first, for those who prefer not to read things, go look at pictures:
http://gallery.me.com/jacobdanger
second, for those who are literate, here's some stuff to read:
this will be a wrap-up of my trip, along with a B-sides and rarities edition, just things i forgot to include.
Paris was great. i ate curried chicken, did Two Princes at karaoke, went to the top of the Eiffel Tower and got vertigo, drank a bottle of wine by myself, saw the Mona Lisa, and slept a little.
woke up at 6am to catch a 9:15 plane. but it's okay, because the plane was delayed. yay. it dropped me off at Dusseldorf, where i had 4 hours to kill. i finished Ask The Dust and charged my phone. i also ate crappy fish 'n chips.
the eight-hour flight to New York was mostly unspectactular. got very bored, finished Everything Is Illuminated again, couldn't sleep.
at the baggage carousel i started talking to Kate. it was nice to talk again. we had a smoothie together, then chocolate, then a really boring old couple was really boring.
my 4 hour layover in New York turned out to be an 8 hour layover, due to tornado-y weather. it was horribly dull and i daren't go to sleep, for fear i'd miss my plane completely. fear was aided by the fact that they changed my departure gate thrice. ugh.
because of the delay, JetBlue decided everyone on my plane got to watch a movie for free (they're normally $6), so i watched Iron Man 2. and that was okay. my parents were waiting at the airport for two hours, from 2:30-4:30am, because my sleep-deprived math was not correct. hooray me. i slept from 5am to 10am, and that's pretty much it. hooray.
now the B-sides. just stuff i noticed or made note of, but for various reasons didn't put in my blogs. (the reasons are mostly that i forgot)
Dante's giftshop is surprisingly kid-friendly.
i saw a man in a camo baseball cap, with CostCo backpack and fat children and fat wife. the man himself, while not fat, was chunky and defeated. really, America? is this how we represent ourselves to other countries? REALLY?!?
Epic Fisherman's Beard on a generic-looking probably teaches high-school science guy = really, i'm not sure it's so epic anymore.
eight year olds should never be allowed to wear a shirt that says "want commitment: buy a dog". who the crap okayed that shirt in kids sizes?!?
why the hell are there seven-goddamn-teen giftshops in the Uffizi? wait, SHOES?! WHO BUYS SHOES FROM THE UFFIZI?!?
redheads.
had a Croque Monsieur in Paris. i'm not sure it was a good example of a Croque Monsieur, but i thought it was tasty. then off to a random coffee-shop, where they were playing Placebo. it was awesome.
AirBerlin injects their pretzels with the blood of virgins to be extra delicious.
sampled a vodka at the Duty-Free shop in Dusseldorf. Europe is awesome.
this German still water tastes like carbonated water gone flat. oh well.
So there it is. my European adventure. there are probably a few other bits you could coax out of me, but that's all i'm writing down. i know it wasn't as fun for you to read as it was for me to do, but i hope you enjoyed it anyway. again, forever, thank you for reading, and drive safely. Thanks.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Venice, Paris and Gorron
hullo all! did you miss me? i'll assume you responded in the affirmative, and shall continue.
after Florence (you may remember when i blogged about Florence. if not, don't worry. you won't need to know about it to keep up.), i went to Venice. took the train, about 3 hours or so, and holy crap Venice is beautiful! canals and boats and tourists and i still can't read Italian! i got lost every time i left the hostel, and that was good. i could've bought a Vaporetto (water bus) pass, and take that when i want to go places, but i figured naw forget, yo holmes to Bel Aire! so i didn't. walking is clearly the superior method of transport.
there was this tiny little dock that another hosteler gave me directions to. it opened out onto the main canal, but it was sort of hidden, so it was peaceful. i watched boats go buy and some french kid drawing a nearby building. would've stayed longer, but he tried to talk to me. there are bridges and restaurants and many buildings just open out into the water. just, front door, MAYBE a step, then BAM! water. sure, there are sidewalks, but sometimes there aren't.
