supposed to be much less strenuous than the first and we had planned on arriving in Florence by mid to late afternoon. That plan quickly changed when we ended up taking the wrong path from the 4th to the 5th village turning a 20 min hike along the coast into a 2 hour quest up a mountain. It really wouldn't have taken so long but while hiking down into a valley we came across the Sandlot of soccer fields situated 100 feet below a mountain overpass on on the side of a cliff. The field wasn't in great shape but was littered with cones, soccer balls and had two perfectly good goals that proved it had been used recently. Almost simultaneous the inner child of us all ran down into the field, dropped our packs like bags of rocks and started our attempts at playing soccer. The place was so magical, straight out of a movie - it was like the clouds opened up and a ray of sunlight shone on this little field calling us to it for a pick up game even though we are so terrible at the game that the field stands for. We quickly named the playing surface the "Field of Dreams" and spent over an hour there having shootouts and playing 2 on 2, all of us giddy with excitement. We pretended to be famous footballers, pretended to be decent and completely forgot about any of our plans to get to Florence. Like the rest of the Cinque Terre, our little moment is sort of hard to put into words but the time we spend at the "Field of Dreams" really encapsulated everything sports are supposed to be about.
Eventually we did finish the hike and caught a train to Firenza (Florence). On the way we realized we were going to be stopping through Pisa and, in the name of the stereotypical leaning tower picture, we decided to make a stop. The lady working the train told us to get off on the South Pisa stop, so we did. Immediately after stepping off the train it seemed like we had landed in one of the biggest shitholes in Italy. We knew essentially nothing about Pisa but decided that we must've been supposed to get off at Pisa Centrale. Right before we were about to hop back on the train, a random traveller from Texas informed us that we were, in fact, only about 10 minutes walk from the infamous leaning tower. Thankful that we didn't get back on the train we headed towards the tower to take 20 mintues worth of photos and be on our way. 20 minutes quickly turned into 30 and became accompanied by a great deal of rain that we had no way to get out of. We then remembered that we had a train to catch in about 6 mintues, and, after some deliberation, all took off in dead sprints back towards the train station. Dripping wet, exhausted from a half mile sprint with 30 pound backpacks and rather miserable we just made it back to the platform before the train departed for Florence! Getting out of the rain quickly changed all of our moods towards our little adventure and we all broke out in laugher, deeming our sprint the "escape from Pisa!" Another memory that will not soon be forgotten!
I am currently on an overnight ferry from Italy to Greece and can barely keep my eyes open so I will leave Florence for a future date. The story about how I got on this ferry is absolutely ridiculous itself, I can't hardly believe it! All of these things will be coming soon as I still struggle to catch up with the blog. It is surreal that today was my last day in Italy, it went so so fast!
Like always, I hope everyone is doing as well as possible with school and life in general. I'm real sad I can't make Mifflin this year so I need everyone to pitch in and drink the 20 or so beers I would've planned on consuming :) If everyone pulls together I don't think it will be a problem hehe.
Until next time, stay in touch and I will be tryign to call a bunch of people when I get back into London to do some much needed caching up!
Cheers,
Patrick
Although I had a great couple of days with random folks in Genoa, it was good to be with a gang again and headed off to the Cinque Terre National Park on the northwest coast of Italy. The park consists of cliffside paths that wind between five seperate villages that are embedded into the clifs and are about as quintessentially Italian as anything can get. I didn't really know much about the place myself but I had heard such good things that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to make the hike. Our plan was to hike from the first village to the third village where we would spend a night at the hostel there and then finish the last two villages and catch a short train to Florence to continue the adventure. The weather wasn't perfect when we arrived which, at first, seemed rather unfortunate. The opinions about the clouds quickly changed when we found ourselves hiking up at least 500 uneven and skinny steps to get our way up the cliff side with 35 pound backpacks on! I soon realized that I am not exactly in the best shape of my life. Regardless, it felt great to be out hiking and in the outdoors again. Not to mention, the views of the sea and the mountains we were hiking were absolutely incredible. Even if you were tired and sweating the idea of what the next corner could hold always kept us going. Plus, with our group there were never a lack of picture stops so we were always somewhat rested.
Complimenting the hikes, the time we got to spend in each of the small little seaside villages will not soon be forgotten. Each village seemed to take you back about 20 or 30 years when things were more simple and life was good all of the time (at least in theory). The old square buildings shone brightly in pastel shades of yellow, pink and orange. Without exception green shutters lined every window and closelines were filled with the days laundry. The cobble stone alleys zig-zagged back and forth inbetween a plethora of small shops, gelaterias and pizza places. The locals were some of the most friendly people I have ever met, embracing the large amounts of tourism the get and eager to help out a lost traveller looking for a good lunch or the direction to the next village. I do not have anywhere near the amount of literary skill or descriptive ability to do the villages justice and I highly reccomend that anyone who reads this does a quick Google search for "Cinque Terre"- you will not be dissapointed, I promise!
Between the second and third village, we ran into a few American girls who were on spring break from Barcelona. We shared a few laughs and broke into a few verses of KC and Jojo songs along the hike. Unfortunately, when one girl from Texas Tech tried to tell us about how her school had made a remix of Soulja Boy into "Crank that Crabtree" for their famous RUNNING BACK..we could hold a serious conversation for the remander of the hike haha! It felt great to arrive at the third village towards the end of the afternoon. A long day of hiking seemed like a perfect excuse to pig out on gelato and get an authentic Italian pizza! We also made sure to grab a few bottles of cheap local wine and some Lemoncello, a thick lemon liquor, as if we needed any more assistance in passing out after a long day of strenuous hiking and laughing.
Day two of hiking was supposed to be much less strenuous than the first and we had planned on arriving in Florence by mid to late afternoon. That plan quickly changed when we ended up taking the wrong path from the 4th to the 5th village turning a 20 min hike along the coast into a 2 hour quest up a mountain. It really wouldn't have taken so long but while hiking down into a valley we came across the Sandlot of soccer fields situated 100 feet below a mountain overpass on on the side of a cliff. The field wasn't in great shape but was littered with cones, soccer balls and had two perfectly good goals that proved it had been used recently. Almost simultaneous the inner child of us all ran down into the field, dropped our packs like bags of rocks and started our attempts at playing soccer. The place was so magical, straight out of a movie - it was like the clouds opened up and a ray of sunlight shone on this little field calling us to it for a pick up game even though we are so terrible at the game that the field stands for. We quickly named the playing surface the "Field of Dreams" and spent over an hour there having shootouts and playing 2 on 2, all of us giddy with excitement. We pretended to be famous footballers, pretended to be decent and completely forgot about any of our plans to get to Florence. Like the rest of the Cinque Terre, our little moment is sort of hard to put into words but the time we spend at the "Field of Dreams" really encapsulated everything sports are supposed to be about.
