When in Rome...

... Enjoy the art. On Monday, we made sure to get up early enough to get ta spot in line for the Vatican Museums, and sure enough we got there at 7:15 and were about 30th in line. Of course some oblivious French dude with terrible black on black fashion cuts in right behind us, and we made sure to give him a hard time. We also met two girls from Brazil in line and talked with them to pass the time,mane before I knew it we were going in. The hallway down to the Sistine chapel is lined with beautiful sculptures and antique tapestries. Each piece was so intricately designed and created that I can't imagine the number of sculptures and hours that went into creating all of them. My favorite area was the old maps of Italy, as it reminded me of studying geography with my dad back in the day. The ceilings all the way down were amazing as well. One of them, we couldn't even figure out if the figures were sculpted or painted the job was done so well. 

Then we passed into Le Stanze Di Raphael, 4 rooms done by the famous Italian and his followers. I love his painting The School of Athens, and I was pleasantly surprised to find it painted on one of the walls of these rooms. Next were several galleries of modern art, including works by Van Gogh, Dali, and Matisse, then finally came this Sistine Chapel. The security guards are everywhere in there, constantly repeating " No, Foto," but I always get the photo. You can't stop my selfies. Of course the ceiling was spectacular, but one thing about visiting it in person is seeing everything around it as well, and I thought one of the walls was almost as amazing (also you didn't have to arch your neck up while walking backwards to properly see it). I've seen pictures of these famous pieces so often, but it was really cool to see all of the art up close and personal at I Musei Vaticani. 

... Do as the Romans do. And right now, all the Romans are outside of Rome at the beach for Ferragosto, so we decided to join them. We got a train ticket from Termini which didn't have the platform, finally found it, and jumped on just before the all aboard call. We sat down next to a guy and girl from near Queensland, Australia who were in the middle of a 3 month back pack tour. Starting in Malaysia, they've now been to Greece (their favorite overall, especially the fresh food), Germany, Austria (great downhill go carting), the Czech Republic, and Italy, and were on their way to Pompeii and later Spain, Portugal, England, Ireland, and the Netherlands. We talked about our travel experiences, sports (the lack of success of Australian football, and the potential success for Australian steam train rugby players in the NFL), and beer (apparently they don't actually drink Fosters in Australia). After about an hour, and a short bus ride, we made it to the Western coast of Italy, looking out onto the Mediterranean Sea, and man was it beautiful. The classic bright beach houses along the water and up the sea cliff, the amazingly blue water below the amazingly blue sky stretching forever and meeting at the horizon, neither interrupted by anything, and the fresh warm sand inviting us down. Before long, we were taking a refreshing dip in the sea. It was extremely salty, which wrecked havoc on my mouth and eyes, but also allowed me to float, which was so peaceful. We walked down the beach a little ways and ordered tremezzini from a snack bar. While we were eating a stealth jet started flying over the beach, doing flips and dive bombs for the crowd. After lunch, we played catch with a tennis ball in the water until we couldn't take the salt anymore, chilled and read in beach chairs under umbrellas, and once again just enjoyed he day. We may well have been the only Americans on the beach, and I certainly stood out against the bronze locals with my pale white skin and blonde hair. There were people playing paddle ball, soccer, and even basketball on a hoop in the water, while others read and tanned, and we did a little of both. We ended the day, and our trip abroad with a gelato overlooking this beautiful scene. It was an unforgettable ending to an incredible vacation.

The Eternal City, Forever Alone

After some much need sleep (I got up at 9, while Kevin slept until noon) we set out to see the ancient landmarks the eternal city has to offer. We started at the Colosseum, imagining the gladiators and wild animals fighting in the stadium 1000s of years ago (Kevin reminded me how I still need to watch Gladiator), taking some cover photo material pictures, and watching the stray cats. I learned that the gladiator battles were performed at funerals, which kind of seems like a self-enforcing cycle. From the Colosseum, we went accross the way to the Roman Forum. It is a huge expanse of ruins that must have been pretty impressive in its day, but now is kind of just broken stone and dust. There were some cool structures still left like Ceasar's tomb, the Arch of Titus, and some temples and columns, and I felt powerful imagining the likes of Ceasar and other Romans standing in the same spot so long ago. Somewhere in the Forum, Kevin and I got separated, and I wouldn't see him for the rest of the day.

