Nostalgic in Buffalo (5/22)

This weekend, ahem, one night this weekend, I was in Buffalo.

I am on the Board of Directors of the UB Alumni Association, which meets quarterly, and due to my being abroad this past academic year, I've missed the other meetings. I was excused from them, but I missed them. So I knew many months ago I'd be up in Buffalo for this very meeting. Of course, a meeting is just enough to get me to Buffalo. But a nice dinner for the Board the night before, coupled with the opportunity to see friends from my undergrad days, and a sweet hotel deal, all made it happen.

Oh Jetblue, how I love you so. Reminiscing back to the days of being a student. All the NY area students gathered at the gate at JFK, going up to school each fall, and all the Jews gathered in the Buffalo airport to go home for Rosh Hashanah. Then all over again for Thanksgiving break, winter break, spring break, any break! This time, when I went to the Jetblue terminal, it was completely different. To state the obvious, I was by myself. To state the not-so-obvious, it was a brand new terminal! I guess I haven't flown on Jetblue for a while and I had no idea what kinds of improvements they had made since my last trip. I was very impressed. As usual, and for the most part, the flight was a pleasant experience. The only exception to that was that my TV did not work on the way up to Buffalo, but I since received a $15 or so voucher toward my next flight for it not working properly. I landed at Buffalo Niagara International Airport (probably international only because they fly to and from 1 Canadian city), and went over to Hertz where I had a rental car reservation. I was a bit early, so I had to wait a bit longer than I had hoped just to get the keys to my car and head out. But I finally did, and I drove to the hotel that the UBAA had reserved under a block and a great rate: $29. For that little cost, I figured I wouldn't inconvenience a friend and crash on a couch or guest bedroom. It was just perfect. I knew some other members of the board would inevitably be staying there as well.

Desperately needing a nap, I crawled into the huge cushy comfortably bed with way too many pillows. I took some time for me that afternoon and just rested. By the time my alarm went off, it was time to get a little gussied up (but not too much) for the annual board dinner, which was held near downtown Buffalo at the Jacobs Executive Development Center, UB property which I had never been to before. I only got turned around once, because I wasn't sure which entrance led to the parking lot. The grounds were beautiful, and as I walked in, the cocktail hour was underway, and the foyer of the building was bustling with people - familiar faces and new ones. Patty, my former USAB adviser was the first one to greet me with a huge hug and a smile on her face! I made my rounds to the many faces in the room, and sat when invited to join the group in the dining room. Salads and bread were served; I have to say it was very classy. After the dinner portion of the evening, there was a brief presentation (aka mini-roast) for the outgoing president of the UBAA. It was sweet, it was funny, and we moved on to dessert during the presentation. It was a pleasure to meet new people at my dinner table during the evening, including Jason who graduated the same year as me, but joined the board last year (so never met him until this moment) and Mary who has been on the board for many years but because the board is so big, I had yet to meet her. It was a great evening!

The next morning was the meat and potatoes of the weekend, the Annual UBAA Board of Directors meeting. First order of the day was to get my headshot done for the UBAA site. I had attempted to straighten my hair that morning after my shower, so I could try and look nice in the photo, but we'll see what the proofs look like and if it really worked. The meeting was efficient and we had plenty of time for breakfast and lunch during the day. I made sure to introduce myself to some of the board members who were brought on last summer who I did not have the chance to meet yet this year. Some older than me, and one I think younger than me. So maybe I am not the youngest any more! We'll see about that.

Once the meeting was over, I went back to the hotel to print out my boarding pass for my flight later that evening (didn't want to have to worry about it that morning when I was almost late as it was) and decided to go walk around the campus for a little bit. Cause, that's what ya do when the weather is gorgeous in Buffalo! While I was walking around campus, I did feel very nostalgic. As always, I'm flooded with memories of being at UB. Mostly positive ones, and many related to living in Governors (hey I was there for 3 years!). It was pretty quiet and pretty empty, and the Student Union was even closed (technically, although the doors were unlocked!). I guess I had a nice walk down memory lane, and I still say that if I could re-live any single year of my life again, it would be freshman year of college, hands down. There'd be no question about it. Meeting great friends, starting my life of 4 years in Buffalo, getting acclimated to a new class environment, working with professors and para-professionals in residence and campus life - it all added up to a great year. And being back at UB always makes me miss it. Thankfully, I made a lot of effort to live up my 4 years of school there, and left on such a positive note that I will almost always have those positive memories with me.

After my walk around campus, I went over to Target and EMS to do some shopping, off of Niagara Falls Boulevard. This is why having that rental car was so great! I was free to do anything I wanted! And I knew I would have the time to spend in Buffalo to go shopping, and the space in my luggage to take it back to NYC. A few Hanes t-shirt packs and sandals later, I was all set to go and meet my friends for dinner at my fave Buffalo restaurant, My Tomato Pie. My parents even remember it from my days there. Filling up way too quickly on tomato basil soup and pizza bread, I had to take most of my leftovers with me to the airport.

Car rental returned, and into the airport I go. Knowing the security regulations, I try to find the restroom before going through the metal detectors, and on the way I find a huge group of people, sporting their red, white, and blue proudly. Many of them are waving or wearing flags, and many holding signs. It seemed as though a group of soldiers were returning home. It was a bit moving to see how many people were gathered on the arrivals side of security to greet these folks. I was the only person passing through security at that time, so I made mention of it to the security guard from TSA checking my board pass, "Lots of people coming home today?" "Veterans." "Wow, I guess they are in for a warm welcome!" I went through security and sat at the gate, finishing up some of my leftovers so as not to have any more bags to carry on board. I was definitely on edge a bit while I was sitting and eating my dinner, to see if the soldiers would be passing by at my end of the airport, or if they'd be going down the other way. The airport isn't all that big, with only a few gates, so I was pretty hopeful I'd see or at least hear the excitement. After waiting for my delayed flight quite a bit, I finally started to hear some music and noise approaching. The music sounded like a Sousa march, one I probably played in high school, totally appropriate for soldiers returning home. I was expecting to see men and women in uniform, happy to be returning home to be with their families, and instead, I heard someone say energetically, "World War II Veterans, returning from Washington DC!" Then, there came many an old man in a wheelchair, being pushed by a partner each, down the corridor toward the exit of the airport. We all clapped and cheered for them as they went by. It was the least we could do to honor their service, this many years after. What a special moment.

I'll be back in Buffalo some time this fall, maybe even a few times if I am lucky. More memories to make!

The Wonder of it All (4/14)

I'm finally adjusted to the jetlag (kind of) and absorbing what NY life is like now.

My first week back has been a bit of a whirlwind. I came back from Israel with a cold (surprise, surprise), and some jetlag. I stayed at mom and dad's house for 2 nights longer than I had planned because I was feeling pretty miserable.

The reason I came home when I did was because of Dad's invitation to take a photo on center ice at Madison Square Garden for being a Rangers season ticketholder for so long. Certainly, taking that photo was a highlight of my first week back. (Unfortunately, the game that went down beforehand was a pathetic showing of the Rangers.) I almost fell asleep at the game (partly because it was boring and the Rangers got crushed 3-0, but also because of the jetlag). I fell asleep on the train coming home and basically slept walked up to my bedroom when we got home from the station. What a night!

I also got to go to the season closer of the game, at MSG, against the Devils. Dad had to be at the Port Washington Education Foundation's gala that evening, so he gave his tickets to Allison and me! It was an afternoon game, so I was much more awake this time, not as jetlagged, although still suffering from this damn cold. The Rangers played much better, to a victory this time that was absolutely crucial in their making the playoffs. With a little help from Tampa Bay winning against Carolina, we secured our spot in the Eastern Division as the number 8 seed, playing the Washington Capitals in round 1. No problem. Happy to watch the Caps go down (I HOPE!) and engage in some more family rivalries, as always.

I've listened to the radio a few times since being home (just putting it on in my room, setting my alarm to go off in the morning, etc.), and I'm amazed at how many songs Adam and I heard on European radio that are being played here. Living in a non-English speaking country and only having access to some music online (thank you Janglo!), I wasn't sure I'd know what's current. But, I've heard:
Forget You -- by Cee Lo Green

On The Floor -- by JLo and Pitbull

Lazy Day -- by Bruno Mars

Grenade -- by Bruno Mars

It was a little weird to hear these songs on the radio after all this time! I'm happy to get back to American radio on the actual radio, and not online somewhere. Makes me smile :)

It's always great coming to mom and dad's house - my bed is super comfortable, dad cooks great homemade food, Yvonne is great company, I can lounge around the living room and watch as much TV as I want, and get a little bit pampered. No complaints here.

The first time I went back to my apartment in Manhattan, it was a little weird. I took the subway uptown from MSG after the Rangers/Devils game, just to check it out and see what the situation looked like before I started moving things in. I discovered that it was a bit of a mess from my last subletter, so it won't be very fun cleaning up but it must be done. I rode on the subway uptown, which was weird. I walked on my block, which was weird. I got into my building and into my apartment, which was weird. After I did some cleaning, I took the bus down to 82nd street to meet Rebecca for a quick bite (early dinner?), which was weird. I sat across from her at the table, and it was weird! It was made even MORE weird by not having felt weird at home. Being at mom and dad's was fine. I didn't feel out of my element at all; I felt very comfortable. However, getting back into NYC was like a new world. I feel a little bit like a tourist - I was amazed at how beautiful the Empire State Building looked a few days ago. I was staring at the list of shops and restaurants on every block; maybe one would be a new place! It will just take some getting used to, I'm sure, and I'll be back to normal.

I'm still getting used to hearing English on a regular basis. It really was in my head for so long, that I just wouldn't hear English walking around on the street, in the grocery store line, or on the train. I'm still slightly shocked when I hear kids playing and talking in English, instead of Hebrew, or French, or Italian. It is definitely nice, because I obviously can talk to anyone and help them if they need directions, or ask a clerk at a store for some help finding an item, but still something to get used to.

All I have right now -- maybe some more will come!

