Sekunde Tag

Day 2:  We started the day off by going to Karlsplatz so we could go to the Frauenkirche. Karlsplatz is a main platz, that was the site of some Nazi parades. 

Unfortunately they’re doing construction on one of the towers in the front of the church.  The interior of the church is neatly decorated, very spacious and Gothic looking.  The devils footprint in the very front of the church was almost overlooked, and there is some royal crypt underneath the altar. 

 

After this we walked to the Marienplatz and Hofbrauhaus to see everything before we went to the Residenz Museum. You know, the famous place of the Glockenspiel, and the famous beer hall where Hitler gave speeches

 

The Residenz Area is huge, and the national theater is there, and a statue of the former king.  We started off with the treasury since its smaller, and they have some neat stuff from royal regalia to reliquaries, to very fancy dishes. My personal favorite is the reliquary of St. George, since that knight jousting is insanely detailed.   And seeing the crown jewels, was pretty cool I guess.

Then we went to the residenz museum, the audio guide said they were currently renovating it, so only 90 rooms were open to visit. Only 90!!!!  The first couple rooms you go into, it’s small, not that detailed and not very interesting.  The outdoor fountains were neat, and I especially love the Perseus/Medusa fountain, since water sprouts out of the beheaded Medusa and from her body.  Then we got to the Antiquarium, and this thing was amazing.  It’s dedicated to his ancient Roman sculpture busts collection, and this was just awesome to see, probably my favorite part of this museum. 

Then we went through at least 50-60 of the rooms, for unimportant people, elector people, antechamber this and that, visiting rooms for Holy Emperors.  The furniture looked uncomfortable, and so did the beds. It wasn’t that detailed, and reminds me of a Pitti Palace type palace in Florence.  One highlight was the emperor’s hall, where it was gigantic.  And all the tapestries on one side of the room were dedicated to beheadings from David and Goliath, to Judith Beheading Holofernes. Seriously, it was like a headless horsemen's fetish in there. We finally got to their private collection of relics, and one of the relics was insane, because it was a dead baby.  You could see it's dead wrinkled baby feet. Gnarly!

 After we finally got through the museum, tired and a little bit bored, we left so we could watch the Glockenspiel thing in the Marienplatz, that every tourist must do.  The song goes on for 10 minutes, but the action only lasts for half of it, it's like two jousting rounds, then people dancing, then lots of music and nothing happening.

 We then went to eat lunch in the Viktalienmarkt  public outdoor market/eating area.  The beer station rotates every so often between Munich companies, and for today it was Paulaner, so we had Paulaner helles beer today.  I had that, my first Brezel in Germany, and finally a really good bratwurst.   

We then walked  to the Oktoberfest/Beer Museum which was cheap, only 6 euros for the four of us. Particularly because its small, 90% of it is in German, and the only cool thing to look at were the older steins from the breweries.  They also had some facts and portraits about the founders of each of the big six breweries in Munich.  The old steins were cool to look at though, its just too bad most descriptions of shit were in Deutstch.  And basic high school Deustch doesn't cover that.  We got to drink Hofbrauhaus’s special Tegernsee beer at the end of the visit.   

 

We then made our way to Marienplatz then to Odeonplatz so we could get to the Field Marshals' Halls  modeled after the Loggia in Florence. I got to step inside the Theatinerkirche and got to see the nicely detailed marble sculpture/plaster on the walls.  

 Then we finally made it back to our area, and I decided to walk to the Statue of Bavaria since we are staying near it. It’s a nice walk in the park to get there, and then you see a gigantic statue.  It's also in the park where they hold Wiesn (Oktoberfest), so the park is ginormous.  The statue really is huge, but by the time I got there, it started to rain and I didn’t have my umbrella so I left.  It was raining stupid bad, but I guess Davis got lost trying to find his way to  the hotel, he got destroyed by the rain.  

We went to the Paulaner beer hall for dinner, and I finally got to try my Schweinshaxe, or pig knuckle.  Also had another brezetl, and a Hefe-Weiss beer.  I’ve been getting extremely full from my meals, and ending in food comas from the food and beer, which has been delicious.  

Erste Tag

Welcome back Europe, hope you missed me.  Cause I sure as hell missed you.  