I headed off on my own toward the main part of the city, and some more of the major landmarks, most notably the Pantheon. That was the attraction I was most excited to see coming to Rome, and it was amazing to stand under that dome. The building was actually a little smaller than I expected, but the opening was much larger (9m in diameter), and the geometry of the structure and beam of light coming in were so cool. There was a choir from New Jersey singing at the alter while I was there, so I could enjoy the sounds of classical music along with the sights of the chapels. I learned several interesting things from the audio tour, such as it was the burial site of Raphael, the floor is convex so the rain water can drain, and I actually didn't even realize the Pantheon was a church with Mass (now though I'm not surprised since it seems like every attraction in Rome is a church).

After the Pantheon, I headed to another Church, the Church of Saint Ignatius, which blew me away. The decoration from floor to ceiling in there was spectacular, and the beauty of one chapel in particular overwhelmed me, and I experienced a kind of spiritual moment, and kneeled and prayed in front of it (also the church was closing to visitors because Mass was about to start so I needed to blend in). There were several familiar IHS and AMDG signs adorning the church of Saint Ignatius as well.

After church number two, I went to the "best" pasta place in Rome (according to Triposo), That's Amore. It was the first time I've eaten out alone, which was an interesting experience, especially at the love restaurant with several couples, but it was nice and peaceful as well. The pasta was al dente, and different, but definitely very good. I then walked back down the street, which was lined with vendors selling their art and souvenirs. I bought a toy, a fresh slice of coconut, and a fold up basket thing from a cool guy from Senegal named Williboy. I continued on to the Trevi fountain, which is turned off and completely covered in scaffolding so you can't really even see it, and made it to Piazza Navona. I sat on a bench in front of The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi people watching and reading for a little while, ordered a tartufo and a cappuccino, and enjoyed the beautiful night.

To close out the day, I walked across the Ponte Sant'Angelo to Castel Sant'Angelo (aka Hadrian's Tomb) where there were more restaurant and market tents set up. There was also an open air theater showing the Italian movie Smetto Quando Voglio, which I watched for about 15 minutes, understanding very little. I had to get up early the next morning for the Vatican Museums, so I decided to call it a night, walked 30 minutes to the "closest" metro, and made it back to the B&B where I finally found Kevin. It sounds like he had a similar day to me, so I guess we both had great days. 

All Roads Lead to Rome (and Up)

We arrived at our hotel, the B&B Profumo di Roma, early yesterday morning. The hotel is really nice and clean (way better than the Amsterdam hostel), though a little far from the tourist attractions, but the metro fixes that problem easily. After crashing there for a couple hours, we arose and began our Roman excursion!

Our first stop was to Vatican City and the Vatican museums/Sistine Chapel. We arrived at around 9 in the morning (opening time) but the line was already miles long, and we weren't going to waste 3 hours waiting there, so we'll plan to return early Monday morning. Instead we went over to Saint Peters Square and Basillica. The sheer size of the church is stunning, and the decorations make it magnificent to look at from the outside. Maybe an even better view is from the top of the cupola, which is where we went. After 500+ steps through narrow, slanted corridors and tiny, steep staircases we made it to the top. Inside you can see the painted dome up close and people the size of ants down below, while from outside you can see all of Rome. It was a great place to start our visit to the city, as we could see everything from above before we go see it close up. We then spent a little time in the base of the church (now we were the ants) which is even more beautiful than the outside, with the carvings, sculptures, and stained glass. I saw Michaelangelo's La Pietra and the burial site of Pope John Paul II while touring around.

