Tomorrow is my last full day in Italia. I have been told that I should do a final blog before going home ((although I plan to keep up with this in the states...we'll see how that goes...)).
I came. I saw. I conquered.
My photo albums go from pictures of places to pictures of people.
I would love to say that I had a life changing experience, that I learned things about myself that I had never known before, that I fell in love with me as much as I did with Italy. But I can't. I did that a long time ago. But this trip taught me one extremely important thing, and, as a bonus, it was something I didn't realize I needed to be taught. I learned how blessed I am to have the group of friends I have, and how hard my life is without them. It's good to know that I can go out on my own, make new friends, and live my life. It's even better to know that I have my friends to come home to. So here's to you, Theatre TCU. I'm coming home.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Mille Grazie
Thanksgiving = great success. Well, mostly success. Which was, admittedly, better than expected.
TCU pays for us to go to this really nice restaurant. You know, one of those places where the food is almost to pretty to eat. Almost being the key word. It was called Ganzo, which means "cool" in Italian, and yes, it's pronounced like the Muppet Gonzo. Which is now what I think of every time I see the big-nosed blue whatever. And that's been happening a lot lately, but more on that later.
Back to dinner. Let's get a hit list here.
Other than that, not much. This has been homework hell week. Two papers, an oral presentation, and planning for Paris. So nothing too fun for me. Unless you count the beginning of Christmas movie season. Today: Muppet Christmas Carol. Thus, Gonzo. And I started my new book today, The World According to Garp. I would just like to say; dear John Irving, I love you.
kaythanksbye
TCU pays for us to go to this really nice restaurant. You know, one of those places where the food is almost to pretty to eat. Almost being the key word. It was called Ganzo, which means "cool" in Italian, and yes, it's pronounced like the Muppet Gonzo. Which is now what I think of every time I see the big-nosed blue whatever. And that's been happening a lot lately, but more on that later.
Back to dinner. Let's get a hit list here.
- squash soup ((more like bisque))
- turkey
- marmalade? sweet something that went on the meat
- pork ribs
- creamed corn ((just like Mom's!))
- green bean and mushroom casserole
- sweet potato chips
- stuffing ((not bread based, more like someone in the kitchen sliced open a sausage))
- deviled eggs
- roasted potatoes
- pumpkin pie
- apple pie
Other than that, not much. This has been homework hell week. Two papers, an oral presentation, and planning for Paris. So nothing too fun for me. Unless you count the beginning of Christmas movie season. Today: Muppet Christmas Carol. Thus, Gonzo. And I started my new book today, The World According to Garp. I would just like to say; dear John Irving, I love you.
kaythanksbye
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Dear America
This is just a section of the ever-growing list I have of things I miss about America.
- dryers
- 24 hour anything
- sleeping in a bed
- warm water, or anything that isn't scalding hot or freezing cold
- anything even faintly resembling Mexican food. this includes Taco bell
- bad American TV, which is far superior to good Italian TV
- a shower that's not a hassle
- sweatpants
- my family
- seeing movies in movie theaters
- an oven that's not run solely on guess work
- meals that aren't 90% carbs
- Starbucks
- milk that lasts more than two days
- THANKSGIVING
- my best friend
- my own room
- green space ((even though it won't be green when I get back))
- being able to get lunch at a restaurant in thirty minutes
Monday, November 16, 2009
The Best Museum in Florence.
And no, it's not the Uffizi.
It's the Death Penalty and Serial Killer Museum. No, I'm not making that up. This is the best kind of museum with wax figures. The point is not to scare, but to inform. Granted, even bad wax figures are scary because, well, they're of serial killers, but there were no surprising turns or things that moved.
The first room of the museum had some old school serial killers that I had never heard of but were frightening none the less. The man who you first get...acquainted with was the inspiration for the story of Bluebeard, but the fairy tale toned his story down considerably. He kidnapped, killed, dismembered, ate, and occasionally raped at least 800 children. At least. Children. Then the next lady was a dutchess convinced that drinking the blood of a virgin would keep her young forever ((Hocus Pocus, anybody?)), and when she was caught, they walled her up alive in her tower to die. Way to get this museum off and rolling.
