Tue - May 23, 2006
Location: Paros, Greece
Buckle up ladies and gentlemen, this will be my last trip report for this blog.
My friend Caileen has been studying on the island of Paros since August, so of course, it was mandatory that I visit. After switching planes in Athens for a tinier, less-secure-feeling plane, I landed on what appeared to be someone's driveway, but in reality was the Paros airport. Stepping off the plane I could see Caileen from behind a fence waving, which was pretty hilarious. I literally had to walk through a hut that was the airport building in order to get to her. Her and her friend Nils greeted me, and told me that Nils would take his motorcycle home and that Caileen and I would get a cab. I was in for a surprise though because as we walked towards Nils' motorcycle Caileen says, "or you can get a ride on Kyle's dune buggy." Kyle is our friend from NYU (see the EuroDisney entry,) and I had no idea he was going to be in Paros when I was, so that was a fun surprise. So I was whisked away on the dune buggy to drive to the apartment. I could tell I was going to like island life. We picked up some beers and relaxed on the patio at the apartment.
The next day was the most exciting of the trip. We took the dune buggies to a beach and along the way I felt this weird feeling as though a fly might have flown up my shorts. Weird, I thought, then all of a sudden I felt a stinging on my knee and I began to suspect that a malicious insect had breached my shorts. Ow! Another stinging feeling. Meanwhile I'm trying to communicate to Kyle that I think there's a small emergency on board the dune buggy, but we had The Black Eyed Peas blasting so loud and the nature of the dune buggy itself only added to the noise, so I just looked like a raving lunatic. Finally I peeled back my shorts and that little bastard bee flew away. Sure enough there was what looked to be four little stings on my knee. Shit, I don't think I've ever been stung by a bee before. It didn't hurt as bad as I thought it would, it was just a weird feeling with occasional sharp pains. After that little disaster we arrived on the beach and stayed for about five minutes before a group consensus (of which I was definitely not a part of,) decided we should go cliff jumping. Fine, I'll go watch but there's no chance in hell I'm going to jump, I decided this before I even saw the cliff.
Hiking to the cliff, we were told by the only of Caileen's friend who had jumped it that a the giant rock formation in the distance with a church on top was the cliff we were going to. We were all just like "wow, that's pretty high," but everyone continued to talk themselves up to the task. We arrived at the real cliff, which was much shorter and realized we had been fooled, but the fact that everyone was mentally prepared to jump off of what we thought the cliff was which would clearly kill a man. The real cliff was still frighteningly high but not dangerously so....we hoped. I still decided to be the resident photographer and didn't even contemplate jumping. After Kyle jumped in though, I saw his reaction after resurfacing and thought, hmmm that looks kind of fun. One by one everyone jumped (which took about 20 minutes of mental preparation per person as those who had already jumped yelled "Just say 'fuck it!' and jump!" from below,) and eventually it was just me and Pascal (who wasn't going to jump because he had done it three times already and was terrified of heights.) I think because Caileen did it, and I was the last remaining I felt not only obligated to jump but I had this growing curiosity to experience the rush and resulting joy that everyone had after jumping. I made a decision. The first obstacle was to get to the cliff which was separated from me by a 4 foot wide seemingly endless crevice. I reluctantly stepped over that and realized that my fear or re-crossing that in defeat was worse than my fear of jumping into the water. So, literally shaking, I stepped to the edge of the cliff, looked down a few times, looked at my friends, and yelled "Fuck it!" and jumped. I don't even remember what it felt like to fall because it happened so fast, but hitting the water was freezing cold and the biggest rush I've ever had. I could hardly breathe when I came back up from the sheer excitement of the whole thing. It was great, I had a rush going for about 20 minutes. We rewarded ourselves with the best falafel I've ever had and a great nap.
There was much more dune buggy driving, a lot of gyro eating. The island was great. Caileen's study abroad program is very small and pretty much all the students live in this very cool housing complex, so it was truly a 'Real World: Greece' set up, complete with all the drama. It was hilarious to be there as a visitor and witness it objectively. We drove the dune buggies up to the top of the island one day, where all the antennas are, and promptly named it Bug Mountain after we were attacked by a wave of moths and flies and other assorted insects upon reaching the top. We only stayed up there for about five minutes because of inability to breath without a wing hitting your teeth.
Other highlights: rooftop barbeque in which everything was severely burned but still edible, Six Feet Under marathon's in Caileen's room, lounging and realizing that there were no obligations to do anything. It was a great week because I just relaxed in the truest sense of the word, had no schoolwork to worry about or anything. It was great.
One of the ongoing jokes was Caileen making fun of me for complaining about not getting grape leaves. I wanted to eat grape leaves really bad but for some reason we just never went to restaurants that had them. So Caileen would talk in a baby voice any time I complained about something, "Awww, does Davey want his gwape weaves?" Well (I promise this story is going somewhere,) it just so turns out that on my Iberia flight from Athens to Madrid (a Spanish airline mind you,) My hot meal was served and the salad was a single grape leave rolled up with rice in side, just what I was looking for. I literally laughed out loud to myself and wished Caileen had been there so I could have shoved it in her face.
Well, enjoy the pictures.
Airport Taxi Service provided by Kyle Jones
Relaxing at a house in the hills
This is Caileen's alter ego. She is eight years old and asks you if you want to "Water Dance"
Not only is this
knee severely sunburned, but it is covered in no less than four bee stings.
Caileen thinking about jumping.
Building up that confidence.
Sometimes you've just gotta say 'fuck it
Extra-Cautious-Dave assumes the pencil form immediately after jumping in order to minimize damage rather than have fun waving his arms and legs around.
Dune Buggy Rally
Posted at 05:22 PM
Wed - May 10, 2006
FINISHED!
Well, it's official. I am finished with finals
and classes for the semester. I'm still going to be in Europe until the 25th of
May when I will return to Houston for a week and then NYC on June 4th. Until
then, I plan on relaxing, enjoying Madrid, and going to visit my friend Caileen
in Greece from May 16th - May 22nd. So expect some random updates concerning my
goings on over the next two weeks.
Posted at 05:01 PM Read More
Sat - May 6, 2006
Last Day of Classes
This week marked the last week of classes. To
celebrate, our school held a little party on campus, not before nearly our
entire class went to TGI Friday's for happy hour. With our favorite teacher who
described Friday's as "trashy" and questioned why we would ever go there. All I
gotta say is half priced
drinks.