After Church, we found a nice place for lunch on a cute cobblestone street with street performers playing their music on accordions and guitars. For my first Italian meal, I ordered one of my favorite Italian dishes, pesto gnocchi, and it did not disappoint. The family siting next to us was Italian, but one of the women had lived in New Jersey, for a long time, so we talked to her about the US and our trip for a little while. She said it was nice to hear an American accent, and as the day went on I realized why. Though you would expect Rome to be a destination city attracting tourists from the US and elsewhere, most of the people we've seen are Italians, and most of them (including our B&B owner) don't speak very much English. I wasn't sure about my Italian ability coming in since I haven't spoken it in 3 months, but hearing the locals talk and trying myself, it has come back to me and I've been able to communicate fine in Italian, which is a pretty cool feeling!

After lunch, we started over to the Villa Borghese for a walk in the park. On the way, I got my first gelato from Gelatteria dei Grecchi, and I now understand why Rome is so famous for it. I got fig, hazelnut, and chocolate, and it was probably the best ice cream I've ever had. Definitely looking forward to more of the Italian desserts! We walked around the expansive villa for a while, test driving segways, coming up with back stories for the head statues that were everywhere, and just enjoying the day. The road lead us out, right to the Villa Medici and then the Spanish Steps. While we were just trying to enjoy the steps, some guy came up, just started making a bracelet for me out of red, white, and green yarn, and then demanded money for it. The Italians really are not afraid to ask for soldi, and will shove their goods in your face and then demand money. Good, but really annoying business people. I actually had 0€, but Kevin eventually gave in and paid the guy 3€. I actually liked the guy, because he was easy to talk to in Italian, but I don't think Kevin was as fond as he ripped off his bracelet as soon as the guy left.

From the steps we walked down one of the main market streets in Rome to the Atare Della Patria. It was a grand sight to behold up close, all the bright white marble that can be seen from all around Rome. At this point, we were pretty exhausted from walking and in need of some refreshment so we quickly passed though the Forum area (which we will spend time in tomorrow), were tempted by one of the greatest fruit stands I have ever seen, and sat down in a cafe overlooking the Colosseum.

Then it was time for dinner, so we took the metro all the way down to the "best" pizza place in Rome, Sforno, which of course was "closed for ferie." It is currently Ferragosto, the holiday where all the Italians close up shop and leave Rome for the beach for two weeks. It looks just like the video we watched in Italian class last year, where all the shops are locked up woth their roll down garage doors and pink "chieso" signs. I was still determined to find some of the best pizza, so we kept looking, and after getting lost, running the wrong way, finally finding the place just to find out there was a 50 minute wait, and getting gelato to hold us over, we sat down for a nice pizza pie in Dar Poeta. I ordered some pesto and ricotta cheese bruschetta and a pizza with tomato sauce, mozzerella, sausage, and mushroom, and both were outstanding! In the end, it was worth it to hold out for the best pizza in Rome. 

Dar Poeta was also in a really nice area of Rome, by the Tiber River, so after dinner we walked along the banks, where the most random assortment of tents were set up. There were restaurants and vendors, book stores and hooka bars, carnival games and ride simulators, giant chess and foosball, and pretty much everything else you could think of. We also saw the oldest bridge in Rome, that has been standing since the 2nd century BC, and Circus Maximus, the old chariot racing track, where we sat and philosophized just like Plato and Aristotle.

Overall, it ended up being a pretty nice night, until we got back to the San Giovanni station. A big, drunk, bloodied guy started coming at Kevin so we naturally started walking the other way. At first I was just annoyed, but he just kept following us and it was getting pretty scary as we were the only ones around at 1:30 am. I ducked into a gelato shop for witnesses (and to distract him from Kevin), but he stopped right at the door, yelled gibberish in Italian at me for a while, and then finally left. When he did, I turned around to notice that the workers had been hiding in their break room, and I had literally just been 10 feet away from this guy, alone, with nothing in between us. I'd like to think I could've taken him, but let's be real I'm pretty lucky not to be writing this from the hospital. I met up with Kevin, who had found a Spanish couple, and we continued the walk home, very paranoid about every sound we heard behind us. Interesting end to the first day in Rome. 