After a room about the man who started criminology and the obligatory room of Jack the Ripper, we headed into the main room. This contained six of the modern world's most notorious serial killers.
Ted Bundy
John Wayne Gacy
Andrei Chikatilo
Albert Fish
Ed Gein
Charles Manson
Let's discuss my favorite two, shall we?
Albert Fish::
This man drove across the country so that he could eat a child from every state. But wait, there's more. He was addicted to pain, and would shove needles up into his pelvis from below. Some of them were so far in he couldn't get them out. After his execution, they found TWENTY-NINE needles in his body, rusting.
Ed Gein::
You've probably heard of this guy. Or one of the THREE separate movie characters he inspired. If you've seen Psycho, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or Silence of the Lambs(Buffalo Bill, not Hannibal), you know Ed Gein. Or at least part of him. How, you ask, can one man inspire all three movies? Thusly. Father? Dead. Mother? CRAZY religious and over bearing, so Ed grew up disgustingly attached to his mother. He was also slightly effeminate but learned to hide it. Then his mother died ((movie character 1 - check)). Ed believed that he was a woman, and went to graves to dig up bodies, take them home, and cut up parts to both decorate his house and create a skin suit of a woman to wear ((movie character 2 - check)). But grave robbing wasn't enough, so he took to luring women into his seemingly innocent house in the middle of nowhere and killing them ((movie character 3 - check)).
Other than that, I saw an excellent "staged reading" type of performance of Carmen, and went to a fresh olive oil market. What did you do this weekend?
It's the Death Penalty and Serial Killer Museum. No, I'm not making that up. This is the best kind of museum with wax figures. The point is not to scare, but to inform. Granted, even bad wax figures are scary because, well, they're of serial killers, but there were no surprising turns or things that moved.
The first room of the museum had some old school serial killers that I had never heard of but were frightening none the less. The man who you first get...acquainted with was the inspiration for the story of Bluebeard, but the fairy tale toned his story down considerably. He kidnapped, killed, dismembered, ate, and occasionally raped at least 800 children. At least. Children. Then the next lady was a dutchess convinced that drinking the blood of a virgin would keep her young forever ((Hocus Pocus, anybody?)), and when she was caught, they walled her up alive in her tower to die. Way to get this museum off and rolling.
After a room about the man who started criminology and the obligatory room of Jack the Ripper, we headed into the main room. This contained six of the modern world's most notorious serial killers.
Ted Bundy
John Wayne Gacy
Andrei Chikatilo
Albert Fish
Ed Gein
Charles Manson
Let's discuss my favorite two, shall we?
Albert Fish::
This man drove across the country so that he could eat a child from every state. But wait, there's more. He was addicted to pain, and would shove needles up into his pelvis from below. Some of them were so far in he couldn't get them out. After his execution, they found TWENTY-NINE needles in his body, rusting.
Ed Gein::
You've probably heard of this guy. Or one of the THREE separate movie characters he inspired. If you've seen Psycho, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or Silence of the Lambs(Buffalo Bill, not Hannibal), you know Ed Gein. Or at least part of him. How, you ask, can one man inspire all three movies? Thusly. Father? Dead. Mother? CRAZY religious and over bearing, so Ed grew up disgustingly attached to his mother. He was also slightly effeminate but learned to hide it. Then his mother died ((movie character 1 - check)). Ed believed that he was a woman, and went to graves to dig up bodies, take them home, and cut up parts to both decorate his house and create a skin suit of a woman to wear ((movie character 2 - check)). But grave robbing wasn't enough, so he took to luring women into his seemingly innocent house in the middle of nowhere and killing them ((movie character 3 - check)).
Other than that, I saw an excellent "staged reading" type of performance of Carmen, and went to a fresh olive oil market. What did you do this weekend?
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
She Gave A New Meaning to the Leaning Tower of Pisa...
If you can tell me what musical I have o so wittily decided to quote for this post's title, you win. Not sure what you win yet, but you win. And it's cheating to ask my dad. Unless you are my dad.
