I got a JOB. (Wut wut?).
Didn't really see that happening today, but after the interview they asked me to go in tomorrow morning and start. Full time barrista (who saw that coming?). I'll finally have something to do with my day! AND I get to interact with PEOPLE, which is a concept that was beginning to seem really foreign to me. I guess it might be the part that I'm most excited about.
yay me!
21.3.07
7.3.07
6.3.07
"og" means "and" in danish...funny?
So my plan to hit the ground running once I got back hasn't worked out quite as planned...yesterday I got food poisoning, spent the day and night crawling to and from the bathroom. Not exactly the greatest start I can think of, but I'm feeling much better today and by tomorrow I should be back to normal. Worked on my resume today -- I don't really like writing my qualifications on paper. I'd be much more comfortable with a person to person interview in any case, but I guess with what I'm going to be doing (going door to door handing people my resume) I really don't have much of a choice.
Cheers!
Cheers!
4.3.07
Yay!
Finally got pics posted! Click on the pictures below and it should take you to my photobucket albums. The Europe one ended up being HUGE (even though it's only a portion of the pictures I took) so I had to split it up into Europe and then Venice. The Europe album actually catalogues my journeys backwards, starting in Paris instead of Amsterdam, so if you want to view it chronologically start with my London pictures. All told, I don't have nearly enough, but I guess they'll have to do.
Tell me what you think!
-m
Tell me what you think!
-m
23.2.07
Italy! (continued...read the one below first).
Right! So! Where was I? Um...ROME! Saw the pope, it was madness. We spent the rest of that day wandering around in the rain (it has now rained on me in every single city so far, and only at the most appropriate times...if that makes sense.) The next day I took off to Venice...I had NO idea what I was in for. People were telling me in Rome "Oh yeah! Carnival! All right!" and I agreed, but I really had no idea.
Carnival.
All right.
Arrived in Venice in the evening (about a 6/7 hour train ride from Rome). I had finally gotten to see the Italian countryside -- it's beautiful, and ranges from these beautiful rolling hills to mountains to impossibly flat valleys. Parts of it reminded me of Texas, actually.
The hostel I where I stayed was situated right on the Grand Canal, the canal which cuts through the center of the city. The first night I wandered up and down it, getting lost in the alley ways and trying to get myself oriented. Which proved to be impossible at night, and almost just as hard during the day (by the end though I think I had gotten the hang of it.) I saw a few small Carnival signs, but I wasn't out very late, and it was limited to hundreds of people wearing masks and just as many vendors trying to sell them.
The next day was the last day of Carnival...practically the PERFECT day to be in Venice. The whole day was nothing but celebrations, and I took the opportunity to do some REAL wandering in between the random marching bands and street performers and hoards of tourists and party-goers.
Venice really is one of the most fantastic places I've ever been. It's made up of over 110 islands and in between those are well over 400 bridges. There are no cars in the entire city, just at the end of the causeway where they are required to park (it would be impossible to drive through anyway). To get around quickly, you take a water taxi. It's a maze of narrow alleys, market squares, churches, canals, and bridges (really, that's pretty much all there is to it). And while it would have been nice to be there in the summer, winter definitely has it's appeal with the low cloud cover and the haze shrouding the tops of the taller monuments and churches.
That night I went to the end of Carnival...and WOW! It was without a doubt one of the highlights of this trip, if not my life. The Piazza San Marco, the largest square in Venice, was completely lit up with colored lights and patterns, and was FILLED with people. I got there around 10 o'clock, right as the last main band went on. It's hard to describe...but they were a sort of big band who danced...the sound was incredible and by the end of it the crowd had really loosened up and people were really beginning to celebrate (it was either the band or the fact that every other person had a bottle of wine in their hands). After the band, the crowd (which was really just MASSIVE) moved to the canal for the fireworks show. And let me tell you, while Italians may not be the most punctual of people, they know how to put on a show. The whole extravaganza was put to music blasted out over the crowd from these massive speakers. Some music (almost all easily identifiable english tunes which were fun to sing along to -- "Crazy little thing called love", and "Imagine" as an example. The best part (and part I will probably never forget) was El Tango Roxanne from Moulin Rouge. It's hard to describe if you haven't heard the song, but at the end, when the song reached it's climax, the sky just EXPLODED.
And so I caught the crowd home and went to bed.
The next day I went to Murano -- called the "Glass island" for good reason -- the glass from there is world famous and it's practically the only industry in Venice (or what is considered Venice) besides tourism. There are some beautiful trinkets there, and the island itself is less crowded than Venice, which makes it much more quaint. Also, there is no causeway to the island, and the only way to reach it is by boat...which, let's face it, is just cool. After wandering around there for a while I took the water taxi which went around the city and got some wonderful views of parts of Venice I hadn't gotten to. I discovered that while it IS a very walkable city, the quaintness of the various neighborhoods that you discover make you just want to stay put when you find them, lest you wander off and lose them. (did that make sense? it did in my head.)
