This is a lot after the fact, but I took notes while in Spain, and we were there for TWO WEEKS so there will be a lot of stuff to talk about. Please bear with me. I will probably have to post in chunks.
Upon arrival, after a little siesta, mom, Aunt Martha and I went to lunch at a fabulous paella place called Albur in the Malasana area of Madrid. It was our first meal and it was excellent! For starter, we split a delicious salad that had bacon and goat cheese. After, we shared one paella for two, which was more than enough food! Kristen had recommended this place to me as “the best paella in Madrid.” You may remember, I had been here the last time I came to Madrid. It was just as great!
After, we walked around the park on the west side of Madrid, searching for the Temple Debod. Somehow we over shot it and were too far down hill to get to it. However, the park was nice and included a rose garden that was out of season, but I can only imagine how beautiful it is when all the roses are in bloom.
We continued south through Madrid towards the Royal Palace. Did you know Madrid has a king and queen? They don’t really use the palace any more, but it is definitely a symbol of their royal history and grandeur. Apparently Spain’s is the longest running royal blood line. Anyway, we saw a bit of the gardens behind the palace, and then walked up to see the front of the palace and the cathedral, which face each other (representing the tie between royalty and religion). We then hooked east and had tapas for dinner at the Mercado del San Miguel. I had a pinxto with gamba (a thin slice of nice bread with shrimp) and a green sauce (I imagine pesto possibly mixed with a mayonnaise?) as well as an empanada con carne (thickly breaded and baked ground beef).
One thing you will quickly notice about our trip is how much delicious food we ate! The sites in Spain are beautiful, but the food and wine is equally spectacular, and cheap! The main meal is at lunch from 2-4pm and for just 10-15euro (about $12-20) you can have a wonderful 3-course meal with a glass of wine. At night they have a late and light dinner, usually of tapas, which is a small piece of food for one. Traditionally, tapas should come when you order a drink and is meant to compliment the drink. This is quite common in the south of Spain. In Madrid, you still will find that you’ll get a snack with your drink, but often when someone goes out for tapas, they can buy really yummy ones for about $5 each. Often people will go “tapas hopping” meaning they will have one tapa (I think you say “tapa” for the singular, but it could also always be “tapas,” I’m not too sure) and drink (usually a glass of wine) at a bar and then carry on to the next one. So, as you see, you can eat and drink really well for less than $30 per day. In France, that would be completely unheard of!
The next day was Monday. After having some coffee, the weather was gorgeous, so we headed to Retiro Park on the east side of Madrid. This park is famous for being absolutely gorgeous. There is a beautiful spot with a small pond and elaborate fountain with stairs that you can sit on. You can paddle boat in the pond, and therefore it reminds me a bit of Central Park. We continued walking down the park and stopped in a small gallery that is a part of the Reina Sophia. The Reina Sophia is the modern art museum in Madrid and is famous for its Dali’s and Picasso’s (specifically the Guernica, which I’ll talk a bit about later). The exhibit is small, simple, and nice. Better still, we got free entry to the museum Reina Sophia, which is a bit south of the park and usually costs about $10-15 per person. Just a little further on is the Glass Palace. The Glass Palace used to be a green house and now is just a pretty little glass room. Nearby, there was a film crew and it seemed they were shooting a film, though I didn’t recognize anyone there…
We finished walked through the lovely park and headed over to the Reina Sophia. As I mentioned, we had free tickets, so even though none of us really love modern art, we figured we might as well check it out. We saw a few Dali’s, which is always a bit bizarre, and then pretty much headed for the most famous piece: Picasso’s Guernica. For those of you who are really into modern art, I’m sure your cringing and thinking, what tourists! Sorry, that’s just how it is. The Guernica was cool. It is impressive how massive it is. Something new that was there was this huge camera scanner that they apparently use to analyze the piece in a really high-tech way, to see if he had altered it originally and what types of materials he used. It’s great for preserving the piece, analyzing it closely without tampering with it, and understanding Picasso’s artistic process. After, we headed to the rooftop, which has a nice view of Madrid.
Then, we popped over to the Atocha train station, which is just across the street. The train station was really amazing. It’s very clean and modern, and there is a really amazing little forest in the middle of it.
After, we were on the hunt to find a restaurant that was recommended to Aunt Martha, but we just couldn’t find it. So we headed to Plaza Santa Anna, which is a quaint little plaza, and sat at a restaurant called Vina P. Here I had peas sautéed in ham and a grilled salmon. The peas were wonderful and apparently pretty traditional in Spain. It was still so lovely out that we got to eat out on the terrace and worry about sunburn.
Then we meandered about on the lovely streets of Spain. One thing I love about Spain is the architecture: it’s just so magnificent. We wandered into the Ritz to see how much a cup of coffee costs (10euro!!!) and to see how gorgeous it is. On another recommendation of Aunt Martha’s, we went to the Centro de Bellas Artes. For only 2euro, you get to go on the rooftop for a beautiful view of Madrid. Normally it also includes a viewing of the wonderful exhibits there, but they failed to mention to us that on Mondays the exhibits are closed. So we sat in the lovely café there and had a coffee, a hot chocolate, and a milk shake. One thing that surprised Aunt Martha about her hot chocolate was how thick it was. In Spain hot chocolate is so thick, it’s like a dessert and not really a drink. Often you eat it with a spoon or by dipping churros into it.
We then headed to the other very famous museum in Madrid: the Prado. The last two hours it is open, it is free, so we also got to go to that museum for free! Famous artists in the museum include Goya, Valasquez, Ruben and el Greco. It is very impressive how large the museum is; we only spent time on one floor!
For dinner, we had tapas at the Cerverceria Cervantes, which was recommended in our Fodor’s book. We had tapas with cod, salmon, and shrimp. The shrimp one is specifically known and is highly recommended!
After, we headed to Malaspina, near Plaza del Sol, to have a few more tapas. Here we had a bit of chorizo and an empanada de carne. They also brought us real tapas with our drinks (ie, FREE!): Spanish tortilla (egg with potatoes) and olives. I highly recommend this tapas place. The tapas are about 5euro each (which is a bit pricey for tapas) but they are quite large and for three people 2 is definitely enough (but if you’re hungry, three is good!).
The next day, Tuesday, we went to Toledo. Toledo is a quick 30 minute high-speed train ride from Madrid and great for a day trip. If you do go, be sure to book your tickets in advance as the train often fills up. It is only 20euro each roundtrip to take the train and I would suggest leaving early in the morning and taking an evening train back as there is a lot to see in this beautiful, former capital of Spain! Also to note: your train ticket has assigned seats! We didn’t know that and only realized on the return trip that we must have stolen peoples’ seats!
Toledo is a wonderful city because it was the first capital of Spain and was the head of the Spanish church. It was known as the city of the three cultures where Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived together peacefully. Toledo was often fought over between the Muslims and Christians as the seat of power. (That’s the history of Toledo very, very generally! You might want to look up more info!!!)
First, after leaving the beautiful Atocha train station, we arrived at the beautiful Toledo train station. This station has gorgeous tiles and brown, earthy walls. We then took a bus for 2euro into town (it’s is definitely too far to walk). The town is extremely beautiful with earthy hues and old fortified walls.
We headed to the cathedral there which is expensive, but not to be missed. At first we were really shocked by the price, but once inside we realized it was well worth it. The cathedral is massive and breath-taking. No cost was spared in building this. Not to be skipped are the sacristy and treasury. In the sacristy there are incredible works of art, particularly by el Greco, who came from Toledo. In the back rooms there are beautiful tapestries and garb that had been worn by different high members of the clergy. In the treasury are astounding gold and jewels. There is also a lovely cloister where the monks could walk and contemplate the mysteries of the world. In it, there are orange trees and frescos that I believe were being refurbished.
After the cathedral, we went to one of the two synagogues there. At one time, the Jews, Christians, and Muslims all cohabitated in Toledo (and Spain in general) quite peacefully. The one synagogue we went to was made into a museum and is fairly interesting, though a little disappointing after seeing the massive cathedral. Kristen tells me the other synagogue is better. Oh well… Anyway, the synagogue has several artifacts from the traditions of the former Jewry here and the style of the building is interesting. There is a small courtyard with the stone sarcophaguses of passed Jews.
After, we walked a bit in the Jewish quarter to look at the shops. One shop we liked was small and run by a father and son. You could actually watch the son making the different pieces for the shop as the father deftly brings you through his shop. They recommended to us a restaurant across the alley. The food was not the best, but not bad, however the courtyard where we sat was beautiful. It was really an atrium type of room: it was in the middle of the building but had an open roof. The whole room had beautiful tile work and I found it to be quite peaceful. It was also really cheap: for about 10euro we got a bottle of wine for the three of us plus a three course meal. I enjoyed a lunch of paella for appetizer and quail for the meal, which was quite interesting. We also had delicious marzipan and chocolate mousse for dessert.