So the whole group of us got ourselves to the train station by noon, which, for college student with a day off, can be a difficult thing to do. But we get on this train and ride the hours to Pisa, renowned for grave citizens. ((if you don't get that joke, it's in Taming of the Shrew))
Now, I knew Pisa was going to be a small town, but you would think in a place where tourist are always going would become a haven for shopping and hotels and, well, other ways to spend your money. Pisa has one main drag, and when we walked down it the first time, over half of the shops weren't open. The tower and the train station are on opposite sides of town, but that's not a big deal, since it's only a 10 minute walk from one end to the other.
The tower is cool, I will admit. For about two minutes. We immediately headed over to the green grassy area where all the Japanese tourists were taking pictures. I hadn't thought of this before, but do you know how ridiculous everyone looks when they're trying to pose with the tower? I mean, to everyone except the person with the camera, you look kinda crazy.
After about an hour of picture taking ((there were seven of us, so no, an hour is not excessive)), we decided to go search around for lunch before heading to the one other stop we had in this city, a world famous chocolate shop. That I'd never heard of. But I like chocolate, so I was along for the ride. This part of the adventure begins with the fact that the map we had which marked this shop was wrong. As in put it on the opposite side of the map from where it really was. Then we walked right past it. Twice. And kept going another three blocks. FYI, blocks in Italy are long. So we had given up on this chocolate and were walking back to head to the station when we happened to see a natural gelato shop. Intrigued, we went in. I mean, we should be rewarded after our long and unsuccessful mission.
Friends, this gelato was mind blowing. All the flavors were not only fresh and delicious, but unique. For instance, my flavor combination was (a) creama ((which is the custard stuff that comes inside croissants, etc)) with saffron and (b) pear with cocoa beans. Chocolate pear. It was like heaven on a flat plastic neon colored spoon. And guess what was next door? The chocolate shop! The day was officially a success, and we headed home.
Other than that, it's been back to school, nothing really exciting. We're watching The Magdalene Sisters in my History of Prostitution class. We've only seen half so far and I cried the whole 15 minute walk home.
So the whole group of us got ourselves to the train station by noon, which, for college student with a day off, can be a difficult thing to do. But we get on this train and ride the hours to Pisa, renowned for grave citizens. ((if you don't get that joke, it's in Taming of the Shrew))
Now, I knew Pisa was going to be a small town, but you would think in a place where tourist are always going would become a haven for shopping and hotels and, well, other ways to spend your money. Pisa has one main drag, and when we walked down it the first time, over half of the shops weren't open. The tower and the train station are on opposite sides of town, but that's not a big deal, since it's only a 10 minute walk from one end to the other.
The tower is cool, I will admit. For about two minutes. We immediately headed over to the green grassy area where all the Japanese tourists were taking pictures. I hadn't thought of this before, but do you know how ridiculous everyone looks when they're trying to pose with the tower? I mean, to everyone except the person with the camera, you look kinda crazy.
After about an hour of picture taking ((there were seven of us, so no, an hour is not excessive)), we decided to go search around for lunch before heading to the one other stop we had in this city, a world famous chocolate shop. That I'd never heard of. But I like chocolate, so I was along for the ride. This part of the adventure begins with the fact that the map we had which marked this shop was wrong. As in put it on the opposite side of the map from where it really was. Then we walked right past it. Twice. And kept going another three blocks. FYI, blocks in Italy are long. So we had given up on this chocolate and were walking back to head to the station when we happened to see a natural gelato shop. Intrigued, we went in. I mean, we should be rewarded after our long and unsuccessful mission.
Friends, this gelato was mind blowing. All the flavors were not only fresh and delicious, but unique. For instance, my flavor combination was (a) creama ((which is the custard stuff that comes inside croissants, etc)) with saffron and (b) pear with cocoa beans. Chocolate pear. It was like heaven on a flat plastic neon colored spoon. And guess what was next door? The chocolate shop! The day was officially a success, and we headed home.
Other than that, it's been back to school, nothing really exciting. We're watching The Magdalene Sisters in my History of Prostitution class. We've only seen half so far and I cried the whole 15 minute walk home.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Who Loves You Pretty Baby?