Posted at 11:18 AM
Fri - May 5, 2006
Fun Times in BCN
Last weekend was my trip to Barcelona which was
great. I went with Lauren and Janie and met my friend Matt from high school and
his friend Emily. We stayed in this horrible hostel thats only saving grace was
that it was literally located on the beach. The first night at the hostel I was
woken up by drunk Americans having sex in the shower....that's just great. Just
want I wanted to hear at 3 am. The second night I was woken up when a verbal
fight between an assortment of British and Scottish guys arguing over who was in
the wrong room, etc. There was a lot of the word "tit" and "bugger" being thrown
around. Ohh British people.
Beyond those little situations the actual trip was great. We spent the first two days just lounging on the beach. The weather was perfect and I got some sun. One initially hilarious but later irritating thing about the Barcelona beach is that about every minute, a Chinese woman comes up to you and says "Hola! Masaje? Masaje muy bien!" ["Hello, Massage?..."] So that was a bit distracting. I literally fell asleep those nights with that phrase ringing through my brain.
The actual city was great. We saw all the Gaudi architecture which is just insane. We toured an apartment building designed by him which was also very interesting. I would give anything to live in that apartment.
One thing I noticed about Barcelona is the food options are much more diverse. This comes from the idea that Barcelona is a more cosmopolitan city than Madrid and the rest of Spain. In fact, most Spaniards think that Catalonians (the region where BCN is) are snobs. Catalonia is sort of the Spanish version of the US's Northeast. I, being a snob myself, enjoyed Barcelona quite a lot. The city is also much more beautiful than Madrid and more diverse.
On my way home I was sitting in my seat on the airplane while we were still at the gate and the woman behind me taps me and says "excuse me?" I turn around and she points up above me near the Fasten Seat Belt sign. When I look up I see that very near the sign, in a little crevice, is a red liquid dripping down onto the floor near me. Alright, no big deal, it's just a dead body in the overhead compartment, I think. Actually the red liquid is wine, and after a thorough investigation, the sky team of Spanair determined that this stupid passenger had put a bottle of wine in the overhead without hardly any protection, or even a visible cork. So the flight attendant handed me a wad of napkins and informed me in Spanish that I will need to cover the leak every time it started to drip. Hands down the most bizarre task I've ever been asked to do, especially on an airplane. Luckily the leaking stopped shortly after takeoff or I would have had a very tired arm upon arrival to Madrid.
Gaudi's park
La Perdrera
Creepy doll in window. Pretty standard, really.
The constantly under construction Sagrada Familia
A rare moment where we aren't being asked for massages.
Beyond those little situations the actual trip was great. We spent the first two days just lounging on the beach. The weather was perfect and I got some sun. One initially hilarious but later irritating thing about the Barcelona beach is that about every minute, a Chinese woman comes up to you and says "Hola! Masaje? Masaje muy bien!" ["Hello, Massage?..."] So that was a bit distracting. I literally fell asleep those nights with that phrase ringing through my brain.
The actual city was great. We saw all the Gaudi architecture which is just insane. We toured an apartment building designed by him which was also very interesting. I would give anything to live in that apartment.
One thing I noticed about Barcelona is the food options are much more diverse. This comes from the idea that Barcelona is a more cosmopolitan city than Madrid and the rest of Spain. In fact, most Spaniards think that Catalonians (the region where BCN is) are snobs. Catalonia is sort of the Spanish version of the US's Northeast. I, being a snob myself, enjoyed Barcelona quite a lot. The city is also much more beautiful than Madrid and more diverse.
On my way home I was sitting in my seat on the airplane while we were still at the gate and the woman behind me taps me and says "excuse me?" I turn around and she points up above me near the Fasten Seat Belt sign. When I look up I see that very near the sign, in a little crevice, is a red liquid dripping down onto the floor near me. Alright, no big deal, it's just a dead body in the overhead compartment, I think. Actually the red liquid is wine, and after a thorough investigation, the sky team of Spanair determined that this stupid passenger had put a bottle of wine in the overhead without hardly any protection, or even a visible cork. So the flight attendant handed me a wad of napkins and informed me in Spanish that I will need to cover the leak every time it started to drip. Hands down the most bizarre task I've ever been asked to do, especially on an airplane. Luckily the leaking stopped shortly after takeoff or I would have had a very tired arm upon arrival to Madrid.
Gaudi's park
La Perdrera
Creepy doll in window. Pretty standard, really.
The constantly under construction Sagrada Familia
A rare moment where we aren't being asked for massages.
Posted at 08:03 PM
Tue - May 2, 2006
Spring Break Part 6: Berlin (El Final Del Trayecto)
I know, I know, I haven't updated in forever.
Things are actually starting to get busy here at NYU in Madrid academics-wise
(believe it or not.) Last weekend my parents and aunts were in town and this
weekend I was in Barcelona (both of which will be written about very soon.) So
it's about time I finish the spring break mega-entry with our last destination:
sunny, erghh I mean cold and rainy
Berlin.
We arrived in Berlin extremely early (another one of those 6 am flights ala the one to Rome.) Determining how to navigate public transport at 8 in the morning is no fun for anyone. Well, unless you're in the middle of nowhere looking for a bus and a random old grizzled-fisherman type approaches you with the largest beast of a dog you have ever seen in your life. I'm not even joking, I would have taken a picture of this dog had I not feared the dog would sprout wings, fly up to my camera, and eat it. Anyway, this guy was English and very bizarre. Hanly was trying to make use of the public phone and the Beast-Dog (with a nose the size of an apple,) would lick his lips and start towards me with his Garganta-Paws every few minutes. The only thing between me and certain death was the leather leash (I shit you not,) that tamed the beast. Well, the man and his loyal canine eventually continued their walk, and Hanly and I found the bus.
We stayed Hanly's friend Dave from NYU who is currently studying in Berlin and living in a German family's apartment. The family doesn't actually live in the apartment, just their mid-20's daughter Resi, who was hilarious. The sibling-esque dynamic between Dave and Resi probably made for 50% of the fun in Berlin.
It sucked that it was so cold and rainy, but the city itself was very interesting. Much of the city was very modern (on account of it being destroyed during WWII,) and a lot was under construction. The metro was sleek and efficient, but the best part of the city was, as per usual, the food. On the first day of exploring the city, I saw from across the street a sign that read "Delores. California-style Burritos." I blinked twice in disbelief and asked Hanly to look at what I was seeing to make sure it was real. It was real. And we ate there. Twice. The place had the Chipotle idea down to a T and the burritos were delicious, (not quite as good as eating Chipotle at NYU in Madrid, though, what is?)