Day 1:  Going through Tom Bradley international airport at LAX was unique.  It’s definitely one of the nicest terminals in LAX before you go to the security check line, and even the Daily Grill had this neat carry-on luggage compartment on top of the restaurant tables. The flight itself was looooooong.  We were row 58 of 58.  And next to this like Egyptian or some type of Arabic elderly couple, who were clearly the worst passengers in existence.  They smelt terrible, didn’t speak German or English, and didn’t follow any rules from the flight attendants.  The flight attendants were clearly frustrated, but whatever.  Munich international airport is huge and very high tech and modern. It’s funny the baggage claim has a Heineken bottle advertisement going through it.  Davis got randomly selected by customs to be searched, because he had huge headphones on and some edm music label shirt on, so they must’ve thought he was smuggling some sort of drug paraphernalia or something.   The drive from the airport to our hotel was alright I guess, he was probably a Turkish immigrant who "loves Los Angeles".  You will never see so many Porsches, BMWs, Audis, zooming past you on the freeway to the city.  We also drove by the Allianz Arena, which was neat to see. The freeway is very close to the stadium.  Our hotel is a very nice and modern place.  One of those weird ass bathrooms, where there isn’t a full door to close the shower.  We ate at a Augustiner affiliated restaurant, with a freaking bowling alley on the side of it.  We had some excellent wienerschnitzel, some dish my dad got, and some Italian tortellini haha.  The helles bier (Edelstoff) was excellent here, and that’s 1/6 of the major Munich brewing companies down.  Even my mom drank one!  The dude here was funny, since he wouldn't let Davis drink a pilsner, because it was NICHT AUGUSTINER!!!  NOT AUGUSTINER!!

My reflections on Italy

Now that I am no longer in Italy, I am very sad. It's hard to wake up and feel like 24 hours, 48 hours ago I was in freaking Italy. It sucks to go back to reality. It really does, I loved seeing my family, but I wish that trip never ended. the flight from Florence to Paris was alright, it was sad saying Arrivederci to Italy though. Then from Paris to LA, it was sad saying goodbye to Europe. Although going through customs was easy as hell, because they don't really care what you have on you. Now onto my reflections...

Studying abroad was the experience of a lifetime. I have never lived by myself away from home, so that was different. From buying my own groceries, hang drying laundry, cooking for my roommates, cleaning the toilets, it was all new to me. I realized with the great roommates I had, that living away from home isn't too bad at all. We all had a shared responsibility, we all got along excellent with each other. It was a sad morning saying goodbye to Chris and Mike who had their own travel plans after the trip. Buying groceries in Italy was a weird experience having to pack your own stuff, having to buy groceries that look vaguely familiar. I'll never eat that much excellent fresh fruit like I did in Italy. The fruit there was amazing from the grocery stores to the Central market. I'll miss the Gelato for sure. They have a decent gelato place in Fullerton but it doesn't come close to Italy. The peach flavor gelato was so amazing. I'll miss being able to drink legally in Europe. From ordering a Moretti my first day there, to drinking a Moretti my last night. I'll miss being able to walk around and drinking. From drinking hard alcohol to wine to sangria to Moscata, I'll just miss being able to be legal and drink. I'll miss going to bars and pubs and chatting with fellow Americans. I can't do this for a whole another year :( I could careless about the club scene really, but it was a great place to meet other American students. I'll miss the proscruitto crudo and the excellent various types of pasta they had. I learned how to eat things like Caprese, Gnocchi, etc. I probably won't eat pasta for a while, but I'll learn to appreciate how much I miss it.

I'll miss being able to walk out of my apartment and see buildings built in the 16th century. From the Santa Croce church to the Piazza Della Signoria. I'll miss walking by those buildings every day. I miss just walking around the cities in general and there being historical sights everywhere. I'll miss all the Michelangelos, Donatellos, Rafael's that were just right there all around the city. I'll never see all that art again probably. I learned how to appreciate art a lot more in person, than from seeing it in a slideshow in an art history class. I'm going to miss walking off my dinner, eating small portions, and losing weight.