Already we had to start thinking about getting the bus to the train station. We wandered the streets, stopping in a marzipan shop where nuns made the marzipan. We also mailed postcards from the post office (also very beautiful) and window shopped. I think we could have definitely spent more time in Toledo. It would have been nice to see the fortified walls that you can actually walk on, and there is a fort/ castle there as well.
Check out photos at : http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150584315046319.377054.544216318&type=3&l=ec6a1a5500
Friday, March 16, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Mardi Gras!!!
Happy mardi gras! This past weekend I went to celebrate carnival for real in a small coastal town called Granville. It was the 138th anniversary of the festival! I was exactly how I imagined carnival in France to be! We arrived Saturday evening and hung out with my roommates friends. We then put on our costume and headed out. In the streets there were a lot of drum lines/ marching bands performing and EVERYONE was in costume. I was like an even bigger and better Halloween. There was also a real carnival (ie, spinning rides and games) and I rode on the bumper cars, which was crazy because I swear they could get up to 15 mi/hr and if both cars were going full speed head on you felt it. Of course, there were no seat belts. And everyone was drunk. It was obviously very, very safe. Not. It was a lawsuit waiting to happen, but apparently the French aren’t so sue-crazy like us Americans and my friends and I lived, so it was ok, and actually really fun. There were also all your typical rides and games, just like you’d see in the US (though I didn’t spot a whack-a-mole unfortunately).
It was a pretty small town with narrow, winding streets, so I think the actual number of people wasn’t a lot but it seemed like a lot. It was small enough that we saw the same people several times and were able to talk with them which was really cool. Even better, they often wore the same costumes for the whole week (carnival goes from about Thursday until Tuesday) so you could easily spot them again and rekindle your friendship.
On Sunday afternoon Kristen and I woke up to watch the parade. The parade was over two hours long, with all homemade floats that were very clever and well thought out. Kristen and I camped out in the main square, where there was a huge throng of people and we were able to get pretty close to see the floats. There was tons of confetti as well. Literally, tons. Apparently something like 10 tons of confetti were brought in for the event. Amazing. You’ll see in the pictures I posted that it was everywhere. So amazing! I can’t recall ever going to a real confetti parade like that. Luckily the day was gorgeous and the whole town came out and it really felt like mardi gras. Kristen and I then wandered the city, looking at different costumes, stopping in different bars and sandwich shops to dance to music (yes, sandwich shops!). It really was an amazing weekend, and we even conspired to stay an extra night as Sunday night is when they have fireworks apparently. Unfortunately, I had work the next day so we grudgingly left at 8:30pm.
I originally took over 300 photos. I tried to narrow it down, but it is still over 200! I hope you enjoy!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150545148681319.371538.544216318&type=1&aft=10150545276611319&l=7ee050126c
It was a pretty small town with narrow, winding streets, so I think the actual number of people wasn’t a lot but it seemed like a lot. It was small enough that we saw the same people several times and were able to talk with them which was really cool. Even better, they often wore the same costumes for the whole week (carnival goes from about Thursday until Tuesday) so you could easily spot them again and rekindle your friendship.
On Sunday afternoon Kristen and I woke up to watch the parade. The parade was over two hours long, with all homemade floats that were very clever and well thought out. Kristen and I camped out in the main square, where there was a huge throng of people and we were able to get pretty close to see the floats. There was tons of confetti as well. Literally, tons. Apparently something like 10 tons of confetti were brought in for the event. Amazing. You’ll see in the pictures I posted that it was everywhere. So amazing! I can’t recall ever going to a real confetti parade like that. Luckily the day was gorgeous and the whole town came out and it really felt like mardi gras. Kristen and I then wandered the city, looking at different costumes, stopping in different bars and sandwich shops to dance to music (yes, sandwich shops!). It really was an amazing weekend, and we even conspired to stay an extra night as Sunday night is when they have fireworks apparently. Unfortunately, I had work the next day so we grudgingly left at 8:30pm.
I originally took over 300 photos. I tried to narrow it down, but it is still over 200! I hope you enjoy!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150545148681319.371538.544216318&type=1&aft=10150545276611319&l=7ee050126c
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Allie visits, other updates, and LOTS OF PHOTOS!
Last time I posted, my friend Allie was visiting. We spent some time in Etretat and Honfleur. But I found the most interesting part of her visit was when we visited the Museum of Natural History of Le Havre. I honestly did not expect much of it since no one had mentioned it to me as a must-see and the building looks a bit dilapidated from the outside. However, the exhibit inside was incredible. They are currently featuring an exposition on the savannah so I figured I’d take Allie for an hour to check it out. Turns out the exhibit is unbelievably beautiful. It is two floors of gorgeous pictures of animals and local peoples from the region in Tanzania and Kenya. They also had a section for children with stuffed animals and great learning tools. The exhibit was especially nice because I had been to the savannah and seen all those people and animals live.
On Friday, January 27th a bunch of friends and I went to see a very amazing concert. The band was called the Orchestre National de Barbès and they use many different instruments from around the world, such as guitars, bagpipes, and traditional African instruments, to play music with a North African feel. They’re style was undoubtedly fresh and funky and kept people dancing the whole time. The concert was free and sponsored by Le Havre for the literary festival that was meant to highlight diversity in French literature. I was highly impressed.
On Sunday January 28th, I babysat for a little girl. It was just for a day because her dad had a Magic tournament to go to. I spent the whole day with the little girl. She was about seven years old and didn’t speak much English, just the basics (colors and numbers). I was her first babysitter, so she was pretty excited. We played all kinds of card games and I taught her how to play “Go Fish” in English. We also played dolls and put on a little make up. She was very sweet and easy going. Very fun! One thing I thought was strange is that for a snack she had hot chocolate with chocolate cereal. It’s strange because that is what my roommate has for breakfast every day. It must be some bizarre French thing; do they not realize that the milk becomes chocolaty from the chocolate cereal?!
For a few days, the region of Seine-maritime (kind of like a county) had a few special days where all the movie theaters were 3euro to see a movie. So I went many times and saw the films Le Havre, Sherlock Holmes (dubbed in French), La Vérié si je mens (“The truth if I lie,” a French comedy), J. Edgar.
In the film Le Havre all of the dialogue is very slow so all of myself and my foreign friends really enjoyed the movie because we understood all of it, but all of my French friends hated it because they found it to be boring and slow. What I like about the film is its very artsy. It plays with time really well, showing the main character in a very old fashioned car, but then in the background you can see contemporary cars. There are also interesting time juxtapositions such as a scene with someone on a cell phone, but then another scene with someone smoking in a hospital. Clearly two different time periods. I really enjoyed this play with time and found that it made the theme of the film seem timeless. Simultaneously classic yet modern. The film itself is about a group of Africans who are discovered when trying to go get to English by containerships. One of the boys escapes and the main character tries to help save him and send him to England.
J. Edgar was quite good but also quite awkward. There were many scenes that made me cringe from the brutal reality and awkwardness. I truly felt ill at ease a lot of the time and at the end had a sense of, “What did I just watch?” It was very raw and intimate, but almost too much so for me. I also wonder how true life it was.
I was also lucky enough to have dinner with two of the teachers I work with. They invited me over to dinner with their husbands and children. In typical French fashion, we got together around 8:30pm to have a few finger foods and chat. The children were then put to bed by the fathers and we continued chatting. Around 10pm we had dinner. Kristen and I were there until 1am! The home was beautiful, with a sitting room that was all glass and the home was on a hill that over looked the center of Le Havre. While we were there, it began to snow around midnight!
This was the first snow of the year, and it was pretty serious. I understand that Le Havre doesn’t usually get very cold and if it snows, it rarely sticks. There were maybe about 6inches of snow here and it stuck for quite a while. I got to see the snow on the beach and all of the beautiful buildings. I will post pictures, because it’s better to see it than to describe it.
Up until now, that’s just about it… Not too much going on here. I’m just relaxing at the moment and not travelling much, but I believe in the next month that should change. Will try and keep you posted!
Pictures from Christmas and Berlin: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150530090656319.369691.544216318&type=3&l=458fde62a3
Pictures from a bike ride with Kristen, Allie’s visit, and the Orchestre national concert: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150530373616319.369717.544216318&type=3&l=9c31183086
Pictures from Winter in Le Havre:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150530147061319.369696.544216318&type=1&l=decd012c6d
And general photos of LH:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150530432406319.369729.544216318&type=3&l=0c8e460ca8
On Friday, January 27th a bunch of friends and I went to see a very amazing concert. The band was called the Orchestre National de Barbès and they use many different instruments from around the world, such as guitars, bagpipes, and traditional African instruments, to play music with a North African feel. They’re style was undoubtedly fresh and funky and kept people dancing the whole time. The concert was free and sponsored by Le Havre for the literary festival that was meant to highlight diversity in French literature. I was highly impressed.