Eventually we did finish the hike and caught a train to Firenza (Florence). On the way we realized we were going to be stopping through Pisa and, in the name of the stereotypical leaning tower picture, we decided to make a stop. The lady working the train told us to get off on the South Pisa stop, so we did. Immediately after stepping off the train it seemed like we had landed in one of the biggest shitholes in Italy. We knew essentially nothing about Pisa but decided that we must've been supposed to get off at Pisa Centrale. Right before we were about to hop back on the train, a random traveller from Texas informed us that we were, in fact, only about 10 minutes walk from the infamous leaning tower. Thankful that we didn't get back on the train we headed towards the tower to take 20 mintues worth of photos and be on our way. 20 minutes quickly turned into 30 and became accompanied by a great deal of rain that we had no way to get out of. We then remembered that we had a train to catch in about 6 mintues, and, after some deliberation, all took off in dead sprints back towards the train station. Dripping wet, exhausted from a half mile sprint with 30 pound backpacks and rather miserable we just made it back to the platform before the train departed for Florence! Getting out of the rain quickly changed all of our moods towards our little adventure and we all broke out in laugher, deeming our sprint the "escape from Pisa!" Another memory that will not soon be forgotten!
I am currently on an overnight ferry from Italy to Greece and can barely keep my eyes open so I will leave Florence for a future date. The story about how I got on this ferry is absolutely ridiculous itself, I can't hardly believe it! All of these things will be coming soon as I still struggle to catch up with the blog. It is surreal that today was my last day in Italy, it went so so fast!
Like always, I hope everyone is doing as well as possible with school and life in general. I'm real sad I can't make Mifflin this year so I need everyone to pitch in and drink the 20 or so beers I would've planned on consuming :) If everyone pulls together I don't think it will be a problem hehe.
Until next time, stay in touch and I will be tryign to call a bunch of people when I get back into London to do some much needed caching up!
Cheers,
Patrick
Saturday, April 10, 2010
The Italian Adventure Begins - A few days in Genoa
Greetings from Italy! Taking it back a few weeks to the beginning of my journey as I attempt to keep up with this.
Bright and early Tuesday morning I left London and headed to the airport to begin my 20 day adventure in Italy/Greece. I decided to leave before the guys I was with in London because by going on Tuesday afternoon instead of Friday my plane ticket to Genoa costed $12 instead of about $100. I figured a few days to relax in Italy couldn't possibly be bad. Having left a slow and steady rain, I couldn't wait to touch down on the Western Italian coastal city of Genoa, a major port city with, as I would later find out, a great deal of history. Unfortunately I was greeted by worse weather than when I left - just my luck!. Not only did I have to find my way to the hostel in the pouring rain but there was a midly serious thunderstorm for the first 3 hours I was there so I found myself stuck inside trying to keep myself busy. Fortunately MTV had some songs in English mixed in with the Italian versions of South Park and Scrubs. The sun eventually came out giving me some time to explore the rolling hills of the beautiful city of Genoa. With a population of 630,000 the city runs along a few miles of coast line and then is terraced along the hillside effectively fitting the city's inhabitants into a relatively small space. I really had no expectactions when I arrived so to see Genoa's beautiful pastel buildings and craggy coastline made me really excited to explore the next day.
While lying in bed reading in my hostel the first night, a slightly older guy came in for the evening who was stopping in Genoa on his way around Italy. We got to talking a bit and decided that we would walk our way down the winding roads towards the city center together in the morning. We winded our ways in an out of Genoa's quintessentially Italian alley ways, shared stories and talked about many rather significant issues. Turns out he was born in a very Catholic, Pleasantville-like, town in central Pennslyvania before moving to Mexico with his parents at a young age. He went to college in Mexico and then moved to Morocco where he has been teaching English for quite some time and converted religions to Islam in order to marry his wife of nine years. We were so busy talking and exploring the historic sites of Genoa that we didn't even exchange names until we hiked around for 6 hours! From religion to politics, international relations, current events and Wisconsin demographics we really talked about every topic under the sun. Turns out Nathan had been to about 70 countries and over 600 cities in his lifetime - absolutely incredible guy to spend a day with. I really learned a lot and expanded my horizons during our hike south along the Italian coast which ended up going for 12 hours and over 15 miles before we decided to take a train home. We really just kept going on the coast and never once failed to be astonished by the views we would come across. All in all, we hiked out of Genoa's city limits and to 3 other villages. Although I don't always like travelling alone, meeting cool people and doing these sort of thigns really makes me enjoy it!
Nathan and I exchanged email addresses and the next morning he was gone before I got up. Fortunately for me I found an equally interesting traveller from South Africa named Sean to venture with the next day. He had just graduated from a college a few hours west of Cape Town with a degree in business and was looking to take a few months off before heading into the working world. He was making a stop in Genoa on his way to a major port city in the south of Spain where he was looking to work on a yacht for the summer. What an incredibly cool way to spend a summer galavanting around on a multi-million dollar private yacht with all of your expenses paid and a free pass to see the world! We spent some of the day looking around the harbor so Sean could try to find a boat his friend was working on that he thought docked in Genoa the previous day. To no avail we eventually ended up looking at some parts of the city that Nathan and I had skipped the previous day to venture down the coast. Just like the day before, we talked about anything and everything under the sun and used each other as direct sources for information about each others' cultures. Having studied South Africa a bit, I always find it enjoyable to get "inside information" so to speak on the current political and socioeconomic situations. After finding a cheap lunch at a local indoor market that involved half a chicken and a roll to make a gigantic chicken sandwhich for 3 Euro, we went back up to the hostel for a nap so we could go see if there was any nightlife on a Thursday in Genoa. There most definitely was not and we ended up wandering around looking for a cheap pizza before catching a bus back up to the hostel. The bus ride home ended up getting invaded by a group of 40 or so secondary school students from Lisbon who were on their way to Florence and Rome for an art history trip. Must be a hell of a way to learn to actually go see the works of Titan, da Vinci, Michelangelo etc. instead of just having to ponder them in a text book.
Finally on my third day in Genoa the sun decided to come out and I headed to the harbor to get a tan before the rest of the gang from London got into town for the day. I used my previous few days knowledge to give them a tour of the notable parts of the city before we all headed to our bed and breakfast early so we could get up and catch an 8 o'clock train to the our next stop, the Cinque Terre National Park for two days of hiking the Italian Riveria! It was good to see familiar faces again but I had an amazing time in Genoa thanks to Nathan and Sean. Yet another series of eye opening experiences thanks to travelling. I may never see either of those guys again but I will definitely hold on to all of the things I learned from the conversations. What a wonderful beginning to my Italian adventure :)
Still trying to catch up with these posts and am a few cities behind but I am trying my best for those who are interested in what I am doing. I am also trying to find time to post pictures on Fbook soon because I really can't properly describe the grandeur of a lot of these places properly with words.
I hope everyone is adjusting back to the grind of school after SB and is getting ready for the home stretch...I can't believe that we will be seniors next year! Anyways, keep in touch and I'll try to reconnect with everyone when the travels slow down in a week or two. Until then I am currently on a train to Rome and will be headed to Athens on Tuesday I believe :)
Stay in touch and more will come in the near future :) Sorry for grammar mistakes!
Cheers,
Patrick
Bright and early Tuesday morning I left London and headed to the airport to begin my 20 day adventure in Italy/Greece. I decided to leave before the guys I was with in London because by going on Tuesday afternoon instead of Friday my plane ticket to Genoa costed $12 instead of about $100. I figured a few days to relax in Italy couldn't possibly be bad. Having left a slow and steady rain, I couldn't wait to touch down on the Western Italian coastal city of Genoa, a major port city with, as I would later find out, a great deal of history. Unfortunately I was greeted by worse weather than when I left - just my luck!. Not only did I have to find my way to the hostel in the pouring rain but there was a midly serious thunderstorm for the first 3 hours I was there so I found myself stuck inside trying to keep myself busy. Fortunately MTV had some songs in English mixed in with the Italian versions of South Park and Scrubs. The sun eventually came out giving me some time to explore the rolling hills of the beautiful city of Genoa. With a population of 630,000 the city runs along a few miles of coast line and then is terraced along the hillside effectively fitting the city's inhabitants into a relatively small space. I really had no expectactions when I arrived so to see Genoa's beautiful pastel buildings and craggy coastline made me really excited to explore the next day.