the hostel where i stayed may or may not have been a museum before. very laid-back staff, free wifi, friendly hostelers. met people, laughed with them, made an ass of myself. Israelis, Mormons, Aussies, British, Canadians, Germans, Americans, and me. went out both nights, did not, in point of fact, almost fall in the canals, and i'm proud to say i was laughed at quite a bit.
then! to Paris! took a plane cuz i can't be arsed to plan far enough in advance to get a train. booked a hostel the day i arrived, got rather lost in the airport, then the train station where i transferred, then thankfully the directions to the hostel were clear enough. checked in, went out for dinner and a bit of wine with two British girls and an Israeli girl, all of whom i had just met randomly. quite fun. i had some pasta dish, we walked to Notre Dame, found a tex-mex restaurant, and had chips & salsa with our wine. salsa wasn't good, but perhaps i have high standards. then stayed up until 4am talking.
next day, i missed my planned train to Gorron (i was two minutes late). the couple who are currently hosting me contacted me to tell me that there was another person joining me to be hosted, he's also in Paris, and here's his phone number. so Michael (that's his name) and I collaborated on a train time and meeting place. with that planned, i had a bagel-sandwich-thing. not bad, i guess. spent three hours in the train station, determined not to miss the next train. about an hour before the train arrived/departed, i bought a sandwich and chips and water from a store in the station and this isn't really interesting, is it? i'll skip ahead a bit. met Michael on the train, we talked, arrived in Flers, got picked up and taken to Grappay Charpentier by Graham, the male half of the couple hosting us. it was cool, blah blah blah.
Graham and Ailsa are freakin' awesome! ridiculously interesting and storied couple. they've got facebooks, so i'll not go into detail. the work Michael and I do is basic stuff: raking, feeding trees, building a chicken house, playing with a scythe, wanting to learn to play the banjo. we talk a lot with G&A, and most of the food we eat is apparently grown in the garden out back, and it's delicious. i'm enjoying very much this helpx experience.
yesterday afternoon/evening Michael took G&A's bike, rode to Flers (about 4 hours away), then took a train to Paris for the weekend. he's going to some sort of retreat or something, should be back tomorrow. so today i was all alone with G&A. we worked on the chicken coop, Graham took me into town and we had a coffee in the town square. (i'm trying really hard to not devolve into "y'all, it's freakin' GREAT here!")
i should be planning my return to and stay in Paris, choose my hostel, all that. but i'll do it tomorrow. tonight, after getting groceries, Graham and I discovered one of the neighbor's rabbits had escaped into Graham's barn. so we got Ailsa and spent maybe an hour chasing the rabbit around, trying to catch it so we could return it. eventually we named him Brian and got him pinned in a corner. we built a very very temporary pen for him and tomorrow we'll try to return him. i'll go talk to him make sure he's okay, see if he needs anything, in a bit. after this. now.
goodnight folks! remember to spay or neuter your relatives!
after Florence (you may remember when i blogged about Florence. if not, don't worry. you won't need to know about it to keep up.), i went to Venice. took the train, about 3 hours or so, and holy crap Venice is beautiful! canals and boats and tourists and i still can't read Italian! i got lost every time i left the hostel, and that was good. i could've bought a Vaporetto (water bus) pass, and take that when i want to go places, but i figured naw forget, yo holmes to Bel Aire! so i didn't. walking is clearly the superior method of transport.
there was this tiny little dock that another hosteler gave me directions to. it opened out onto the main canal, but it was sort of hidden, so it was peaceful. i watched boats go buy and some french kid drawing a nearby building. would've stayed longer, but he tried to talk to me. there are bridges and restaurants and many buildings just open out into the water. just, front door, MAYBE a step, then BAM! water. sure, there are sidewalks, but sometimes there aren't.