Leaving London

Well that's it. 6 weeks later, the LSE summer school has ended, and with that my study abroad is coming to a close. It has been a truly amazing experience and I wouldn't have changed a thing about it, not the place, the duration, the classes... But now, I've seen everything I've wanted to see and done everything I wanted to do, and I am just ready to move on. It also seems like for the last few days, there have been signs telling me it's just about time. For one, the weather, which had been beautiful for the first 5 weeks turned windy, rainy and a little chilly, and it seemed like London was telling us summer is over (even though I think we were just lucky for most of the time, and this last week is the true London summer), with the rainbow over Stamford Bridge as the last sign of the season. Also, my fridge was looking pretty scarce, as I finished up all my food, and now it's time to get back to the unlimited, cooked-for-me food at the Yale dining halls. We took our last final Friday morning to officially finish the course, celebrated with a couple Pimms in Trafalgar Square, looking over at Big Ben for the last time for a while, and then headed over to the airport. We got an Uber over, and our driver was this really interesting "Esoteric Historian" named Keith, who wrote a book called "The Wheals of God" about how almost all human conflict is correlated with the eclipses. It sounds crazy, but he made a good case, and I'm actually kind of intrigued to check out the book. Anyway, we arrived at the airport, almost missed the flight because it was delayed and no one told us when/where it would leave, but we made it, took the last steps on English soil, and were off. But it's not over yet. Before heading back Stateside were taking a quick detour to Italia! Buongiorno, Roma!

Blue is the Color, Football is the Game

Last Tuesday night I had the chance to see my first soccer (or football as it's called here) game (match) as Chelsea faced off against Real Sociedad at Stamford Bridge. This was their  first home match of the season, and it was really lucky that we were in London just long enough to see Chelsea live! The tube over to Fulham Station was packed, mostly with Chelsea fans, and I knew it was going to be an exciting match. We arrived early to get our duplicate tickets (since I stupidly sent the original ones to America) and welcome the players back to Stamford Bridge. Every player got his own introduction, with a walk down the blue carpet to the roaring crowd and fire blasting on the sides. The biggest cheers were for the returning Ivorian legend Didier Drogba (who unfortunately didn't appear due to injury) and the captain Cahill, as well as for the new Spanish addition, Diego Costa. You can't walk around the stadium, which was too bad, so we took our seats, 10 rows up from the field, and before we knew it the match was underway, and so was the rain. As soon as the ref blew his whistle it started pouring buckets, and while the players were soaked, we were covered and dry in our seats. One line of the Chelsea cheer actually goes, "Cheer us on through the summer rain," which suddenly made a lot of sense in the environment. We had reason to cheer almost immediately, as 57 seconds into his first match at Stamford Bridge Diego Costa knocked one in for the Blues and the crowd went crazy. Then he struck again at the 6 minute mark on a gimme rebound, and again the crowd went wild. It was such a fun start my first soccer match! Another highlight of the match was the absolutely spectacular double rainbow that formed over Stamford Bridge about 25 minutes in. The easing rain and setting sun combined to form probably the best rainbow I have ever seen! Because it was a friendly, the were unlimited subs so we got to see (and even hear we were so close) the likes of Costa, Torres, Schurrle (fresh off his World Cup win), Cahill, Oscar, and many others. The Blues won 2-nil, and while there were no more goals after the 7th minute, there was still plenty of excitement on the pitch and energy from the crowd. The best line of the night was the guy behind me saying, "Good tackle, good tack...Oh F*** OFF!" In a Classic British accent as a Chelsea footballer got called for a penalty, and my favorite cheer was were one guy just screams at the top of his lungs, clearly losing his voice, and then the crowd erupts with its response. Great fun!