While lying in bed reading in my hostel the first night, a slightly older guy came in for the evening who was stopping in Genoa on his way around Italy. We got to talking a bit and decided that we would walk our way down the winding roads towards the city center together in the morning. We winded our ways in an out of Genoa's quintessentially Italian alley ways, shared stories and talked about many rather significant issues. Turns out he was born in a very Catholic, Pleasantville-like, town in central Pennslyvania before moving to Mexico with his parents at a young age. He went to college in Mexico and then moved to Morocco where he has been teaching English for quite some time and converted religions to Islam in order to marry his wife of nine years. We were so busy talking and exploring the historic sites of Genoa that we didn't even exchange names until we hiked around for 6 hours! From religion to politics, international relations, current events and Wisconsin demographics we really talked about every topic under the sun. Turns out Nathan had been to about 70 countries and over 600 cities in his lifetime - absolutely incredible guy to spend a day with. I really learned a lot and expanded my horizons during our hike south along the Italian coast which ended up going for 12 hours and over 15 miles before we decided to take a train home. We really just kept going on the coast and never once failed to be astonished by the views we would come across. All in all, we hiked out of Genoa's city limits and to 3 other villages. Although I don't always like travelling alone, meeting cool people and doing these sort of thigns really makes me enjoy it!
Nathan and I exchanged email addresses and the next morning he was gone before I got up. Fortunately for me I found an equally interesting traveller from South Africa named Sean to venture with the next day. He had just graduated from a college a few hours west of Cape Town with a degree in business and was looking to take a few months off before heading into the working world. He was making a stop in Genoa on his way to a major port city in the south of Spain where he was looking to work on a yacht for the summer. What an incredibly cool way to spend a summer galavanting around on a multi-million dollar private yacht with all of your expenses paid and a free pass to see the world! We spent some of the day looking around the harbor so Sean could try to find a boat his friend was working on that he thought docked in Genoa the previous day. To no avail we eventually ended up looking at some parts of the city that Nathan and I had skipped the previous day to venture down the coast. Just like the day before, we talked about anything and everything under the sun and used each other as direct sources for information about each others' cultures. Having studied South Africa a bit, I always find it enjoyable to get "inside information" so to speak on the current political and socioeconomic situations. After finding a cheap lunch at a local indoor market that involved half a chicken and a roll to make a gigantic chicken sandwhich for 3 Euro, we went back up to the hostel for a nap so we could go see if there was any nightlife on a Thursday in Genoa. There most definitely was not and we ended up wandering around looking for a cheap pizza before catching a bus back up to the hostel. The bus ride home ended up getting invaded by a group of 40 or so secondary school students from Lisbon who were on their way to Florence and Rome for an art history trip. Must be a hell of a way to learn to actually go see the works of Titan, da Vinci, Michelangelo etc. instead of just having to ponder them in a text book.
Finally on my third day in Genoa the sun decided to come out and I headed to the harbor to get a tan before the rest of the gang from London got into town for the day. I used my previous few days knowledge to give them a tour of the notable parts of the city before we all headed to our bed and breakfast early so we could get up and catch an 8 o'clock train to the our next stop, the Cinque Terre National Park for two days of hiking the Italian Riveria! It was good to see familiar faces again but I had an amazing time in Genoa thanks to Nathan and Sean. Yet another series of eye opening experiences thanks to travelling. I may never see either of those guys again but I will definitely hold on to all of the things I learned from the conversations. What a wonderful beginning to my Italian adventure :)
Still trying to catch up with these posts and am a few cities behind but I am trying my best for those who are interested in what I am doing. I am also trying to find time to post pictures on Fbook soon because I really can't properly describe the grandeur of a lot of these places properly with words.
I hope everyone is adjusting back to the grind of school after SB and is getting ready for the home stretch...I can't believe that we will be seniors next year! Anyways, keep in touch and I'll try to reconnect with everyone when the travels slow down in a week or two. Until then I am currently on a train to Rome and will be headed to Athens on Tuesday I believe :)
Stay in touch and more will come in the near future :) Sorry for grammar mistakes!
Cheers,
Patrick
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Canvey Island and London Monopoly Pub Crawl!
Bonjourno!
Admittedly I have a little catching up to do on reporting my adventures to the world (better known as the 20 people who will read this) so I am going to go backwards a few weeks to the beginning of my 5 week spring break now that I have a bit of time on the train from Florence to Naples.
When you dont really have any school work on a weekly basis, you don't get quite as excited or antsy for breaks as you do when the work keeps piling up but, nonetheless, I couldn't wait for Easter holiday to start so I could head to my mate Grant's house on Canvey Island in the south of England. It was absolutely wonderful to be free of dorm style living and go to a place with couches, real beds, real food, 40 inch flatscreen TVs and, crucially, ESPN America! Despite being in England and experiencing new forms of culture and sport I ccould not help but be overjoyed that I could finally catch some of the NCAA tournament on something better than a shitty stream to my laptop. For me, it was also very interesting to be able to make a rough comparison of family structure, house size, neighborhood layout etc.. between what I am used to in the U.S. and someone in England. Studying abroad does a great deal to expand your horizons but for the most part you are either at university or travelling so you don't get a chance to see what day to day home life is like. For example, having Grant take me to the all-boys grammar school he attended and show me through the halls filled with kids in full suits really opened up my eyes to a way of doing things vastly different from the highschool experience that I had and that shaped who I am. Such differences in the underlying structure of society really explain some of the differences between UK and US cultures and people which are much, much different than most people assume just because we speak the same language. To be honest, the language is different in many more ways that most would think. There have been plenty of times where I have not understood a word of what someone was telling me in plain English!
Side Note: The 40 year old man across from me on the train wistles and grabs his glasses every time a girl walks by so that he can get a better view of her when she passes. He also just winked at me when a rather attracitve young woman walked by...awkward. Got to love that Italian 'charm.'
Grant introduced me to all his friends the evening we arrived and the next couple of days were filled with a grand tour of Canvey Island. All of the locals insisted that it really wasn't that cool, which I suppose is natural to think of where you come from. From my pespective, I thought it was pretty remarkable to be on a seaside island and experience all of the things that they have grown accustomed to doing every day. I suppose that is the joy of traveling. It helps you fight the complacency we all develop towards the places where we live, even if those places are spectacular in themselves. Aside from all of the places I am getting to see, people I'm meeting and things that I'm doing, one of the biggest benefits of studying abroad lies in its ability to alter my perspetive on the world and everythign that I have known for the last 20 years. I don't know how long the new found worldview will last once I get back into a routine but I am certain that I will never see all of the things I used to take for granted quite the same. I digress.