My Italian trip was a history, art, and religious trip for me. I'm not religious but I saw so many Christian things a pilgrim dreams of seeing. From the mosaics in Ravenna, a piece of the Holy Shroud, all the various relics from a piece of the true cross to a piece of the crown of thorns. All the entombed bodies on display, the famous religious art from the last supper to the Sistine Chapel. All the Italian churches I saw from St. Peter's Church to the Florence Duomo. All the famous sculptures and artworks I saw from the David to the Birth of Venus to the Venus di Milo at the Louvre. All the famous roman stuff from the coliseum, to the equestrian statue of Marcus AUrelius, Pompeii, to the area where the circus maximus once stood. I'm glad I saw all the tombs I saw from Galileo to Michelangelo to the Medici's family tomb.

I traveled Italy as much as I could since there is so much history there, I feel like I sort of touched the surface. I had a great time on all my trips from Paris to Naples. I loved the modern cities of Torino and Milan, yet they had so much history there. I loved the harbor feeling in Naples and Genoa. I loved the great views of the Alps in Torino. I loved all the Byzantine mosaics in Ravenna. I loved being able to go to another country in San Marino. I'll miss being able to take a train and go to another city. The train system there and in Europe is something that I wish California had. Being able to go to Rome, 1 hour and 45 minutes away was just so awesome. The Eurail train pass was the greatest thing ever. I pay 228 euros for 10 days, and I probably used like 600 euros or more worth of train tickets.

I'm not going to miss the immigrants in Italy though. The berbers selling stupid goods like pieces of art that have nothing to do with the city they're in. Trying to sell you bird seeds for pidgeons. The stupid Romanian gypsies rubbing their stomachs begging for money. The Senegalese trying to sell you fake bags, glasses, etc. I could not care for kebabs, especially since I don't like that stuff, I hated falafel in NYC, etc. The Indians selling the dumbest toys ever late at night. I seriously wish Italy did deport these idiots who add nothing to the country except selling goods that nobody wants.

I'm thankful that in America we get more than one ice cube in our drinks. I'm thankful in America we have free refills, more soda flavors than coke, sprite, or fanta. I'm thankful for fast food. Thankful for being able to customize an order at Mcdonalds. Not that I plan on eating there for the rest of summer.

This trip was an eye opener to me. I learned how to meet new people, how to buy groceries for myself, how to live with other people, how to catch a train somewhere, how to walk around a city armed with only a map. I'm going to miss so much on this vacation. From historical sights to art to being able to drink legally, it hasn't hit me yet how much I miss Florence, Italy, and Europe.

Forza Partenopei/Azzuri

Naples! It's interesting how many people told me this place smells terrible, is an awful place to stay, and isn't worth visiting. I could careless about the beach resorts along the Amalfi, and was more excited to see Roman ruins. That was my reason for going to Naples. The train to Naples isn't bad, it's only like an hour longer then going to Rome. Once I got to the station I went to a tourist office to get a Naples museum pass thing. When I found out the trains would be on strike the next day, except for the fast trains. It was was too late to do Pompeii and Herculaneum, so I had to settle for only Pompeii. A lot of people on the Circumvesuvania were either going to Pompeii or to Sorrento. It kind of sucked that the train was delayed by like 20 minutes. once I got to Pompeii it looked pretty awesome just seeing ruins from the exterior. They don't really give maps out so I had a basic map of Pompeii in my Italy book, so that kind of sucked. I walked pretty much all the areas you could walk too from seeing the Forum, Theaters, Brothel, Amphitheater, and the Villa of the Mysteries. I didn't see the garden with all the plastered people, but I did see a decent amount of plastered people so that was cool enough. What sucks is a lot of the excavated artifacts aren't actually in their original places. It was also random to see stray dogs all over the site. The brothel was interesting since those looked like the most uncomfortable beds ever. I loved just walking around and seeing well preserved homes though. And the Villa of the Mysteries was kind of a disappointment, except for the one room with all the original artwork in it. After getting back to Naples, finding my hotel was a bitch without access to a map. They luckily had huge city map things on the street, but I got lost trying to find my hotel since google maps gave me very shitty walking directions to my hotel. It was actually really really easy to get too. Then I had some authentic Napolitan style pizza at a nearby restaurant and I wasn't disappointed. I also only spoke very basic Italian words to the guy, who thought I spoke Italiano. That was interesting, but I survived the ordeal.