Olympic Park, Where the World Meets

We skipped class for the first time at LSE on Monday, using the time to explore the Eastern side of London, specifically Queen Elizabeth Park, the London Docklands, and the Meridian Line. We hopped on the tube to Stratford, which let us out in the huge Westfield shopping mall there, and then walked to the park. The first thing we saw walking in was the accelerometer and the opening/closing ceremonies stadium. The schizophrenic weather gave a cool twist to the giant twisty sculpture. The accelerometer looked so daunting walking in, silhouetted against the threatening gray clouds, but from the other side, set against a bright blue sky, the tower looked playful. Next, we stopped into the curvy Aquatic center where 2 years ago, Michael Phelps won 4 of his legendary 18 gold medals, and Vuke's cousin brought waterpolo gold back to Croatia, and then the curvy Velodrome. The curvy buildings seemed to be a theme, and if the Winter Olympics were held in London, the Yale Whale would fit in perfectly as a ice hockey rink. We took some pictures in front of the Olympic rings and stadiums, and then moved on to Greenwich.

Taking the tube to Greenwich, we got a quick moving tour of the London Docklands, another sort of downtown in London, home of a couple canals, tall skyscrapers, and the O2 arena. On the train platform I finally got Kevin in Odds Are. I bet he wouldn't jump onto the tracks, and he said 50, and in 1/2500 odds we both said 37. However, Kevin wussied out, claiming the tracks might be electrified or some lame excuse, so now I have free reign to get him to do anything I can come up with. 

We walked through another of London's beautiful parks, past the Maritime Museum and Queen's House, and up the hill to the spot where the Eastern Hemisphere meets the West, the Meridian line. There was a quick exhibit set up on the Rime of the Ancient Commodore that Kevin and I took turns walking through while the other waited in line to get to the line. We finally made it, took our creative pictures (Kevin was falling off the line, while I was skateboarding it) and moved on. 

I went straight across the city on the tube during rush hour, not the best idea, but made it just in time to Latimer Road station to finally try out parkour. Small problem, Maja didn't show up because it was raining. I stuck with it for about 30 minutes, but it was pretty lame (just falling over a railing and bunny hopping around a playground) and since Maja wasn't even there and it was a dreary day, I took off. Never really got the parkour experience here, but oh well. 

Environmental Economics and Sustainab...zzz...zzz

I'm actually writing this post as I study, the night before the EC240 final. Shows you how stressed I am about the exam (I need a -5 to pass the class). This class isn't nearly as intellectually demanding as IPE, but there are still interesting aspects. First of all, it is really more of an economics class dealing with the math and graphs, CBA, and the theoretically optima and efficiency behind policies. There is still a focus on the intuition behind the math though, which is a challenge, but is very useful in understanding. We have covered several topics including the different types and uses of resources, sustainability, and the economics behind pollution, all of which are a little different than you would intrinsically assume and are interesting to learn about. Eric is a good professor, as he obviously knows a lot about the field and explains topics well, but he often moves very slow through the material and expresses his own opinions a little too much. Jonathan, the TF, is just straight up bad. He is that geeky TF that tries to be your cool friend (he has twice offered to get drinks at the pub after class - I don't think anyone has gone) but is really just annoying. He wastes half of every class talking about the most basic stuff (literally 15 minutes on making sure we draw graphs big) and then speeds through the class material, not leaving any time for questions. The one time I did ask a question, it was clear he didn't know anything about the topic beyond what he had prepared on his slides. Poor evaluation from me, John. Anyway, I definitely have learned some new concepts in EC240 and it has been a good review to get me back into the economics mindset before Intermediate Economics and Econometrics this year at Yale.

Party Church Party Sleep

For our last weekend in London, Kevin and I decided to celebrate with a couple unique parties and experiences. The weekend started off Friday night on the famous LSE Riverboat disco. The tickets were in such high demand, they were selling for 90 and 100 pounds on facebook, but we decided to keep ours and see what the night was all about, and I'm glad we did. After about 400 LSE students from all over the world boarded the Dixie Queen, we set off east toward the Docklands. We sailed under the lit up Tower Bridge, which had to be raised so we could pass through, and passed some other cool sights like the O2 arena. It was drizzling most of the night, which kind of put a damper on things, but I was liking the music so we danced for a while inside. I also spent a lot of time talking with a friend I met in class, Dario from Germany, and some girls from Italy. Overall, it was a fun way to start the weekend.