My last week in Israel (3/28-4/5)

After just over one month of traveling, I returned to the Holy Land for a week. A few things were on the agenda:

-- catch up on some much needed sleep. I slept til after 10 or 11 almost every day I was there. JOY!

-- weekend/Shabbat getaway with Steven - to Tel Aviv and (drum roll please) HAIFA! Never been, this will be my only chance before leaving the country! This also meant renting a car and driving there myself! Me, behind the wheel after 6 months of not driving. It felt a bit weird, but it also felt a bit cool. It's not like you just forget how to drive if you don't practice. It just comes right back to you! But, it was definitely a strange feeling to be driving on roads and in places that I had only been in as a passenger in a car or riding on a bus. Coming back from the Goldsmith cousins on Saturday night (last chance to see them and give them gifts from England!), I was behind the wheel when we went through the checkpoint. We weren't stopped, but it just felt weird to be the one driving! Throughout the weekend, we were busy: we had dinner on the beach in Tel Aviv (hooray for good weather), watched baseball at Mike's Place in Tel Aviv (quite a different experience from Mike's Place in Jerusalem), made a quick visit to Caesaria, went to Shabbat services at Or Chadash, dinner at Giraffe (an Asian fusion restaurant), walking down 700+ steps in the Bahai Gardens, which was stunning, but painful on the calves the next day, and seeing the Goldsmith cousins for dinner and hangout time on Saturday night before heading back to Jerusalem.

-- ice skating at Kikar Safra with Avi Mayer! When he posted on Facebook that the rink was coming into town, I knew the dates overlapped a bit with mine, so we made a promise to each other and stuck with it! Of course, Lisa Friedman was there with us in spirit. Avi printed a picture of her so she came ice skating with us. I think she enjoyed it :) And I met a cute little 8 year old boy who I decided is my new best friend slash younger brother. He was so cute, and kept skating near us when we were going around and around. He fell a couple times (unlike Avi or me, who somehow managed to stay on our feet the whole time) but got himself right back up again. What a trooper!

-- Rangers vs. Philly game on Sunday night at Mike's Place. I invited all my Israel friends to come say hi, and/or bye, and/or have some food/drink and/or enjoy the hockey game! I had a really nice turnout of friends from WUJS, Pardes, HUC, and some others. It was a great night with great company, AND the Rangers won! I think it was the first game I had watched in Israel that came out a victory! Finally!

-- "How to Lead a Passover Seder" workshop at HUC followed by Rachel Goldberg's Passover class on Monday night. Seeing as Passover is SO by far my fave holiday, it was no wonder I agreed to go to everything I did on Monday. Shelly, a liturgy professor at HUC led this workshop, geared mostly toward the HUC students who are leading seders in the Former Soviet Union, but opened it to others (including me!). I also got to go to Rachel's class that evening with the new WUJS crew, and surprisingly, they had the room filled! We only had 5 or 6 people on average attending her classes. Either it's still the beginning for them, or they have more people interested in the learning aspect. I loved the class, as usual, and wish I could study more with her. Her approach and teaching style is so engaging, and so "real life." I'm afraid I won't really ever find that same style in a Judaism teacher. She'll be missed!

I had some firsts, and I had some lasts, during my last week in Israel, and it was a great last week to have. I was in many cities, saw many of my friends, and did a variety of activities to keep me interested in being here. I wasn't otherwise really interested in being here, with the exception of seeing friends and family. I am ready to go home; NY is calling my name. I have spent many months away from my parents and my close friends from home. I want to be back in my apartment in NYC. I still have some processing to do of all of the experiences I've had in Israel; it will certainly take some time. But that time to process can begin soon now that I am on my way home.

America here I come!

Kingskerswell and the coast (3/25-3/26)

This was my last 24 hours of real travelling. I knew by the next day I'd be back in London for 2 nights, with the rest of my belongings, feeling like I was on my way back to Israel for my last week of being abroad. Wow, last week of being abroad. It sounds strange to say it, but it's true. The time has come. Lots of mixed emotions to say the least.

Well let's recap the last 24 hours out of respect for keeping up with the blog - we can get to the emotional mumbo jumbo later. Dawn came to meet me at the Newton Abbot train station after I spent over 6 hours on the train. Boy was I happy to see her! She informed me that Liam (aka Lemur, from CEL 2010) was actually supposed to be coming in to Newton Abbot too, around that time, from Plymouth, but that it was meant to be a surprise. Well he wasn't there and she wanted to wait for him so she had to bust the surprise and tell me. (I actually had a feeling he might have planned a bit of a surprise visit.) As it turned out, he wasn't there at the station; he also didn't arrive on the next train in from Plymouth (we waited for it) so we decided to leave. Dawn brought me to her house, where she lives with her mom, dad, and grandfather. Her grandfather was the first member of her family that I met, after we pulled in to the driveway. He was so cute! He shook my hand and everything; Dawn told him that I am one of her friends from America. I was led inside and shown to my bedroom (seriously, English folk have some major hospitality going on!) and met Mom and Dad Wylie - Paul and Kris. The whole family was SO lovely! Lovely, that's a word I've definitely picked up here.

I told Dawn I was absolutely tired, so I wasn't going to be too much fun or up for too much of a party...thankfully she understood and had planned not so much anyways. We drove into a little village called Cockington, walked around a bit of a park/estate, saw some beautiful magnolia trees and the property. The sun was going down and it started to get a bit chilly, but it was the earliest we could have gotten there, so no regrets. We couldn't have planned it any differently. Once we got back in the car, we drove over to the coastal area (man, there is a lot of water around this area!) for dinner. When we approached the restaurant "Beefeater" I got a little worried. "Dawn, you know I don't eat any meat, right?" "Right, and I don't eat any red meat, just chicken." "Well I don't even eat chicken; will there be something here for me to eat?" "Yep no problem I've come here before and there are plenty of vegetarian options." Feeling a bit better, I gladly hopped out of the car and walked down the hill to the entrance to the restaurant. Finding out it was a 45 minute wait to be seated, we decided to go to the bar side of the restaurant, where we could seat ourselves immediately, order at the bar, and have our food brought to the table. That's how our dinner went down! I find it interesting that over here (here being England), I've ordered food at the bar and had them bring it to the table more than once. Maybe it's to prevent run-offs and ensure that customers pay up for their meals. Maybe it's so they don't have to hire a large wait staff. I don't really care why, but it's definitely something unique to this part of the world, at least that I've found.

We drove back to Dawn's house, got ready for bed, sat in our jammies and watched the CEL Reprise video from 2010 and all the FNL weekly videos, for old times sake! I hadn't seen the Trail or the videos since I was away all year so I saw the Trail for the first time at Jon's house, and now the video at Dawn's. It was so nice to have all those memories flood back. I was finally and truly ready for bed, so I politely said my goodnights and drifted off to dreamland for the night.

I had some trouble sleeping the last few nights, waking up before my alarm. This morning was only slightly different. I woke up well before my alarm, but fortunately fell back to sleep for at least some time. It was nice actually being woken up by an alarm clock instead of just having to turn it off. I hopped out of bed, to collect my clothing that was washed last night, and dried on the radiators overnight, so I could pack up my backpack for the last time (thank goodness!). I had some cereal for breakfast (just like usual!) and brushed my teeth to head out for the day. We drove to some of the coastal areas and took the ferry to Dartmouth (not the college although I'm sure this is what it's named after and now I have seen the real thing) to see the famous castle there. By the way, this means that I have added a method of transportation to my travels - A BOAT! I had planes, trains, and automobiles down. Now all I need is a bike...hmmm.

The weather was a bit hazy so photos didn't come out the best, but it was definitely beautiful scenery, and any chance the sun was out was a treasured moment. WWe did a combination of driving around, parking, and then walking around, and then back to the car to drive again, park again, and get out. Our last stop of the day was lunch. We really didn't know where we'd end up but we parked in Dartmouth and decided to walk around until we found something suitable for both of us. We ended up in a place called the Sloping Deck Restaurant, which was definitely a building on a slant; we could see it and feel it while sitting upstairs. It was definitely an experience. The food wasn't the best but it was good; I think we both enjoyed our menu selections.

It was time to get back to the car and on our way to Newton Abbot; my visit was over and time to head back to London. We had about 30 minutes of spare time once we arrived at the station which meant...time for hot chocolate! I enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate that I brought with me on the train to keep warm. I said my quick goodbye to Dawn as the train approached. Only 60+ days until we see each other again. It's so soon! There is good in the world :)

Next stop - London. Two more nights; one full day, hopefully with some more camp faces that I am excited about, and then my flight from Paris on Monday. The adventures are truly coming to a close. I will have to make some space and time to blog about that at another time.

A Newcastle...in Newcastle! (3/23/-3/25)

I wasn't able to spend too much time in Newcastle, but I did have a good time while I was there! Emma Vaughan came and met me at the train station as she promised, and we walked over to her car nearby. Got on the road and drove right to her house, where her mom and cute little dog Elmo greeted me. I almost immediately face planted onto my bed and drifted off into a nap. There was almost no way I was going to function otherwise. Emma got me settled upstairs in my room and I set my alarm for a little bit later. I stumbled back out of bed and went downstairs where she was watching some TV. It was getting to be dinnertime so we discussed some options, deciding on Indian. I haven't had Indian in a bit, so my tummy was ready to handle it. We left a few minutes later to drive over to a place Emma knew that had a 5 course meal for a set price. Sounds good to me! We both enjoyed our meals; mine was particularly spicy. I guess that's what you get when you order a dish with 3 pepper symbols next to it. But, to be fair, the hottest was 5 peppers, so I thought 3 was in the middle. It was definitely at the higher end of spicy, but it was fine with me. I couldn't finish my meal so I took home the leftovers in hopes of having it some other time, or leaving it for someone in her family to enjoy.