We also discovered an interesting Berliner dish called Currywurst, which is essentially Bratwurst/Hot Dog style sausage with curry sauce. It was also delicious. Other interesting things we did in Berlin was to visit Checkpoint Charlie (the American controlled checkpoint between East and West Berlin back in the day when that was important,) see some cool museums, see a large chunk of the wall, and visit a really interesting exhibit on the Nuremberg Nazi war criminal trial.
It was a great time, and even better because we were staying with fun people who knew the city. But as the final days of spring break dawned, I felt a sense of urgency to be back in Madrid, and stepping back into the apartment after 16 days was glorious...
Dave, Hanly and Resi
Hanly crossing Bear Bridge
In Berlin, creepy carnivals lie within a stone's throw of the museums
Fabulous, Sunny Berlin!
The wall, man.
Checkpoint Charlie
The offensively named, "SnackPoint Charlie"
Hanly eating a glorious Delores burrito.
Home Free!!!
We arrived in Berlin extremely early (another one of those 6 am flights ala the one to Rome.) Determining how to navigate public transport at 8 in the morning is no fun for anyone. Well, unless you're in the middle of nowhere looking for a bus and a random old grizzled-fisherman type approaches you with the largest beast of a dog you have ever seen in your life. I'm not even joking, I would have taken a picture of this dog had I not feared the dog would sprout wings, fly up to my camera, and eat it. Anyway, this guy was English and very bizarre. Hanly was trying to make use of the public phone and the Beast-Dog (with a nose the size of an apple,) would lick his lips and start towards me with his Garganta-Paws every few minutes. The only thing between me and certain death was the leather leash (I shit you not,) that tamed the beast. Well, the man and his loyal canine eventually continued their walk, and Hanly and I found the bus.
We stayed Hanly's friend Dave from NYU who is currently studying in Berlin and living in a German family's apartment. The family doesn't actually live in the apartment, just their mid-20's daughter Resi, who was hilarious. The sibling-esque dynamic between Dave and Resi probably made for 50% of the fun in Berlin.
It sucked that it was so cold and rainy, but the city itself was very interesting. Much of the city was very modern (on account of it being destroyed during WWII,) and a lot was under construction. The metro was sleek and efficient, but the best part of the city was, as per usual, the food. On the first day of exploring the city, I saw from across the street a sign that read "Delores. California-style Burritos." I blinked twice in disbelief and asked Hanly to look at what I was seeing to make sure it was real. It was real. And we ate there. Twice. The place had the Chipotle idea down to a T and the burritos were delicious, (not quite as good as eating Chipotle at NYU in Madrid, though, what is?)
We also discovered an interesting Berliner dish called Currywurst, which is essentially Bratwurst/Hot Dog style sausage with curry sauce. It was also delicious. Other interesting things we did in Berlin was to visit Checkpoint Charlie (the American controlled checkpoint between East and West Berlin back in the day when that was important,) see some cool museums, see a large chunk of the wall, and visit a really interesting exhibit on the Nuremberg Nazi war criminal trial.
It was a great time, and even better because we were staying with fun people who knew the city. But as the final days of spring break dawned, I felt a sense of urgency to be back in Madrid, and stepping back into the apartment after 16 days was glorious...
Dave, Hanly and Resi
Hanly crossing Bear Bridge
In Berlin, creepy carnivals lie within a stone's throw of the museums
Fabulous, Sunny Berlin!
The wall, man.
Checkpoint Charlie
The offensively named, "SnackPoint Charlie"
Hanly eating a glorious Delores burrito.
Home Free!!!
Posted at 01:00 PM
Sun - April 23, 2006
Spring Break Part 5: Amsterdam
Amsterdam was a complete surprise for me. Since
all you ever hear about Amsterdam is the Red Light District, I had this idea in
my mind of the city being entirely dirty. In reality though, it's quite a
charming beautiful city. When we arrived at our hostel I felt like we had just
stepped into some sort of bizarre McHostel. It was this massive, organized,
institutionalized, YMCA-esque facility. The professionalism was nice, but the
vibe of the place was lame, considering it mostly seemed to be full of
children's soccer teams and random groups of adults. The rooms were clean
though, and I guess that's all you can hope for.
One thing I liked about the city right off the bat was how modern and efficient it was. The airport, trains and trams all seemed brand new and operated without problems. Also, it seems the majority of citizens get around by bike. Also, because Dutch food is apparently lacking in flavor, the city is full of different cuisines, more than I'd seen since being in New York. I ate Chinese food for the first time since leaving the States, and tried Indonesian food for the first time. While we were at the Indonesian food restaurant, this strange crew of three older, bizarre looking guys (Hanly referred to them as the Jack Kerouac crew,) came into the restaurant and took a seat. They were the most irritating, ridiculous people to sit near in a restaurant. They were from Southern California (we discovered this because they kept hijacking the waitress and trying to relate to her: "Oh, you are into theatre? Well we're musicians. So we're all....sort of....artists...you know?") The rest of the meal was just as painful as it sounds, but thank God the food was delicious. It turns out the Motley Three were touring (they are lawyers by day though,) and are sick and tired of people "who only come to Amsterdam to get high. I mean we really wanted to go see that...Rembrandt exhibit....but we didn't get around to it." I found this comment ironic considering they had made a serious comment about finding heroine about 30 minutes earlier. Most of the dinner consisted of Catherine, Phil, Hanly and I just staring at each other in disbelief while listening to these guys talk.
Some interesting sights we saw were the Van Gogh Museum and of course the "Heineken Experience," which is this theme-park-esque tour of the former Heineken Brewery. It was pretty ridiculous, but you got three drinks and a souvenir glass. One part of the tour consisted of people cramming into this little theater where you stand up and watch this film that depicts the point-of-view of a bottle in a factory. The floor you are standing on shakes and moves in correspondence to the action on screen. Well, the bottle ends up in a bar at the end of the film, and suddenly disco lights start flashing and the song "Celebrate Good Times," begins playing. This is already awkward and depressing enough, but the icing on the cake was when the tour guide comes running down the stairs with what appeared to be genuine enthusiasm but upon further inspection was just a robotic emotion used every three minutes a shift. She gets to the front of the theater and begins to dance, shouting an encouraging "Everybody dance!!" Maybe two people slightly moved their bodies, but everyone else just stood there with a mixture of smile and disbelief wondering when the doors were going to open so they could leave.