First things first, let's just discuss how stupid the internet is here at my lovely apartment. Only three of us can really be on the internet at one time, and so when one of my roomies really wants it, you know, to watch law and order, she resets it and usually kicks me off. So this is the first chance I have had since returning from fall break to update. For once, it's not really my fault.
WARNING: this is going to be a long entry, so those who only sort of care, feel free to just look at the pictures, I won't be offended.
Day 1: Munich
Getting to Munich was a handful of firsts. My first international train ride, my first time to use my Eurail pass, my first overnight train. My advice for the next person? Get a bed reservation on the train, otherwise really rude women from Bologna will get on, wake you up, and push you out of your seat because they want to lean against the window. For reals, guys? Was that necessary?
Once I got to Munich, I discovered that my hostel was literally visible from the train station. Brilliant! Especially since I got in at 7 AM. I got about three more hours of sleep before heading out for my one day in the city.
Friends, this city is gorgeous. Most of the day I just wandered around and took pictures of whatever I happened to come across. I managed to make it to The Church of Our Lady, and treated myself to lunch at the Hofbrauhaus.
Oooo Horbrauhaus. Best meal I have had in a loooooong time. Delicious half-veal sausages, potatoes, a pretzel, and a drink. For 6 Euro. Um... really? That's fantastic. There's a picture below. TELL me that doesn't look delicious.
Day 2: Hamburg
Alright, I am in Hamburg for one reason and one reason only. The Beatles. What's the connection, you ask? Once upon a time, before they were famous, the group lived and played in Hamburg. Twice, in fact. So there's a Beatles tour AND a Beatles museum.
The area of Hamburg that The Beatles were in was and is the red light district. Which is also where my hostel was, so I was not too hot on staying out late. My tour started at 4:30 in theory, however, my tour guide didn't speak much English, so we had to wait around for a translator to come. She turned out to be a tour guide as well, so essentially I had my own personal tour around the Reeperbahn. Which was cool. We saw all the places that The Beatles play, where they lived, where they bought their first pair of "beatle boots." The museum was, I kid you not, five stories tall with a giant inflatable yellow submarine sticking out of the side. You go through the back story, and by the last floor, you're walking through representations of all of the cover art, including the inside of the yellow sub. And I got to eat fish and chips. :)
Days 3-6: London
Getting to London was a hassle. O my. My plane was at 9:30 AM, but the airport was in the next town over from Hamburg, so I was going to take the early express bus at 6 AM. Well funny story, the early express doesn't run on Sundays. Brilliant. So I'm freaking out, thinking I'm not going to make it to the airport on time if I make it at all (it would cost about 100 Euro to take a taxi). Then I realized that it's daylight savings time, so I'm actually freaking out at 5 AM instead of 6. Which is some comfort. No one working in the gas station i was stranded at spoke any English, but one of the customers did, and he walked me the two blocks to the trains station to catch a train to Lubeck. Nicest guy ever. Long story short, I got to the airport in plenty of time and got to London and Audrey's place without any more trouble.
Audrey and Nicole were super nice to me all week. They cooked for me, (well, Audrey did), and lent me their keys and bummed around with me although they had school that week. Sooo many thanks to them.
Things I saw in London:
-A brilliant 60s photo portraits expose at the National Portrait Gallery called Beatles to Bowie. It was so so so many kinds of good. There were at least 50 pictures of The Beatles which I had never seen before, and that's a task, ladies and gents.
-The special exhibit at the National Gallery called Making the Sacred Real. 16th and 17th century Spanish religious sculpture. Breathtakingly realistic, which was kinda creepy, since their favorite subject was the dead body of Jesus.
I did a lot of window shopping, and a lot of park wandering. Actually, I did a lot of wandering in general. I was so impressed with my ability to still get around without directions or a map. That just reinforces this image I have of London as home. BUT the most exciting thing I did was see theatre. O my goodness, I have missed seeing shows, and I hadn't realized how much until I was seeing one every night again.
MONDAY: Jersey Boys
I did not want to like this musical. I was so upset that it beat Drowsy Chaperon for the best musical Tony. But Dad really liked it when he saw it, and I had had a rough day, so I wanted something upbeat. Or at least upbeat-ish. And, I mean, I do love the Four Seasons, but who doesn't?