After showing me a good night out as well as the seaside towns of Leigh-on-sea and Southend, it felt like my five days at the Johnson residence flew by and I was off to London to spend some time with the Wisconsin crew before heading off to Italy/Greece for 20 days. London never fails to be exciting and, for whatever reason, the city really makes you feel at home and a part of it regardless of where you are from or who you are. It might be the internationalism of the city in general - there have been many times that I remember being on the tube and being surrounded by ten or twenty people, none of which were speaking English to each other. Another reason for the general comfort may be the increasing number of people I know in the city and can hang around. There are Wisconsin kids at multiple London Uni's and now my friends from Warwick who live there or near by and now some of Grant's friends who live and work there. In a really incredible small world experience I actually ran into a kid from Lithuania who I play on the basketball team with on the tube in rush hour. Its hard to fathom the chances of me being on the same line, at the same time and getting in the exact car as he was..crazy!
Upon my arrival the lot of us went to the car park across the street from the apartment and played a spontaneous game of pick-up soccer using dumpsters as goals in between rows of cars. It is safe to say that we are really a disgrace to the game and all of its glory but we had an amazing time - ended up playing for 2 hours and even got a English kid who was walkign by to join us. Anyways, my days in London inolved me doing some more exploring of things I hadn't had time to see in past visits. I also finally gave in and bought myself a fashionable coat. I could no longer stand feeling like an outcast in every city I was in due to my lack of a proper attire. Plus it was half-off thanks to an 'end of season' sale! I had to admit it but I am doing a bit of conforming to European fashion - I now have a button up coat, some adidas sneakers, a array of scarves, a few skinny ties and aviators to top it all off. I'm not sure how I feel about it...
On Saturday, the whole crew banded together for what would be one of the most epic day drinking episodes I have ever partaken in. The event - Monopoly Pub Crawl. To give a little background, the idea revolves around the original Monopoly board game which uses streets of London instead of the American version. The goal is to go to and get a drink at a pub on every of the 26 streets. It may sound simple but given the geography and that pubs are only open from 11 to 11, it actually must be a well planned and thought out undertaking since time only allows for about 10 minutes per pub (you have to visit two per hour including transportation time between them). We left at 10:30am dressed in silly looking hats determined to finish all 26. 12 hours and the equivalent of just over 20 beers later we were the last people to be served at pub number twenty-six before it closed! We were on schedule earlier in the crawl but as the drunkness set in and some McDonalds runs had to be factored in I think it is needless to say that we got a bit off track as the day progressed. One of the more fun days I have had in a while. I insist that we all need to organize a Madison version for welcome week this year now that we are all 21!
Like with my time on Canvey Island, the days in London went by much too fast and before I knew it, Tuesday morning rolled around and I hopped on my $12 Ryan Air flight to Genoa, Italy to hang out for a few days before the whole gang showed up on Friday. Reports on my adventures with an English teacher in Morrocco, a South African graduate looking for summer work on a Yacht, hiking in the Cinque Terre National Park and Florence in the next few days. I'll try to keep this as current as possible and check Fbook for pics if your interested :)
I hope everyone had a wonderful spring break and Easter and, like always, stay in touch!
Cheers,
Patrick
Admittedly I have a little catching up to do on reporting my adventures to the world (better known as the 20 people who will read this) so I am going to go backwards a few weeks to the beginning of my 5 week spring break now that I have a bit of time on the train from Florence to Naples.
When you dont really have any school work on a weekly basis, you don't get quite as excited or antsy for breaks as you do when the work keeps piling up but, nonetheless, I couldn't wait for Easter holiday to start so I could head to my mate Grant's house on Canvey Island in the south of England. It was absolutely wonderful to be free of dorm style living and go to a place with couches, real beds, real food, 40 inch flatscreen TVs and, crucially, ESPN America! Despite being in England and experiencing new forms of culture and sport I ccould not help but be overjoyed that I could finally catch some of the NCAA tournament on something better than a shitty stream to my laptop. For me, it was also very interesting to be able to make a rough comparison of family structure, house size, neighborhood layout etc.. between what I am used to in the U.S. and someone in England. Studying abroad does a great deal to expand your horizons but for the most part you are either at university or travelling so you don't get a chance to see what day to day home life is like. For example, having Grant take me to the all-boys grammar school he attended and show me through the halls filled with kids in full suits really opened up my eyes to a way of doing things vastly different from the highschool experience that I had and that shaped who I am. Such differences in the underlying structure of society really explain some of the differences between UK and US cultures and people which are much, much different than most people assume just because we speak the same language. To be honest, the language is different in many more ways that most would think. There have been plenty of times where I have not understood a word of what someone was telling me in plain English!
Side Note: The 40 year old man across from me on the train wistles and grabs his glasses every time a girl walks by so that he can get a better view of her when she passes. He also just winked at me when a rather attracitve young woman walked by...awkward. Got to love that Italian 'charm.'
Grant introduced me to all his friends the evening we arrived and the next couple of days were filled with a grand tour of Canvey Island. All of the locals insisted that it really wasn't that cool, which I suppose is natural to think of where you come from. From my pespective, I thought it was pretty remarkable to be on a seaside island and experience all of the things that they have grown accustomed to doing every day. I suppose that is the joy of traveling. It helps you fight the complacency we all develop towards the places where we live, even if those places are spectacular in themselves. Aside from all of the places I am getting to see, people I'm meeting and things that I'm doing, one of the biggest benefits of studying abroad lies in its ability to alter my perspetive on the world and everythign that I have known for the last 20 years. I don't know how long the new found worldview will last once I get back into a routine but I am certain that I will never see all of the things I used to take for granted quite the same. I digress.
After showing me a good night out as well as the seaside towns of Leigh-on-sea and Southend, it felt like my five days at the Johnson residence flew by and I was off to London to spend some time with the Wisconsin crew before heading off to Italy/Greece for 20 days. London never fails to be exciting and, for whatever reason, the city really makes you feel at home and a part of it regardless of where you are from or who you are. It might be the internationalism of the city in general - there have been many times that I remember being on the tube and being surrounded by ten or twenty people, none of which were speaking English to each other. Another reason for the general comfort may be the increasing number of people I know in the city and can hang around. There are Wisconsin kids at multiple London Uni's and now my friends from Warwick who live there or near by and now some of Grant's friends who live and work there. In a really incredible small world experience I actually ran into a kid from Lithuania who I play on the basketball team with on the tube in rush hour. Its hard to fathom the chances of me being on the same line, at the same time and getting in the exact car as he was..crazy!
Upon my arrival the lot of us went to the car park across the street from the apartment and played a spontaneous game of pick-up soccer using dumpsters as goals in between rows of cars. It is safe to say that we are really a disgrace to the game and all of its glory but we had an amazing time - ended up playing for 2 hours and even got a English kid who was walkign by to join us. Anyways, my days in London inolved me doing some more exploring of things I hadn't had time to see in past visits. I also finally gave in and bought myself a fashionable coat. I could no longer stand feeling like an outcast in every city I was in due to my lack of a proper attire. Plus it was half-off thanks to an 'end of season' sale! I had to admit it but I am doing a bit of conforming to European fashion - I now have a button up coat, some adidas sneakers, a array of scarves, a few skinny ties and aviators to top it all off. I'm not sure how I feel about it...
On Saturday, the whole crew banded together for what would be one of the most epic day drinking episodes I have ever partaken in. The event - Monopoly Pub Crawl. To give a little background, the idea revolves around the original Monopoly board game which uses streets of London instead of the American version. The goal is to go to and get a drink at a pub on every of the 26 streets. It may sound simple but given the geography and that pubs are only open from 11 to 11, it actually must be a well planned and thought out undertaking since time only allows for about 10 minutes per pub (you have to visit two per hour including transportation time between them). We left at 10:30am dressed in silly looking hats determined to finish all 26. 12 hours and the equivalent of just over 20 beers later we were the last people to be served at pub number twenty-six before it closed! We were on schedule earlier in the crawl but as the drunkness set in and some McDonalds runs had to be factored in I think it is needless to say that we got a bit off track as the day progressed. One of the more fun days I have had in a while. I insist that we all need to organize a Madison version for welcome week this year now that we are all 21!
