Friday, October 14, 2005

Colourful theatre and a trip around Europe

Wow! What a fast couple weeks it has been. Please note that the spellings in the title are proper British spellings :) Two weeks ago today, I saw Les Miserables. It was absolutely incredible! They'll be in Boston in Feb/March, so if you'd like to go you can definitely have my company! The music is great, the dancing and stage/set are incredible, altogether an amazing show.
I'm writing you from Barcelona at the tail end of my week off in Europe. Traveling about with my friend Carolina, I have visited Venice, Florence, Naples, Rome, and Barcelona is our final stop. It's been a whirlwind adventure of seeing Europe. Venice was beautiful, with canals lacing the city left and right. We took a traghetto across the Canal Grande, which served as a nice 30-second gondola experience. I really enjoyed the city. With good gelato, walkable distances, and streets with no room for cars, what more could you ask for?!
In Florence, Marco was the manager of our hostel, a very friendly and helpful person. We had a nice dinner there, a two course meal with salad for dessert (interesting thought, the salad after the meal :) We visited some nice gardens, saw a great panoramic view of the city, and enjoyed it quickly, after which we headed to Rome.
We found it quite a hard time getting into our hostel in Rome. Ended up spending the night in a nearby B&B for a little over 1.5 times the price :( Luckily we got into the hostel for the next night. From Rome, we took a train to Naples where we visited a small town that had an ancient Flavian Amphitheatre. Unfortunately, all the archeological sites in that town were closed on Tuesdays ... grrr. Anyway, at least it provided a wonderful panoramic view of the Terranian Sea/coastline. Naples had some great seafood, then we were rushing to make the train back before our 24-hour ticket expired, so we got to see some old buildings down the main drag of the city very quickly!
Rome, of course, was amazing. We visited the Colosseum first thing in the morning, and took a tour that was definitely worth it. It started to rain, but then let up for a while as we explored the Palatine hill area and the Roman Forum. The history there dates back as far as 430-something BC. AMAZING. It rained again as we made our way to the Vatican, where we arrived (most unfortunately) as the Sistine Chapel closed ... grr again. It closes very early at 4.15/4.30. Anyway, we got to see St. Peter's basilica, where they purport to have his ashes in a little box beneath the floor...you can look in and see a sign that says this is St. Peter, but I'm amazed if they really know it's him. The church is a little bit gaudy in that it has inscriptions on the floor saying how large several other large cathedrals/basilicas are, and making the clear point that this is the biggest.
We cruised around Barcelona a little bit in the rain yesterday, but that made it kind of a bummer afternoon. I'm praying for sunshine for today or Saturday morning so that I can hit the beach once before getting back to work. I'm looking forward to jumping into a pool starting Monday and starting to get in shape for the end of the season upon my return to BU. I'm looking forward to seeing the famous Gaudi cathedral, the zoo, and some other Barcelona attractions, but the sunshine is definitely what I want to experience, so that our "Sea Point Hostel" will be worth the walk (it's right on the beach, a ways from the city!)
Please pray for a job for my mom, a sunny day for Barcelona, strong friendships in London, and a good internship experience.
Let me know your mailing address if you desperately desire a postcard from Rome or London!
Stay strong and do keep writing...I enjoy reading your emails :)
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