On Sunday January 28th, I babysat for a little girl. It was just for a day because her dad had a Magic tournament to go to. I spent the whole day with the little girl. She was about seven years old and didn’t speak much English, just the basics (colors and numbers). I was her first babysitter, so she was pretty excited. We played all kinds of card games and I taught her how to play “Go Fish” in English. We also played dolls and put on a little make up. She was very sweet and easy going. Very fun! One thing I thought was strange is that for a snack she had hot chocolate with chocolate cereal. It’s strange because that is what my roommate has for breakfast every day. It must be some bizarre French thing; do they not realize that the milk becomes chocolaty from the chocolate cereal?!
For a few days, the region of Seine-maritime (kind of like a county) had a few special days where all the movie theaters were 3euro to see a movie. So I went many times and saw the films Le Havre, Sherlock Holmes (dubbed in French), La Vérié si je mens (“The truth if I lie,” a French comedy), J. Edgar.
In the film Le Havre all of the dialogue is very slow so all of myself and my foreign friends really enjoyed the movie because we understood all of it, but all of my French friends hated it because they found it to be boring and slow. What I like about the film is its very artsy. It plays with time really well, showing the main character in a very old fashioned car, but then in the background you can see contemporary cars. There are also interesting time juxtapositions such as a scene with someone on a cell phone, but then another scene with someone smoking in a hospital. Clearly two different time periods. I really enjoyed this play with time and found that it made the theme of the film seem timeless. Simultaneously classic yet modern. The film itself is about a group of Africans who are discovered when trying to go get to English by containerships. One of the boys escapes and the main character tries to help save him and send him to England.
J. Edgar was quite good but also quite awkward. There were many scenes that made me cringe from the brutal reality and awkwardness. I truly felt ill at ease a lot of the time and at the end had a sense of, “What did I just watch?” It was very raw and intimate, but almost too much so for me. I also wonder how true life it was.
I was also lucky enough to have dinner with two of the teachers I work with. They invited me over to dinner with their husbands and children. In typical French fashion, we got together around 8:30pm to have a few finger foods and chat. The children were then put to bed by the fathers and we continued chatting. Around 10pm we had dinner. Kristen and I were there until 1am! The home was beautiful, with a sitting room that was all glass and the home was on a hill that over looked the center of Le Havre. While we were there, it began to snow around midnight!
This was the first snow of the year, and it was pretty serious. I understand that Le Havre doesn’t usually get very cold and if it snows, it rarely sticks. There were maybe about 6inches of snow here and it stuck for quite a while. I got to see the snow on the beach and all of the beautiful buildings. I will post pictures, because it’s better to see it than to describe it.
Up until now, that’s just about it… Not too much going on here. I’m just relaxing at the moment and not travelling much, but I believe in the next month that should change. Will try and keep you posted!
Pictures from Christmas and Berlin: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150530090656319.369691.544216318&type=3&l=458fde62a3
Pictures from a bike ride with Kristen, Allie’s visit, and the Orchestre national concert: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150530373616319.369717.544216318&type=3&l=9c31183086
Pictures from Winter in Le Havre:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150530147061319.369696.544216318&type=1&l=decd012c6d
And general photos of LH:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150530432406319.369729.544216318&type=3&l=0c8e460ca8
Monday, January 23, 2012
Berlin, Paris, and Le Havre!
Berlin was pretty cool, but to be fair I didn’t get to see a lot of it. I went on a walking tour on the first day and saw checkpoint Charlie (apparently the spot in the past where you crossed from East to West Berlin), Museum Island (where most of the main museums are located), the remains of the Berlin wall, and a cool memorial to the Jews who were killed during the holocaust (it is uneven squares in a pretty large area and the ground is uneven as well; it’s meant to give you the impression of graves).
I did go to one museum where there were beautiful buildings from ancient times inside of it. That’s right, buildings inside buildings. Somehow, the Germans figured out how to get whole ancient buildings from Greece, Rome, the Middle East, and Northern Africa. It’s unbelievable!
Besides all this cool stuff to see, Berlin also has a crazy nightlife. I really believe it is more of the city that never sleeps than New York is. I was there on a Tuesday to Friday, not usually the best time to go to a city if you want to party. But in Berlin, there’s always a party and the music there is my favorite kind: electronic music. There is one specific area where there is an abandoned train station and the whole area seems so shady, but it’s actually awesome and full of clubs and bars. One of the nights when we arrived, we found a party set up under a bridge: it seemed that some people just brought their dj speakers and lights and set up a party and there were now over 100 people there dancing in the street. It was unreal. I’m told that if I had been there on a weekend, you can literally party from Thursday night until Sunday night; the clubs and bars never close, even during the day!
The hostel I stayed in was called the Circus Hostel. It was one of the more expensive ones in Berlin, but it was still pretty reasonable since Berlin is so cheap. I decided to go there because the guy I was Couchsurfing with in Strasbourg told me that he had stayed there and it was great and the reviews for it were excellent. The hostel was super nice, with a really nice front lounge and a cool bar at night. One of the nights there was a local band playing and they were pretty good. The beers in Germany in general are much cheaper than in France (about half the price!) and I made a good few friends in the hostel and we would split a boot of beer between us! Very stereotypical, but so awesome. One of the people I met in the hostel was a girl who is from Bellmore, just a few towns over from Massapeqeua! I also made friends with two guys who are professional divers; the kind that live in a decompression chamber for 3 months at a time and go deep down in the water to work on wells and what not.
I only stayed in Berlin for three days and then was off again back to Paris. I spent most of my time in Paris with my friends from Le Havre. New Year’s Eve wasn’t anything too crazy or exciting. We just went to a few bars in a part of Paris that I knew well and had been to a lot when I was studying there. Then we returned to Le Havre and I spent the next few days recovering from travelling.
Since New Year’s Eve, I’ve been staying in Le Havre, trying to save up money and research what to do with my life after I finish teaching. I think because of the New Year’s resolutions thing, I got into a bit of a health kick as well and have started running, swimming, and biking. I’m training to run a marathon with a friend (we’re splitting the marathon) and I’ve also gotten a ten hour card to a local pool. The pool is very modern. The architecture is all white and geometric. The pool is also half indoor and half outdoor. You enter the pool in the indoor portion and then go under a plastic kind of divider and then your outside. The pool is heated and once you start swimming it’s really warm and it’s actually really refreshing to have the fresh, crisp air while you swim. Unfortunately, I imagine it’s not very efficient in terms of energy use and I’ve heard that they built it too quickly and not well and now it leaks water into the ground and they can’t fix it. Not terribly eco-friendly I suppose.
My birthday also passed on January 12th. Had a great time seeing all of my friends. The festivities started on midnight when it turned my birthday (Wednesday) until Saturday night! During the week I had a Couchsurfer from Quebec, so lucky him, he got to see the most fun side of Le Havre. He left on Saturday morning and Saturday night was the big night where I had all of my friends out for dinner at a couscous restaurant. The restaurant was great and the woman who owned the place knew us and she gave me a bottle of champagne!
I also went to see a burlesque circus. The circus was from Australia and did cool acrobatics and contortion tricks. I really loved the theme of an adult circus; it made circus arts seem a bit more serious and artistic. The music that they performed to was also all live. I think the best trick they had was a girl lined up bottles of champagne on a piano and then walked on the tops of them on her toes! And because I am registered as a student at the university here, the tickets were 1/3 of the price!
I went to a improv comedy show here as well. I had gone with Kristen way back in October and it was hilarious because they had some funny skits that were a lot of miming, but this time there was a lot more talking so it was a bit difficult for us, as we didn’t understand a lot of it.
In other news, I got a roommate! The upstairs to my apartment is quite large so I have rented it out for low cost to a French guy. He is 27 and works for the soccer team here. He’s very nice and fun and can get me free tickets to the home soccer games! Apparently Le Havre has a great soccer team for its division. He has met all my friends and we all love him. It’s especially great for me because I speak only in French with him, and I really think that in the last week that he’s been here I’ve improved a lot in my speaking. His sister came over yesterday to visit him and see the apartment and she brought us food his mom made! It was veal wrapped in what looked like bacon but it was from the cow. And for dessert his aunt had sent us some real ginger bread.
I have also started tutoring two adorable little boys for an hour on Wednesdays in English. Last week we worked on telling time and saying numbers. Today I met a father about babysitting his daughter on Sunday. He has a Magic the Gathering tournament (it’s a card game) this Sunday and he needs me to watch her. The girl is super cute and 7 years old. She was very shy when meeting me, but I think she liked me. I’ll be her first sitter! I also got an email that someone from the business college here would like tutoring in English! Woo! Makin’ money!!
I have a friend Ali from the US visiting me now! I’ll write all about her trip soon!
I did go to one museum where there were beautiful buildings from ancient times inside of it. That’s right, buildings inside buildings. Somehow, the Germans figured out how to get whole ancient buildings from Greece, Rome, the Middle East, and Northern Africa. It’s unbelievable!