Like with my time on Canvey Island, the days in London went by much too fast and before I knew it, Tuesday morning rolled around and I hopped on my $12 Ryan Air flight to Genoa, Italy to hang out for a few days before the whole gang showed up on Friday. Reports on my adventures with an English teacher in Morrocco, a South African graduate looking for summer work on a Yacht, hiking in the Cinque Terre National Park and Florence in the next few days. I'll try to keep this as current as possible and check Fbook for pics if your interested :)
I hope everyone had a wonderful spring break and Easter and, like always, stay in touch!
Cheers,
Patrick
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
My College Basketball Career!
Well it has been quite some time since I have posted anything but it hasn't been for lack of excitement, more just the lack of desire to write a blog entry on top of the other papers I have been writing. Although I have been off from Uni for just over a week now for my 5 week Easter holiday, things did pick up school wise a bit while I was back at Warwick. The work load is still significantly less than any usual week at Madison but when you get really used to doing next to nothing it gets even harder to do anything at all when assignments become due. LIke normal I procrastinated the two things I had to do much longer than I should have.
Aside from school, the weather finally started to get nicer so I took an adventure into the campus town of Royal Lemington Spa for an afternoon with my mate Will just to do some exploring and see what it was all about. It is a really wonderful small town and lacks any of the visual attrocities that coincide with the stereotypical industrialized British town like Coventry. The main road is lined with beautiful white stone buildings filled with a wide variety of shops and cafes and adorned with exquisite parks and green spaces. Unlike Coventry or the University of Warwick campus, Lemington has a great deal of character and delightful little places to go and hang out for an afternoon; I imagine I will spend quite a bit of time there when it becomes time to study for exams in May and am rather dissapointed in myself I didn't make it over there sooner.
Another notable event that I have been meaning to write about for quite some time was the Warwick Ale Festival. In summary, it consisted of a large room with over 100 different kinds of ales, ciders and wines to be had and 4 hours to get as drunk as possible. To top it all off, there was an absolutely absurd musical act that consisted of a group of older people dressed as pirates playing random instruments like the accordian, banjo etc.., and singing ridiculous songs about masturbating a kangaroo among other topics. It reminded me a lot of the freecreditreport.com commercials except that it was a great deal more absurd. It was really cool to be able to try different ales brewed from across the UK and expand my horizons even further when it comes to beer drinking. However, after drinking everything from cider and lighter ales to expresso stouts (darker than Guinness) -not to mention the rather large amount of beer that was consumed in general - my stomach had definitely felt better . The next morning proved to be a struggle as well since I forgot to drink any water or eat anything the night before. If I would've had any classes that day I wouldve skipped them for sure!
One of my most rewarding experiences thus far at Warwick has been my chance to play with the university basketball team! One day while shooting around and playing a worthless game of 3 on 3 against some very untalented Asains, I was approached while taking off my shoes by another student who introduced himself as Tom. He said he saw me playing from the balcony and that, if I could, I should come practice with the basketball team the following day. I smiled and agreed, overjoyed in the fact that it was the first time I had been recruited for anything in my life. Practice the next day was a great deal of fun; it was good to play with some kids who were competent again. There were some obvious differences in playing styles between what I consider good basketball and what the others did but I thought it was really cool to see the contrast between different cultures. Probably my favorite part about the opportunity to play is that, since there are very few English guys on the team due to the general disdain for the sport in this country, I have gotten the chance to befriend people from all over the world: Canada, China, Belgium, Lithuania, Romania, Norway and Greece. Just talking to people from different places really opens your horizons and facilitates more learning than you can learn in a classroom. Not to mention, it was wonderful to finally be able to talk basketball again, especially during March even though most admitted they had never really watched much college basketball since it is never played in Europe. Basketball provided a common subject for all of us to bond and I have made really good friends with the kids from the team.
It should probably be noted how different university athletics are in Europe as opposed to the States, otherwise a lot of this might sound pretty obscene. First, they really aren't much of a big deal at all; maybe 20 or 30 people will go to watch a Uni sporting event on any given day. Second, they are entirely less formal; practices are somewhat optional and there is a general lack of an actual coach. They are much more similar to intramurals than anything. In this context, it makes a little more sense that I would be able to join a team 3/4 of the way through their season. Unfortunately, by the time I had gone to practice, the team only had a few games left but, with a little handiwork, I was able to suit up for the last game of the year against Warwick's rival team from Coventry University. Who knew that after giving up on my dream of playing college basketball 5 years ago due to general lack of athletic ability and the decreasing dedication to become good enough at anything to stand a chance that I, Patrick Lueck, would suit up as an official college basketball player for 1 game! Don't get me wrong, the game was probably less intense than the average SERF pick-up game but, nonetheless, it was cool to put on a uniform, lace up the Nikes, and go play an official game. The first half was somewhat embarassing. I think I was about 0-4 with 2 points from freethrows. Fortunately, I asserted my role as the proverbial 'defensive stopper' so I was at least contributing somewhat to our halftime lead by guarding their best player. I redeemed myself as an American in the second half scoring 15 or so points and grabbing about 5 steals on route to a Warwick victory! Now when I'm old and reminiscing about my younger years I can tell everyone that I played college ball and, on my career, averaged about 16 points, 8 rebounds and 5 steals a game - clearly statistics that warrant the retirement of my jersey in the rafters of the Warwick University gymnasium. Then I can just skillfully change the subject, no one ever has to know I only played 1 game.
A few days after the game, I had to pack up all of my things and get ready to live for 5 weeks out of an oversized backpack. My first adventure was to my mate Grant's house on Canvey Island in the south of England and then to London for a few rowdy days with the Wisconsin crew. I will post something about these in the next few days because they are definitely noteworthy. Currently, I am sitting in London Stansted Airport waiting for my flight to Genoa for my 22 day adventure around Italy and Greece with some friends from London who are meeting me in Genoa on Friday. Since the plane ticket on a Tuesday was only $12 and it was well over $100 on Friday, I figured I'd just go early and enjoy the sunshine in the Italian Riviera for a few days and see if I can get a bit of color!
I hope everyone is enjoying spring break in Florida and wherever else people's adventures have taken them. Weather in the states seem to be perfect lately so I don't doubt that everyone is partying up a storm and showing the world how the midwest does things :) Stay tuned for more soon.
Cheers,
Patrick :)
P.S. I didn't have spell check for this one so please excuse any poor grammar :p
Aside from school, the weather finally started to get nicer so I took an adventure into the campus town of Royal Lemington Spa for an afternoon with my mate Will just to do some exploring and see what it was all about. It is a really wonderful small town and lacks any of the visual attrocities that coincide with the stereotypical industrialized British town like Coventry. The main road is lined with beautiful white stone buildings filled with a wide variety of shops and cafes and adorned with exquisite parks and green spaces. Unlike Coventry or the University of Warwick campus, Lemington has a great deal of character and delightful little places to go and hang out for an afternoon; I imagine I will spend quite a bit of time there when it becomes time to study for exams in May and am rather dissapointed in myself I didn't make it over there sooner.