The next morning, we decided it was about time we went to Church, and what better one to go to than the church of kings and queens, Westminster Abbey. The architecture inside was stunning, especially the Henry VII's Lady chapel with its ornate sculpted ceiling, and the Quire and Main Alter where the ceremonies, including funerals, weddings, and coronations, take place. I also felt a sense of awe standing in a building that is the eternal resting place of so many famous people, from Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin to Winston Churchill and Neville Chamberlain, from Mary Queen of Scots and Mary Queen of England to all the King Henrys and Edwards, from William Shakespeare and Geoffrey Chaucer to Laurence Olivier, and so many more. It made me think of what I can/will do to be remembered in a place like this forever. I also couldn't help but compare it to the LA Walk of Stars, which makes it seem trivial I guess, with the main difference being the people whose names are here are buried below them.



After exiting Westminster Abbey there was still plenty left of the beautiful Saturday, so I rented a bike  and joined in the Prudential Ride London festival to St. James park. There I got some classic British Fish and Chips and a pickled onion, and sat in the grass watching some BMX guys do their thing. After lunch I continued on to the Natural History Museum, the last museum I plan to see in London after so many, and then to Hyde Park to read a little more Oscar Wilde. I finished The Importance of Being Earnest the other day, and I definitely recommend it. The way he writes and the exaggeration, sarcasm, and irony he uses will make you smile and maybe even laugh out loud while reading it.

With Saturday night upon us, we finally got to the club Fabric where Kevin has been wanting to go for a while now. I didn't really get to experience it too much, but it seemed like a good time. Sunday, for the first time, we took a much needed rest, just chilling in the room for most of the day. We finally got up the energy to venture outside for dinner at an Indian place called Dishoom. The chicken tikka and naan was good, but was classically British (too small of portions, too large a price) so Kevin stopped at the Coop for his classic second dinner.

Overall, it was a pretty great last weekend in London. 

More Lectures?

In addition to the class lectures and sections, I have for some reason gone to three additional lectures offered by LSE, but they were all pretty interesting. The first was a discussion between an economist from LSE and a psychologist from Cambridge about their book, Thrive, that talks about the fact that there is evidence showing that psychological based therapies are often successful, but why they still are not more accepted and common. Although it is not exactly the type of psychology and economics I am interested in, it was encouraging to learn about one way in which the two fields can overlap. The next two lectures dealt with the decline of the West economically in recent years. The first was a talk by Professor Andrew Gamble about the unraveling of Western prosperity. It was an ok talk, but didn't really make a strong point, and just seemed to be hating on the US. The next one, however, was a debate between Danny Quah and Mick Cox, two LSE professors. Danny argued, with empirical evidence that the balance of the world economy was shifting distinctly eastward, and that China in particular has or will soon replace the US as the distinctive world power. Professor Cox fired back that there are major problems with this argument, and that the US still dominates the world, economically, as well as culturally, as seen in the attractiveness of US universities for students and professors alike to do their study and research. Professor Cox in particular is a great speaker and was really fun to listen too, cracking jokes while simultaneously making some very good points. He also mentioned/poked fun at his friend, Paul Kennedy several times, and inspired me to take his class, Military History of the West, at Yale. Overall, it was very interesting to listen to these discussions about the US from the perspective of another country and culture, and find out how they view us, and he best part was that after the lectures there was a reception to talk more with the speakers and meet other LSE students, and enjoy the free nibbles and wine!

Free Art in the City

After the midterm yesterday, I spent the day relaxing by taking in some sweet music in St. Paul's Cathedral and an open air theater production near City Hall. I have been to St. Paul's several times now, but haven't actually gone inside the cathedral until yesterday afternoon, when I got in for free for the Choral Evensong mass. My parents told me the spectacular inside was a must-see, and now I understand why. The huge dome was amazing in itself, but coupled with the lavish painting and sculpture work it was really a sight to see. The classical singing, by the Peach Tree Chorus from Atlanta, enhanced the experience even more, and I just sat back, cleared my mind, and took it all in. The mass was given by Fr. Moses, and the readings that day were about Moses. Coincidence, I think not.