Besides all this cool stuff to see, Berlin also has a crazy nightlife. I really believe it is more of the city that never sleeps than New York is. I was there on a Tuesday to Friday, not usually the best time to go to a city if you want to party. But in Berlin, there’s always a party and the music there is my favorite kind: electronic music. There is one specific area where there is an abandoned train station and the whole area seems so shady, but it’s actually awesome and full of clubs and bars. One of the nights when we arrived, we found a party set up under a bridge: it seemed that some people just brought their dj speakers and lights and set up a party and there were now over 100 people there dancing in the street. It was unreal. I’m told that if I had been there on a weekend, you can literally party from Thursday night until Sunday night; the clubs and bars never close, even during the day!
The hostel I stayed in was called the Circus Hostel. It was one of the more expensive ones in Berlin, but it was still pretty reasonable since Berlin is so cheap. I decided to go there because the guy I was Couchsurfing with in Strasbourg told me that he had stayed there and it was great and the reviews for it were excellent. The hostel was super nice, with a really nice front lounge and a cool bar at night. One of the nights there was a local band playing and they were pretty good. The beers in Germany in general are much cheaper than in France (about half the price!) and I made a good few friends in the hostel and we would split a boot of beer between us! Very stereotypical, but so awesome. One of the people I met in the hostel was a girl who is from Bellmore, just a few towns over from Massapeqeua! I also made friends with two guys who are professional divers; the kind that live in a decompression chamber for 3 months at a time and go deep down in the water to work on wells and what not.
I only stayed in Berlin for three days and then was off again back to Paris. I spent most of my time in Paris with my friends from Le Havre. New Year’s Eve wasn’t anything too crazy or exciting. We just went to a few bars in a part of Paris that I knew well and had been to a lot when I was studying there. Then we returned to Le Havre and I spent the next few days recovering from travelling.
Since New Year’s Eve, I’ve been staying in Le Havre, trying to save up money and research what to do with my life after I finish teaching. I think because of the New Year’s resolutions thing, I got into a bit of a health kick as well and have started running, swimming, and biking. I’m training to run a marathon with a friend (we’re splitting the marathon) and I’ve also gotten a ten hour card to a local pool. The pool is very modern. The architecture is all white and geometric. The pool is also half indoor and half outdoor. You enter the pool in the indoor portion and then go under a plastic kind of divider and then your outside. The pool is heated and once you start swimming it’s really warm and it’s actually really refreshing to have the fresh, crisp air while you swim. Unfortunately, I imagine it’s not very efficient in terms of energy use and I’ve heard that they built it too quickly and not well and now it leaks water into the ground and they can’t fix it. Not terribly eco-friendly I suppose.
My birthday also passed on January 12th. Had a great time seeing all of my friends. The festivities started on midnight when it turned my birthday (Wednesday) until Saturday night! During the week I had a Couchsurfer from Quebec, so lucky him, he got to see the most fun side of Le Havre. He left on Saturday morning and Saturday night was the big night where I had all of my friends out for dinner at a couscous restaurant. The restaurant was great and the woman who owned the place knew us and she gave me a bottle of champagne!
I also went to see a burlesque circus. The circus was from Australia and did cool acrobatics and contortion tricks. I really loved the theme of an adult circus; it made circus arts seem a bit more serious and artistic. The music that they performed to was also all live. I think the best trick they had was a girl lined up bottles of champagne on a piano and then walked on the tops of them on her toes! And because I am registered as a student at the university here, the tickets were 1/3 of the price!
I went to a improv comedy show here as well. I had gone with Kristen way back in October and it was hilarious because they had some funny skits that were a lot of miming, but this time there was a lot more talking so it was a bit difficult for us, as we didn’t understand a lot of it.
In other news, I got a roommate! The upstairs to my apartment is quite large so I have rented it out for low cost to a French guy. He is 27 and works for the soccer team here. He’s very nice and fun and can get me free tickets to the home soccer games! Apparently Le Havre has a great soccer team for its division. He has met all my friends and we all love him. It’s especially great for me because I speak only in French with him, and I really think that in the last week that he’s been here I’ve improved a lot in my speaking. His sister came over yesterday to visit him and see the apartment and she brought us food his mom made! It was veal wrapped in what looked like bacon but it was from the cow. And for dessert his aunt had sent us some real ginger bread.
I have also started tutoring two adorable little boys for an hour on Wednesdays in English. Last week we worked on telling time and saying numbers. Today I met a father about babysitting his daughter on Sunday. He has a Magic the Gathering tournament (it’s a card game) this Sunday and he needs me to watch her. The girl is super cute and 7 years old. She was very shy when meeting me, but I think she liked me. I’ll be her first sitter! I also got an email that someone from the business college here would like tutoring in English! Woo! Makin’ money!!
I have a friend Ali from the US visiting me now! I’ll write all about her trip soon!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Manchester for Christmas!
Sorry I’ve again slacked off and failed to write for ages! Luckily, after this post, I go back to Le Havre and I’m just kind of relaxing so there’s not terribly much to write about…
When I left off, I had been heading off to Manchester to visit my friend Gemma. The journey was long. I left Le Havre early in the morning doing a Covoiturage. Unfortunately, the night before, my French friends in Le Havre and I had a big night since it was the last time we’d see each other for a while. Slightly hungover is not the best way to go about Covoiturage, since you’re expected to talk, not puke in their car- haha. Luckily, I pulled through and made it to the Champs Elysees (that’s the famous street in Paris with the Arc du Triomphe in the middle of it). It was the first time I had been on the roundabout around the Arc du Triomphe in a car. To give you an idea of the chaos that is that roundabout, one time my mom was looking down from the Arc and witnessed an accident. Another time, a friend was being driven to Paris as well and the driver said, “If you’re a little afraid, it’s ok. I am too.”
After getting dropped off, I went and met my friend Kristen who was on vacation with her mom and grandma. They had a really charming hotel called the Hotel de Nice (I think) right near the Hotel de Ville (town hall). The area is an awesome location- right near the Marais, the gay and Jewish quarter, and also a very lively one with winding streets and cool shops and restaurants. I met them for a little breakfast and then chatted with them in their hotel for a bit. It was very sweet to meet them! Then, they were off to the Louvre and I headed to Charles de Gaulle airport.
I happened to be travelling at the end of a week of major strikes in the airport by the security checkers. I got their early, but the airline I was flying on was small and I was misdirected to the wrong terminal (good thing I was very early!) and I happened to pass the strikers. They just suddenly came out of nowhere and accumulated, banging on drums, and with loads of cops surrounding them. Quite interesting.
Luckily, despite the strike, getting through security was a breeze. After a quick litter hour and a half flight, I was in Manchester airport. I took a train into Manchester city and met Gemma’s sister, Ellie, at her shop. Ellie makes clothing and has a shop in this old warehouse building that has been converted into this epic kinda vintage and handmade clothing mall called Afflecks Palace. Then we took the train out to Congleton and drove to Gemma’s house. Overall, took nearly twelve hours. But so worth it! I love spending time with Gemma’s family! They are so warm and inviting.
I spent most of the weekend eating and relaxing. Food highlights are: pigs in a blanket (sausage wrapped in bacon), toasties (grilled cheese made in a kind of Forman’s grill), turkey, sprouts… and real milk that is delivered by a milk man!
One of the first days, we went on a beautiful hike around a lake with all of Gemma’s friends. Can’t remember the name of the lake, but it was a beautiful hike and she has very sweet friends.
Overall, I’ll just let you know how Christmas goes in England. Christmas Eve isn’t really the big deal like it is in the States. We just relaxed at Gemma’s house. The Christmas Day is the big day. Gemma’s brother, sister-in-law, and nephew came over and we exchanged gifts, had loads of wine, and ate tons of food. Their Christmas Day meal is usually Turkey with sprouts and cranberry sauce; very much like Thanksgiving! They also have Christmas pudding, which is a kind of fruit cake that has a lot of brandy or something in it and you pour some liquor on top of it and light it on fire! It’s very traditional, and traditionally not well liked!
That was pretty much a summary of the four days in Manchester… On the last day, we had lunch near Leeds at her aunt and uncle’s home, and then Gemma put me on a bus to London at 6pm. I arrived at around 10:30pm. Hung out in a pub until about midnight, then took a bus to Stansted airport and waited there for a few hours until my flight at 6:30am to Berlin! That was a crazy trek.
Ok, I think that’s enough for one day! I will tell you all about Berlin next time!!!
When I left off, I had been heading off to Manchester to visit my friend Gemma. The journey was long. I left Le Havre early in the morning doing a Covoiturage. Unfortunately, the night before, my French friends in Le Havre and I had a big night since it was the last time we’d see each other for a while. Slightly hungover is not the best way to go about Covoiturage, since you’re expected to talk, not puke in their car- haha. Luckily, I pulled through and made it to the Champs Elysees (that’s the famous street in Paris with the Arc du Triomphe in the middle of it). It was the first time I had been on the roundabout around the Arc du Triomphe in a car. To give you an idea of the chaos that is that roundabout, one time my mom was looking down from the Arc and witnessed an accident. Another time, a friend was being driven to Paris as well and the driver said, “If you’re a little afraid, it’s ok. I am too.”