Another notable event that I have been meaning to write about for quite some time was the Warwick Ale Festival. In summary, it consisted of a large room with over 100 different kinds of ales, ciders and wines to be had and 4 hours to get as drunk as possible. To top it all off, there was an absolutely absurd musical act that consisted of a group of older people dressed as pirates playing random instruments like the accordian, banjo etc.., and singing ridiculous songs about masturbating a kangaroo among other topics. It reminded me a lot of the freecreditreport.com commercials except that it was a great deal more absurd. It was really cool to be able to try different ales brewed from across the UK and expand my horizons even further when it comes to beer drinking. However, after drinking everything from cider and lighter ales to expresso stouts (darker than Guinness) -not to mention the rather large amount of beer that was consumed in general - my stomach had definitely felt better . The next morning proved to be a struggle as well since I forgot to drink any water or eat anything the night before. If I would've had any classes that day I wouldve skipped them for sure!
One of my most rewarding experiences thus far at Warwick has been my chance to play with the university basketball team! One day while shooting around and playing a worthless game of 3 on 3 against some very untalented Asains, I was approached while taking off my shoes by another student who introduced himself as Tom. He said he saw me playing from the balcony and that, if I could, I should come practice with the basketball team the following day. I smiled and agreed, overjoyed in the fact that it was the first time I had been recruited for anything in my life. Practice the next day was a great deal of fun; it was good to play with some kids who were competent again. There were some obvious differences in playing styles between what I consider good basketball and what the others did but I thought it was really cool to see the contrast between different cultures. Probably my favorite part about the opportunity to play is that, since there are very few English guys on the team due to the general disdain for the sport in this country, I have gotten the chance to befriend people from all over the world: Canada, China, Belgium, Lithuania, Romania, Norway and Greece. Just talking to people from different places really opens your horizons and facilitates more learning than you can learn in a classroom. Not to mention, it was wonderful to finally be able to talk basketball again, especially during March even though most admitted they had never really watched much college basketball since it is never played in Europe. Basketball provided a common subject for all of us to bond and I have made really good friends with the kids from the team.
It should probably be noted how different university athletics are in Europe as opposed to the States, otherwise a lot of this might sound pretty obscene. First, they really aren't much of a big deal at all; maybe 20 or 30 people will go to watch a Uni sporting event on any given day. Second, they are entirely less formal; practices are somewhat optional and there is a general lack of an actual coach. They are much more similar to intramurals than anything. In this context, it makes a little more sense that I would be able to join a team 3/4 of the way through their season. Unfortunately, by the time I had gone to practice, the team only had a few games left but, with a little handiwork, I was able to suit up for the last game of the year against Warwick's rival team from Coventry University. Who knew that after giving up on my dream of playing college basketball 5 years ago due to general lack of athletic ability and the decreasing dedication to become good enough at anything to stand a chance that I, Patrick Lueck, would suit up as an official college basketball player for 1 game! Don't get me wrong, the game was probably less intense than the average SERF pick-up game but, nonetheless, it was cool to put on a uniform, lace up the Nikes, and go play an official game. The first half was somewhat embarassing. I think I was about 0-4 with 2 points from freethrows. Fortunately, I asserted my role as the proverbial 'defensive stopper' so I was at least contributing somewhat to our halftime lead by guarding their best player. I redeemed myself as an American in the second half scoring 15 or so points and grabbing about 5 steals on route to a Warwick victory! Now when I'm old and reminiscing about my younger years I can tell everyone that I played college ball and, on my career, averaged about 16 points, 8 rebounds and 5 steals a game - clearly statistics that warrant the retirement of my jersey in the rafters of the Warwick University gymnasium. Then I can just skillfully change the subject, no one ever has to know I only played 1 game.
A few days after the game, I had to pack up all of my things and get ready to live for 5 weeks out of an oversized backpack. My first adventure was to my mate Grant's house on Canvey Island in the south of England and then to London for a few rowdy days with the Wisconsin crew. I will post something about these in the next few days because they are definitely noteworthy. Currently, I am sitting in London Stansted Airport waiting for my flight to Genoa for my 22 day adventure around Italy and Greece with some friends from London who are meeting me in Genoa on Friday. Since the plane ticket on a Tuesday was only $12 and it was well over $100 on Friday, I figured I'd just go early and enjoy the sunshine in the Italian Riviera for a few days and see if I can get a bit of color!
I hope everyone is enjoying spring break in Florida and wherever else people's adventures have taken them. Weather in the states seem to be perfect lately so I don't doubt that everyone is partying up a storm and showing the world how the midwest does things :) Stay tuned for more soon.
Cheers,
Patrick :)
P.S. I didn't have spell check for this one so please excuse any poor grammar :p
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Prost (cheers) to Amsterdam and the Netherlands!
Normally I start these off in a quintessentially cliché fashion by saying 'hello' in the local language of wherever it is that I am venturing to but since I don’t understand a word of Dutch, I'll save everyone the trouble. It should probably also be noted that some of the details people are interested will be left out of these post for personal liability reasons haha.
Like usual, my international journey started in London the night before. I was completely delighted to be asked directions, not once, but twice from people trying to get around in London while I was doing some evening exploring of my own. I don't think I look any less American than I did 2 months ago but maybe I give off a more European vibe now? And if that is the case, I'm not entirely sure it is a good thing? In typical fashion I overestimated the amount of time it would take me to take the tube to the airport and get checked in so I had a few hours to kill at Heathrow. I did get the chance to share a nice conversation with an 86 year old guy headed to his home on the outskirts of London after his ballroom dancing class haha...old people are always real fun to chat up. I spent the short flight to Amsterdam sitting next to a guy reading Twilight so I just decided to take a nap since I didn't think we would have a whole lot in common. I think that any male that can legitimately participate in a Jacob/Edward conversation should probably take a look at what he is doing with his life. Coincidently, I found myself sitting next to a few girls from the states on the train from the airport to Central station and there was even one from Madison! I was about to introduce myself until I listened to them talk and came to realize that it was the most stereotypical coastie and psuedo-coastie (the bad half of the north-side Chicagoans) crowd and didn't really want to associate myself with such people. The most coastie of them all from Philly even had a lisp (not to be mean but I just couldn’t help but laugh). One of the funniest conversations I have ever overheard in my life; I just kept my mouth shut and pretended to not understand what they were saying in order to avoid interaction.
After figuring out that sketchy little back alleys are actually main roads, I managed to find my hostel where, as planned, Brandon Cibulka was awaiting my arrival. The concept of meeting up with a friendly face in cities I never thought I'd set foot in makes me smile every time. I must admit that the hostel was not at all like I expected. They had a very cool bar area, an incredible playlist, and a very eccentric lot which made hanging out with a beer and bobbing your head to some tunes incredibly enjoyable. Happy hour and 1 Euro Yager shots also did their part in enhancing the atmosphere. Naturally, Brandon and I immediately did what any pair of Americans visiting Amsterdam would do. Think real hard, I bet you can guess! After dark, we did the next thing anybody visiting Amsterdam would do: go exploring in the infamous 'Red Light District!' The district is actually marked by red lights and has a faint red glow in the evening, it isn't just a name. I really don't know how to properly describe walking around amidst a hub of legal prostitution and having random girls motion for you to come towards their window. The only reactions Brandon and I ever mustered were fits of laughter. The weirdness of walking around is trumped 100x when you actually see someone negotiating with one of the nice young ladies, stepping inside her glass door and closing the curtain. Ridiculous! We learned later in a guided walking tour of Amsterdam that all of the girls are 'entrepreneurs' for lack of a better turn and rent out their windows for 60 Euros a night and then have to 'work' to pay the bills and make a living. Arguably the most famous church in Amsterdam is located in the Red Light District along with a kindergarten - an interesting combination of industries I'd say! It’s even stranger to contemplate the idea that real estate in the area is very valuable and that people actually live there.