After mass, I walked west along the Thames toward City Hall to see some free theater. The city is currently putting on the Ring cycle play, which is kind of a King Arthur/Game of Thrones/Lord of the Rings show. It was pretty cheesy, but I enjoyed the acting for a while and the setting was great, right next to Tower Bridge on a beautiful night.

I'm sure a lot of people blew off steam from the midterm at the pubs and clubs, but for me, this relaxing afternoon was just what I needed.

LSE (Let's See Europe) Part 1: Amsterdam

After a month in London, Kevin and I were ready to visit another city, since the program is known as LSE (Let's See Europe). Kevin's already been to pretty much every major European city (Paris, Munich, Geneva, Madrid...) which limited our choice, but eventually we decided on Amsterdam as a the best spot for the weekend. It's close to London, under an hour flight, small enough to see in a weekend, and a city you gotta experience when you're young. Upon telling my parents, the first thing my mom said was "Don't get an STD." Good advice, mom. Sure, I'm excited to check out the infamous red light district, but I'm also excited to explore the rest of the city, by canal and bike, to see what else it has to offer. So, let's See Amsterdam!

Saturday morning, I left for the train station at 04:30, alone, to make the bus, to the train, to the airport. Kevin went to Hubert's farewell party last night and still wasn't back by the time I left, so I thought I was visiting Amsterdam solo. By some miracle he made it to the station where we met up and boarded the train. After a slow moving security line (including a group of 60 year olds with a costume of a woman's chest) we just made the last boarding call, and a short flight and train ride later, we arrived at Amsterdam Centraal Station. We stopped to get some Amsterdam "souvenirs" and eventually found the Aroza hostel and checked in. Not the nicest accommodation, but it was cheap and in a good location, and the roommates were nice (2 guys from England and 2 from Sweden). It was pretty run down though, which just forced us to get out and see the city. So off we went. First we rented a couple bikes for the day, as everyone in Amsterdam uses bikes or Vespas as their main transportation. There are almost no main streets, stop lights, or any big cars in the city at all, but bikes are everywhere. Now apparently we ended up coming to Amsterdam on a special day, the day of the annual gay pride parade, so the streets and canals were packed with scantily clad, rainbow colored people partying all day. At first, I took the optimistic approach (at least the city's alive) but after fighting our way through the raves in the street for a while, it got a little old. We escaped the city and took a trip to the Museumplein, a park surrounded by a trio of museums. After I failed a couple times on the skate park with my rental bike and we finished taking the touristy pictures in front of the I amsterdam sign, we went into the Van Gogh Museum. I enjoyed his artwork and found his ability to almost "paint wind" and capture movement in his brushstrokes impressive, and his juxtaposition of seemingly inconsistent colors to capture a continuous image unique. I should be an art critic. I couldn't help but think while looking at his numerous self-portraits that this guy's job at 30-something was literally to paint himself. Not a bad life. Overall, it was a great trip in the museum. As soon as we left the museum, it started absolutely pouring buckets and we had to doge under some coverings and into a couple restaurants. It put a little damper on the day, but about 30 minutes later it cleared up and we headed back to the city for dinner. All the pubs in the area were overtaken by the gay pride parade, but we eventually found a relatively quiet Italian plan, that is until a crowd of partiers came in, tried to kick us out, and just yelled in Dutch for a while. Again, we'd had enough of fighting our way through the rave so we biked up to Vodelpark. It's a beautiful area, and we rode our bikes around there for a while. I taught Kevin how to ride hands free, and we just glided past the lakes and trees around the whole park. After that, we rode through de Pipe district, which is more of where the residents live, past the de Gooyer windmill and Artis zoo, along the canals, and back to the hostel. The contrast between the hopping party area and the serene canals and parks was amazingly stark. Later Saturday night, we decided to check out the infamous Amsterdam red light district. It took a while for us to find it, and it seemed awkward to ask someone where it is, but there were so many people when we got there, it's more like a tourist attraction than a shady area. There were the typically bachelor parties, but also guys with their girlfriends, and even families (giving the birds and bees talk with visuals?). We walked up and down the street, window shopping if you will, then got some waffles and ice cream, and sat on the bank of the canal, people watching and talking for a while. It was a fun night, and a great ending to a distinctly Amsterdam day. 