After getting dropped off, I went and met my friend Kristen who was on vacation with her mom and grandma. They had a really charming hotel called the Hotel de Nice (I think) right near the Hotel de Ville (town hall). The area is an awesome location- right near the Marais, the gay and Jewish quarter, and also a very lively one with winding streets and cool shops and restaurants. I met them for a little breakfast and then chatted with them in their hotel for a bit. It was very sweet to meet them! Then, they were off to the Louvre and I headed to Charles de Gaulle airport.
I happened to be travelling at the end of a week of major strikes in the airport by the security checkers. I got their early, but the airline I was flying on was small and I was misdirected to the wrong terminal (good thing I was very early!) and I happened to pass the strikers. They just suddenly came out of nowhere and accumulated, banging on drums, and with loads of cops surrounding them. Quite interesting.
Luckily, despite the strike, getting through security was a breeze. After a quick litter hour and a half flight, I was in Manchester airport. I took a train into Manchester city and met Gemma’s sister, Ellie, at her shop. Ellie makes clothing and has a shop in this old warehouse building that has been converted into this epic kinda vintage and handmade clothing mall called Afflecks Palace. Then we took the train out to Congleton and drove to Gemma’s house. Overall, took nearly twelve hours. But so worth it! I love spending time with Gemma’s family! They are so warm and inviting.
I spent most of the weekend eating and relaxing. Food highlights are: pigs in a blanket (sausage wrapped in bacon), toasties (grilled cheese made in a kind of Forman’s grill), turkey, sprouts… and real milk that is delivered by a milk man!
One of the first days, we went on a beautiful hike around a lake with all of Gemma’s friends. Can’t remember the name of the lake, but it was a beautiful hike and she has very sweet friends.
Overall, I’ll just let you know how Christmas goes in England. Christmas Eve isn’t really the big deal like it is in the States. We just relaxed at Gemma’s house. The Christmas Day is the big day. Gemma’s brother, sister-in-law, and nephew came over and we exchanged gifts, had loads of wine, and ate tons of food. Their Christmas Day meal is usually Turkey with sprouts and cranberry sauce; very much like Thanksgiving! They also have Christmas pudding, which is a kind of fruit cake that has a lot of brandy or something in it and you pour some liquor on top of it and light it on fire! It’s very traditional, and traditionally not well liked!
That was pretty much a summary of the four days in Manchester… On the last day, we had lunch near Leeds at her aunt and uncle’s home, and then Gemma put me on a bus to London at 6pm. I arrived at around 10:30pm. Hung out in a pub until about midnight, then took a bus to Stansted airport and waited there for a few hours until my flight at 6:30am to Berlin! That was a crazy trek.
Ok, I think that’s enough for one day! I will tell you all about Berlin next time!!!
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Christmas in France
So, now that Christmas is over, I’m going to tell you about how it goes in France:
Even in poor Le Havre, they still go all out for Christmas. At the Hotel de Ville (town hall) there are Christmas windows that tell a story about how Santa is kidnapped and his elves are trying to find him. The story continues inside of the Hotel de Ville, where there are even more elaborate windows and one whole area is done up like a wintery forest. It’s amazing! All the characters move as well and they have really elaborate costumes and set ups.
There is also a little Christmas market, though it is not nearly as nice as some other ones I’ll tell you about later. There you can buy specialties from all over France as vendors come and go, such as foie gras, spiced bread or pain epicie or something like that, and really fancy jams and sauces. The stalls are cute little wooden stalls. There is also a little Santa village with different houses where you can see Santa sitting in his bedroom and elves reading children’s letters and making toys. They also have a stage with different little shows. My friend is in a gospel choir here, and his group had a little concert at this stage, which we got to see.
(up until now everything is in the present tense because when I wrote it , it was still Christmas time! Now that Christmas is over, moving to the past tense! Sorry!)
There was also a “Parade Blanche” or white parade with floats that were covered in fake flowers that I think were actually lays. They were really cool and very creative. They had floats with different themes, especially of a lot of different regions in Europe. My favorite one was the fire department : their float was a life sized giraffe that they rode on and had a hose shooting soap suds (meant to look like snow) of its mouth. They drove around crazily and haphazardly, right up to the crow, and would shoot these suds in your face, sometimes lingering over you so that you couldn’t see! Very funny.
They also had organ concerts in one of the churches in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Obviously, if you’re going to host an organ concert, it has to be in a church. The organ boomed over us and it was quite uplifting. Unfortunately, one of the speakers must have a little problem because in constantly rang a really high pitch over the music, ruining it a little bit and making you cringe from time to time…
Near my house there is a little square called Place Danton and one day after school they had a little show for children. There was a Christmas fairy, which was an actor standing on stilts, and a little wind up toy, an acrobat. They put on a cute little show for the kids and did some interesting stunts, juggling, and magic tricks. One that was particularly interesting was when the fairy stuck a long pin straight through a balloon and it didn’t pop- and then pulled it out again! Amazing. Then there was a little concert put on by the children. It was absolutely adorable, especially one where the children were so little none of them were really singing so they just gave the microphone, mid-song, to one of the older boys (about 5 years old) and he just ploughed through at the top of his lungs.
During the Christmas season I also went to Reims and Strasbourg. Reims, important to know, is pronounced like raince (with a real thick French “r” sound at the beginning). Here I also got to stay with a really cool French girl that I met on CouchSurfing and luckily she didn’t have anything to do that day so she showed me around!
Reims is in the Champagne region where, you guessed it, they make champagne. I did do a little wine cellar tour. Normally you have to pay for the tour (plus extra for a tasting at the end), but on the day I was visiting I was lucky and it was an open house day so the tour was free (still had to pay for the tasting though!). I’m told that it wasn’t the best wine cellar to see, but it was free so I can’t complain. It was cool to see how the cellars look (and feel! They’re a little chilly!). Favorite part was watching how the bottles are slowly turned. I don’t really understand how the champagne is made, since the introductory film was in some pretty technical French and the tour was in French and I was a bit tired so I zoned out a lot. Overall though, it was good. I didn’t taste the wine at the end of the tour, but I bought their cheapest bottle (my birthday is coming up!).
Also in Reims is the cathedral. The cathedral here is super famous because it was where all the French kings have been crowned! As you can imagine, it was huge. There is a really cool beautiful clock and I coincidentally happened to be there at noon and got to watch in chime (apparently a big deal, everyone was crowding around). When it chimes these angels come out and ring the bell. Pretty cool.
That night there was also a “spectacle” (as the French say) on the cathedral. They projected the really cool 3d images onto the façade of the church. A lot of the lighting highlighted the statues that were on the building (if you know European churches, then you know they are completely covered with statues). They brought some of the statues to live and had them moving and everything. It was really a sight to see!
In Reims I really liked their Christmas markets. They were all in a row and there were tons of them. At least 5 times more than in Le Havre, and there was some cool stuff. Because they were in one long line, it was much easier and less crazy to stroll and look at all of them and there was a bit more room. I didn’t buy anything, but it was tempting.
For lunch we went to an Irish pub (they’re really popular here). The French girl I was staying with ordered Tripe! That’s right, intestines! She really likes them, and I'm glad she ordered them because then I got to try it. And I didn’t really like it (a bit rubbery and chewy), so I'm also glad I didn’t order it! Instead I ordered a massive burger with Munster cheese on it. I know, you’re all thinking, Ah, yes, Munster. But no, you don’t know Munster. Here it isn’t pasteurized, so it’s much stronger (and smellier) than at home and it is specifically from this region.
I also got to go to the church where the Emperor Clovis was baptized. It’s not really a popular tourist spot because it’s a little out of the town center, but if you happen to be in Reims, I would recommend it. It’s a lot quieter and the stained glass is very beautiful (much of the stained glass at the cathedral is lost from WWII). I just swiped this info from Reims’ tourist info website: Clovis, Frankish king was baptized by Remi, bishop of Reims on Chritsmas Day 498 in a baptistery which is today situated where Notre-dame Cathedral of Reims stands. Clovis’s conversion to Christianity, religion of a Church which inherited the Roman power, legitimized Clovis to a military takeover of a Gaul then still very divided. A consequence of this baptism was the bringing together of Church and State from which was born the monarchic government of the French divine right. It is also thanks to Clovis’s baptism that Reims became the seat of the coronation of the kings of France.--> The guy who wrote this clearly was doing his best to translate from French to English, so it’s a little rough, but I think you get the idea!
I also got to go ice skating! In most of these larger French towns/cities there were free ice skating rinks, but Le Havre doesn’t. The French girl I stayed with hates ice skating, so she nicely took pictures of me and held on to all of my things for me while I went around, trying to avoid the crazy children skating around.
So I pretty much saw Reims in a day. The girl I stayed with invited me to come again in the spring. Her dad works for one of the major champagne factories and her friend has a car so maybe we could go out into the country when it’s nice and actually see the vineyards! I’m so lucky!