After Phil and Catherine left to return to Germany for their trip to the States, Hanly and I rented bikes and rode out into the relative countryside of the Netherlands. It was a fun ride and good exercise.
The time came to leave Amsterdam. Unfortunately for everyone else sleeping in our room, that time came at 3:30 am. We hopped on a train for the airport to reach our next and last destination: Berlin.
Experiencing the Heineken Experience
Ascending the seductively green stairs of the Heineken Expeience
Bike ride sights
First good Chinese food since leaving New York
One thing I liked about the city right off the bat was how modern and efficient it was. The airport, trains and trams all seemed brand new and operated without problems. Also, it seems the majority of citizens get around by bike. Also, because Dutch food is apparently lacking in flavor, the city is full of different cuisines, more than I'd seen since being in New York. I ate Chinese food for the first time since leaving the States, and tried Indonesian food for the first time. While we were at the Indonesian food restaurant, this strange crew of three older, bizarre looking guys (Hanly referred to them as the Jack Kerouac crew,) came into the restaurant and took a seat. They were the most irritating, ridiculous people to sit near in a restaurant. They were from Southern California (we discovered this because they kept hijacking the waitress and trying to relate to her: "Oh, you are into theatre? Well we're musicians. So we're all....sort of....artists...you know?") The rest of the meal was just as painful as it sounds, but thank God the food was delicious. It turns out the Motley Three were touring (they are lawyers by day though,) and are sick and tired of people "who only come to Amsterdam to get high. I mean we really wanted to go see that...Rembrandt exhibit....but we didn't get around to it." I found this comment ironic considering they had made a serious comment about finding heroine about 30 minutes earlier. Most of the dinner consisted of Catherine, Phil, Hanly and I just staring at each other in disbelief while listening to these guys talk.
Some interesting sights we saw were the Van Gogh Museum and of course the "Heineken Experience," which is this theme-park-esque tour of the former Heineken Brewery. It was pretty ridiculous, but you got three drinks and a souvenir glass. One part of the tour consisted of people cramming into this little theater where you stand up and watch this film that depicts the point-of-view of a bottle in a factory. The floor you are standing on shakes and moves in correspondence to the action on screen. Well, the bottle ends up in a bar at the end of the film, and suddenly disco lights start flashing and the song "Celebrate Good Times," begins playing. This is already awkward and depressing enough, but the icing on the cake was when the tour guide comes running down the stairs with what appeared to be genuine enthusiasm but upon further inspection was just a robotic emotion used every three minutes a shift. She gets to the front of the theater and begins to dance, shouting an encouraging "Everybody dance!!" Maybe two people slightly moved their bodies, but everyone else just stood there with a mixture of smile and disbelief wondering when the doors were going to open so they could leave.
After Phil and Catherine left to return to Germany for their trip to the States, Hanly and I rented bikes and rode out into the relative countryside of the Netherlands. It was a fun ride and good exercise.
The time came to leave Amsterdam. Unfortunately for everyone else sleeping in our room, that time came at 3:30 am. We hopped on a train for the airport to reach our next and last destination: Berlin.
Experiencing the Heineken Experience
Ascending the seductively green stairs of the Heineken Expeience
Bike ride sights
First good Chinese food since leaving New York
Posted at 06:55 PM
Thu - April 20, 2006
Spring Break Part 4: Venice
Lauren and I boarded the train in Rome, unsure if
Hanly would be joining us. When we arrived at the train station and printed out
our tickets, Hanly had some problems with hers because she didn't have her
confirmation number. To make a long story short, she nearly missed the train,
but managed to jump on board just as Lauren and I were sitting down. Close call.
The train ride was pleasant, and four hours later we were rolling into the
bizarre streetless city of Venice. We stayed in a hotel on an island called Lido
which was a quick 15 minute ferry ride from Venice. We were supposed to meet my
sister Catherine and her boyfriend (now fiance!) Phil at the hotel later that
night, but it seems they had some travel problems of their own and didn't make
it to Venice until the next day. So we explored the city at night which was very
eerie and cool. The lack of cars and tiny winding streets give the city a creepy
effect at night. The next day we saw Lauren off to Madrid and searched for
places to do our laundry. Finally I reunited with Catherine and Phil and it was
glorious.
Pizza was definitely the theme of our time in Italy, pretty much almost every meal contained it. So after consuming some Pizza we explored Venice by day, which is not nearly as cool. Instead of a creepy atmosphere, you get a boatload of pigeons, tourists and souvenir peddlers.
One day we decided to go to the nearby island of Murano which is famous for "glass blowing." We thought it would be a quick, direct ferry ride but it ended up being a fun 2 hour, triple transfer journey. Each time the boat would stop, we were forced to get off and get on a new boat, it was crazy. No amount of miniature glass animals is worth the endless journey we took. We arrived in Murano and yes, there was lots of glass. We attended one of the many "Free Demonstrations," which involved walking down an alley into this garage-esque area with wooden benches to watch the artistic masters at work. Our particular artistic master happened to be an overweight, angry, Teamster-ish man who had a penchant for creating little elephants and turtles. It was truly an oxymoronic sight (see photo below.)
As we left Murano we witnessed for a brief moment a representation of the tiny population of Venetian youth. Three small boats came cruising down a canal. Each sporting a teenage Venetian boy, his girlfriend, and a stereo blasting Euro-Techno. We can only assume the boats were headed for the aquatic canal version of Lookout Point.
Venice was the most visually impressive city for me, but a completely impractical place to live, and full of tourist and therefore tourist traps. I was glad to have seen it though.
Next Stop: Amsterdam
Hanly eating a "Magnum," only the most delicious ice cream sandwich ever made
Teamster Glass Blower making a turtle.
Prom Shot '06
The endless ferry.
Venice
Pizza was definitely the theme of our time in Italy, pretty much almost every meal contained it. So after consuming some Pizza we explored Venice by day, which is not nearly as cool. Instead of a creepy atmosphere, you get a boatload of pigeons, tourists and souvenir peddlers.
One day we decided to go to the nearby island of Murano which is famous for "glass blowing." We thought it would be a quick, direct ferry ride but it ended up being a fun 2 hour, triple transfer journey. Each time the boat would stop, we were forced to get off and get on a new boat, it was crazy. No amount of miniature glass animals is worth the endless journey we took. We arrived in Murano and yes, there was lots of glass. We attended one of the many "Free Demonstrations," which involved walking down an alley into this garage-esque area with wooden benches to watch the artistic masters at work. Our particular artistic master happened to be an overweight, angry, Teamster-ish man who had a penchant for creating little elephants and turtles. It was truly an oxymoronic sight (see photo below.)
