Remembrances, Remonstrances

I've gotten to see so many wonderful places in the past few months. I'll summarize here:

In the Netherlands:

• Utrecht. My favorite city in the Netherlands, and I'm so glad I studied abroad here. It's the perfect city in so many respects: size (not too big, not too small), availability of cultural events, architecture, central location within the country. Highlights of my time here include: the Netherlands Film Festival in September, the Holland Animation Film Festival, Morning Benders concert at Tivoli (cool concert venue with two locations, this was at the smaller one). Afterward my friend and I got into conversation with the bassist, we ended up hanging out with the band all night! There are also some really cool cafes, restaurants and bars in Utrecht. I had a great Indonesian rijsttafel at Blauw, and Cafe Belgie and de Bastaard theatercafe are two great bars.
• Amsterdam. I love Amsterdam, just not so much the areas right around Dom Square, which are overrun by the maddening tourist throng. I love just exploring and walking around, it's a large city but most of the museums and "things to see" are concentrated in a very walkable area.
• Den Haag. I've been three times! The Mauritshuis is now one of my favorite museums--it's small, feels more like a house, and features "The Girl with a Pearl Earring," plus lots of other very wonderful and notable pieces like Vermeer's "View of Delft." Also in the Hague is Panorama Mesdag, a 19th century panorama painting of the seaside resort Scheveningen. Oh yeah, and one of my favorite clothing stores, COS, is in the Hague (only location in the Netherlands). Key detail, I know.
• Leiden. Cool city, not too big, not too small.
• Delft. You can walk past where Vermeer's house was, and I had a delicious piece of helva when I was there...I obviously remember the most crucial details. It was raining the day I went.
• Rotterdam. Not so interesting, it has a much more modern vibe than other Dutch cities and feels pretty industrial. We went to the Boijmans van Beuningen museum (modern art) then stumbled upon this weird art gallery opening where a foot fetishist positioned my feet as I was talking to someone and then took a picture. Great.
• Arnhem. There was a music festival going on the day we went, and everyone was singing carols together in this music hall. Cultural activities are very accessible in this wonderful land.

Internationally, it's too much to record everything I saw. So I'll just note one impression for each city.

• Pisa, Italy. It was very, very hot. I remember sitting on a bench in the sun eating an astoundingly delicious cone of stracciatella gelato.
• Corniglia--Cinque Terre, Italy. Lying on a rock in the Ligurian Sea. I found a tiny crack of shade in which to read, spent a couple hours napping, dipping my feet in the water, and watching the people.
• Ventimiglia, Italy. City right near the French border, as much French spoken on the street as Italian. I was here for literally 20 minutes, but it made a favorable impression on me so why not add it to the list? I had (yet again...) an astoundingly delicious cone of stracciatella gelato. And (yet again) this was the most memorable aspect of my visit. I vividly recall standing at an unmanned gelato counter for a few minutes, knowing that I had to rush back to the train station soon. I began to feel desperate--what if the gelato server never arrived? Finally a French family joined me at the counter. We exchanged exasperated glances--this Italian incompetence! The father yelled impatiently, "Est-ce qu'il y a quelqu'un pour la glace?" Finally, the serving girl came and bestowed upon me the aforementioned treat.
• Nice, France. Meeting the guy mentioned in an earlier post. Giving him a kiss on the cheek by means of a goodbye.
• Monte Carlo, Monaco. Not such a fan of this place. Taking a nap in the cactus garden even though this was probably really socially inappropriate.
• Brussels, Belgium. Again, did not like this city. The main square is impressive, but most of the city was not so great, and the raw oder of eggs occasionally pervaded the air.
• Bruges, Belgium. A fairytale town, a la: "It's a fairytale town, isn't it? How's a fairytale town not somebody's fucking thing?"
• Frankfurt, Germany
• Berlin, Germany
• Brno, Czech Republic. I spent one of the days with an American guy and a Czech businessman who my Czech friend Marketa tutors in English. The encounter was random, but interesting. We spent the day driving around in his Mercedes, then visited the site of the battle of Austerlitz. Then we culminated our day with a hot Czech lunch at one of the gas stations he owns. I also got to hang out with Marketa's friends while in Brno. That was cool, a real insight into Czech culture!
• Prague, Czech Republic. Mulled wine, beef goulash, heard the Czech Philharmonic play, I think the pianist winked at me (but he probably didn't).
• PARIS, France. Too much to say! I went with my Hungarian friend Flora, we had espresso and baguette for breakfast every morning. I went to a writing workshop at Shakespeare & Co. Outside of the bookstore, we ran into this guy Flora knew from Budapest. The next day, we met up him at the Jardin des Plantes, he was eating a chocolate bar. On a different day, Flora and I saw a very interesting looking fellow at this speciality coffee shop near Ile Saint-Louis. He wore round spectacles and a grey hat and had a red beard. He was immersed in his reading. Then we saw him again at Shakespeare & Co., turns out he works there! That was cool. But yeah, Paris was amazing, la la la.