The next morning, Lexi Forth (CEL 09, 2010) met us at Emma's house and we went out for the day. We drove up to Morpeth first, and walked along a riverbank, taking advantage of nice weather for the day, and enjoying each other's company. Then we drove to Alnwick (which I found out is pronounced Annick), another nearby town, which has the castle that part of Harry Potter 1 was filmed in. Although I'm not a Harry Potter freak (or even a fan to be truthful), I figured it was a good opportunity to take some pictures! So, I did just that. After we parked the car, we walked over to the castle, down the hill, across the bridge, and took some photos. We passed just enought time for our tummies to be ready for lunch, which was already decided - FISH AND CHIPS! I hadn't actually ordered a Fish n Chips meal for myself since being in this country. I had a taste from other people's plates but not my own order. The heavy fried food is normally not my choice but in this case, I had to do it. The restaurant even had a sustainable fish of the week, which was what I ordered. It tasted just like a cod or haddock, so I was happy, and I felt less "bad" about ordering it when I knew it was sustainable. I also got onion rings instead of the chips, because I'm just a sucker for 'em. Lexi and Emma couldn't finish their chips and onion rings, so I just keep piling them in. I was eating like a savage. Maybe every now and again, a meal made up entirely of fried foods is just what the body needs. Well...let's see how my stomach feels about that later!

Our meter for parking was up, so we made a quick dash into the chocolate store on the corner, and made our way back to Emma's house. On the drive, despite the music, Emma's singing, and the curving highways, I fell asleep. Needless to say, when we got back, Lexi left for the rest of the afternoon, and even Emma was tired so we both went upstairs for naps. Two and a half hours later (yep, two and a half hours later) we both woke up and figured out some dinner plans. Time to meet up with Sam K! Boy how I miss that character - what a sweetie. Emma's dad was nice enough to drive us into the city so we didn't have to take the Metro in, and be bound by the timetable. He dropped us off at our meeting point, where we found Lexi, and a few minutes later, Sam. We went to Francesca's, an Italian restaurant Sam knew about (because we were in his neighborhood). I was actually kind of hoping for an Italian style meal because it has been a while since I had something like that. I started with avocado vinagrette which I thought would be a salad with avocado on it. Turns out, it was an ENTIRE avocado! Oh how happy I was when they brought that. There was a bed of lettuce underneath it also, and the vinagrette dressing, so I mixed it all up myself. Sam was craving mussels so he got a plate as a starter, and Emma and Lexi shared potato skins. Each of us had our main meal arrive on the table - ravioli for me, various individual pizzas for the rest of them. I kept saying, "Grazie" to the wait staff, in a heavy Italian accent. Boy how I miss Italian!!!

We went out to a nearby bar to get a drink and check out the scene, which apparently is very much students. Lots of young people there. We couldn't stay too late (I had to leave on the train the next morning, Lexi had class, and Emma had work) and the bar was closing right around 11pm anyways. I thought it was early for a bar to close but it wasn't yet the weekend so maybe that's what they do here. I did have a Newcastle Brown Ale...in Newcastle...which I have to say was probably my highlight of the trip! A little after 11pm when the bar closed, Emma and I walked to the Metro to go home, and ended up on the wrong one by mistake. Emma only realized it after it was a little too late, so we got off in hopes of another train coming back the other way. She checked the train times, and we had missed the last one! Oh no! Thankfully, she had the number in her phone to a taxi company, so we had one coming in a few minutes. Well, we thought it would be very quick, but it was about a 15 minute wait. And I was cold! You could see your breath kind of cold! Finally the cab came and we hopped in. The driver was very nice and very friendly. He and Emma had a nice little chat about the taxi companies in Newcastle. Once I chimed in to some part of the conversation, he could tell I was American - and either I had mentioned it (but I don't exactly recall) or he just guessed I was from NY. I was surprised at how friendly he was. In NY, you don't talk to cab drivers. In Jerusalem, you barely do. If they speak English (or your Hebrew is good enough) you might have a conversation with them. But most of the time, cabbies are nonconversational. Not in Newcastle! So friendly. He dropped us off at home and we called it a night.

I'm now sitting on the train heading south to Newton Abbot where Dawn Wylie (CEL 06-2010) is picking me up so I can spend a day with her. My morning was quite the hectic one, to say the least. There was much frustration and even tears. The main problem was that I had mistakenly selected an e-ticket for my train reservation, which was sent to my email. It required that I print it out and present it to gain access to the train platform and get my ride. However, I didn't have access to a printer, and I was sure that when I got to the station I could retrieve my ticket another way - through a self-service machine or the ticket counter. I first tried the self-service machine. My credit card was read but my reservation was not found. I went to the booth next to it so I could actually speak to someone and explain that I had my ticket in my email but could not access it nor print it. The teller gave me the phone number to Cross Country, the company of the train I made my reservation with, and said I could try calling them, or going to the hotel across the street to see if they had a business center and I could print off my ticket. Well, I went over there, and they had no business center where I could print off my ticket. So, I walked over to Emma's work to see if they had a computer where I could print off my ticket, and she said she didn't have it. I started to panic, and the tears started. I put my bags down and called the Cross Country company. The woman who was on the phone clearly did not speak English as her first language, so it was a bit difficult to understand her. What I did understand from her was that the only way I could print my ticket was to use Adobe and print off the ticket. I really thought it was so bogus that you couldn't do it any other way. I was standing, face to face, with someone who WORKS at the train station, who should be able to retrieve reservations, and settle the score. And he couldn't. The lady on the phone was not much help either. I hung up, gave Emma my bags to keep while I ran across the street to yet another hotel, in hopes of them having a business center or a place I could print out my ticket.

I walked in and waited patiently behind the last person in line at reception. They must have just had a group check out and everyone was giving in their keys and making final payment arrangements. I knew time was running out. I got up to the counter and asked nicely, "Hi there, do you have a business center or another place I could print out an e-ticket I need for the train across the street?" The receptionist told me they didn't have a business center but that I could forward them an email and they could print it out for me. I said I had no internet access (does everyone think that everyone has Blackberries and iPhones now? I guess so) so I couldn't do that. She said I could try getting on the computer if it would open Gmail and I would be more than welcome to print the ticket if it worked out and showed up. THANK GOODNESS it worked. I printed out the ticket, thanked her profusely, and ran out of there. I got back to Emma's where I collected my bags, gave her one final hug and ran out. I was so hungry, and there was a Starbucks between where I was and the train station. I popped in to grab a muffin to go, because, well, they are really yummy. At this point, I considered it comfort food. Just enough time to spare, I got my muffin, walked back to the train station, and showed the barrier clerk my ticket so he could scan me in. Walking toward the platform, I realized I didn't have my scarf with me anymore! I must have left it at Emma's work, when I left my things there in a haste. Well, I hope that after all the hassle I've had, that's the only thing I've misplaced, which is not a big deal. If she still has it, she'll bring it to camp when she flies over, and I will then thank her profusely for dealing with all my crazy shenanigans this morning!

On the train, I finished watching the 4th Indiana Jones movie, had all of my leftovers for lunch (Indian from the other night, and my ravioli from last night), and I'm all caught up on my blog. I think it's time for a well deserved nap.

Manchester and others (3/18-3/23)

My flight to Liverpool was probably the shortest flight I've ever been on. And I've been on some pretty short flights! I guess I didn't realize how close Belfast was to Liverpool. Then again, I am not from the UK and I haven't familiarized myself very well with the map of the UK.

Jon picked me up at the airport, and when I walked outside, it was freezing! Either it was a little colder here than Belfast, or I had just been inside for long enough that the cold caught me by surprise. Or both! Well I hopped in the car and we drove to his house. We arrived late enough that everyone in his house was sleeping already. He showed me to my room for the weekend (which is actually his room; he would sleep downstairs in his sister's room since it is right next to the TV that his dad watches soccer on every morning). I slept comfortably for the night, and woke up excited to meet the family and figure out our schedule for the day. Jon had a soccer game in the afternoon, so he and his dad dropped me off in downtown Manchester where I met up with Andy Brides (CEL 04, 09, 2010). He showed me around the city, and I played tourist, asking questions and taking pictures. A friend of his (Chris) and his girlfriend (Leann) also met up with us at a pub in the music district of Manchester. We were trying to watch one of the soccer matches on during the day but none of the pubs carried the right channel. So we sat and chatted for a little while; I tried a new beer. Jon called Andy to say he was done with the game, and we were all meeting up at a hotel downtown near Jon's work. He booked it for a great price and we could go out in Manchester that night without anyone having to drive back home. Safety first! Princess (aka Matt Evans) was also staying with us that night, so Andy took me to the hotel where Jon and Princess anxiously awaited our arrival. Andy couldn't stay very long, as he had plans with his girlfriend and some other friends, but we had just enough time to do a self-portrait photo on my camera in the hotel room. Man am I glad I figured that way back when; it's come in handy more than once.

Andy left and we all got ready to go out to Panama Hatty's, one of Princess's favorite Manchester restaurants. We walked over, and immediately ordered a round of yummy cocktails! We ordered our food (appetizers and all), and even a second round of drinks. I had pre-arranged to attend a synagogue's megillah reading for the holiday of Purim, which is celebrated usually in March. I picked a synagogue that was in the downtown area so I could make it there on time and fulfill my Purim obligation of hearing the megillah. I arrived there and only a few people were in the room. The security guard and the man who appeared to be the rabbi, knew my name (because I had made this reservation/inquiry in advance), which was sort of nice and welcoming. But it really wasn't the most enchanting evening I've had in my life. They started with Havdallah, the ceremony that ends Shabbat, followed by the short evening service Ma'ariv, before moving on to the megillah reading. I'm not against doing Havdallah or Ma'ariv, but really I went there for Purim, so I wasn't very interested in the rest of it. Not to mention that the woman who wrote me back to my inquiry could have mentioned that it wasn't exactly the biggest crowd of people who would be attending. Granted, they might not know exactly how many people or who is coming, but I think they could have anticipated not having the craziest Purim party. I hadn't indicated that was what I was looking for, but I felt a little misled. After the evening service we moved downstairs into another room and basically took turns reading in English, Megilat Esther (the scroll of Esther). The rabbi inserted some questions and commentary where he felt necessary. Everyone participated in one way or another, which was nice to see. It just still didn't quite feel like Purim. In the end, I definitely was happy that I got to celebrate Purim in at least a small way, and those who were there were more than welcoming to me.