The next day we had to change hostels for Friday and Saturday night and meet up with a few kids from Brandon's program in Barcelona. Our hostel for Friday and Saturday was a 20/30 minute walk outside of the city center so it gave us a chance to see what kind of a city Amsterdam really is. It is a very beautiful place with semi-circular canals that run parallel to each other from Central Station. Streets then dissect the canals like rays of sunshine extending outward from the Station. It was immensely confusing at first, but after a few days the organization began to make sense and the system as a whole made it pretty easy to get around. I, like most people, did not really think of Amsterdam as a proper city before I arrived. Instead, one only ponders the experience and ridiculousness. For that reason, I think it is necessary to at least attempt to do the beautiful, quaint and surprisingly peaceful place some justice. Lining every canal and major street, three to four story town house style buildings jut out from the cobble stone streets. Each row of buildings is somewhat symmetric yet every individual building has a distinctive charm reminiscent of the 18th or 19th century when the majority of them were built. On main roads -which themselves are hardly roads the way we consider them- the bottom floors of all of the structures contain a very trendy assortment of designer shops. I was perhaps most amazed by the utter amazingness of the sneakers offered; I venture to say that Amsterdam is the world capital of awesome variations of popular shoes. No doubt that the brick-laden streets of Amsterdam the place where all of the famous American rappers get their 'fresh new kicks.' There are essentially no automobiles on any of the roads, and, as a result, pedestrians, an above ground tram system and a barrage of cyclists dominate. On a side note, the bikers are reckless and incredibly dangerous for travelers! The emphasis on public spaces and parks, a common theme with European cities, persists in Amsterdam making a walk around town all that much more enjoyable. A little farther out from the city center more residential districts shed light on how Dutch people live in a city known around the world for its psychedelics. Just a short walk in a residential district near Amsterdam's equivalent to New York's City Park gave me an altogether different interpretation of the city. The contrast from the Red Light District is no less extreme than black and white.
Brandon and arrived at the Flying Pig Uptown hostel in late morning only to find out that, in a feat of brilliance, Mr. Cibulka booked the hostel rooms for him and his two mates for April 26th and 27th instead of February! They ended up finding a hotel closer to downtown while another group of Madisonians from Barcelona and I checked in at the hostel. The cloud covered sky made the day slip effortlessly into night and to happy hour at the hostel providing another great opportunity to try some new and exciting beers (I highly recommend Hoegarrden and Leffe). Our group then matriculated our way down to Rembrandt Square thanks to a suggestion from a few select locals. We ended up at one of a slew of bars sporting a large, red 'Heineken.' At first we enjoyed our round and the selection of R.E.S.P.E.C.T. and Y.M.C.A. as the first few songs but quickly began to feel out of place. First we saw two girls making on the dance floor - a first for any of us males. It was only after a bit more extensive observation that we realized girls were not the only gender feeling promiscuous. Almost simultaneously, the lot of us realized we had mistakenly wandered into an openly gay-bar and were not much for welcome! We promptly cancelled our next round and left.
Saturday involved more wandering, a guided tour, a trip to the Anne Frank House and another trip to Rembrandt Square in the evening. This time we went to an Irish pub called St. James' Gate to watch the end of the Barcelona football match. Although nothing very exciting happened after the match, my newly found friend from Madison Alex and I struck up a conversation with an Irishman named Charlie currently working in the City (London's Wall St.). I don't know if it is that I just simply don't find the need to talk to random people while in the States because I am always with a group of friends or if Americans just aren't as friendly but I never ceased to be amazed at how friendly European folks are. Alex and I talked to him for well over an hour while he bought us drinks, and, like every conversation I am lucky enough to partake in with other more worldly folk, I learned a great deal of things about life. Thinking the excitement of my night would come to an end when I left the pub, I found myself shocked to discover a random cat lying in my bed when I returned to the hostel. Moreover, said cat had absolutely no desire to sleep anywhere else for the evening. Only in Amsterdam would I ever just say 'what the hell' and sleep with the hostel cat!
On Sunday the Barcelona crowd left and the Londoners arrived in the morning to accompany me on the Heineken experience. After the tour, I still don't really enjoy Heineken but I had a fun time learning about it and getting 4 free beers in the process. After our truly Dutch experience with beer, we headed back to the hostel for a nap, some Euchre, Rummy and beer. We ended up playing 'shithead' (a slightly altered version of Shapoo) with a British guy named Neil who was just completing a 3 year tour of the world. It really seemed as if every bloke I talked to was in the midst of some epic world tour to 'find themselves.' So much so that I subliminally questioned whether or not people were telling the truth. Either way, it really made me realize how cool of an experience studying abroad is and how young I am in the general scheme of things - a reassuring feeling no doubt. While shooting the shit with Neil, he confessed to us that he felt we were much different than most of the people he had met from America. He then went on to describe the majority of his companions as coasties, yes he used that term specifically, and said that we seemed much more down to earth. Although I didn't express much gratitude at the time, in retrospect that may be one of the best comments I have ever received as a Midwest kid. I suppose it is what our region prides itself on and I'm glad that our 'efforts' are understood the world over!
Overall, I had an incredible time in the 'sex and drug capital of the world' but not so much because of the sex and drugs. The people and the city really differentiated Amsterdam for me and it is a place I would absolutely recommend going for whatever reasons. It seems to me like Amsterdam is just one of those places you generally have to go to sometime in your life for a multitude of reasons both legal and illegal back home :) Check that off the proverbial bucket list!
Hope everyone is doing well. Not sure when I'll write next but I think I have to actually write a few essays in the next few weeks so it may be a bit. Regardless, stay in touch and check the pictures on Fbook!
Cheers :)
Patrick
Like usual, my international journey started in London the night before. I was completely delighted to be asked directions, not once, but twice from people trying to get around in London while I was doing some evening exploring of my own. I don't think I look any less American than I did 2 months ago but maybe I give off a more European vibe now? And if that is the case, I'm not entirely sure it is a good thing? In typical fashion I overestimated the amount of time it would take me to take the tube to the airport and get checked in so I had a few hours to kill at Heathrow. I did get the chance to share a nice conversation with an 86 year old guy headed to his home on the outskirts of London after his ballroom dancing class haha...old people are always real fun to chat up. I spent the short flight to Amsterdam sitting next to a guy reading Twilight so I just decided to take a nap since I didn't think we would have a whole lot in common. I think that any male that can legitimately participate in a Jacob/Edward conversation should probably take a look at what he is doing with his life. Coincidently, I found myself sitting next to a few girls from the states on the train from the airport to Central station and there was even one from Madison! I was about to introduce myself until I listened to them talk and came to realize that it was the most stereotypical coastie and psuedo-coastie (the bad half of the north-side Chicagoans) crowd and didn't really want to associate myself with such people. The most coastie of them all from Philly even had a lisp (not to be mean but I just couldn’t help but laugh). One of the funniest conversations I have ever overheard in my life; I just kept my mouth shut and pretended to not understand what they were saying in order to avoid interaction.