Most people are other people

I'm leaving Utrecht a week from Thursday to go to Israel. I'll be coming back for a couple days in January, but those will be dedicated to packing. Then it's back to the states, and I'll immediately be immersed in classes, job interviews, blah blah.

I'll miss the friends I've made here. They're from all over the world--I mostly hang out with a Hungarian girl, who studies film and likes good music, and writes down everything in her agenda. She's so organized, but it's cool, not neurotic. We went to Paris together, hopefully we'll travel together even after this semester is over. I want to visit her in Budapest, and she wants to come to the US and we'll take a road trip.

I also hang out with a group of French people who go to university in Lyon. One of them, Clemence, is hysterically funny, the way she words things is great. For example, we had a paper due for our feminism class, and she was talking about how she wrote a bunch of crap just hours before it was due, she even forgot to translate one quote back into English from French so it will be completely incomprehensible to the professor. She concluded her story by saying emphatically..."It was a big shit."

She's dating a Dutch guy who works at a bike shop, we call him "the biker shop."

I also hang out with people from Barcelona including an attractive fellow who plays soccer professionally in addition to taking classes, a bunch of rowdy Australian people who had a "no pants" party last week, a girl from Dublin who is also studying English literature, a very interesting Dutch girl who reads a lot and thinks a lot and seems much more mature than 21, and of course the other Americans.

People here are so interesting and inspiring.

A picture from Paris, pretty incongruous with this post, but that's okay:

Vandaag/Today

I'm back from an adventure in the Czech Republic! Will post pictures once I get film developed.

Today I:

-Had my first taste of olliebollen, possibly the most delicious thing I've ever eaten.

-Read "A Room of One's Own" for my feminism class.

-Popped into a few interesting-looking vintage shops that I always bike past but never go in.

-Took a stroll along some of the quieter streets of Utrecht. The still, silent canals, the cobblestones, and and the neat, stepgabled houses still seem so new and wonderful to me. I love Utrecht!

Boys, boys, all types of boys

Started dating a Dutch guy. He's really nice, and I think one of the best ways to learn about a country is to date one of its inhabitants...

Frankfurt

I'm obviously not the best at documenting my travels. I haven't taken a single picture since my camera broke last month.

I'm also avoiding writing an essay about Europe's attitude toward migrants in a postcolonial context. Instead I'm sitting in my CHAOTIC room (jeans, books, plastic bags, crumbs on the floor! ketchup-slathered plates in the sink!) not doing any work at all.

I went to the Frankfurt book fair yesterday. I stayed in a pretty decent hostel, cleaner and more modern than most.

At Frankfurt, I got lunch with a literary agent who I knew in New York. We ate crepes outside. I feel like she belongs to another world, New York, 2008, snow flurries and stacks of manuscripts, it all feels so far away. It was cool because my "appointment" with her allowed me access to the agent's center at the book fair. Table after table of literary agents negotiating with foreign publishers. There was so much energy in that room! I also attended some interesting panel discussions about the future of book publishing. I didn't see much of Frankfurt the city, but I got a chance to walk around a bit.

The leaves have begun changing color and drifting from the trees. I really like this time of year.

Wonderful Nice, Marvelous Nice

After Cinque Terre, I went to Nice in the south of France. I absolutely loved the city. One of my favorite attractions was the Matisse Museum. It's in the hills on the outskirts of the city, and is surrounded by beautiful gardens with fragrant olive, pine, cypress and cabob trees. Nearby are the remains of an old Roman town, Cimiez. Anyone can walk around the site. I saw two cats perched on the crumbled foundations.

After two days of exploring Nice, I went to Monte Carlo in Monaco. I still don't understand the concept of a principality. Monaco is exactly like France from what I can discern (and Sarkozy jointly rules over it with the Prince? Or something?). Monte Carlo is known for its casinos, yachts, and luxury cars, but I did find a few interesting things to do. I went to Le Musée Oceanographique, which houses a strange mix of art and seafaring instruments. It's in a stately 19th century building and there's an aquarium on the lowermost floor.