At 10:00 on the dot, I called Jon to see where the guys were (knowing they wouldn't be too far away) and met up with him on my walk to the club they decided to go to. I walked in and to my surprise, Jen Sugden (CEL 08 and 09) was there, and Jon's brother, Andrew. It was officially a party! I was so excited. We danced all night, the music was great, we got really sweaty, and it was just like a fun day off. After many hours of being in the club, it was finally time to go home. Jon walked Jen to the bus station and met Andrew, Princess, and I outside the club nearby. We finished up our night with some greasy french fries and cheesey garlic bread, and walked back to the hotel. Andrew was originally not supposed to stay with us, as the room was only set up for 3 people. But he came prepared - with a sleeping mat AND a sleeping bag! So we were all set.

We woke up in the morning around 9am, all still feeling exhausted (we were out too late for sure!), but ready to set out on our next adventure. Despite the rain, we packed up the car, got our daily dose of Starbucks (man, there are a lot of Starbucks in England! I guess I got used to no Starbucks in Israel and now they are everywhere!), and went back to casa de O'Brien for a quick switch of items. We dropped off Andrew at home, had a huge breakfast (including many eggs, toast, bagels, fruit), and packed up the car for an overnight at the Lake District where we had a small cabin booked for the evening. Given the cool temperatures, Mama O'Brien gave us all the blankets and sleeping bags she could find, tons of pillows, and we packed up the car for our day. The first little town we stopped at was Windemere, on Lake Windemere. It was still overcast and misty when we got there, but we walked around anyway, in attempt to get some hot beverages or a snack to hold our tummies over until dinner. We found a cute little tea place, walked in and upstairs to be served, and it was like a "Candid Camera" moment. There were at least 10 people in there, all at respective tables, most of them with other people, not alone. Yet, it was almost silent up there. A room with at least 10 people and no one was talking? It was strange. Clearly it wasn't an English "thing" because both Jon and Princess were very confused! Well we were hoping for some soup or a scone or a small bite to eat, and when the waitress came over and we asked about the soup of the day and other meals, she enlightened us, "We only serve food until 4." "Oh, thank you, ok, give us a second please." "What time is it" I said to Jon, who had his watch handy. "It's 7 minutes past 4." We all rolled our eyes in confusion and decided to leave the menus on the table and head out. What a weird experience. They stop serving at 4? Ok, well then you aren't getting business from us. We wandered around the town a bit more until we found somewhere else that actually did serve food past 4pm! Some minty hot chocolate and a bowl of soup later, we were back on our way. I wanted to see the Peter Rabbit store, and shop around for a bit, maybe buy something cute. Meanwhile, Jon and Princess asked the two clerks if they had any recommendations for dinner nearby - in town or on our way to our campsite. They gave us a few places including one that was listed in the top 50 pubs in the UK. Man, this place would have to be pretty good! We got a little worried when we were already back on the road and hadn't seen it yet, but out of nowhere, it appeared on the side of the road, kind of its own stand alone place. They had a great specials board, lots of beers on tap (but we were not playing that game today) and a full menu. We placed our orders and the food came out. It was presented nicely, but I think we were over-critical because of the girls telling us it was in the top 50 pubs. So the food wasn't the best food I've had in my life, and we figured that it was probably in the top 50 pubs in the UK because of the ales they had on tap there, which we chose not to experience. The food wasn't awful, but it wasn't amazing. We were fairly satisfied and off we went to find our campsite.

The sun was almost down and we had pretty spotty confidence in our directions, and a dying battery on Jon's phone with GPS. After many curves down the dark winding road (and many "Oh I feel sick" comments coming from me in the back seat), we got to the campsite. It looked like an axe murderer's haven! It was so sketchy. It was also rainy and muddy and misty and dark. No one was around. It was just a bit too shady for us. We looked in the cabin, which was VERY cute, but...we decided against staying there. As long as Princess had enough energy left in his body to drive back, I was fine with that! So about an hour and 15 minutes later, we arrived back to casa de O'Brien to surprised parents. We explained to them what we encountered, and blamed Andrew for the whole mess, since he had been the one to recommend the campsde to us in the first place. He had stayed there a few weeks ago but in much nicer weather and he arrived during the day. So we blamed our dissatisfaction on the difference in arrival factors and called it a night. Princess slept on the couch in the living room, Jon slept in his sister's room, and I slept in Jon's room again upstairs.

The next morning, we all got up when we got up, and had planned on going to The Windmill, a restaurant nearby in Parbold, which he knew would be good to make up for the not-so-great food from the night before. I have to say - it was delicious! Our waitress, however, looked like she came from the circus. Her makeup was layered and caked on over and over again. How silly! English girls really do it up a little too much I think. Thank goodness she wasn't cooking the food! After we finished up our lunch, we drove to Liverpool so I could go to the Beatles Museum. It was definitely on my list of highlights of the trip and we now had the entire afternoon to make it happen. Jon and Princess decided that they didn't want to go, but were happy to walk around Liverpool for a little while and let me go in and see it. I paid for my admission (student ticket, with my student ID, thanks Buffalo for not putting an expiration date on my card!) and received my audioguide to help me through the maze of the museum inside. I enjoyed the museum on the whole (how can you not enjoy a Beatles Museum?) but one of the main problems I found with it was that there was music playing in many of the rooms along the way, and therefore it was hard to hear the audioguide some of the time. There were also a few small groups of young people who were being louder than I would have liked, not helping me with the listening situation. But I tried to just steer clear of them when I saw them, going ahead of them or letting them pass me. I ended up at the Fab 4 Store to make my purchases (you're welcome Dad!) and go back outside to meet the guys. We hopped back in the car to head back to Parbold, and stopped at a grocery store on the way back to pick up some items to make Jamie Oliver's tomato soup. Princess is a PRO! He knew exactly which ingredients and how much to get, so we did a quick run around the store and went home. Immediately, we all went into the kitchen to start prepping the food. Princess just jumped right in, Jon guided him around the kitchen to find knives and cutting boards and oven dishes, and I sat there reading Jamie Oliver's recipes! It was so nice to have the guys cooking. I DID offer to help out and just said to let me know what I could do and when. But otherwise, I basically stayed out of the way. Jon's sister made her way back home that night too, so we had a full table for dinner! We started with Princess's tomato soup, and Mom O'Brien prepared a goats cheese and tomato pastry. Man, I've had a lot of tomatoes for a girl who doesn't really love them all that much. Everything was delicious though, because none of it was raw tomatoes. I got my share of antioxidants to last a while I'm sure.

We spent the rest of the night relaxing at casa de O'Brien, while Princess took off to head home (sad story!). I haven't seen Jersey Shore Season 2 in Miami, but Season 3 was on reruns (or had been recorded on the DVR) so I watched a few of those. Hilarious. Dumb. But hilarious. Another day in the UK came to a close.

Tuesday finally arrived, which was the day I had planned to meet Mona Bloom (a cousin of my grandfather Ralph's) in Leeds. I'm still not 100% sure how we are related, but she was so excited to hear from me when I originally called, and she was incredibly sweet about meeting me and showing me around Leeds and taking me for lunch! So she met me at the train station in Leeds, and we took the free city bus to Victoria's Quarter, where we sat down at a restaurant for lunch. Plenty of vegetarian options available, including soup (I'm really loving soup!), and we were able to sit for a while without being rushed out, which gave me just enough time to hear from Emma Speake (CEL 09, 2010) when she was done with her class at 3pm. She came and met us there and we did a nice little transition of tourist in Mona's hands to tourist in Emma's hands. I said my goodbye to Mona, promised her to call her once I got back to the states which she knew I was looking forward to. And Emma took me to her apartment via bus (my first double decker bus ride in the UK so far!) which is in a highly populated student area. The apartments and streets reminded me a little bit of South Campus at UB, filled with student houses and apartments. It was such an unusually nice weather day, that we saw people setting up BBQs, walking around in flip flops and shorts. I haven't seen that for a long time! We went from her apartment to the pub she works at, so we could chill out for a bit with a drink before I had to leave and she had a meeting at work. She knew everyone in there! Customers, other people working. Emma was just miss popular! I guess when you work somewhere for 2 1/2 years you get to know the population! Eventually I had to go get the bus back to the train station so I could get into Manchester, so she walked me to the bus stop and told me to get on one going into town. I wasn't exactly sure which stop to get off at once in town, but fortunately, this is an English speaking country! So I asked someone standing next to me if she knew which one to get off at, and she told me. I kept asking people on the streets as I was walking, if I was going in the right direction, and they just said to keep walking and I'd see it. Well they were right! I followed instruction well and arrived at the station.

I got on the next train I could going to Manchester Piccadilly, the only station I really knew, and told my dinner gang that I'd be in the city around 7:30. Rich Wagstaff (CEL 09) met me there at the station right as I came off the platform. And we walked across the city to meet Jon and Laura Hallows (CEL 2010) so we could all go out for dinner. Wagamana it was! It's a chain here, and cheap and reliable Asian food, so I was totally in. It was surprisingly not that crowded, compared to the day Carla and I tried going in London and it was packed. It was also near one of the theatres right before showtime, so they must make a killing on theatre nights. This was much more calm and quiet. It was so nice to see Rich after not having seen him in over 18 months. I knew I'd be seeing Laura this summer too, and just saw her in August, but, it was also still good to see her! Reunions are just always fun in my book. And camp reunions are the best. By far.

We called it a night and we all went our separate ways. Rich lives in the city; Laura went back to her car to drive home, and Jon and I caught the train back to Parbold. What a night, what a few days I spent in Manchester. I got to see a ton of camp people that I wanted to see, saw the surrounding areas, and met what I think is the equivalent English family of my own. I couldn't ask for anything more.