And so that brings me (sort of) to here. I was really dreading the night train from Venice it Paris, seeing as how the last one I was on was a hair-raising experience. But the train I got was actually very comfortable and filled with really friendly people. I can't possibly express what a relief that was, and I actually got to Paris (fairly) well rested.
Well, I hope that was sufficient to keep you folks entertained until I can update you on my Paris adventures (which I'll probably do from London). I'll be back in London on the 25th, I'm cutting my Paris visit a bit short just because I'm eager to see my dad and get back to an English speaking country...not very adventurous I know, but you try traveling alone for 3 weeks and see how you feel :).
Love you guys, miss you all.
-Michael
Carnival.
All right.
Arrived in Venice in the evening (about a 6/7 hour train ride from Rome). I had finally gotten to see the Italian countryside -- it's beautiful, and ranges from these beautiful rolling hills to mountains to impossibly flat valleys. Parts of it reminded me of Texas, actually.
The hostel I where I stayed was situated right on the Grand Canal, the canal which cuts through the center of the city. The first night I wandered up and down it, getting lost in the alley ways and trying to get myself oriented. Which proved to be impossible at night, and almost just as hard during the day (by the end though I think I had gotten the hang of it.) I saw a few small Carnival signs, but I wasn't out very late, and it was limited to hundreds of people wearing masks and just as many vendors trying to sell them.
The next day was the last day of Carnival...practically the PERFECT day to be in Venice. The whole day was nothing but celebrations, and I took the opportunity to do some REAL wandering in between the random marching bands and street performers and hoards of tourists and party-goers.
Venice really is one of the most fantastic places I've ever been. It's made up of over 110 islands and in between those are well over 400 bridges. There are no cars in the entire city, just at the end of the causeway where they are required to park (it would be impossible to drive through anyway). To get around quickly, you take a water taxi. It's a maze of narrow alleys, market squares, churches, canals, and bridges (really, that's pretty much all there is to it). And while it would have been nice to be there in the summer, winter definitely has it's appeal with the low cloud cover and the haze shrouding the tops of the taller monuments and churches.
That night I went to the end of Carnival...and WOW! It was without a doubt one of the highlights of this trip, if not my life. The Piazza San Marco, the largest square in Venice, was completely lit up with colored lights and patterns, and was FILLED with people. I got there around 10 o'clock, right as the last main band went on. It's hard to describe...but they were a sort of big band who danced...the sound was incredible and by the end of it the crowd had really loosened up and people were really beginning to celebrate (it was either the band or the fact that every other person had a bottle of wine in their hands). After the band, the crowd (which was really just MASSIVE) moved to the canal for the fireworks show. And let me tell you, while Italians may not be the most punctual of people, they know how to put on a show. The whole extravaganza was put to music blasted out over the crowd from these massive speakers. Some music (almost all easily identifiable english tunes which were fun to sing along to -- "Crazy little thing called love", and "Imagine" as an example. The best part (and part I will probably never forget) was El Tango Roxanne from Moulin Rouge. It's hard to describe if you haven't heard the song, but at the end, when the song reached it's climax, the sky just EXPLODED.
And so I caught the crowd home and went to bed.
The next day I went to Murano -- called the "Glass island" for good reason -- the glass from there is world famous and it's practically the only industry in Venice (or what is considered Venice) besides tourism. There are some beautiful trinkets there, and the island itself is less crowded than Venice, which makes it much more quaint. Also, there is no causeway to the island, and the only way to reach it is by boat...which, let's face it, is just cool. After wandering around there for a while I took the water taxi which went around the city and got some wonderful views of parts of Venice I hadn't gotten to. I discovered that while it IS a very walkable city, the quaintness of the various neighborhoods that you discover make you just want to stay put when you find them, lest you wander off and lose them. (did that make sense? it did in my head.)
And so that brings me (sort of) to here. I was really dreading the night train from Venice it Paris, seeing as how the last one I was on was a hair-raising experience. But the train I got was actually very comfortable and filled with really friendly people. I can't possibly express what a relief that was, and I actually got to Paris (fairly) well rested.
Well, I hope that was sufficient to keep you folks entertained until I can update you on my Paris adventures (which I'll probably do from London). I'll be back in London on the 25th, I'm cutting my Paris visit a bit short just because I'm eager to see my dad and get back to an English speaking country...not very adventurous I know, but you try traveling alone for 3 weeks and see how you feel :).
Love you guys, miss you all.
-Michael
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