As we left Murano we witnessed for a brief moment a representation of the tiny population of Venetian youth. Three small boats came cruising down a canal. Each sporting a teenage Venetian boy, his girlfriend, and a stereo blasting Euro-Techno. We can only assume the boats were headed for the aquatic canal version of Lookout Point.
Venice was the most visually impressive city for me, but a completely impractical place to live, and full of tourist and therefore tourist traps. I was glad to have seen it though.
Next Stop: Amsterdam
Hanly eating a "Magnum," only the most delicious ice cream sandwich ever made
Teamster Glass Blower making a turtle.
Prom Shot '06
The endless ferry.
Venice
Posted at 11:43 AM
Tue - April 18, 2006
Spring Break Part 3: Rome
Our flight to Rome departed Paris at 6 am, which
meant we had to rise at 2:45, wait for an airport shuttle that never arrived,
take a cab instead, and be greeted by an airport "bouncer" at the doors who was
checking Passports before allowing entry to the airport. We arrived in Rome at
the ungodly hour of 8 am and made our way to our hostel. Ohh our hostel....where
do I even begin? My first impression was that it felt like it used to be an
apartment housing maybe 7 people but had been converted into a hostel housing 30
people. The young staff, mostly from San Diego, had a partiality for the album
"Plans" by Death Cab for Cutie. More about the hostel later. The rest of the day
almost felt like it didn't exist. We were exhausted but we had to go explore the
city as our beds at the hostel wouldn't be ready for a few hours. So we visited
some sights like the Trevi Fountain and went on an endless search for the best
pizza which nearly ended when a pizza maker had an "existentialist crisis", as
Hanly called it. We couldn't decide if we wanted to eat at his establishment
when he lost patience and uttered: "I know what you are going to do. You're
going to wander the whole city looking for the very best pizza for the very best
price, but you're never going to find it. Have a nice life" as he stormed off
into his kitchen. Well, we finally did find some pizza, and it was pretty damn
good until a group of 25 middle-aged French women on a tour came in and took
over the place. Our first night we were exhausted so we called it a night early
and went to sleep. The next day was the Vatican which was quite an experience.
The amount of people pushed through it on a daily basis is unreal, they must
make so much money. The funniest part of the Vatican Museum to me was it isn't
like a normal museum where you can wander wherever you want, but a specifically
outlined path that you must follow. As a result, in order to keep people's
interest, from the very beginning are signs saying "Sistine Chapel" and an arrow
pointing ahead. So for about 45 minutes you think you are a stone's throw away
from the chapel only to turn a corner and see another endless hallway of animal
sculptures.
Rather than bore you with details of each day, I will reassure you that we saw all the sights that we are supposed to see, and skip to the highlights/lowpoints of our trip.
One of the staff members of the our hostel was James, a late 20's former Denny's manager and guy-on-the-street-who-tries-to-hand-you-retarded-fliers who you should picture as a camp counselor type that never left camp. Well, in the interest of anthropology, but mostly because he took the initiative and we're just too nice, James decided to show Hanly, Lauren and I the nightlife of Rome, which consisted of him taking us to the most Americanized bar district I've ever seen outside of the States, and in particular to a bar called "The Drunken Ship" [in English, mind you] which ironically my sister Catherine had also attended when she visited Rome. James, who we decided to refer to as "Denny's" amongst ourselves, was a joke. There's really nothing specific I can say that will convince you, other than just to think "camp counselor." He was the staff member of our hostel that you could tell was secretly disliked by all the other staff members. It was a humorous night, most certainly, especially when he took us to the "best" pizza place in Rome which, surprise surprise, happened to be not 2 blocks away from "The Drunken Ship," yeah, right.
The next night we tried to hit a more Italian nightlife area, and while it was nice, it was a little too relaxed, not quite what we were looking for. Believe it or not Rome doesn't really have a wild nightlife like Madrid or New York.
We also had an uneventful picnic in a park, that was scattered with clouds, rain, and Middle Eastern rose peddlers (no pun intended.)
After the first two nights in the hostel, we were relocated into another room/bathroom within the hostel. The toilet had no toilet seat. Need I say more? Seeing as how there is no way I am going to squat, I told my body to bring all bowel stirrings to a halt until I arrived in Venice, to which my body was hesitant to comply, but was forced to.
One day, while we were relaxing on the Spanish Steps, a rain cloud came over us so we were forced to relocated. Hanly and Lauren noticed a humorously named "Babington's English Tea Rooms," around the corner, and seeing that Hanly and Lauren enjoyed tea, decided we should seek shelter there. I had a bad vibe as soon as we stepped in and I saw nothing but British aristocrats and their children, who oddly enough had little British accents, enjoying tea, crumpets and reading the newspaper. Regardless we were greeted by our waitress who I will from now on refer to as Lady Babington and were shown to our table. Upon perusing the menu, all the teas seemed to be priced at 9 Euros, which Hanly and Lauren assumed was for a pot of tea. We were later told by Lady Babington that this was the price for one cup, and that all of us must order something (I wasn't hungry nor thirsty.) "Ok, we're going to decide," said Hanly. We decided that we should leave Babington's immediately, but not being one for bad manners, we informed Lady Babington: "Actually....I think....we're going to leave," to which she responded for a millisecond with the most heinous, shriveled mouth and nose, wide eyed face I've ever seen, and then turned around and freed our path to the exit. Lady Babington haunts my dreams to this day.
Eventually, we triumphantly checked out of our hostel and made our way to the train station not a moment too soon for our train to Venice.
Can you find Hanly?
This ancient cultural marking on a part of the Colosseum can be traced back to stupid frat boys from Texas.
The last of the David-Lauren Awkward Monument Picture Series
Relaxing on the Spanish Steps.
Insanity in the Sistine Chapel
More Vatican Insanity
Trevi Fountain.
Rather than bore you with details of each day, I will reassure you that we saw all the sights that we are supposed to see, and skip to the highlights/lowpoints of our trip.