The next morning, I got to the Parbold station to head back into Manchester to catch the train to Newcastle, as planned. I was the most sad to say goodbye to Hattie O'Brien, the dog! Luckily I got a photo with her right before I left. I hope I see her again sometime soon!

St. Patty's Day in Belfast (3/16-3/18)

As promised, Laura Ostler (4n4 09, among other summers), picked me up at the Belfast City Airport, in what she called "the teeniest car you'll ever see." It was a pretty small car by American standards, but, it still had 4 doors and 3 seats in the back, and a small "boot" or trunk. I assured her it wasn't the teensiest.

She showed me her apartment very briefly, which, I have to say, is beautiful. It's really a house, right on main road in Belfast, and she has 3 housemates. The first floor is absolutely huge, with the living room/den area, and the kitchen. When I popped in, all of her housemates were there, so I introduced myself, and told them that their kitchen is basically the size of my ENTIRE NYC apartment. Oh the joys of living in an overcrowded city. Anyways, she gave me the tour of the rest of the house before we went out for dinner in downtown Belfast. She previously made a reservation at the lovely restaurant "Made in Belfast." It features food grown and produced locally (as opposed to abroad or from far away) which I really enjoy because of its environmental impact, as well as supposed of local foods. The ambience was very calm, the color scheme inside the restaurant very soothing. None of the furniture matched anything else. It had a really unique flavor inside. The meal I ordered was delicious as well. Butternut squash topped with couscous, goats cheese, cranberries, and even more (that I can't remember). Laura got the fish and chips, and we swapped about halfway through our meals. I think both of us were very pleased with our meal selection. Night one in Belfast - done.

The next morning we woke up, and it was St. Patrick's Day! I figured in Belfast, this holiday must make people go nuts. We knew the parade started downtown around 12pm so we met up with Gareth Stitt (CEL 09, 2010) who was already there. We watched the environmental themed children's style parade, which included bagpipes, floats pushed by manpower (no fuel used, they're being environmental!), some awesome puppets, and some lame dancers. Once it was finished, we walked around the downtown area for a bit, went into a few pubs, saw part of an outdoor concert, had lunch at a diner (man they fry EVERYTHING here, fried fried fried!), and finally became so exhausted that Gareth went his own way home for the evening, and Laura and I went back to her apartment. Despite the cold temperatures in her apartment, we snuggled under blankets in the living room to watch a movie - "My Sister's Keeper" which is a book I had read recently but hadn't seen the movie. That passed a few hours of time for us until we were planning to go out to continue celebrating the holiday!

Lo and behold, Gareth ended up with plans, and Laura's friends said that the St. Patty's Day celebrations were actually kind of lame. So...we decided to go to dinner, sit there instead of do take out (because I was still so cold in her house!) and come back home for a relaxing and quiet night. We went to a place called "Thai-tanic." Clever name, with Thai food being popular in Belfast, and the Titanic being built there. Don't you think? Well, the food was delicious - I ordered something with ginger, basically because it had ginger, and it's not something I have often, but it is something I love! Laura got the chicken pad thai as per her housemate's recommendation, and was also pleased. Back in the car we went, back to the cold apartment, and we went to bed.

Laura had work the next day so I planned on getting up whenever my body decided to wake up, and head into town for one of those open bus tours - hop on hop off. I started to make my way into town toward the information center to inquire about bus times and prices. In the meantime, Gareth got off of work early so he changed the plan and we ended up meeting up in the center of town instead of me doing the bus ride. I really was just going to do that to kill time until I could spend time with Gareth or Laura again. So this was bonus! Skip the bus ride, hang out with a friend. I had a little bit of time to kill so I went into the City Hall as recommended by Gareth (nice architecture inside he said) which was lovely! I did a little bit of walking around in there to kill the time, and some shops nearby to see what was around. He met up with me outside of the City Hall and we walked around some different parts of town from what I had seen the last 2 days. We went to get some lunch, met up with his girlfriend Laura Corrigan (who was also at camp, in 2009) so I had another reunion! We walked through a bit of Queen's University right in the center of town, and finished off our day with a warm drink from Starbucks. That's where we said our goodbyes and I went back to Laura's apartment to pack up my bags. I managed to pack everything up, and even squeeze in a couple of Skype calls, before Laura got back. She cooked a lovely mushroom risotto (from a packet!) for both of us to eat before my flight.

Well that was it for my Belfast visit; Laura took me to the airport for my departing flight. She even walked me in to see me off. Any extra time with Laura is treasured so I was happy she came in with me! What a doll. Flight to Liverpool is up next - here we come!

London-itis! (3/13-3/16)

Reflections on London...

Carla was a FANTASTIC hostess. I could not have asked for anything better! She opened her apartment to me as her guest for 3 nights (which is a long time!), and cleared her schedule so that we could spend a lot of time together.

She met me at St. Pancras which is where the Eurostar arrives, and we hopped on the underground (the subway, the metro, the tube, call it what you like) to her apartment. She lives in student housing for graduate students, and it's a brand new building! We sat around for a few hours just catching up with each other (and each of us calling our respective family/friends on Skype) before heading out to the local Chinese Takeaway for a greasy dinner. Cheap, quick, and reliable. We brought everything back to her place and probably finished dinner after 10pm. Great on the tummy, right? Well we stayed up chatting until after 2, which my body thought was 3, so we really had to just call it a night.

The 2nd day involved the grand tour of some main attractions in London including Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye (the big ferris wheel), and Trafalgar Square. We went to Wahaca for dinner, which is a Mexican restaurant that Carla LOVES! I love Mexican food because I can always find something vegetarian there, so it's always a good selection for me. They have lots of tapas on the menu, plus main dishes, and lots of vino! I started with a garlic mushroom cheesy something or other, followed by a beautiful salad which included sweet potatoes, goat cheese, pumpkin seeds, on mixed greens. From dinner, we went to the theatre!

We saw WICKED, somehow getting tickets less than 2 hours before showtime, in the 4th row, in the center, for 27 pounds. That's like $40! Pretty good deal for any show, but for this one in particular, I was very happy. (Carla has already seen the show before, so I told her that I didn't mind seeing another show that she had never seen before so that we could both experience something novel, but she said she loved it so much as a show that she wouldn't mind seeing it again, that it was her favorite musical.) I didn't really know much about the show besides it was the pre-quel to the Wizard of Oz that shows where the witches came from. I won't give anything away here because I don't know who is reading this that might ever see the show, but I was thoroughly impressed by the acting, the singing, the costumes, the set, the entire production. I have always known London to have top notch theatre but I was just completely impressed by the production of the show, and the story itself. I kept making connections between this show and the story of the Wizard of Oz, translating characters in one to each other, remembering that this came first, leading up to the adventures of Dorothy, Toto, and the others following the Yellow Brick Road. I can't wait to see it again. I'm turning into Carla!

We met up with the one and only Phil Carroll, another Londoner from Echo Lake, who actually lives closer to Carla than to where he met us (by the theatre) but location didn't really matter. It's the company that does! So we met him for a couple of drinks at two different pubs to catch up on the last year (and then some), what's been going on at camp since he couldn't come back last year, and how the Eurotravels have been going. It was good to see him after all that time. Reunion all the way!

The next day, we slept in a little bit, given how tired we were from a busy day before, and we slowly got out of bed. We started our day walking toward and throughout Regent's Park, one of the largest parks in London. We people-watched, had hot beverages, enjoyed the fresh air (and even a little bit of sunshine!), and did a lot of walking around. We eventually hopped on the tube toward the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, where I had to take some pictures. Unfortunately it was still overcast so the pictures do not do that bridge justice. I don't know why I think it's so pretty, but it just is! It reminds me of a castle. Or a really fancy wedding cake - the kind that they decorate on those shows on the Food Network. Delicate and precise. So I was really excited just to look at it!

We finished off our afternoon/early evening by walking to the National Theatre area to look for a nice place to have some dinner. We went to the theatre, getting our tickets less than 1 hour before showtime, and this time, for only 10 pounds! Even more impressive than the previous night's cost. We found a place right next door that has us out of the restaurant in time to get our seats. Unfortunately, we both had more criticism of this show than WICKED. The show was called Greenland, and addressed the issue of climate change. It had 15 actors (men and women) all portraying different real life characters who encounter this global issue. It certainly made the issue current and interesting, but my main criticism was that it just had too many story lines going on. There was one about a guy who was on "Deal or No Deal" trying to make a decision to take it or continue playing the game, making the analogy that our world is in one box and we all have to make the decision as to whether or not we want to take the world as is or try to address ths climate change issue and take a stand; take a different box. There was a potential romantic encounter with a scientist and someone else interested in the environment who somehow finds him online and they go to the g8 summit together, UN committee on global warming having meetings, etc. There was another one about a girl named Lisa who stages a protest in a grocery store about the use of plastic packaging on most food items in the grocery store, and how most of the food items in the grocery store has been chipped in from abroad. There was one about what seemed to be a lesbian couple in therapy, one of whom is trying to educate the other on environmental issues, but to an extreme. It was just a lot to remember and blend together, and then figure out the main point. Was there a point though? A main message to take away? I didn't think so, really. I thought the acting was very good. (They all also spoke "British" not "English" so of course they sounded good to me.)

The last day I had with Carla was a short one because Carla had to go to her afternoon classes. She took me to a place called "The Breakfast Club" for a huge, hearty, greasy, yummy brunch! The place had really awesome decorations, in the spirit of the movie, and the 80s and 90s, and a great menu. It is located in Angel, a neighborhood filled with students. It's not cheap, so it's not the kind of place you can go to every day! But for me, it was one restaurant I didn't want to pass up. Everything was delicious. We hopped back on the bus for Carla's so she could get her books and head to class. I had to pack up my things! Thankfully, Carla said I could leave as much as I wanted in her place because I am coming back to London next week. So I packed up for a week in my backpack, shoulderbag, and purse (I'll be doing some laundry in the next few days for sure!), and left my big bag with most of my belongings staying in her apartment.