However, I really really really liked it. It's still not as good as Chaperon, but I had such a good time. I had a seat in the 4th row center (SCORE!) and the only downsides were that I saw an understudy for Frankie, who was still very good, and that I sat next to a very excitable British woman who felt the need to sing along with every song. Ugh. I did, however, discover that there is not a bad day in my life that the chorus of "Who Loves You" can't fix.
Also, side note, the guy who plays Tommy DeVito is also the guy in the 2000 movie of Jesus Christ Superstar. As Jesus. I love my life.
TUESDAY: Mother Courage and Her Children
Let's make sure everyone is on the same page here. This show was at the National Theatre. You don't see bad shows at the National. Like, if there is ever a bad show there, it's a sign of the apocalypse. Second, this show starred Fiona Shaw, who you probably should know for something other than Aunt Petunia in the Harry Potter movies, but you don't. Go fix that. Fiona Shaw was PHENOMENAL. Mind blowing. And it was the best Brecht translation I've ever read. That Tony Kushner sure knows what he's doing. I just... I can't even begin to tell you how good this show was. The BEST thing I've ever seen. In my life. Ever. Go Youtube search the music - Duke Special Mother Courage. Watch the documentary (10 min) from skyarts.co.uk. Watch the trailer on the National's website. Go now. Try to understand, because I cannot tell you.
WEDNESDAY: Inherit the Wind
I love this play. I knew that walking in. The character I love the most was played by Kevin Spacey. The show was directed by Trevor Nunn, who I love. Do I really need to explain whether or not I liked it? I had the worst seat in the house and I did not care. Spacey was fantastic. You think he's good on screen. Compared to him on stage, he's not. Nope. He is a legend, that man. He made me cry. The set was perfection, and the opposing lawyer, played by a man I'd never heard of, was every bit as good as Spacey. Every bit.
On my last half day in town, I went to meet up with a friend who graduated from TCU about a year ago who's working in France and was vacationing in London. We grabbed lunch and chatted, but it was super refreshing. I've missed her a lot! Then I got on the train to Stansted to fly to Dublin only to realize that I was flying out of Gatwick. I magically made that flight, though, and went to see Jule!!
Days 7-9: Dublin
I met up with Jule, Audrey, and Nicole (who had flown out that morning) and grabbed some Irish fast food before heading to Jule's for some chill hanging out and catching up time. But we went to bed early (well, early for us) because we had a day planned for HALLOWEEN!!!
Most of this day revolved around going to the Bram Stoker Dracula Experience. Why would there be a Dracula museum stuck in the center of Dublin? That's where Bram Stoker was from. I know, new news for me, too. The "experience" was over a bar (sketchy clue #1), was free (sketchy clue #2), and had absolutely no one working it (sketchy clue #3). Like, someone could in theory walk into this museum, dressed like a vampire, and go on a killing spree without anyone catching him. Yes, those were the thoughts going through my head as we walked in. Also, Nicole has a phobia of was figures, which was all the museum was made of, so Jule or I would have to walk forward, set off all the sensors, etc, and tell Nicole and Audrey where not to look, etc. Which calmed us down for a while, but by the end, when people were lowering down from the ceiling, we were literally just running to the exit. BEST HALLOWEEN IDEA EVER.
That night, we went out with Jule's friends, in costume. Cara was in Dublin too, so we met up with her and went dancing. I was dressed as Tonks from the Harry Potter books (pics below) and when we got the bar, one of Jule's friends was dressed as Belatrix. Guess who had a wizard duel in the bar? I love my life. Love it.
Sunday, Audrey and Nicole had gone back to London, so Jule and I spent the day bumming around and having some quality time, which was what I really needed. That girl makes my day. We dined in Hell, a pretty kickin pizza joint that serves Chicago style deep dish pizzas with weird but delicious toppings. Mine had avacado, chicken, and BBQ sauce. Jule's tasted like apple pie filling with pine nuts and cream cheese. Then I got on the airport express and headed home. That was an adventure as well. The plane was so full that they had to check my bag. We got into Pisa late, about 12:30 AM, and the express bus is full so we have to wait for the non-express at 1. By non-express we mean that at about 2 AM, the bus driver pulled over for a 15 minute smoke break. Really? I finally get back to the apartment at 3, but have to wait until 6 AM to go to bed since one of my roommate's boyfriends was still there, sleeping on my couch.