One of the staff members of the our hostel was James, a late 20's former Denny's manager and guy-on-the-street-who-tries-to-hand-you-retarded-fliers who you should picture as a camp counselor type that never left camp. Well, in the interest of anthropology, but mostly because he took the initiative and we're just too nice, James decided to show Hanly, Lauren and I the nightlife of Rome, which consisted of him taking us to the most Americanized bar district I've ever seen outside of the States, and in particular to a bar called "The Drunken Ship" [in English, mind you] which ironically my sister Catherine had also attended when she visited Rome. James, who we decided to refer to as "Denny's" amongst ourselves, was a joke. There's really nothing specific I can say that will convince you, other than just to think "camp counselor." He was the staff member of our hostel that you could tell was secretly disliked by all the other staff members. It was a humorous night, most certainly, especially when he took us to the "best" pizza place in Rome which, surprise surprise, happened to be not 2 blocks away from "The Drunken Ship," yeah, right.
The next night we tried to hit a more Italian nightlife area, and while it was nice, it was a little too relaxed, not quite what we were looking for. Believe it or not Rome doesn't really have a wild nightlife like Madrid or New York.
We also had an uneventful picnic in a park, that was scattered with clouds, rain, and Middle Eastern rose peddlers (no pun intended.)
After the first two nights in the hostel, we were relocated into another room/bathroom within the hostel. The toilet had no toilet seat. Need I say more? Seeing as how there is no way I am going to squat, I told my body to bring all bowel stirrings to a halt until I arrived in Venice, to which my body was hesitant to comply, but was forced to.
One day, while we were relaxing on the Spanish Steps, a rain cloud came over us so we were forced to relocated. Hanly and Lauren noticed a humorously named "Babington's English Tea Rooms," around the corner, and seeing that Hanly and Lauren enjoyed tea, decided we should seek shelter there. I had a bad vibe as soon as we stepped in and I saw nothing but British aristocrats and their children, who oddly enough had little British accents, enjoying tea, crumpets and reading the newspaper. Regardless we were greeted by our waitress who I will from now on refer to as Lady Babington and were shown to our table. Upon perusing the menu, all the teas seemed to be priced at 9 Euros, which Hanly and Lauren assumed was for a pot of tea. We were later told by Lady Babington that this was the price for one cup, and that all of us must order something (I wasn't hungry nor thirsty.) "Ok, we're going to decide," said Hanly. We decided that we should leave Babington's immediately, but not being one for bad manners, we informed Lady Babington: "Actually....I think....we're going to leave," to which she responded for a millisecond with the most heinous, shriveled mouth and nose, wide eyed face I've ever seen, and then turned around and freed our path to the exit. Lady Babington haunts my dreams to this day.
Eventually, we triumphantly checked out of our hostel and made our way to the train station not a moment too soon for our train to Venice.
Can you find Hanly?
This ancient cultural marking on a part of the Colosseum can be traced back to stupid frat boys from Texas.
The last of the David-Lauren Awkward Monument Picture Series
Relaxing on the Spanish Steps.
Insanity in the Sistine Chapel
More Vatican Insanity
Trevi Fountain.
Posted at 11:09 AM
Mon - April 17, 2006
Spring Break Part 2: Disneyland Paris
I went through a phase in my childhood, being the Disney-theme-park-obsessed kid that I was, of trying to convince my parents to take me to Disneyland Paris. I read up about the park online and in guide books in preparation for a trip that would never happen until now. We tacked on an additional day to our Paris stay solely to visit the Disney of Europe. So Hanly, Lauren and I met up with our friends who are studying in Paris (Sarah, Tory, and Leila,) a mutual friend of ours studying in Madrid with us, Zach, and one of our friends from New York, Kyle. The eight of us boarded the French RER train and booked it for Disneyland, about 30 minutes outside the city.
Upon arrival I immediately noticed how surreal it was to be in a place I had practically been countless times (in other incarnations,) in a country that was so foreign. What is more confusing than seeing above the Main Street train station a sign that reads: "Main Street, USA. Disneyland Paris." Unfortunately the weather was grim. Cloudy, chilly, and a constant drizzle. Whatever, I thought, I've done Disney in the rain before and I'll do it again. We booked it for Space Mountain: Mission 2 which is Paris' jacked up version of Space Mountain. Rather than a tame journey through space, this version launches you at high speed from the outside of the mountain and up along its edge. Then you plunge into darkness coast through a series of crazy inversions and lights. It was a lot of fun and much cooler than the versions Stateside. We then crossed the park to Frontierland to ride Big Thunder Mountain, pretty much the same as other versions. After that we went to Phantom Manor, which is their crazy version of the Haunted Mansion. The surrealist nature of Disneyland in Europe made itself abundantly clear to me during this ride. The entire narration was in French, so while I knew what was going on the whole time (having been on the ride so many times in the States,) something was off about it. In the stretching room, the attendant spoke in French as we were coralled in the room and then threw in this as the English translation: "Please step away from the haunted walls." Thats it? Totally loses the charm of the ride. In the States we're used to be yelled at as "wretched bodies" by the attendant. Oh well, they tried.
We continued our tour of the park, and with ever ride, and thus every gift shop we would stop for Kyle to put on the themed costume for whatever ride we just went on so we could all take pictures.
Midway through the day the rain stopped and the sun came out and it turned out to be a perfect day. Also of note is that after years of visiting Disney parks and avoiding the Mad Tea Cups, I finally decided to face my fears and ride it, and I have to say it was the highlight of the day.
We book-ended our day by re-riding Space Mountain and then eating delicious theme park food while sitting on the curbs of Main Street. Perfect end to the day. I have to say the park is probably my favorite just in terms of size (not too big or small,) and atmosphere. How many Magic Kingdom castles in the States have dragons in their basements, honestly?
Rain? Who cares?
In Europe, you can smoke in front of the Pirates of the Caribbean
Lost in a cave.
Mad Tea Cups action shot
Sarah on the Mad Tea Cups
Really, what more do you need?
Lauren inspired by her journey on Space Mountain
Our journey on Space Mountain
Posted at 11:16 AM
Sun - April 16, 2006
Spring Break Part 1: Paris
I decided that I'm going to tackle the gargantuan
task of posting entries and photos of my two-week spring break trip by
separating the entries by city. So hopefully by the end of next week, I'll have
everything posted, thought this week will be awfully busy since I have my
parents and two aunts in town. We shall
see..
