Opera, awkward Australians, and Harry Potter

Verona was nice. Dave and I did get to see an opera from the festival, which are performed in a humongous amphitheater. It was nice, but it was Verdi (Aida), who isnt mz favorite to begin with, and I found the production... rather trashy. It was definitely a tourist attraction.

After Verona, Dave and I spent our last three days together getting lost in the muggy heat of Venice. Unfortunately, no non-platonic activities took place... ever. Im sure he was aware of my lust (for lack of a more fitting word) for him, but I think he chose to let it pass by. Oh well. We said our goodbyes and parted wazs last night, he on a night train to Paris, and I on one to Vienna.

When I disembarked, I immediately sought out a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It would be a lie to say I didnt feel a little pang of emotion knowing it had already been available in Europe for over 9 hours and I hadnt even started on it. I procured a room in the hostel closest to the train station and began. 12 hours later, here I am, finished. It was quite enjoyable.

Been to and going

So I've been with Dave ever since we met up in Rome. After a few days there (including a day trip to Pompei) we shuffled on up to Florence for a few nights. It was amazing. Our Ceiling had a 16th century fresco painted on it (I mean... the ceiling of our room, not the hotel). Apart from that, Michaelangelo's David was intense. Everyone said it would be, but you can't understand until you've seen it. I captured a few illegal shots before we took off. Also, the gelato in Florence can't be beat. We were told by some locals where the best gelato was, and they were right. The day we left, we went there 3 times for breakfast (I'm on holiday, no judgind alowed).

We went through Pisa and spent the night in Lucca, hometown of my friend, Giaccomo Puccini. Since then, we've been in the Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera, which is too beautiful for words. It's five really small towns, and even though Dave and I have a platonic relationship, I think we've caused waves with the locals (they always chat and stare when we walk around, only augmented by the fact that our mini-apartment is on the central square). Last night we splurged for a four-course dinner in the nicest restaurant they have, and three older American ladies just could not stop staring at us. In retaliation we decided to hold hands and make googley eyes at each other, so as to watch them squirm. We ran into them again today on the hiking paths between cities, and it was pretty funny.

We leave tomorrow for Verona, where hopefully we'll get to catch an opera. Then it's on to Venice (where I'll be when Harry Potter comes out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), at which point we part ways. It's okay, though, because he's going to come visit KY for a vegan week sometime in the future, and I'm going to start writing Harlequin novels to finance a shopping adventure to southeast Asia, where he will accompany me (he's... got money).

Much love,
Scott

A change in plan

So I had an absolutely wonderful time in Munich. I saw several operas and went to some really interesting art galleries, and got an autograph from my beloved Edita Gruberova (and learned how to actually pronounce her name!!).

I went into Innsbruck, Austria on Friday, and hated it. There wasn't much to do at the time (hiking and skiing trips leave at 8 every morning only) and I was feeling really homesick and lonely. I decided to take a major shift in my plans and take a night train down to Rome, which is where I currently am.

Yesterday was fun, and today was been great. I've been palling around with an Australian fellow named Dave, who has been a lot of fun. Tomorrow I'm going on a day trip to Naples and Pompeii, and then Tuesday I'll finish off Rome with a trip to the Vatican and St. Peter's. Next stop (in theory) is Siena, a quiet village south of Florence.

Germany, here I am. Yesterday was rough. My plane was delayed two hours and I never got to the small town I intended to... but it turned out okay. I got into Munich about an hour ago, and I'm going to hang out here until Friday.

I'm aware I haven't written for several weeks. There have been many reasons, all of which are boring and beside the point now. I have many things to talk about, but internet time abroad isn't free, and there are always things that one would rather do. I'm afraid the majority of my updates until I get homw will mainly be little blurbs like this. If you have specific questions, e-mail me, because it's always nice to log into the internet and find a full mailbox with letters from friends.

Con amor,
Scott

Corpus Christi Parade

This week is Corpus Christi, meaning after 12:00 today all classes are cancelled for the rest of the week! After I got out of my morning class, I got a chance to run down the street and catch today's parade. I just wanted to share a few pictures:



The dragon that greeted onlookers first after the mini-band.

A man on stilts. At first he had white face paint, but it's hot in Granada.
A fancy woman riding the back of a dragon?

An asian man pulling a cart... The view I wish I had.
While I didn't understand what all things things added up to, it was still an enjoyable time. There where many other things that I either didn't get a picture of, or haven't put up yet, like large statues of religious figures I didn't recognize and people with giant heads who hit the people standing closest to the parade with balloons. All in all, it was pretty short, but fun.

10 days in Granada

The past ten days have felt like twelve weeks. Not saying it's been bad, but experiences come so thick. Here is a picture of my room in Granada:



The city really is beautiful. It is compact, so I can easily walk accross the city in under twenty minutes. I live in the more modern section. About ten minutes down the road is the beautful Alhambra. I haven't gotten to visit it yet, but the plaza that lies below is my favorite part of the city. There are so many cafes with live music all the time, and the winding streets nearby remind you of a small italian village, only with lots of hookah bars.



This weekend, we took an excursion to the beach of San Jose. I'm not really a fan of the beach, so on Saturday when all of my friends were planning on laying out, I intended to rent a bike and explore the coast. Bad "spaghetti con atún" however, kept my in my room after a not so enjoyable night. I felt good after several hours of sleep, and skill went "de marcha" with my some of my friends.



On the way back, we stopped in a small village and thanks to our exceedingly friendly program directors, who seem to know just about everyone in Spain, we got to see a cool privately owned castle about 80 kilometers outside of the city.



The castle had a cool dungeon, and when I took a picture... about a hundred orbs showed up. Creepy.



Tomorrow I should hopefully start classes. After my placement exam on Friday I was put in the superior A class, however the teacher who administered the test somehow forgot to turn them into the university, and we have to meet tomorrow at 8:30 to hopefully find out our schedules...

I think I'm going to completely change my look this summer. I might go back on it once I return to Lexington (or I'll at least tone it down a bit) but I've started excersizing here in Granada and I hope to finally lose the last of my weight that I want to, and then I'm going to get a mohawk and an eyebrow ring. Crazy, yes, but it should be fun! I might actually go ahead and get the eyebrow ring now, because I'm a little excited about it. As for the hawk, I think I'm going to have to wait until just before I leave Granada, because I got a cool volunteering job at the Granada International Music Festival where I'll usher for expensive concerts and then get to watch them. Hooray! I'm not sure what they would think about me with a big mohawk, especially considering the pictures I submitted to them have my long luscious locks.

Until later, friends.
Scott

Madrid sights

Well, the first full day we were in Madrid, we first visited the Prado museum, home to many works of many Spanish and other international artists.

It was amazing. Our tour guide reminded me so much of Carolina (from the library), and I wanted to take a picture of her, but we couldn't use our cameras.

Next we went to the Royal Palace, and wow. I couldn't believe how intricate everything inside was. Once again, we couldn't take pictures, until we were outside by the gardens...

The last place we visited while in Madrid was El Escorial, built in the 16th century by King Phillip II as a final resting place for his parents, and where almost all the kings since are also buried. The building itself occupies 9 acres with 11 miles of hallways. Our two hour tour took us through about 3% of the whole thing. It is still a working monestary, school, and public library. It was definitely my favorite part of my trip so far.

View of the side of the building and gardens from the Queen's Room

I have plenty more pictures of everything, but each one takes about 5 minutes to upload, so unless I figure out another option, everyone will have to wait for the bulk until I get home. :(