That was fall break! Nothing really exiting this week, just getting back to school. We're spending this weekend in town mostly, though tomorrow afternoon we're taking a trip to Pisa.
WARNING: this is going to be a long entry, so those who only sort of care, feel free to just look at the pictures, I won't be offended.
Day 1: Munich
Getting to Munich was a handful of firsts. My first international train ride, my first time to use my Eurail pass, my first overnight train. My advice for the next person? Get a bed reservation on the train, otherwise really rude women from Bologna will get on, wake you up, and push you out of your seat because they want to lean against the window. For reals, guys? Was that necessary?
Once I got to Munich, I discovered that my hostel was literally visible from the train station. Brilliant! Especially since I got in at 7 AM. I got about three more hours of sleep before heading out for my one day in the city.
Friends, this city is gorgeous. Most of the day I just wandered around and took pictures of whatever I happened to come across. I managed to make it to The Church of Our Lady, and treated myself to lunch at the Hofbrauhaus.
Oooo Horbrauhaus. Best meal I have had in a loooooong time. Delicious half-veal sausages, potatoes, a pretzel, and a drink. For 6 Euro. Um... really? That's fantastic. There's a picture below. TELL me that doesn't look delicious.
Day 2: Hamburg
Alright, I am in Hamburg for one reason and one reason only. The Beatles. What's the connection, you ask? Once upon a time, before they were famous, the group lived and played in Hamburg. Twice, in fact. So there's a Beatles tour AND a Beatles museum.
The area of Hamburg that The Beatles were in was and is the red light district. Which is also where my hostel was, so I was not too hot on staying out late. My tour started at 4:30 in theory, however, my tour guide didn't speak much English, so we had to wait around for a translator to come. She turned out to be a tour guide as well, so essentially I had my own personal tour around the Reeperbahn. Which was cool. We saw all the places that The Beatles play, where they lived, where they bought their first pair of "beatle boots." The museum was, I kid you not, five stories tall with a giant inflatable yellow submarine sticking out of the side. You go through the back story, and by the last floor, you're walking through representations of all of the cover art, including the inside of the yellow sub. And I got to eat fish and chips. :)
Days 3-6: London
Getting to London was a hassle. O my. My plane was at 9:30 AM, but the airport was in the next town over from Hamburg, so I was going to take the early express bus at 6 AM. Well funny story, the early express doesn't run on Sundays. Brilliant. So I'm freaking out, thinking I'm not going to make it to the airport on time if I make it at all (it would cost about 100 Euro to take a taxi). Then I realized that it's daylight savings time, so I'm actually freaking out at 5 AM instead of 6. Which is some comfort. No one working in the gas station i was stranded at spoke any English, but one of the customers did, and he walked me the two blocks to the trains station to catch a train to Lubeck. Nicest guy ever. Long story short, I got to the airport in plenty of time and got to London and Audrey's place without any more trouble.
Audrey and Nicole were super nice to me all week. They cooked for me, (well, Audrey did), and lent me their keys and bummed around with me although they had school that week. Sooo many thanks to them.
Things I saw in London:
-A brilliant 60s photo portraits expose at the National Portrait Gallery called Beatles to Bowie. It was so so so many kinds of good. There were at least 50 pictures of The Beatles which I had never seen before, and that's a task, ladies and gents.
-The special exhibit at the National Gallery called Making the Sacred Real. 16th and 17th century Spanish religious sculpture. Breathtakingly realistic, which was kinda creepy, since their favorite subject was the dead body of Jesus.
I did a lot of window shopping, and a lot of park wandering. Actually, I did a lot of wandering in general. I was so impressed with my ability to still get around without directions or a map. That just reinforces this image I have of London as home. BUT the most exciting thing I did was see theatre. O my goodness, I have missed seeing shows, and I hadn't realized how much until I was seeing one every night again.