Sunday morning we were exhausted from the lack of sleep before the flight, so we slept in for a little while but not too long since we still wanted to make the most of the day. We started by riding the bikes west toward the Jordaan district and through Westerpark. I let Kevin take the lead on the bikes which turned out to be a pretty bad idea as he got us to the middle of an industrial park and almost run over by a car on the highway. We found our way back to the city, had some breakfast in a local cafe (decided to pass on the numerous "coffee shops" which just sell a stimulant drug other than caffeine - marijuana) and then rode back to Centraal station to return the bikes. Without the bikes, we took a walking tour of Amsterdam, basically following the canals in a big loop around the city. We stopped into the Cheese Museum and the Tullip Museum, walked by the Anne Frank huis (the line for this was way too long on both days), looked up at the Westerkerk church, passed through the Bloemenmarkt (the worlds largest floating flower market), ate lots of free cheese at the all too many cheese shops, spent some time in the Spui and Waterlooplein squares, traversed the famous Skinny bridge, walked down Rembrandt's old street (since my old nickname is of course Rembrandt), and back to Centraal Station. Oh yeah, and I jumped off a bridge. I had been planning to jump into the Thames in London at some point, in following my dad, but I figured the Amsterdam canals would be pretty legendary too. So, I climbed over the rail and to all the locals surprise, jumped off. The water was actually really refreshing on the warm day, though a little bit dirty. It could have gone really bad as, even though I asked Kevin if there were any boats below me, I almost landed in a peddle boat coming out from under the bridge. In the end, it all worked out, I felt good, I carried on the Gunther tradition of jumping into random bodies of water that shouldn't be swum in, and I impressed some kids on the bank who started chanting "Again! Again!" I've even been called an American hero, but really I think I probably just reinforced the stupid American stereotype with the locals. After the refreshing dip, Kevin and I decided to stay above the water, and take a canal cruise through the city. It was very relaxing (although the driver kind of hated me) and it was cool to see the city from a new vantage point, especially the people going by in their own boats and the houseboats lining the sides. Now we had seen all of Amsterdam by bike, foot, and boat. That night we returned to the Red Light District to see what the Sunday crowd was like (pretty much the same) and then chilled by the National Monument for a little while to end our great weekend in Amsterdam.

Monday morning we got up early, took the first train to the airport, and boarded our flight. We proceeded to travel back in time (left at 7:05 got in to Gatwick at 6:55) but still barely made the bus back to London. We did make it though, and walked into class right on time after starting the morning over 200 miles away. The trip did takes its toll though as we slept through the start of class the next day, but it was totally worth it.

Let It Be

Last Wednesday Kevin and I went to the theater for the first time in London, specifically the Garrick Theater in Leicester Square to see "Let It Be". The signs advertised it as "Beatlemania is back" and I thought it would be the perfect show to see in London. We got the tickets from TimeOut, and while they certainly were the cheap seats, (it was a long and winding road to find them), it was a small theater and we could see the whole performance just fine. I was expecting more of a "Hard Days Night"story-type act, but it turned out to be basically a cover band playing the Beatles songs. I still really enjoyed it, as the band was great and they looked and sounded just like the original fab four. They played almost all of their hits, standouts including Blackbird, While my Guitar Gently Weeps, and Twist and Shout (although they didn't play one of my favorites, Ticket to Ride) and some I didn't immediately recognize, like Please Please Me (which is amazing with my dad always playing classic rock on the radio). They ended the show on a high point with Hey Jude, and everyone in the audience joined in, singing and dancing and having a great time. Kevin and I were probably the youngest ones there by ourselves, and I felt a little weird, almost like I was trying to experience something that I just wasn't meant to in seeing the Beatles perform. But everyone else there was 64 and just living in the past, while I was experiencing something new, and in the end, I really enjoyed it.