Glad I'll be returning to London in a few days to finish up any last London sightseeing business I need to take care of!

Paris to London (3/13)

Adam left in the 7:00 hour this morning; I said a quick goodbye in hopes of going back to sleep. Mission unsuccessful and I have no idea why. Kinda bummed about that. Tossed and turned for a bit and then decided to turn on the computer to check my email, as usual. I waited until I got hungry enough to warrant checking out the breakfast downstairs at the hotel, but found that it was most certainly not worth the hefty 13 Euro price. It was just pastries, hot beverages, and cereal really. Nothing else served hot that I could see (like eggs or waffles or other typical American breakfasts), no juices or fresh fruits. So I went back upstairs, had a granola bar to hold me over, and got in the shower. Once I was in my clothes for the day I could pack everything else up and secure my bags downstairs while I went out for one last chance to wander the streets of Paris.

On a hunt for food, not remembering that on Sundays in Paris, most stores (including restaurants, clothing shops, boutiques, etc.) are closed, I thankfully remembered where the Starbucks was near our first hotel we stayed at. It was open! Soya chai latte and vegetarian wrap sandwich, 9 Euro (still a rip off), but I was satisfied. Began walking around, mostly aimlessly but just wanted to see the river and the bridges one more time. I considered taking a boat ride but really would have been worried about making it back to my hotel in time to take the metro to the train station, so I just walked around until it was time to go back. Didn't eat anything else, didn't shop anywhere (because they were all closed), but I walked about 2 1/2 hours straight! Hopefully that helped work off some of the food I've been eating nonstop on this continent!

When I arrived back at the hotel, I claimed my luggage and headed for the metro, the cheapest way to get to the Eurostar train station called Gare du Nord. The directions the hotelier gave me were perfect, with one small exception. The 2nd train I needed to transfer to, is out of service until May 3rd. So when I got off at the station and the number "4" was x-ed out, I knew I was in a bit of trouble. There was no one around so I struggled with my bag up 2 flights of stairs until I saw two young girls, and I asked them in French if they spoke English. "Oui" they replied, meaning yes. So I asked them if they knew how I could get to Gare du Nord another way. Thankfully, they did. It was only one more stop to Republique, and I could transfer to another line, the number 5, to go to Gare du Nord. They were so sweet and nice and helpful and friendly, and I was very grateful! I waited only a few minutes for the next train to arrive, took it the one stop, transferred to the number 5 successfully, and made it to Gare du Nord. I guess I would say the NYC equivalent would be Penn Station. They don't just have subways/metro that arrive there, and not just Eurostar, but other suburban train lines, something that goes to the main airport, and lots of options. I followed all the signs correctly for Eurostar departures, got my tickets from the electronic machine, and ended up having to go through Passport Control for France and the UK right after each other. I approached the UK desk with my passport in hand just as I did for the French one, and the guy in the booth asked me if I had filled out a "landing card" so I said no, he pointed me in the right direction to the table to fill one out. I got it, filled it out, and got back in line, but to the other side of his booth where a woman was doing the passport checks. The only reason I did that instead of go back to him (and maybe I could have avoided waiting in the line again but whatever) was because I didn't want to have to walk through another line of people to get back to his side; I just joined it. I got up there, showed her my passport and landing card. Our conversation went a little like this:

"How long will you be in the UK?"

"Two weeks" (as is indicated on the card I filled out)

"Where are you staying?"

"London, Belfast, Manchester..."

She cut me off before I could finish, and she said, "Do you have an address?"

"I'm staying with friends all over the country."

"So you don't have an address in London? Where are you going when you get to Kings Cross?"

"My friend is meeting me there, and taking me 2 tube stops away. I have the address but it's in my email."

"Well that doesn't do me very much good, does it?"

She stamped my passport and I smiled, said thank you and walked away. I was appalled.

Do customs officers think they can just be as rude as they want to people? I certainly won't really be arguing with someone at customs checking my passport with the ability to grant or deny me access to the next step. You could be arrested, detained, something. So I didn't say anything back to her, but there were so many things I could have said if I had the guts to do so. "I had no indication that I'd have to provide a street address when I got here." "If the Eurostar reservation prepared me to do so, I would have made sure to have it written down." "Can't someone just go and travel to London without having a particular destination in mind? Where's your sense of adventure?" All went through my mind as I was standing there, but I politely said, "thank you" and took my passport back.

Then I had to go through the metal detector and have my bags scanned. Very easy step. Continued down the hallway, following signs for carriages 1 through 6, as I was assigned to carriage number 5, and was directed down the escalator. Another woman pointed me in the right direction to number 5, and I found it, put my duffel bag in the luggage compartment, and happily found my seat. Ahhh, a bit of relaxation finally! And no heavy luggage either. The only downside to the Eurostar ride was that I was facing backward, and my stomach was already a bit upset from the metro ride. I closed my eyes, slept for a few minutes of the first hour of the ride, and then we were in the "Chunnel" for about 20 minutes. When we got out of the chunnel we were in England! The train made one stop before mine, and then I got off at St Pancras/Kings Cross, one of the major train stations in central London. Carla came and met me right in the terminal and we were on our way!

I guess no trip is complete without a quick stop at Platform 9 3/4 so I went to Hogwarts for half a second and came back. Then we hopped on the tube to get to Carla's apartment. We hung out for a while, many hours, each skyped with some people, and finally made it down the block for some yummy deep fried Chinese food. 10pm dinner - lovely. Well the day has come to a close and it is time to go to sleep! Tomorrow I will be doing some laundry in the building (convenient, cheap, hooray) and then hopefully we're getting tickets to see Wicked! Wish me luck!

Last drive day! (3/12)

Picked up and left Strabsourg before 10am. Had one more lunch at AutoGrill (our fave!) to savor the moment. Got to Paris, returned the car successfully and quickly, checked into our hotel, had a quiet night including a sushi dinner (can't get enough). When we got back to the room, we decided to finish watching Indiana Jones Temple of Doom, since we had started it earlier in the trip. Well, I just finished the movie but Adam fell asleep during it! I guess he was bored with it. Or he was tired. Good thing he's seen it before.

That's all I've got for today, keeping it short and simple, cause that's the kind of day it was.

Tomorrow I saw au revoir to Paris and HELLO LONDON!

Oot and Aboot in Strasbourg (3/11)

Oh boy did we sleep in today! We rolled outta bed...around...12 maybe? Adam was clearly tired from the drive. I was just...lazy. Had to get my pics up on FB to keep the fans entertained.

We left Andy's apartment around 1pm to head toward central Strasbourg, and of course, food was our main purpose initially. We stopped at a pasta/sandwich place before crossing the bridge to the island that is downtown Strasbourg. Happy tummies later, we found our way into town. It was so cute! Shops and restaurants everywhere! If only our tummies could have waited, we could have had Turkish food, or kebabs, or something probably much more tasty (and unique) than pasta and sandwiches. Well, we skipped dessert on this meal so that left the opportunity for a bakery visit!

When Andy and his girlfriend Marina told us about Strasbourg, they told us that there was a lot of history about the place because it had been annexed by Germany, then it was French again, then Germany, etc. We could really see the German influence on some of the buildings in Strasbourg. And, almost every street had names in both French and German. We spent a good few hours walking around checking out the sites, and wandered into the Notre Dame Cathedral there. I found that it most resembled the Duomo in Florence, at least in terms of the outside design. It was pretty chilly out, and we had done a fair amount of walking, so we decided to take the train a few stops back to Andy's apartment. When we got there, they were taking their cat outside for a walk. The cat is more like a dog - tons of energy, loves to explore and play. So Adam and I just sat inside the warm apartment thawing out. When Andy and Marina came back, we decided to go out for dinner for our last night together! They took us to a place in the center of town that they go to for brunch, but also have a good dinner menu. One of the downsides to being Strasbourg was that many people didn't speak English as we had found in the other cities. Thankfully, Andy and Marina helped us translate on the menu so we knew what to order. I got a big salad with goats cheese and toasted bread, and some fresh vegetables, and finished off my meal with a belgian waffle and whipped cream for dessert! See if I hadn't had the salad, I couldn't justify the waffle, but I planned all this out.

We had planned to go to the Academy of Beers because they have almost 100 options for beers! We were stoked about the option ahead of time, but once again, exhaustion hit for all of us, and we decided to just take the train back home for a quiet and early night to bed. Here I am saying goodnight in Andy's apartment. Only one more night of the road trip with Adam, tomorrow is our last driving day. What a trip it's been!

Driving through Switzerland! (3/10)

Today's wake up was a bit of a mess. See, when I fell asleep last night, my phone was low on battery and beeping every few minutes to indicate it was so. However, I couldn't plug it in because I left the charger in the car overnight with the majority of my things. I only brought in my backpack with enough clothing and toiletries for overnight. So I knew I couldn't charge it overnight, nor did I want to leave it on overnight to potentially lose all power and/or beep every few minutes, keeping me up, and probably annoying the other girl who was in the female dorm (so much for being alone!). I decided to turn it off before I went to bed, thinking that I would wake up at some point in the morning when light started peeking in the room, and I could turn on the phone and see what time it was. If it was close enough to 8am, I could just keep the phone on, setting the alarm for an appropriate time to wake up for breakfast. Well, this all obviously didn't happen the way I planned. I woke up at sometime in the middle of the night, figured I should check the phone to see what time it was, and funny enough, the phone turned on but was reset at midnight for January 1st, 2007. So I searched through the date and time settings to fiddle with it and try to sort it out. It's a cell phone, so, it always displays the time and date according to a satellite (or something like that, so they say). Well the phone didn't want to correct itself, so I attempted to find the right time zone and daylight saving time selection. It was about 6am, or so I thought. I set the alarm for 8:15am, so I could snooze once, and go down to breakfast in the hostel lobby at 8:30. The alarm went off as planned, I snoozed as planned, and got ready for breakfast as planned. I got downstairs, with my computer, so I could upload some pictures to Facebook and check my email if need be. Also, if Adam wasn't down there yet, or had already come, I figured the computer could keep me temporarily busy until I saw him. At around 8:40, I emailed him saying "Hey I'm at breakfast" incase he was in his room and able to check email on his iPhone. It finally got to just around 9am, and I called him because I didn't want him to truly sleep through breakfast, and we had to be out of the hostel by 10am anyways. He didn't pick up, but texted me back saying "breakfast." I assumed that meant he was coming. He walked into the lobby, looking like he had just woken up, which he confirmed, and I said, "you slept later than you thought" and he said - what do you mean it's only 8:00. I said really, my phone says it's 9; I didn't want you sleeping through breakfast. Well it seems as though my phone reset itself to Israel time (GMT+2) instead of Europe time (GMT+1). So then I realized - I was at breakfast at 7:30, not 8:30. I was done with my breakfast by 8am, not 9am. And, I woke Adam up before he really wanted to be up.