After figuring out that sketchy little back alleys are actually main roads, I managed to find my hostel where, as planned, Brandon Cibulka was awaiting my arrival. The concept of meeting up with a friendly face in cities I never thought I'd set foot in makes me smile every time. I must admit that the hostel was not at all like I expected. They had a very cool bar area, an incredible playlist, and a very eccentric lot which made hanging out with a beer and bobbing your head to some tunes incredibly enjoyable. Happy hour and 1 Euro Yager shots also did their part in enhancing the atmosphere. Naturally, Brandon and I immediately did what any pair of Americans visiting Amsterdam would do. Think real hard, I bet you can guess! After dark, we did the next thing anybody visiting Amsterdam would do: go exploring in the infamous 'Red Light District!' The district is actually marked by red lights and has a faint red glow in the evening, it isn't just a name. I really don't know how to properly describe walking around amidst a hub of legal prostitution and having random girls motion for you to come towards their window. The only reactions Brandon and I ever mustered were fits of laughter. The weirdness of walking around is trumped 100x when you actually see someone negotiating with one of the nice young ladies, stepping inside her glass door and closing the curtain. Ridiculous! We learned later in a guided walking tour of Amsterdam that all of the girls are 'entrepreneurs' for lack of a better turn and rent out their windows for 60 Euros a night and then have to 'work' to pay the bills and make a living. Arguably the most famous church in Amsterdam is located in the Red Light District along with a kindergarten - an interesting combination of industries I'd say! It’s even stranger to contemplate the idea that real estate in the area is very valuable and that people actually live there.
The next day we had to change hostels for Friday and Saturday night and meet up with a few kids from Brandon's program in Barcelona. Our hostel for Friday and Saturday was a 20/30 minute walk outside of the city center so it gave us a chance to see what kind of a city Amsterdam really is. It is a very beautiful place with semi-circular canals that run parallel to each other from Central Station. Streets then dissect the canals like rays of sunshine extending outward from the Station. It was immensely confusing at first, but after a few days the organization began to make sense and the system as a whole made it pretty easy to get around. I, like most people, did not really think of Amsterdam as a proper city before I arrived. Instead, one only ponders the experience and ridiculousness. For that reason, I think it is necessary to at least attempt to do the beautiful, quaint and surprisingly peaceful place some justice. Lining every canal and major street, three to four story town house style buildings jut out from the cobble stone streets. Each row of buildings is somewhat symmetric yet every individual building has a distinctive charm reminiscent of the 18th or 19th century when the majority of them were built. On main roads -which themselves are hardly roads the way we consider them- the bottom floors of all of the structures contain a very trendy assortment of designer shops. I was perhaps most amazed by the utter amazingness of the sneakers offered; I venture to say that Amsterdam is the world capital of awesome variations of popular shoes. No doubt that the brick-laden streets of Amsterdam the place where all of the famous American rappers get their 'fresh new kicks.' There are essentially no automobiles on any of the roads, and, as a result, pedestrians, an above ground tram system and a barrage of cyclists dominate. On a side note, the bikers are reckless and incredibly dangerous for travelers! The emphasis on public spaces and parks, a common theme with European cities, persists in Amsterdam making a walk around town all that much more enjoyable. A little farther out from the city center more residential districts shed light on how Dutch people live in a city known around the world for its psychedelics. Just a short walk in a residential district near Amsterdam's equivalent to New York's City Park gave me an altogether different interpretation of the city. The contrast from the Red Light District is no less extreme than black and white.
Brandon and arrived at the Flying Pig Uptown hostel in late morning only to find out that, in a feat of brilliance, Mr. Cibulka booked the hostel rooms for him and his two mates for April 26th and 27th instead of February! They ended up finding a hotel closer to downtown while another group of Madisonians from Barcelona and I checked in at the hostel. The cloud covered sky made the day slip effortlessly into night and to happy hour at the hostel providing another great opportunity to try some new and exciting beers (I highly recommend Hoegarrden and Leffe). Our group then matriculated our way down to Rembrandt Square thanks to a suggestion from a few select locals. We ended up at one of a slew of bars sporting a large, red 'Heineken.' At first we enjoyed our round and the selection of R.E.S.P.E.C.T. and Y.M.C.A. as the first few songs but quickly began to feel out of place. First we saw two girls making on the dance floor - a first for any of us males. It was only after a bit more extensive observation that we realized girls were not the only gender feeling promiscuous. Almost simultaneously, the lot of us realized we had mistakenly wandered into an openly gay-bar and were not much for welcome! We promptly cancelled our next round and left.
Saturday involved more wandering, a guided tour, a trip to the Anne Frank House and another trip to Rembrandt Square in the evening. This time we went to an Irish pub called St. James' Gate to watch the end of the Barcelona football match. Although nothing very exciting happened after the match, my newly found friend from Madison Alex and I struck up a conversation with an Irishman named Charlie currently working in the City (London's Wall St.). I don't know if it is that I just simply don't find the need to talk to random people while in the States because I am always with a group of friends or if Americans just aren't as friendly but I never ceased to be amazed at how friendly European folks are. Alex and I talked to him for well over an hour while he bought us drinks, and, like every conversation I am lucky enough to partake in with other more worldly folk, I learned a great deal of things about life. Thinking the excitement of my night would come to an end when I left the pub, I found myself shocked to discover a random cat lying in my bed when I returned to the hostel. Moreover, said cat had absolutely no desire to sleep anywhere else for the evening. Only in Amsterdam would I ever just say 'what the hell' and sleep with the hostel cat!
On Sunday the Barcelona crowd left and the Londoners arrived in the morning to accompany me on the Heineken experience. After the tour, I still don't really enjoy Heineken but I had a fun time learning about it and getting 4 free beers in the process. After our truly Dutch experience with beer, we headed back to the hostel for a nap, some Euchre, Rummy and beer. We ended up playing 'shithead' (a slightly altered version of Shapoo) with a British guy named Neil who was just completing a 3 year tour of the world. It really seemed as if every bloke I talked to was in the midst of some epic world tour to 'find themselves.' So much so that I subliminally questioned whether or not people were telling the truth. Either way, it really made me realize how cool of an experience studying abroad is and how young I am in the general scheme of things - a reassuring feeling no doubt. While shooting the shit with Neil, he confessed to us that he felt we were much different than most of the people he had met from America. He then went on to describe the majority of his companions as coasties, yes he used that term specifically, and said that we seemed much more down to earth. Although I didn't express much gratitude at the time, in retrospect that may be one of the best comments I have ever received as a Midwest kid. I suppose it is what our region prides itself on and I'm glad that our 'efforts' are understood the world over!
Overall, I had an incredible time in the 'sex and drug capital of the world' but not so much because of the sex and drugs. The people and the city really differentiated Amsterdam for me and it is a place I would absolutely recommend going for whatever reasons. It seems to me like Amsterdam is just one of those places you generally have to go to sometime in your life for a multitude of reasons both legal and illegal back home :) Check that off the proverbial bucket list!
Hope everyone is doing well. Not sure when I'll write next but I think I have to actually write a few essays in the next few weeks so it may be a bit. Regardless, stay in touch and check the pictures on Fbook!
Cheers :)
Patrick
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