As usual, the fun already began on the airplane. Hanly, Lauren and I departed on Thursday afternoon, March 30th. I quickly discovered that the person sitting behind me (and next to Hanly,) was extremely obnoxious and thus incredibly difficult to ignore for the 1.5 hours of flight time. This guy was probably in his mid-30's, had a British-ish accent, and was taking his giggly, stupid girlfriend to Paris, you know, to be romantic. He was one of those people that talks incredibly loud so that everyone can hear him because he's just that witty and worth listening to. Sample conversation bits include when the food cart came around and he complained to the flight attendant that the sandwich he received looked nothing like the picture on the menu (World's Most Original Complaint (tm) ) When the duty-free cart came around, he decided to impress his girlfriend and the rest of the plane in an exchange which became a daily utterance for the rest of the trip by Hanly and I:
FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Would you like any fragrances?
GUY: Do you have Instinct X-treme?
FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Yes, it's 30 euros.
GUY: 30 Euros? THAT'S CHEAP!
I can't tell you how many times on the rest of the trip we declared something "CHEAP!" and even spread the habit to my sister Catherine and her boyfriend Phil when they met us in Venice.
When we arrived in Paris, our shuttle van drove us to what we thought would be our hostel. Turns out, according to the owner who was standing on the street, our hostel was closed for city inspections or some such things, and we have been relocated to the deceptively elegant sounding Hotel Lorraine. "I put you all in your own private room," the manager consoled us. So we hopped on the metro with our gigantic backpacks and knocked in to too many French people trying to get out of the crowded metro to discover the one-star beauty of Hotel Lorraine. When we got to our room, I quickly realized it was the hotel room from Big (when Tom Hanks first arrives in the city,) with a dash of hotel from Barton Fink. Also disappointing was that our closed hostel was in a really cool part of town, and Lady Lorraine was in the train-station/hotel district of Paris. Great.
The loveliness of Lorraine.
Our stay in Paris still turned out to be awesome, and was arguably my favorite city on the trip. Some highlights:
- Running in to two drunken French youth on the street who offered us swigs from their bottles of wine and confessed that they hated French people because they always had frowns on their faces. "De French Peeple are alwayys like thees [makes exaggerated frowning face]"
- Realizing that the metro trains drove like stick-shift versions of metro trains.
- Seeing the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and all that jazz.
- Eating a lot of food. Crepes, Baguettes, Cheese (lots,) pretty much all delicious things that do not exist in Spain
- EuroDisney (but that gets its own entry, of course.)
- Seeing some real-live protests. (Unfortunately (?) they didn't turn into riots.)
- When a baby roach crawled across our table at a restaurant and Lauren freaked out.
- My delicious crepe spawning a sick addiction to Nutella.
This post is already becoming too long, so I think I covered everything pretty well and will now leave you with some highlight pictures of Paris. Next up will be an entry covering Disneyland Paris.
Storm rolling into the park.
Candles in the Notre Dame cathedral.
We decided to take awkward pictures of Lauren and I in front of major monuments.
XTREME EIFFEL!!!!!!!!!
Careful, it's windy up there on the ole Eiffel Tower.
A protest that
materialized as we came out of our
restaurant.
As usual, the fun already began on the airplane. Hanly, Lauren and I departed on Thursday afternoon, March 30th. I quickly discovered that the person sitting behind me (and next to Hanly,) was extremely obnoxious and thus incredibly difficult to ignore for the 1.5 hours of flight time. This guy was probably in his mid-30's, had a British-ish accent, and was taking his giggly, stupid girlfriend to Paris, you know, to be romantic. He was one of those people that talks incredibly loud so that everyone can hear him because he's just that witty and worth listening to. Sample conversation bits include when the food cart came around and he complained to the flight attendant that the sandwich he received looked nothing like the picture on the menu (World's Most Original Complaint (tm) ) When the duty-free cart came around, he decided to impress his girlfriend and the rest of the plane in an exchange which became a daily utterance for the rest of the trip by Hanly and I:
FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Would you like any fragrances?
GUY: Do you have Instinct X-treme?
FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Yes, it's 30 euros.
GUY: 30 Euros? THAT'S CHEAP!
I can't tell you how many times on the rest of the trip we declared something "CHEAP!" and even spread the habit to my sister Catherine and her boyfriend Phil when they met us in Venice.
When we arrived in Paris, our shuttle van drove us to what we thought would be our hostel. Turns out, according to the owner who was standing on the street, our hostel was closed for city inspections or some such things, and we have been relocated to the deceptively elegant sounding Hotel Lorraine. "I put you all in your own private room," the manager consoled us. So we hopped on the metro with our gigantic backpacks and knocked in to too many French people trying to get out of the crowded metro to discover the one-star beauty of Hotel Lorraine. When we got to our room, I quickly realized it was the hotel room from Big (when Tom Hanks first arrives in the city,) with a dash of hotel from Barton Fink. Also disappointing was that our closed hostel was in a really cool part of town, and Lady Lorraine was in the train-station/hotel district of Paris. Great.
The loveliness of Lorraine.
Our stay in Paris still turned out to be awesome, and was arguably my favorite city on the trip. Some highlights:
- Running in to two drunken French youth on the street who offered us swigs from their bottles of wine and confessed that they hated French people because they always had frowns on their faces. "De French Peeple are alwayys like thees [makes exaggerated frowning face]"
- Realizing that the metro trains drove like stick-shift versions of metro trains.
- Seeing the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and all that jazz.
- Eating a lot of food. Crepes, Baguettes, Cheese (lots,) pretty much all delicious things that do not exist in Spain
- EuroDisney (but that gets its own entry, of course.)
- Seeing some real-live protests. (Unfortunately (?) they didn't turn into riots.)
- When a baby roach crawled across our table at a restaurant and Lauren freaked out.
- My delicious crepe spawning a sick addiction to Nutella.
This post is already becoming too long, so I think I covered everything pretty well and will now leave you with some highlight pictures of Paris. Next up will be an entry covering Disneyland Paris.
Storm rolling into the park.
Candles in the Notre Dame cathedral.
We decided to take awkward pictures of Lauren and I in front of major monuments.
XTREME EIFFEL!!!!!!!!!
Careful, it's windy up there on the ole Eiffel Tower.
A protest that
materialized as we came out of our
restaurant.Posted at 10:34 AM
Thu - March 30, 2006
Headin' Out
Well, Spring Break officially starts tomorrow, so
I will be gone for about two weeks.
Destinations:
Paris (during which you can bet on us visiting a certain Magic Kingdom, Euro-Style,) Rome, Venice, Amsterdam, Berlin
Expect a fat update (or series of slimmer updates,) and many photos when I return.
Until then....