What a great way to start the day, huh?

Adam and I went back to our respective rooms to get our bags and load up the car once again, and we were on the road by about 9:30am. Destination for today: Strasbourg, France. This meant we got to drive through Switzerland. One more country to put on the list! Leaving from Como, it was only a few minutes until we hit Switzerland. The scenery on our drive was absolutely majestic. Snow capped mountains, lakes, valleys, trees, small towns, more mountains, more lakes; it just kept going. We decided to stop along the way for some lunch, and it was a good opportunity for us to practice German. My last name is German, so naturally, I know how to speak the language. Right. Actually, because of some of the Yiddush I know, I was able to figure out some things on the restaurant menu more easily than Adam. Fleisch - is meat. I stayed away from those items. Some things on the menu looked so similar to English that it was just easy to figure it out. Tomantensuppe is tomato soup! And other things on the menu we just had no idea we had to ask. Zweibeln is onions. I steered clear of the dish with zweibeln so I wouldn't contaminate the car with my stinky breath. A quick stop into the gift shop and pay our lunch bill, and we were back on the road again. Not much more to Switzerland before crossing the Rhein River and getting back into France. Racial profiling is certainly at its best at the border, because we saw at least 10 cars go straight through customs when we were stopped, asked for our passports, asked about our trip, how long we were in Europe for, even asked us if we had anything to declar including 10,000 Euros or the equivalent in US Dollars (we told them we wished!). Fortunately, we didn't get searched - not because we have something to hide but just because it would be a huge waste of time - for us and for them. A few minutes later and another river crossing behind us, we were officially back in France. And so was our car radio. American songs, yes, but French radio. Right on the border, pretty impressive.

We arrived in Strasbourg, and had no problem finding Andy's apartment with the directions on the GPS. We parked across the street since there was no parking in front of the building, and went for a little walk to kill time until we could meet up with Andy and get into the building. After a few minutes went by, a parking spot opened up right in front of the building, so I told Adam to run to the car and drive it over, and I'd stand guard! Fortunately, no one came for the spot while Adam was moving the car, so I didn't have to fight off any French people for a parking spot. We called Andy who was inside, he had us come up and welcomed us to his fabulous apartment!

I was pretty desperate for a nap, seeing as the night and early morning situation didn't work out too well for me. I ended up sleeping for almost 2 hours! So much for thinking it would be less than an hour. Andy and his girlfriend Marina order from a restaurant in the next building that has both Indian and Italian food. The Indian food sounded pretty appealing to me, because we have eaten so much pasta and bread and pizza lately. So I ordered a vegetarian dish, and Andy and Adam both ordered some chicken. Marina wasn't very hungry so she had some light snacks from the fridge. We all sat down together at their table and it was like having a family meal together; it was so comfortable and homey. We decided to stay in for the night and go out tomorrow and try all the Belgian beers at a nearby bar. So after a 45 minute phone call to mom (Andy has free calls to North America!), I am finally now heading to bed.

Goodnight - Bon Nuit!

A little town called Como (3/9)

Today we said goodbye to Venice. It was a good thing and a bad thing to have to say the goodbye. I had a lovely time there, but it was very very crowded and also freezing cold! It was also very easy to get lost there so we spent a fair amount of time wandering around not having a clue where we were. We had to clear out of our hotel (after breakfast, of course, you take it when you can get it) by 11am anyway, so we got our things packed up and walked over to San Marco to catch a boat back to Piazzele Roma, where our car was parked in the garage. Having been on a few boats yesterday, I kind of managed to figure out which boats went in which direction, so instead of Adam waiting in line for his ticket, we caught a boat headed in the right direction that was already at the dock (and they don't wait for you - you have to catch it just in time!) and he bought his ticket on the boat.

Back to Piazzele Roma and we got back to the parking garage. 60 Euro later (2 days of parking) and we were out of the garage and on our way to our final Italy location - Como. We read in the Rick Steves book that there was a hostel there in the cute little town of Como, so we called last night and found out they had tons of space. We wanted to drive there, check it out, and then make our decision. I was pretty excited to stay in a hostel for a change - for the price and also the environment. The drive took us through Verona and Milan, but we ended up stopping just at a restaurant at a rest station like thing. It was a gas station and a restaurant all in one. It was a good break, and we needed to kill some time anyway because the hostel didn't open for check in until 4pm anyways. By the time we arrived in Como it was about 3:15, so we parked in a lot right near the Lake, and walked around a little bit checking out the scenery. It was gorgeous!!! It reminded me of Lake George, not because it really looked like Lake George but just because it was what was most in my head that it could look like. We spoted an airport on the lake, some docks, huge homes, and surrounding hills. We tried to kill as much time as possible until just after 4pm when we returned to the car to drive back to the hostel, pulled into the parking lot, and went to the lobby. When I had called yesterday to inquire about the rooms, the woman spoke very good English, and explained that there were no private rooms, so for 2 people (1 male, 1 female), we'd have to split up and each stay in our assigned dorm - one for males and one for females. No problem for us. She let us see the rooms before deciding, and they were both pretty empty of people. It was very promising, so we paid up and checked in. We took her advice on taking a gondola ride up to the top of the mountain facing the hostel, because it offered great views of the town, the lake, and the upcoming sunset. We hopped back in the car and drove around the downtown area of Como (there were no through streets) and started wandering around for parking. We got lost a few times, ended up on a street that dead ended and Adam had to back up the car, almost hitting the back corner into a wall. It was kind of scary! We passed the main parking lot a few times, but there were no spots. So we took another big circle around the area by the bus station, in hopes of some spot opening up somewhere.

We turned back around, heading for the same parking lot, and I spotted 1 parking space in the lot. We got it! We paid for our parking at the little machine, threw the ticket on the dashboard, and stopped for a brief moment to capture the beautiful sunset over the Lake. Then we dashed into the building to catch the gondola. It was right there, so we were about to put our tickets into the machine to gain entry to it, and the doors shut! Man, just when we wanted to see the sunset over the lake, we missed it. If we hadn't gotten stuck on that tiny little street and had to turn around, or had left from the hostel a few minutes earlier, or lucked out with parking, maybe we could have made it! But we decided to get into the next gondola anyways because the sky must have been turning beautiful colors anyway.

A few minutes went by while we snapped some photos on the lake, and we certainly didn't want to miss the next one up to the top, so we gained entry to the gondola with our tickets, and took our seats. A few more people boarded as well, and the gondola took off. What we failed to realize in our haste of getting to the gondola in time to make the sunset, was that, the higher we climbed, the more sun we could see again. We didn't miss the sunset after all. In fact, we had a beautiful view of the sunset from the gondola, and even prettier views from the top of the mountain.

We spent about a half an hour at the top, taking photos from some panoramic viewpoints, and watching the sky turn orange, red, pink, and yellow. The lake and the trees caught the colors of the sun as it went down. I just hope my camera capture the colors as well as seeing it through my own eyes. I have discovered that I really enjoy taking photos but my camera is not exactly professional photography quality. I might invest in a really nice camera to use for scenery and travels in my future.

We caught the gondola back down to the bottom of the mountain and got in the car to go back to the hostel. We had about an hour to kill before dinner so naturally, we spent our time in the hostel lobby on the internet, checking email, sports scores, and talking with people from home. I skyped with my dad (mom wasn't home), and talked to a bunch of people on g-chat, while starting to eat dinner. The servers at the hostel were so attentive and sweet; we had a lovely homecooked meal, including bread, salad, a drink of choice, a huge bowl of pasta (perhaps the best I've had since being in Italy) and for me, a vegetarian dish specially made for me - an omelette! Adam's meat meal was veal, so it was a very good thing I told them I was a vegetarian. Actually, it was a good thing that when we checked in, the dinner menu had a sign that said vegetarian option available for dinner if requested. The dinner was lovely!

We booked our hotel for Paris, our last one of our trip, and decided that the night was really coming to a close. I still had to shower, and then I could go to sleep. Adam and I split up, went to our respective rooms, and I took out my towel and toiletries. I pulled out my pajamas and left them in the bathroom on a stool outside the shower stall, for quick access. I was a little worried about the cold, so I made sure the heater in the bathroom was on, and waited a while for the water in the shower to get hot. Once it was warm enough, I jumped in for a nice relaxing shower - so needed! Unfortunately, a few minutes into the shower, the lights went out - POOF! Just like that. I thought that maybe the lights were motion sensitive, so I stuck my arm out from the shower curtain and waved it around in hopes of the light coming back on. I even tried the light switch on the side of my shower, since each stall had its own light. Nothing was working. I couldn't hear the heater blowing air anymore, so I thought there might have been a power failure. I started panicking a little bit that the hot water might run out while I was in there - yikes! I decided to do a super fast shower and just get out of there so I could see the light again. I grabbed my towel to dry off and attempt to warm up, and of course, the lights came right back on. I was so frustrated, AND so cold, that I just wanted to put my clothes on and head to bed. I'll just need a really good full nice long hot shower tomorrow night when we arrive in Strasbourg, to make up for this lack of a good shower.