MONDAY: Jersey Boys
I did not want to like this musical. I was so upset that it beat Drowsy Chaperon for the best musical Tony. But Dad really liked it when he saw it, and I had had a rough day, so I wanted something upbeat. Or at least upbeat-ish. And, I mean, I do love the Four Seasons, but who doesn't?
However, I really really really liked it. It's still not as good as Chaperon, but I had such a good time. I had a seat in the 4th row center (SCORE!) and the only downsides were that I saw an understudy for Frankie, who was still very good, and that I sat next to a very excitable British woman who felt the need to sing along with every song. Ugh. I did, however, discover that there is not a bad day in my life that the chorus of "Who Loves You" can't fix.
Also, side note, the guy who plays Tommy DeVito is also the guy in the 2000 movie of Jesus Christ Superstar. As Jesus. I love my life.
TUESDAY: Mother Courage and Her Children
Let's make sure everyone is on the same page here. This show was at the National Theatre. You don't see bad shows at the National. Like, if there is ever a bad show there, it's a sign of the apocalypse. Second, this show starred Fiona Shaw, who you probably should know for something other than Aunt Petunia in the Harry Potter movies, but you don't. Go fix that. Fiona Shaw was PHENOMENAL. Mind blowing. And it was the best Brecht translation I've ever read. That Tony Kushner sure knows what he's doing. I just... I can't even begin to tell you how good this show was. The BEST thing I've ever seen. In my life. Ever. Go Youtube search the music - Duke Special Mother Courage. Watch the documentary (10 min) from skyarts.co.uk. Watch the trailer on the National's website. Go now. Try to understand, because I cannot tell you.
WEDNESDAY: Inherit the Wind
I love this play. I knew that walking in. The character I love the most was played by Kevin Spacey. The show was directed by Trevor Nunn, who I love. Do I really need to explain whether or not I liked it? I had the worst seat in the house and I did not care. Spacey was fantastic. You think he's good on screen. Compared to him on stage, he's not. Nope. He is a legend, that man. He made me cry. The set was perfection, and the opposing lawyer, played by a man I'd never heard of, was every bit as good as Spacey. Every bit.
On my last half day in town, I went to meet up with a friend who graduated from TCU about a year ago who's working in France and was vacationing in London. We grabbed lunch and chatted, but it was super refreshing. I've missed her a lot! Then I got on the train to Stansted to fly to Dublin only to realize that I was flying out of Gatwick. I magically made that flight, though, and went to see Jule!!
Days 7-9: Dublin
I met up with Jule, Audrey, and Nicole (who had flown out that morning) and grabbed some Irish fast food before heading to Jule's for some chill hanging out and catching up time. But we went to bed early (well, early for us) because we had a day planned for HALLOWEEN!!!
Most of this day revolved around going to the Bram Stoker Dracula Experience. Why would there be a Dracula museum stuck in the center of Dublin? That's where Bram Stoker was from. I know, new news for me, too. The "experience" was over a bar (sketchy clue #1), was free (sketchy clue #2), and had absolutely no one working it (sketchy clue #3). Like, someone could in theory walk into this museum, dressed like a vampire, and go on a killing spree without anyone catching him. Yes, those were the thoughts going through my head as we walked in. Also, Nicole has a phobia of was figures, which was all the museum was made of, so Jule or I would have to walk forward, set off all the sensors, etc, and tell Nicole and Audrey where not to look, etc. Which calmed us down for a while, but by the end, when people were lowering down from the ceiling, we were literally just running to the exit. BEST HALLOWEEN IDEA EVER.
That night, we went out with Jule's friends, in costume. Cara was in Dublin too, so we met up with her and went dancing. I was dressed as Tonks from the Harry Potter books (pics below) and when we got the bar, one of Jule's friends was dressed as Belatrix. Guess who had a wizard duel in the bar? I love my life. Love it.