The next day I had an excellent breakfast at the hotel, and got to eat some Naples pastries. I then took the metro to the Archaeological Museum. The Farnese collection of Roman statues here was amazing. Their collection of excavated Pompeii artifacts from bronzes, to floor pieces, to mosaics, to paintings was also amazing. They also had the famous Alexander the Great mosaic that has graced my history book cover before. This is any ancient Rome's fan dream museum visit. They also had a room dedicated to erotic Roman art that was opened, and I gotta say, those Romans were weird. Especially Pan raping the goat or whatever that was. After this museum I cruised down the main drag Via Toledo to the harbor. It was neat seeing all the main streets, the insane traffic, and all the different cops patrolling. I loved the Palazzo Real at the end, and the San Franciscan church across from it. I didn't care to see the Palace though because it was French Bourbon. I then walked by the Castel Nuovo, since this was King Alfonse of Spain's residence. This castle was pretty immense to look at, they had a great view of the harbor! It was interesting seeing a European Union and a Spain flag over the castle. Then I just took a long way down Corso Umberto back to the train station, ate some more Naples pizza and got to the insanely packed train station. Because of all the strikes, all the trains were docked in Naples. I think only my train was running to Rome/Florence/Milan. But I was thankful to make it back to Florence.

Naples was an alright city, it's worth a visit. It wasn't that hot, and if you get hot, go walk by the harbor. The trash problem is there, but they at least have trash piles, that you can avoid walking by. It doesn't smell that bad, only when by trash piles. But I did see immigrants trying to sell either stolen goods, or broken shoes straight from the trash. That was interesting to see. I could really do without the immigrants trying to sell that crap. I enjoyed Naples, the people were very friendly and the food was excellent. Just the traffic is insane, but I got good at jaywalking the streets 30 minutes into it.

Forza i Blucerchiat, Forza Rossoblu.