Then I did a covoiturage (rideshare) to Strasbourg. The girls driving me were pretty interesting. They clearly seemed really well off: the car was sleek and one of the girls had a rabbit scarf. They were also pretty nice and chatted with me in French. The other girl they were driving was a tattoo artist somewhere in the middle of nowhere France, outside of Reims. It was Sunday morning and she must have had a big night/it was a bit of a trek for her to get to Reims because she pretty much slept the whole ride.
Also, when I woke up in Reims, it was the first snow of the season! Just a light dusting on everything, nothing too bad. But the girl who was driving was from a bit outside Reims, in the country and she said her car was snowed in and she was late because they had to dig it out! During the ride it was pretty dry, but at one point I fell asleep and woke up in the middle of a winter wonderland! It pretty much died down by the time I got to Strasbourg, the Christmas capital of Europe!
I had some time to kill before meeting up with the person I was staying with that night, so I walked around the center of town. Because Strasbourg is this famed Christmas capital, they have a lot of stuff going on. First of all, they have ELEVEN Christmas markets. That’s massive. To be fair, each individual Christmas market is a lot smaller than the one in Reims, but about the same size as the one in Le Havre. There were all kinds of things, and here each little market had it own theme, such as Switzerland and it had all products from Switzerland.
I also was lucky and one of the first instants I was there, I noticed there was a large crowd on the opposite side of the street looking up the road. So I turned to a French guy and asked what was going on and he said “Miss France is coming!” We have Miss America, and here they have Miss France. Not Mademoiselle France. Miss France. There's the spread of American culture for you. But anyway, I got to see her, which was pretty lucky. And random.
Another cool thing that I saw was there was a radio booth near the cathedral (I’ll talk about that soon). I just walked in because I saw a little crowd and I wanted to keep warm and then suddenly they were live on the air, talking to some guy and then he played a song! Turns out he’s some French singer. Don’t know his name or anything, but I remember the song he sang. It went something like “S.O.S. (something in French) S.E.X.” haha I’ll have to Google it and find out.
Ok, so the main highlight of the city is it’s cathedral. I would definitely say the cathedral was more beautiful than the one in Reims, which I was surprised about. Inside there are a ton of beautiful hanging tapestries along the sides of the pews. In the back right corner of the church is a huge astrological clock that is very, very old and really cool looking. They also had a really immense and beautiful nativity scene for Christmas that even had running water! I was also pretty lucky and happened to walk in when they were doing the story of Christmas with a bunch of children and adults. The acoustics were great and I was able to be there for the song “Noel,” it was just so much Christmas at once, I started to tear up.
Another really great part about Strasbourg is the French quarter. Strasbourg is on the border of France and Germany and in its history it was often switching who was in control: the Germans or the French. At one point it was controlled by Germany and all of the French were forced into a ghetto, now the French quarter. It’s a very beautiful area, with the river running through it, controlled by old wooden locks. The building are all squished together, peering over the river and streets, all different colors (pinks, even teals, whites, etc) and with the exposed wood beams.
I ate in some fancy restaurant that was one of these buildings overlooking the water. And I sat right next to the window overlooking the water! Lucky me (since that’s why I picked the place). For lunch I had a tartufflette or something. Basically it’s flat bread with bacon and Munster cheese on it (really large). I also had a little Riesling with my lunch, which is also from this region.
I wish I could also tell you about the church I stumbled on, but I can’t remember its name. Apparently Beethoven had played on an organ in this church, and you can see that organ in this church today. The church itself was also pretty cool and quiet with some interesting statues to look at.
The person I stayed with in Strasbourg was really cool. On my second/last night staying there he invited some friends over for dinner for me, but since it was a Monday night/work night, only his girlfriend and one of his friends showed up, which is fine by me, because I was worn out from all the sightseeing. We had some cheese from the town where he’s from (I think it was Mont d’Or or something). It’s a small town and apparently to get this cheese in Strasbourg it’s very expensive, but he had some his parents had recently given him. He served it melted with baked potatoes and sliced meats. It was delicious!
Turns out his girl friend is also super cool and I really loved her lots! She works for Cronenburg (totally spelling it wrong, but if you live in Europe, you know it!). I love Cronenburg because the bottles make it look like Heinekin but it’s a lot cheaper. She majored in college in biochemistry and now creates the different flavors for the beer, so I got to try some really cool beers! One is their special New Year’s edition and another was an unreleased beer that I really liked. She has the coolest job I think- she taste tests beer all day! She said the only downside is, sometimes they work on flavor preservation, and they put the beer the extreme conditions (usually heat) and she has to taste the flavor after and sometimes they taste pretty nasty! Yuck!
The next morning I shipped off at 6am on another covoiturage that took about 7 hours to get form Strasbourg to Le Havre (basically from the east side of the country directly across to the west). I rested in Le Havre for a few days before heading off to celebrate the real thing in Manchester and then a quick visit to Berlin!!!
I’ll post about it soon, I promise!!
Pictures of Le Havre during Christmas: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150420563541319.354075.544216318&type=1&l=e223e7ae22
Picutres of Reims:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150445476836319.358656.544216318&type=1&l=a82ef55e30
Pictures of Strasbourg:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150445489021319.358657.544216318&type=1&l=ae61d4ec37
Even in poor Le Havre, they still go all out for Christmas. At the Hotel de Ville (town hall) there are Christmas windows that tell a story about how Santa is kidnapped and his elves are trying to find him. The story continues inside of the Hotel de Ville, where there are even more elaborate windows and one whole area is done up like a wintery forest. It’s amazing! All the characters move as well and they have really elaborate costumes and set ups.
There is also a little Christmas market, though it is not nearly as nice as some other ones I’ll tell you about later. There you can buy specialties from all over France as vendors come and go, such as foie gras, spiced bread or pain epicie or something like that, and really fancy jams and sauces. The stalls are cute little wooden stalls. There is also a little Santa village with different houses where you can see Santa sitting in his bedroom and elves reading children’s letters and making toys. They also have a stage with different little shows. My friend is in a gospel choir here, and his group had a little concert at this stage, which we got to see.
(up until now everything is in the present tense because when I wrote it , it was still Christmas time! Now that Christmas is over, moving to the past tense! Sorry!)
There was also a “Parade Blanche” or white parade with floats that were covered in fake flowers that I think were actually lays. They were really cool and very creative. They had floats with different themes, especially of a lot of different regions in Europe. My favorite one was the fire department : their float was a life sized giraffe that they rode on and had a hose shooting soap suds (meant to look like snow) of its mouth. They drove around crazily and haphazardly, right up to the crow, and would shoot these suds in your face, sometimes lingering over you so that you couldn’t see! Very funny.
They also had organ concerts in one of the churches in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Obviously, if you’re going to host an organ concert, it has to be in a church. The organ boomed over us and it was quite uplifting. Unfortunately, one of the speakers must have a little problem because in constantly rang a really high pitch over the music, ruining it a little bit and making you cringe from time to time…
Near my house there is a little square called Place Danton and one day after school they had a little show for children. There was a Christmas fairy, which was an actor standing on stilts, and a little wind up toy, an acrobat. They put on a cute little show for the kids and did some interesting stunts, juggling, and magic tricks. One that was particularly interesting was when the fairy stuck a long pin straight through a balloon and it didn’t pop- and then pulled it out again! Amazing. Then there was a little concert put on by the children. It was absolutely adorable, especially one where the children were so little none of them were really singing so they just gave the microphone, mid-song, to one of the older boys (about 5 years old) and he just ploughed through at the top of his lungs.
During the Christmas season I also went to Reims and Strasbourg. Reims, important to know, is pronounced like raince (with a real thick French “r” sound at the beginning). Here I also got to stay with a really cool French girl that I met on CouchSurfing and luckily she didn’t have anything to do that day so she showed me around!
Reims is in the Champagne region where, you guessed it, they make champagne. I did do a little wine cellar tour. Normally you have to pay for the tour (plus extra for a tasting at the end), but on the day I was visiting I was lucky and it was an open house day so the tour was free (still had to pay for the tasting though!). I’m told that it wasn’t the best wine cellar to see, but it was free so I can’t complain. It was cool to see how the cellars look (and feel! They’re a little chilly!). Favorite part was watching how the bottles are slowly turned. I don’t really understand how the champagne is made, since the introductory film was in some pretty technical French and the tour was in French and I was a bit tired so I zoned out a lot. Overall though, it was good. I didn’t taste the wine at the end of the tour, but I bought their cheapest bottle (my birthday is coming up!).
Also in Reims is the cathedral. The cathedral here is super famous because it was where all the French kings have been crowned! As you can imagine, it was huge. There is a really cool beautiful clock and I coincidentally happened to be there at noon and got to watch in chime (apparently a big deal, everyone was crowding around). When it chimes these angels come out and ring the bell. Pretty cool.