Turning off the phone tonight to save some of the battery, in hopes of not oversleeping and missing breakfast in the morning!

Venice in the cold (3/8)

I started the day with another hotel breakfast! Chocolate croissant, cereal, yogurt, orange juice - delicioso! Adam and I decided to have another splitsies kinda day since our interests differed. I really wanted to go to the Murano Glass Factory (on the island of Murano, at least one boat ride away) because I had heard from a few people that it was a must see! Adam wanted to check out St. Mark's square and stay more local. So I pulled on multiple layers (it's so cold out!) and went for the dock. I got a 36 hour ticket which means I have unlimited use of any boatride in the city for today and tomorrow, to get us back to shore. I knew if I got it I would have to make it worth my purchase, so going to Murano was a good start.

The boat took a few stops until it got to Murano and as soon as I got off, there were glass and jewelry shops everywhere. I don't think this island sells anything else! Besides food of course. I read in the Rick Steves book that many shops offer free demonstrations of glass blowing so I went into one of the first places I saw and asked. He didn't have any demonstrations in his shop but directed me to the factory itself. I had to pay 5 Euro to enter, and then I was allowed to go back into the glass blowing room. I saw "the master" (that's what they are called!) create a beautiful flower vase, and a statue of a small horse. He is so clearly trained in exactly what to do from the melting and the blowing and the decorating and the using of tools to help shape his piece. Another man who spoke English helped to explain what the master was doing. I thoroughly enjoyed the demonstration and then felt like I could peruse the selections in the shop. A young man, who I believe is from Brazil (but lives here now) followed me all around the store explaining to me what many items were or how they were made. I told him I'd be a while, because I really wanted to look around and see what was there. He followed me every step of the way. Maybe they do this with everybody because they want to make sure no one steals, or breaks anything, or maybe he works on commission! Totally possible. Anyway, he was really nice and helpful, and I picked out a few items to take back home. I spent the next 45 minutes or so, just walking around the island. More and more shops, more and more jewelry, tons of people going in and out of all the shops. I happened to see one more free demonstration of a man creating butterflies. It was in a very small shop just on the main street that I happened to see. He was sitting right there in the front of the store, and people were taking pictures and asking him questions. He made the same shape butterfly over and over again. I guess it makes it easier, cheaper, faster, and then items that are sold look more consistent with one another. I was fascinated, took a few pictures, but left anyway. I popped my head into a few other shops but at that point, it was enough looking. They all started to look the same.

I got to the boat dock to head back toward the hotel, figured out which boat to wait for, and after about 15 minutes, it arrived. I was planning to take it to the Piazzele Roma and transfer to boat #1 which goes through the entire Grand Canal, but I happened to pull out my map just in time. I was at the stop right before the synagogue! I hadn't made any plans to go see the synagogue here (just like I didn't really plan it elsewhere), but I thought - it must be a sign! I'm supposed to see it! So I got off at the next stop and found the Jewish Ghetto very easily. It is right by the boat stop about a block into the neighborhood. The Museo Ebraico and the Synagogue were both accessible via a tour (in English!) and it was going to start in 20 minutes. I saw a couple of signs for a Kosher Restaurant just nearby, and I thought it might be a good idea to keep the money in the religion. So instead of getting something at one of the bigger restaurants, I popped into the dairy side of a meat restaurant, that was more like a cafe, and got a sandwich! The best part about it was that I also got a hamentaschen cookie! It was so cool to see similar foods in a different country. They had a small market/bakery in the area as well.

I went back to the Museo to purchase my ticket for the tour, and although the lady who I spoke with wasn't so nice and friendly, she made for an excellent tour guide. I had no idea she'd be the one giving the tour; she must have been in a bad mood or just annoyed from having to sit behind a desk all that time. Her English was great, and I'm pretty sure she is Jewish based on some of the words she used during the tour, to help show 3 of the 5 synagogues in the Jewish Ghetto, and some of the ritual items and holidays she mentioned. There were only 6 of us on the tour and I couldn't tell (besides one man wearing a kippah) who was Jewish and not. I can't imagine so many people wanting a tour of something Jewish if they themselves are not, but here, the Jewish Ghetto has so much history, so it is definitely likely. I could not take any photos inside the synagogues but I was able to snap some shots of the outsides of them once the tour was over. I hopped back on the boat heading toward San Marco to come back to the hotel.

Adam was in the hotel room taking a nap (poor baby, so tired!) and I decided to head out to do some laundry. Last night we passed a place on our walk back to the hotel that is open until midnight every night, so I had planned on doing some laundry today - getting kind of desperate! Found the place again (through a roundabout way getting there, not really remembering the shortest route) and got change for the machines. Mission fairly successful. Only brought a few damp items back to the hotel to air-dry overnight.

We finally mustered up the energy to go out for another night in Venice in hopes of Mardi Gras not being a bust! Tonight I read there would be a boat show/parade at 11pm starting from the Rialto bridge going to San Marco and ending in the boat basin there, so we incorporated that into our evening plan, went to fine dinner wherever we could (ended up with some sandwiches and pizza) and checked out the Rialto Bridge area for bars one more time. So desperate to make our time here memorable for Mardi Gras! It turned out that there were a ton of people, but really, too many people, and not exactly fully coherent. So we did some people watching, bounced from pizza place to pizza place, attempted to watch the so-called boat show at 11pm from the Rialto Bridge, and when that was a bust, we quickly checked out San Marco before heading back to our hotel. Either we missed something entirely, or the description in the booklet I read earlier was not 100% true. Oh well, we are both reading until we fall asleep tonight.

Buonna notte Venice!

Venice here we come (3/7)

Today I had my first breakfast-in-a-hotel on this trip so far! I woke up in time to start packing up, grab a bite to eat (including yogurt, a hearty whole grain roll, some orange juice, and some tea!), and we loaded up the car to get on the road. Fortunately, today was our shortest drive yet, and we made it!

Venice is on a tiny island in northeast Italy - I didn't know this until I was looking in the tourbook and on maps. We had to leave the car in a garage on "land" and then take a boat to our hotel which was on the island. We basically had no idea what to do or where to go, and vaguely followed directions from the Rick Steves book to make it happen. The boats here are called vaporettos, and they operate like city buses or subways. This is public transportation on an island built from the water, with bridges, and canals, and tiny sidewalks. So our first vaporetto ride took us to San Marco, which is St. Mark's Square. Our hotel was nearby (we thought) so in the middle of a bustling crowd of people by the docks (some of whom were all decked out in masquerade attire for Carnevale/Mardi Gras), we looked for our hotel in the Rick Steves book because we knew it was listed there, and maybe it was on the map of hotels or he gives walking directions. Turns out, it WAS on the hotel map! Lucky us. A few turns down teeny tiny little streets and alleyways, and it opens up into a small square with our hotel - Casa Querini. (I took a picture - shocker.)

We were able to check in right away, and put our things in the room. Stop number 1 - lunch. We wandered over to a nearby square, in an attempt to find some food. We restaurant hopped a bit, finding 2 stands of fresh fruit and candy by the kilo (just like at Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem!), a church (oh right, we're in Italy), and finally decided on a restaurant. I started with a soup and had a vegetable omelette. Adam got the "Menu Turistico" which included a primo piatti (first plate) of spaghetti pomodoro (spaghetti with tomato sauce) and a segundi piatti (second plate) of 1/4 pollo arroste (1/4 roasted chicken). We were both pretty happy with the meal, but unhappy when the bill came and we had to pay extra for our water (um, hello, water is the source of life, you shouldn't have to pay for it, especially when your waiter tells you it's "on the house" but the owner gives you your bill and claims to not understand what you're saying about the waiter's comments earlier), and the service charge was added to the bill. We were both pretty sure that the menu said service was included. So...we didn't put up a fight, but it was a waste of 9 Euro. The food was really good though! That's how the cookie crumbles I guess

I was so desperate for a nap from having woken up before my body was actually ready, so we went back to the room for some much needed naptime! Over 2 hours later, we both finally woke up (after manys snoozes on the alarm clock on my phone), and got ready to go out to find a restaurant and somewhere fun to go later. It's Carnevale and Mardi Gras so there must be something! We tried finding a square that was recommended by the guy downstairs at our hotel (who circled it on the map he gave to Adam) who told us there were discotechs there (assumed some restaurants too) and ended up getting SO lost! We walked over bridges, down small streets and dark alleyways, walked back over more bridges, it just never ended. We decided to give up on the disco and went toward San Marco. There are tons of signs everywhere for San Marco, so we knew that wouldn't be a big problem! We got there and saw a huge performance and stage in the square, but we had JUST missed whatever it was that was going on. Bummer. We finally found a restaurant that looked good - had a good selection, not too expensive, and the guy outside brought us in and sat us down at a table near the front of the restaurant. We made our selections on the menu and were just waiting for the waiter to come take our order. Our waiter seemed to disappear, and another came to the rescue, or so we thought. He came to the table, we asked him some questions just to clarify some things, and then he turned around to take an order from another table, and walked away. Well at that point, we had waited so long, and we knew there was another restaurant down the street, that we left our menus on the table, took our things with us and left. I don't know if I've ever done that before (!) but I was so fed up with our treatment, that I didn't want to give them the business anymore.

We walked into the next restaurant, and we were treated like royalty! It was night and day - unbelievable. Our food came out very quickly, and it was so nice. The wait staff answered our questions about where to go out later, made jokes with us, so naturally, they were our new best friends. It was such a nice experience, and good food!

We took the waiter's advice to go to Rialto (which is one of the main bridges over the Grand Canal) in search of other young people and some drinks! Well there were definitely young people, and by young people I mean like the age that would be illegal to consume alcoholic products in America. They can drink legally here, but they weren't exactly our crowd to attempt to socialize with. We tried checking out one more bar that looked promising from our walk over to the Rialto bridge, and that was unsuccessful as well. Somehow, the night before Mardi Gras was not looking so good. I guess not every holiday is celebrated starting with an "erev" (the night before for most Jewish holidays). We'll have to try again tomorrow.