I like both soccer teams, Genoa CFC and U.C. Sampdoria

Woke up late Saturday, so I missed breakfast again. Checked out and walked to the train station to border my train. Shared a six person cart with an elder couple and a younger couple. The train to Genoa wasn’t bad, it thankfully didn’t make too many stops. Once you get into the Genoa area it was amazing to see all the homes in the hills and stuff. Than once you get to the Station it was pretty hectic. Google maps pointed out a very confusing route for me and the main street it led me on had to have been the immigrant hub of Genoa, filled with Berbers, Indians, Chinese, and African people alike. Thankfully a lot of tourists were on the streets, albeit they were Italian. After ending up at San Lorenzo Church, and sort of near the Piazza I had no idea where I was and my Italy book gave me a very vague map of Genoa that didn’t really help. I then walked down this major street thinking it was heading the right direction, but nope, I just needed to go down a street to the left of it and I would’ve been at my hotel, except I took this major street way down to the eastern part of the city. After back tracking, I finally found the right street and my hotel was right there. I was kind of pissed off after that. Checking in was no problem, the best western has all the amenities of an American version hotel. After this I went to you guessed it for lunch. Being in the region where Pesto Sauce was invented, where sea food is prevalent, I ended up at you guessed it. Mcdonalds. The lady didn’t understand what it meant when I said I wanted a #4, the chicken nuggets meal and started giving me 4 of everything, so that was kind of annoying to fix that. After this I headed down that main street I got lost on, since that’s the way to the soccer stadium. Once I eventually got there which wasn’t hard to find, it was closed, and the team stores were closed but I did find a little store that sold some swag. After this I decided I would walk back and head to the Naval Museum of Genoa. Since Genoa has had a famous port since the Roman times, the museum is also brand new. The first floor had some cool Christopher Columbus artifacts since he was born there, from letters to objects from his voyages. They had displays of Genoese cannons and a display of a Galley. The other floors were dedicated to the port’s history and how ships had evolved, how cannons got bigger, etc. It was alright seeing the other stuff, mainly the models of ships and the old drawn maps were the coolest things. Then at the top floor they have an exhibition on the Italian experience at Ellis Island which was interesting seeing the boat point of view there. I’ve been to Ellis Island before in 2008 where you got to see how it was liked when you got there, so I guess I have seen both parts of the story now. It was interesting reading about the Italian voyage from Genoa to New York City. After this, I decided to go to what Genoa is famous for, in its Aquarium. It’s kind of expensive, but I realize that most of the cost is going to conservation, and not to profits so it’s alright in my eyes. Plus seeing live animals after looking at lifeless objects and paintings is a sight for sore eyes. They had some West Indian Manatees, some Sandtiger sharks, some seals, etc. The dolphins weren’t visible since they were in another tank. The fish tanks were the same as other aquarium’s except they did have special exhibits on Finding Nemo, Madagascar, the Red Sea, and Mediterranean tanks. They had this gigantic sea turtle too in one of the tanks, probably the biggest I’ve seen since we saw them in Kailua. They also had a ray pond where you could feel them. The museum wasn’t that impressive, it’s deceptively long because it makes you follow a certain path. Sea World and the Monterey Bay aquarium are obviously miles above it, but they had unique exhibits that neither of those aquariums had. Then you are let out into the harbor on this pier, and you walk down and get a scope of the harbor which is gigantic. You get an awesome panoramic view of Genoa. What’s awesome about Genoa is rather than expand outward, they just used the natural terrain and expanded upward. So its homes above homes above homes, etc. I can’t stress how awesome the view of the city it is from the docks. The weather is also perfect because it’s nice and cool by the sea. Then I had trouble finding a restaurant for dinner, I was going to eat something with pesto sauce, but the place I ended up stopped serving them like 30 minutes prior. So I ended up with tomatoes and mozzarella cheese, which is funny, because when other people in another house cooked for us they made this and I didn’t like it really cause I don’t like tomatoes. And this is what I was forced to have for dinner, at least they gave me a lot of bread which was delicious. I got surprisingly full from the meal, and it’s probably one of the healthiest I’ve eaten here, but I’m disappointed I never had seafood since I was actually looking forward to it. Genoa is awesome, so glad I came here. Day 4-Genoa. Missed my morning alarm clock from my cell phone thinking I could fake up at 8:15. Luckily whoever stayed there the morning before had set the alarm for 8:30. The breakfast wasn’t bad, a typical Italian breakfast, but I live for fruit at breakfast anyways. After this, I headed out down my hotel down Via Garibaldi since it’s a tourist street and UNESCO heritage sight. After this, I bought a museum ticket that gets you into the 3 Palazzo’s on the street. The first Palazzo’s art was mainly dedicated to Baroque Genovese artists that I knew jack shit about so it was whatever. They had some former royal apartments in their too. Then a security guard person showed me the roof which gives you a good view of Genoa. She also pointed out interesting things in Genoa from the Cathedral to the tower to the lighthouse. Genoa is built so high up on hills that we weren’t even close to the top of the city.. After this the next museum had more baroque art, but it at least had a Caravaggio. After this, you got to a third Palazzo, which houses things from costumes to coins to ceramics to Niccolò Paganini. The coins here were really interesting since they were from Roman times to to the Doge’s rule over the city. I was impressed by the coin collection. I don’t know much about the musician, so seeing his violin was whatever to me, but apparently annually in some contest, the winner gets to play one of the artist’s song on his violin. After this I decided to go get a Genovese lunch. It took a while to find, but I found a place that served Gnocchi al Pesto. This was delicious, and I have a new respect for pesto sauce, however mom, I don’t want to sample your dish next time we go to BJ’s brewery. Then I cruised around the harbor again, just to stroll since it was very nice over there and I’ll miss the nice cool harbor weather. I walked to where the cruise ships dock, so that was interesting, a lot of day trippers hit Genoa up from the cruises. Also, the aquarium line was packed, so I’m glad I went the night before. Then I rushed back to the hotel to pick up my bags to only realize, my train didn’t leave for another two hours. So I walked back on the harbor to get to the lighthouse 3 km away. The walk was nice, a little breeze here and there, and I got to pass all the cruises. The lantern is the symbol of Genoa apparently, and it’s been there since medieval times. You get an amazing view of Genoa, the port, etc. This view shows you how beautiful Genoa really is, and was probably a better panoramic view than the Basilica of Superga in Turin. After this, I walked back to the hotel to get my bags and get to the train. The train is basically all along the coast so you get some awesome views of the Mediterranean, it’s like driving the 101 near Santa Barbara. Except you see the awesome Italian homes in the hills and the beautiful coastline. Going to Genoa is perfect for people who can walk up hills, so that excludes you mom, you’d hate this place, or you'd only stay near the port. It really reminds me of a San Francisco type place, without the fruitcake stuff and my hero Buster Posey! But this train ride is for anyone who likes awesome views of the sea.