That night there was also a “spectacle” (as the French say) on the cathedral. They projected the really cool 3d images onto the façade of the church. A lot of the lighting highlighted the statues that were on the building (if you know European churches, then you know they are completely covered with statues). They brought some of the statues to live and had them moving and everything. It was really a sight to see!
In Reims I really liked their Christmas markets. They were all in a row and there were tons of them. At least 5 times more than in Le Havre, and there was some cool stuff. Because they were in one long line, it was much easier and less crazy to stroll and look at all of them and there was a bit more room. I didn’t buy anything, but it was tempting.
For lunch we went to an Irish pub (they’re really popular here). The French girl I was staying with ordered Tripe! That’s right, intestines! She really likes them, and I'm glad she ordered them because then I got to try it. And I didn’t really like it (a bit rubbery and chewy), so I'm also glad I didn’t order it! Instead I ordered a massive burger with Munster cheese on it. I know, you’re all thinking, Ah, yes, Munster. But no, you don’t know Munster. Here it isn’t pasteurized, so it’s much stronger (and smellier) than at home and it is specifically from this region.
I also got to go to the church where the Emperor Clovis was baptized. It’s not really a popular tourist spot because it’s a little out of the town center, but if you happen to be in Reims, I would recommend it. It’s a lot quieter and the stained glass is very beautiful (much of the stained glass at the cathedral is lost from WWII). I just swiped this info from Reims’ tourist info website: Clovis, Frankish king was baptized by Remi, bishop of Reims on Chritsmas Day 498 in a baptistery which is today situated where Notre-dame Cathedral of Reims stands. Clovis’s conversion to Christianity, religion of a Church which inherited the Roman power, legitimized Clovis to a military takeover of a Gaul then still very divided. A consequence of this baptism was the bringing together of Church and State from which was born the monarchic government of the French divine right. It is also thanks to Clovis’s baptism that Reims became the seat of the coronation of the kings of France.--> The guy who wrote this clearly was doing his best to translate from French to English, so it’s a little rough, but I think you get the idea!
I also got to go ice skating! In most of these larger French towns/cities there were free ice skating rinks, but Le Havre doesn’t. The French girl I stayed with hates ice skating, so she nicely took pictures of me and held on to all of my things for me while I went around, trying to avoid the crazy children skating around.
So I pretty much saw Reims in a day. The girl I stayed with invited me to come again in the spring. Her dad works for one of the major champagne factories and her friend has a car so maybe we could go out into the country when it’s nice and actually see the vineyards! I’m so lucky!
Then I did a covoiturage (rideshare) to Strasbourg. The girls driving me were pretty interesting. They clearly seemed really well off: the car was sleek and one of the girls had a rabbit scarf. They were also pretty nice and chatted with me in French. The other girl they were driving was a tattoo artist somewhere in the middle of nowhere France, outside of Reims. It was Sunday morning and she must have had a big night/it was a bit of a trek for her to get to Reims because she pretty much slept the whole ride.
Also, when I woke up in Reims, it was the first snow of the season! Just a light dusting on everything, nothing too bad. But the girl who was driving was from a bit outside Reims, in the country and she said her car was snowed in and she was late because they had to dig it out! During the ride it was pretty dry, but at one point I fell asleep and woke up in the middle of a winter wonderland! It pretty much died down by the time I got to Strasbourg, the Christmas capital of Europe!
I had some time to kill before meeting up with the person I was staying with that night, so I walked around the center of town. Because Strasbourg is this famed Christmas capital, they have a lot of stuff going on. First of all, they have ELEVEN Christmas markets. That’s massive. To be fair, each individual Christmas market is a lot smaller than the one in Reims, but about the same size as the one in Le Havre. There were all kinds of things, and here each little market had it own theme, such as Switzerland and it had all products from Switzerland.
I also was lucky and one of the first instants I was there, I noticed there was a large crowd on the opposite side of the street looking up the road. So I turned to a French guy and asked what was going on and he said “Miss France is coming!” We have Miss America, and here they have Miss France. Not Mademoiselle France. Miss France. There's the spread of American culture for you. But anyway, I got to see her, which was pretty lucky. And random.
Another cool thing that I saw was there was a radio booth near the cathedral (I’ll talk about that soon). I just walked in because I saw a little crowd and I wanted to keep warm and then suddenly they were live on the air, talking to some guy and then he played a song! Turns out he’s some French singer. Don’t know his name or anything, but I remember the song he sang. It went something like “S.O.S. (something in French) S.E.X.” haha I’ll have to Google it and find out.
Ok, so the main highlight of the city is it’s cathedral. I would definitely say the cathedral was more beautiful than the one in Reims, which I was surprised about. Inside there are a ton of beautiful hanging tapestries along the sides of the pews. In the back right corner of the church is a huge astrological clock that is very, very old and really cool looking. They also had a really immense and beautiful nativity scene for Christmas that even had running water! I was also pretty lucky and happened to walk in when they were doing the story of Christmas with a bunch of children and adults. The acoustics were great and I was able to be there for the song “Noel,” it was just so much Christmas at once, I started to tear up.
Another really great part about Strasbourg is the French quarter. Strasbourg is on the border of France and Germany and in its history it was often switching who was in control: the Germans or the French. At one point it was controlled by Germany and all of the French were forced into a ghetto, now the French quarter. It’s a very beautiful area, with the river running through it, controlled by old wooden locks. The building are all squished together, peering over the river and streets, all different colors (pinks, even teals, whites, etc) and with the exposed wood beams.
I ate in some fancy restaurant that was one of these buildings overlooking the water. And I sat right next to the window overlooking the water! Lucky me (since that’s why I picked the place). For lunch I had a tartufflette or something. Basically it’s flat bread with bacon and Munster cheese on it (really large). I also had a little Riesling with my lunch, which is also from this region.
I wish I could also tell you about the church I stumbled on, but I can’t remember its name. Apparently Beethoven had played on an organ in this church, and you can see that organ in this church today. The church itself was also pretty cool and quiet with some interesting statues to look at.
The person I stayed with in Strasbourg was really cool. On my second/last night staying there he invited some friends over for dinner for me, but since it was a Monday night/work night, only his girlfriend and one of his friends showed up, which is fine by me, because I was worn out from all the sightseeing. We had some cheese from the town where he’s from (I think it was Mont d’Or or something). It’s a small town and apparently to get this cheese in Strasbourg it’s very expensive, but he had some his parents had recently given him. He served it melted with baked potatoes and sliced meats. It was delicious!
Turns out his girl friend is also super cool and I really loved her lots! She works for Cronenburg (totally spelling it wrong, but if you live in Europe, you know it!). I love Cronenburg because the bottles make it look like Heinekin but it’s a lot cheaper. She majored in college in biochemistry and now creates the different flavors for the beer, so I got to try some really cool beers! One is their special New Year’s edition and another was an unreleased beer that I really liked. She has the coolest job I think- she taste tests beer all day! She said the only downside is, sometimes they work on flavor preservation, and they put the beer the extreme conditions (usually heat) and she has to taste the flavor after and sometimes they taste pretty nasty! Yuck!
The next morning I shipped off at 6am on another covoiturage that took about 7 hours to get form Strasbourg to Le Havre (basically from the east side of the country directly across to the west). I rested in Le Havre for a few days before heading off to celebrate the real thing in Manchester and then a quick visit to Berlin!!!
I’ll post about it soon, I promise!!
Pictures of Le Havre during Christmas: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150420563541319.354075.544216318&type=1&l=e223e7ae22
Picutres of Reims:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150445476836319.358656.544216318&type=1&l=a82ef55e30
Pictures of Strasbourg:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150445489021319.358657.544216318&type=1&l=ae61d4ec37
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Madrid!
Ok, now I will finally get to telling you about Madrid, Spain! My friend from study abroad, Emily, was going to be in Europe for a few weeks and wanted to go on a little trip with me, and RyanAir was having a sale or something so I got a cheap round trip flight to Madrid!
I met Emily on November 25th in Paris after work and we stayed in this hostel, since our flight was so early in the morning. We also got a chance to meet up with our friend Mickael and hang out and catch up.
The next day our flight was at 9am, which doesn’t sound too bad. Except that RyanAir flies out of Beauvais, not Paris. Beauvais is a little more than an hour outside of Paris (which is about as far as Charles de Gaulle airport is from Paris as well), but RyanAir suggests you take a bus that is 3 hours before your flight, to ensure that you get there on time. Which meant that we were leaving our hostel at about 5am, since our hostel also wasn’t very close and we didn’t want to risk anything.
One nice thing about a flight that early, is you arrive early. We arrived in Madrid around 11am. We dropped off our things and walked around. Our hostel was in a great location for getting around and I soon discovered that Madrid is actually a pretty small city in terms of sightseeing. Coincidentally, my friend Matt from college/study abroad happened to be working as a language assistant in Madrid and when I hopped on Facebook that first afternoon, he was online and came to come meet us! We went to have pinxtos at a really cool wine bar called Lamiak. Pinxtos are kind of like tapas, but that they are always served on bread (I think so at least). Anyway, mine had goat cheese and caramelized onion on it- yum!!!