I also went to Le Jardin Exotique, a cactus garden. More interesting than the garden was the cave inside it. We climbed down hundreds of steps to get there. Inside the cave were stlagmites, stalactites, pillars and columns. It was cooler inside the cave than outdoors. The cave is always 18 degrees celsius regardless of season.

Back in Nice, I went to the Marché Aux Fleurs, which usually a produce/flower market, but transforms into an antique market on Mondays. I bought a framed illustration and three teacups, two of which I promptly broke.

Later that day, I was sitting under a tree, reading a short story by Kazuo Ishiguro, when a guy in his 30s approached me. He was skinny with long brown hair and a broad, tanned, expressive face. He asked for a light. We got into conversation, all conducted in my clumsy French. After I accompanied him on a few errands, we went to Le Chateau, a park with a panoramic view of Nice. The guy pointed out Elton John's house and told me about the medusas that bite tourists in the waters. He called me "ma princesse" and kissed my hand. Thanks to an invented boyfriend (largely based, it must be confessed, on a certain someone), things didn't go further. I really enjoyed Nice, but felt like I had seen the highlights after a few days. I would love to spend more time in France though, and hope to go to Paris for a weekend soon.

Italy--A Mixed Bag

After a two week introductory program in the Netherlands, I had a break to do whatever I pleased. My first stop was Pisa, Italy. Getting there was...interesting, and included sleeping on the linoleum floor of a tiny airport in Belgium.

I arrived in Pisa the next day, and spent the afternoon in sweaty delirium. Pisa was desolate and hot. The shutters on all the shops were closed.

Next, I went to Cinque Terre, five linked villages on Italy's western coast. The first day, I swam in the cove leaving to the Ligurian Sea. I walked around the narrow, hilly streets of the town. That night, I drank wine with some girls from the hostel. We stood on a cliff overlooking the sea and talked to an Italian boy who lived in the village. The girls giggled at everything he said. He brought us wine from his cellar. His friend had made it. It tasted like vinegar.

I ate some really delicious food in Italy, including: many cones of gelato (stracciatella is my favorite), gnocchi with tomato, fuscilli with pesto, caprese salad, focaccia with artichoke, focaccia with tomato, grapes, peaches, sciacchetra wine (a specialty of Cinque Terre, a very sweet wine made from raisins).

Highlights of Italy:

1)Swimming in the Mediterranean. The sparkling turquoise water and the many orange umbrellas crowded together on the narrow beach.

2)The Leaning Tower of Pisa and other monuments at the Piazza del Duomo. The whiteness of the large, ornate structures rising from the lush green grass.

3)How warm, juicy, sun-drenched the peaches tasted.

Anticipation

Well...it's been a while. I started this blog last year and abandoned it after just one post. Pretty pathetic, but at least I'm back now!

Last summer, I was living at home, working at a bookstore, and not doing much else. I half-heartedly mentioned taking a trip to Paris. But I never actually acted on it. Just continued to sit on the couch, day after day...the summer dragged on, monotonous, each day like the last.

But then! Miraculous day! I was frustrated at my mom for some reason. I don't remember why, but this feeling of frustration (mixed with the boredom that had been building all summer) prompted me to buy a ticket to Paris. One month later and I was off. I spent one week in Paris, then went to London for a week, and came back to Paris and stayed with friends. That last week was one of the best I've ever experienced. I could go into details (here's a morsel: a Parisian dreamer with a skylight and view of the Eiffel tower from his apartment) but won't. Let's focus on the future instead!

In December, I went with my mom and her friend to Guatemala. It was an absolutely incredible trip. Highlights included hiking up a volcano on my 21st birthday, salsa dancing all night with a British surfer, horseback riding through coffee plantations, seeing the amazing Mayan temples, eating pan dulce for breakfast every morning, and so much more. It is a wonderful, wonderful country and I'd love to do more extensive traveling in Latin America.

I've gone so many cool places this year and love enjoying my memories of them.

But the real reason I've returned to this blog is...

Because...

In one week exactly....

I will be in the Netherlands! I'm studying at Utrecht University for five months and couldn't be more excited. I'm planning to drink a lot of beer, eat a lot of cheese, and enjoy a few dutch tulips, if you know what I mean. I'm excited to travel around Europe, and within the Netherlands. I've been taking classes and working all summer so I'm ready to let loose! I'll keep you posted!