Sunday, Audrey and Nicole had gone back to London, so Jule and I spent the day bumming around and having some quality time, which was what I really needed. That girl makes my day. We dined in Hell, a pretty kickin pizza joint that serves Chicago style deep dish pizzas with weird but delicious toppings. Mine had avacado, chicken, and BBQ sauce. Jule's tasted like apple pie filling with pine nuts and cream cheese. Then I got on the airport express and headed home. That was an adventure as well. The plane was so full that they had to check my bag. We got into Pisa late, about 12:30 AM, and the express bus is full so we have to wait for the non-express at 1. By non-express we mean that at about 2 AM, the bus driver pulled over for a 15 minute smoke break. Really? I finally get back to the apartment at 3, but have to wait until 6 AM to go to bed since one of my roommate's boyfriends was still there, sleeping on my couch.
That was fall break! Nothing really exiting this week, just getting back to school. We're spending this weekend in town mostly, though tomorrow afternoon we're taking a trip to Pisa.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
I'm Still Alive, I Swear
Since we last spoke, I managed to cook and eat an octopus. Granted, this was with the help of Cara, but still, I butchered that sucker. Here's the short list of things I learned whilst embarking on this adventure.
1. Even when the octopus is dead, its suckers still have some kick to them. Not enough to be dangerous, but enough to be really really creepy.
2. When boiling your octopus, do not be surprised if it turns itself over in the water. Again with the creep factor.
3. When mincing your octopus, it can be messier than it first looks. Be aware, or you too will get octo-juice on your shirt.
4. The smell of an octopus cooking makes the meat completely unappetizing. Just FYI.
After the Great Octopus Adventure of 2009, the ever exciting ACCENT group spent the weekend in Roma. Let's just say that our ACCENT tour guide, Freya, is the greatest things that's ever happened to the art of being a tour guide. Anyone who tells stories about Pope Paul III by calling him "the pope with the cute sister" deserves an award of some kind. We were in town for just over 48 hours and we managed to go to...
The Borghese Villa Museum
Campo di Fiore
Castel Sant'Angelo
Trevi Fountain
St Peter's
The Vatican Museum and Apartments
The Sistene Chapel
The Colosseum
The Forum
... just to name a few. Let's just say that sleep was not on the list of priorities, especially on mattresses that were rocks. No, seriously. I'm not a picky sleeper and I was uncomfortable. However, we had the luxury of being able to take a stress-free shower for the first time in about a month. Ahhhh... glorious.
In Rome, I bought the most expensive non-formal dress I have ever bought. But it is gorgeous. Totally worth it.
THEN, most exciting, my parents came to Florence for a few days. :) :) :) :) Fantastic. We went bumming around the city, eating good food, seeing churches, being together again. It was wonderful to be with them, but it really made me miss my brother :( Ah well.
Next week is midterms, so right now is studying and finalizing my plans for FALL BREAK!
1. Even when the octopus is dead, its suckers still have some kick to them. Not enough to be dangerous, but enough to be really really creepy.
2. When boiling your octopus, do not be surprised if it turns itself over in the water. Again with the creep factor.
3. When mincing your octopus, it can be messier than it first looks. Be aware, or you too will get octo-juice on your shirt.
4. The smell of an octopus cooking makes the meat completely unappetizing. Just FYI.
After the Great Octopus Adventure of 2009, the ever exciting ACCENT group spent the weekend in Roma. Let's just say that our ACCENT tour guide, Freya, is the greatest things that's ever happened to the art of being a tour guide. Anyone who tells stories about Pope Paul III by calling him "the pope with the cute sister" deserves an award of some kind. We were in town for just over 48 hours and we managed to go to...
The Borghese Villa Museum
Campo di Fiore
Castel Sant'Angelo
Trevi Fountain
St Peter's
The Vatican Museum and Apartments
The Sistene Chapel
The Colosseum
The Forum
... just to name a few. Let's just say that sleep was not on the list of priorities, especially on mattresses that were rocks. No, seriously. I'm not a picky sleeper and I was uncomfortable. However, we had the luxury of being able to take a stress-free shower for the first time in about a month. Ahhhh... glorious.
In Rome, I bought the most expensive non-formal dress I have ever bought. But it is gorgeous. Totally worth it.
THEN, most exciting, my parents came to Florence for a few days. :) :) :) :) Fantastic. We went bumming around the city, eating good food, seeing churches, being together again. It was wonderful to be with them, but it really made me miss my brother :( Ah well.
Next week is midterms, so right now is studying and finalizing my plans for FALL BREAK!
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