After we walked around the city for a bit more and then went to have churros! Apparently, churros are had with this very thick hot chocolate that you dunk it in. They’re delicious, but so bad for you!
Walking around some more, there is an area that is meant to look like New York’s Times Square! The city is also really well done for Christmas, with a giant Christmas trees, an ice rink, and lots of lights everywhere. There is even a building that has a Christmas lights show to music on its wall, just like one I saw in NYC a few years ago.
That night, Emily and I went to this roof top lounge that is worth mentioning. I don’t know what it was called, but the view from the top was unbelievable. Some random girl in the hostel told us to go and we got a crew going and had a really cool time. What a random, swanky find!
The next day was Sunday. In the morning we met Matt outside of a well known restaurant-type place that sell what are supposed to be amazing calamari sandwiches. I love calamari, but this was definitely not the best, and whoever thought putting bad calamari on a crappy role, and then maybe putting mayonnaise on it, they clearly were not thinking straight.
After, that, it happened to be right by the modern art museum Reina Sophia, which is free on Sundays. This museum holds famous and beautiful modern art and is most known for its Dali’s and Picasso’s. There is especially one Picasso that is the highlight of the museum: The Guernica. The Guernica, completed in 1937, is an intense piece depicting the Spanish Civil War. It really is a giant and emotional piece and I would highly recommend seeing it if you go to Madrid.
Afterwards, we walked to a very beautiful park called Retiro Park. On the way, we passed what seemed to be an Occupy Wall street-type protest, which was neat to see. In the park, which is enormous, there are beautiful fountains, trees and shrubs. They even have palm trees because it never freezes there! There is one beautiful man-made pond that has an enormous fountain and you can rent row boats. We sat on the steps in the sun watching the row boats go by…
After, we discovered that there is a free art exhibit in the park that is a gallery of the Renia Sophia. It was particularly striking because all the walls were blaringly white, in contrast to the colorful paintings on the walls. Then, pretty nearby, was the Glass Palace, which we also discovered. Inside was another modern art exhibit, but it was just one work of art. The palace is all in glass so that the sun comes through, and the exhibit was a wall that lined the outer glass wall so you could walk between the glass and this wall or inside of it. On this wall were millions of tiny cut out symbols, so that when you looked at the sun through it, it looked like stars. It was very beautiful.
After that, we wandered around for a long time. I got to see the beautiful cathedral of Madrid and the Palace of the king and queen (who knew that Spain still had a king and queen? Lol I can’t believe I didn’t…).
We also went to the Prado Museum for about an hour, since it is free for the last two hours. Here they have beautiful Goya, Velázquez, and El Greco.
The next day we walked around the area known as Malasaña. In this area, my friend Kristen recommended to me a restaurant that has the best paella in all of Madrid. This quaint little restaurant did have great paella, and Emily and Matt really like what they ordered as well! Which was easy, since we all have very different tastes and Emily is a vegetarian.
After that we walked to the center of town and got nun cookies! In a small square known as Plazuela del Conde de Miranda, there is an old convent of cloistered nuns that make old fashioned cookies. To get them, you have to go to this door on the street and ring a bell, then, after telling them you want cookies, you go in and follow a hallway and at the end, you reach a dark room and on the left wall is a sort of lazy-Susan and behind it is a cloistered nun who you’re not allowed to see. She speaks to you (in Spanish!) and you get to choose what kind of cookies you want. I bought almond and coconut. They are really dense, powdery cookies made with lard instead of butter in the very, very old fashioned way and are called pulverones.
Other things we saw is there is a beautiful covered market that has all kinds of food, wines, and tapas.
I think that’s pretty much it. It doesn’t seem like much, but I really loved Madrid. The weather was excellent and warm and the architecture is beautiful and you can just walk around all day looking at free and beautiful things.
To see pictures, follow this link: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150420537841319.354073.544216318&type=1&l=c85f31ed42
I met Emily on November 25th in Paris after work and we stayed in this hostel, since our flight was so early in the morning. We also got a chance to meet up with our friend Mickael and hang out and catch up.
The next day our flight was at 9am, which doesn’t sound too bad. Except that RyanAir flies out of Beauvais, not Paris. Beauvais is a little more than an hour outside of Paris (which is about as far as Charles de Gaulle airport is from Paris as well), but RyanAir suggests you take a bus that is 3 hours before your flight, to ensure that you get there on time. Which meant that we were leaving our hostel at about 5am, since our hostel also wasn’t very close and we didn’t want to risk anything.
One nice thing about a flight that early, is you arrive early. We arrived in Madrid around 11am. We dropped off our things and walked around. Our hostel was in a great location for getting around and I soon discovered that Madrid is actually a pretty small city in terms of sightseeing. Coincidentally, my friend Matt from college/study abroad happened to be working as a language assistant in Madrid and when I hopped on Facebook that first afternoon, he was online and came to come meet us! We went to have pinxtos at a really cool wine bar called Lamiak. Pinxtos are kind of like tapas, but that they are always served on bread (I think so at least). Anyway, mine had goat cheese and caramelized onion on it- yum!!!
After we walked around the city for a bit more and then went to have churros! Apparently, churros are had with this very thick hot chocolate that you dunk it in. They’re delicious, but so bad for you!
Walking around some more, there is an area that is meant to look like New York’s Times Square! The city is also really well done for Christmas, with a giant Christmas trees, an ice rink, and lots of lights everywhere. There is even a building that has a Christmas lights show to music on its wall, just like one I saw in NYC a few years ago.
That night, Emily and I went to this roof top lounge that is worth mentioning. I don’t know what it was called, but the view from the top was unbelievable. Some random girl in the hostel told us to go and we got a crew going and had a really cool time. What a random, swanky find!
The next day was Sunday. In the morning we met Matt outside of a well known restaurant-type place that sell what are supposed to be amazing calamari sandwiches. I love calamari, but this was definitely not the best, and whoever thought putting bad calamari on a crappy role, and then maybe putting mayonnaise on it, they clearly were not thinking straight.
After, that, it happened to be right by the modern art museum Reina Sophia, which is free on Sundays. This museum holds famous and beautiful modern art and is most known for its Dali’s and Picasso’s. There is especially one Picasso that is the highlight of the museum: The Guernica. The Guernica, completed in 1937, is an intense piece depicting the Spanish Civil War. It really is a giant and emotional piece and I would highly recommend seeing it if you go to Madrid.
Afterwards, we walked to a very beautiful park called Retiro Park. On the way, we passed what seemed to be an Occupy Wall street-type protest, which was neat to see. In the park, which is enormous, there are beautiful fountains, trees and shrubs. They even have palm trees because it never freezes there! There is one beautiful man-made pond that has an enormous fountain and you can rent row boats. We sat on the steps in the sun watching the row boats go by…
After, we discovered that there is a free art exhibit in the park that is a gallery of the Renia Sophia. It was particularly striking because all the walls were blaringly white, in contrast to the colorful paintings on the walls. Then, pretty nearby, was the Glass Palace, which we also discovered. Inside was another modern art exhibit, but it was just one work of art. The palace is all in glass so that the sun comes through, and the exhibit was a wall that lined the outer glass wall so you could walk between the glass and this wall or inside of it. On this wall were millions of tiny cut out symbols, so that when you looked at the sun through it, it looked like stars. It was very beautiful.
After that, we wandered around for a long time. I got to see the beautiful cathedral of Madrid and the Palace of the king and queen (who knew that Spain still had a king and queen? Lol I can’t believe I didn’t…).
We also went to the Prado Museum for about an hour, since it is free for the last two hours. Here they have beautiful Goya, Velázquez, and El Greco.
The next day we walked around the area known as Malasaña. In this area, my friend Kristen recommended to me a restaurant that has the best paella in all of Madrid. This quaint little restaurant did have great paella, and Emily and Matt really like what they ordered as well! Which was easy, since we all have very different tastes and Emily is a vegetarian.
After that we walked to the center of town and got nun cookies! In a small square known as Plazuela del Conde de Miranda, there is an old convent of cloistered nuns that make old fashioned cookies. To get them, you have to go to this door on the street and ring a bell, then, after telling them you want cookies, you go in and follow a hallway and at the end, you reach a dark room and on the left wall is a sort of lazy-Susan and behind it is a cloistered nun who you’re not allowed to see. She speaks to you (in Spanish!) and you get to choose what kind of cookies you want. I bought almond and coconut. They are really dense, powdery cookies made with lard instead of butter in the very, very old fashioned way and are called pulverones.
Other things we saw is there is a beautiful covered market that has all kinds of food, wines, and tapas.
I think that’s pretty much it. It doesn’t seem like much, but I really loved Madrid. The weather was excellent and warm and the architecture is beautiful and you can just walk around all day looking at free and beautiful things.
To see pictures, follow this link: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150420537841319.354073.544216318&type=1&l=c85f31ed42
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