Destinations:
Paris (during which you can bet on us visiting a certain Magic Kingdom, Euro-Style,) Rome, Venice, Amsterdam, Berlin
Expect a fat update (or series of slimmer updates,) and many photos when I return.
Until then....
Posted at 02:02 AM
Thu - March 23, 2006
Chipotle in Spain?
Last weekend, Hanly had to fly back to the states for a job interview. There was much talk of her bringing back a Chipotle burrito for me, but I didn't want to get my hopes up. Sure enough though, during lunch yesterday, Hanly arrived at the NYU building holding a Chipotle bag. She had checked the burrito so it travelled safely in the cold cargo area of the plane, preserving its deliciousness. And so I ate half of the burrito cold at school and enjoyed it more than any burrito I've ever consumed. I saved the rest for after school, heated it up and finished it. My stomach didn't know how to react to such spices, it had been so long. I have to say it was a surreal experience.
Posted at 06:55 PM
Mon - March 20, 2006
Location: Portes Du Soleil, Switzerland
All winter I've been telling myself that it's alright that I didn't ski in Crested Butte this Christmas because I would be taking it up a notch and skiing in Switzerland come spring semester. Well the time finally came and the wait was well worth it.
My friend from high school, Leslie, has been studying in Lausanne (just outside of Geneva) since Fall semester. I decided to meet her for some good ole' Swiss times along with our friend Matt who is studying in Florence. There was plenty of fondue, snow and even some criminal activity that did not go unpunished.
The first night we ate a hearty meal of fondue, and while it tastes great at the time, combined with a bottle of white wine does not a meal make. Don't get me wrong, I was full, more full than I've been since...well, last week's NYU sponsored food orgy . I just don't see a meal made out of fondue as a viable or repeatable option. I've never felt more disgusting than after consuming a large pot of boiling cheese. Needless to say there was no partying that night, I went to sleep as soon as the opportunity was offered.
The next day was spent exploring the town of Lausanne. It included a cathedral (of course,) all-you-can-eat Indian food, and a citation from the Swiss police. Let me explain. Lausanne's public transportation network operates on the honor system, which I'm totally fine with as a concept. You don't need to show your ticket to anyone when boarding a train or bus, but there are periodic checks to make sure you have paid to use the service. Again, in total agreement. The problem is, however, that the machines that dispense the tickets require exact change (in coins,) as they do not dispense change, which makes it incredibly difficult to pay for the service. When on the way back to Leslie's dorm, I had no change in my pocket except for bills, Leslie scrounged together enough change to buy me a "1/2 fare" (read: child's ticket.) Matt on the other hand, insisted on not paying because he hadn't been checked once since arriving in Lausanne. So after spending the entire train ride home discussing how we would so boldly avoid paying a fine if we were caught (which could never happen, right?) a faint French announcement comes on over the train's PA as it approaches it's last stop, our stop. Suddenly, everyone around us begins to pull out their tickets. Oh fuck. No fucking way. Alright, don't panic, let's just exit the train. We start to exit the train and awaiting us is a barricade of policemen checking peoples' tickets. Suddenly I felt like I was in Nazi Germany trying to flee before being captured. Ok, I'm just going to play dumb, I thought, use my one semester of acting training. I choose my policeman, a short, ugly, though seemingly docile old man (first mistake,) and show him my ticket. He looks at it and scowls, assaulting my ears with the French language, which I used to like the sound of, but a new association with it was being forever inscribed in my mind. I told him in English that I did not speak French. "Do you have a 1/2 price card?" he asked in English. I played dumb, "I just got here yesterday, I don't know what a 1/2 priced card is." "Oh really? Then come over here," he leads me to one of the despicable ticket vending machines and asks me to replay how I purchased my ticket. "I can't read French," I say when he tries to insist that it says next to the button I pressed that you must possess a special card. "Then you have a tax to pay my friend, 60 Francs now or 80 Francs later." Basically I was robbed, I had to use an ATM to withdraw cash and pay the fucker. Yeah, yeah they're just doing their job, but I guarantee you they wouldn't have so many people to fine if the city would install machines like any other logical city that has public transportation and make it easier for people to pay for the damned service. Thoroughly incensed by the Swiss and their illogical, most definitely fondue-influenced metropolitan planning, we went home and rested up for skiing the next day.
The ski resort was incredible. "Portes du Soleil" is a massive network of connected ski lifts (200+) and runs, so sprawling and covering so many mountains that self-referred to as the largest ski resort in the world, which I wouldn't doubt for a second. We boarded a giant gondola to take us to one of the many entrances to the complex and began our day of skiing. The weather was and we even had a little snow-picnic on an isolated part of the mountain, it was great. I took it easy on the slopes most of the day since it usually takes me at least two days to gain my confidence, so it was a leisurely fun day. We got home, took showers with cold beer and ate at this great pizza/micro-brewery where we played drinking games at the table with Leslie's South African friend Mark. I at one point took a shot called "sushi" which interestingly tasted just like its namesake. Surprisingly delicious. The next day I caught my train back to Geneva and flew from there back home to Madrid. This was my first trip outside of Spain since arriving here and I have to say that I really missed Madrid while I was gone and it was great to be back.
"Gollum-ing" my picnic food.
Mmmm large amount of cheese
A sheep and a miniature donkey? The two animal residents of Leslie's university. Nobody is really sure why they are there.
What are you looking at?
Posted at 11:54 PM
Wed - March 15, 2006
Frankly it's just too nice outside
I woke up this morning to find my Weather Widget
bringing me wonderful
news:
As a result, there was clearly no way Hanly and I were going to attend both classes today, so we decided that after Spanish class we would go to Retiro Park (Madrid's Central Park), meet Lauren and do this instead:
As a result, there was clearly no way Hanly and I were going to attend both classes today, so we decided that after Spanish class we would go to Retiro Park (Madrid's Central Park), meet Lauren and do this instead:
Posted at 11:30 AM
Sliders
A few weeks ago Hanly made sliders (think White
Castle with a bit more class.) Last summer she worked in a diner in which only
sliders were served, so she had fine tuned the skill of creating them over the
three months. Now we all get to enjoy the fruits of her labor.
On an unrelated note, I'm going to Switzerland this weekend so expect a fat post on Monday.
On an unrelated note, I'm going to Switzerland this weekend so expect a fat post on Monday.
Posted at 01:39 AM
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Published On: May 23, 2006 05:22 PM
Published On: May 23, 2006 05:22 PM