the hostel where i stayed may or may not have been a museum before. very laid-back staff, free wifi, friendly hostelers. met people, laughed with them, made an ass of myself. Israelis, Mormons, Aussies, British, Canadians, Germans, Americans, and me. went out both nights, did not, in point of fact, almost fall in the canals, and i'm proud to say i was laughed at quite a bit.
then! to Paris! took a plane cuz i can't be arsed to plan far enough in advance to get a train. booked a hostel the day i arrived, got rather lost in the airport, then the train station where i transferred, then thankfully the directions to the hostel were clear enough. checked in, went out for dinner and a bit of wine with two British girls and an Israeli girl, all of whom i had just met randomly. quite fun. i had some pasta dish, we walked to Notre Dame, found a tex-mex restaurant, and had chips & salsa with our wine. salsa wasn't good, but perhaps i have high standards. then stayed up until 4am talking.
next day, i missed my planned train to Gorron (i was two minutes late). the couple who are currently hosting me contacted me to tell me that there was another person joining me to be hosted, he's also in Paris, and here's his phone number. so Michael (that's his name) and I collaborated on a train time and meeting place. with that planned, i had a bagel-sandwich-thing. not bad, i guess. spent three hours in the train station, determined not to miss the next train. about an hour before the train arrived/departed, i bought a sandwich and chips and water from a store in the station and this isn't really interesting, is it? i'll skip ahead a bit. met Michael on the train, we talked, arrived in Flers, got picked up and taken to Grappay Charpentier by Graham, the male half of the couple hosting us. it was cool, blah blah blah.
Graham and Ailsa are freakin' awesome! ridiculously interesting and storied couple. they've got facebooks, so i'll not go into detail. the work Michael and I do is basic stuff: raking, feeding trees, building a chicken house, playing with a scythe, wanting to learn to play the banjo. we talk a lot with G&A, and most of the food we eat is apparently grown in the garden out back, and it's delicious. i'm enjoying very much this helpx experience.
yesterday afternoon/evening Michael took G&A's bike, rode to Flers (about 4 hours away), then took a train to Paris for the weekend. he's going to some sort of retreat or something, should be back tomorrow. so today i was all alone with G&A. we worked on the chicken coop, Graham took me into town and we had a coffee in the town square. (i'm trying really hard to not devolve into "y'all, it's freakin' GREAT here!")
i should be planning my return to and stay in Paris, choose my hostel, all that. but i'll do it tomorrow. tonight, after getting groceries, Graham and I discovered one of the neighbor's rabbits had escaped into Graham's barn. so we got Ailsa and spent maybe an hour chasing the rabbit around, trying to catch it so we could return it. eventually we named him Brian and got him pinned in a corner. we built a very very temporary pen for him and tomorrow we'll try to return him. i'll go talk to him make sure he's okay, see if he needs anything, in a bit. after this. now.
goodnight folks! remember to spay or neuter your relatives!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
welcome to Florence!
i have a confession: i've been to Florence before. i visited here one day instead of working in the olive grove. i saw the Uffizi, after standing in line for 2 hours. it was good. i wasn't moved or anything, but it was good.
so hello! i'm in Florence, obviously. said goodbye to the Reinhardts, and arrived here yesterday. checked into my hostel and wandered the city for a while. stood in line for Leonard Cohen tickets for over two hours, only to be told it's sold out. i was so angry i drank three beers without eating dinner. i met a brother and sister from Bristol while standing in line, so they joined me for the beers. good times had by at least me. then back to the hostel, and sleep. i was alone in the room last night, which was nice.
i woke up at 5am for reasons still unknown. may have dozed for half an hour somewhere around 7, but not sure. at 8 i got up and showered (cold shower), then hung around the hostel until 11. walked to the Acedemia (however it's spelled, it's where The David lives), and the line for that was only 20 minutes. which was quite nice.
The David finally got a reaction out of me. i will say this once and you will take it to be the Gospel Truth, never doubted: if you haven't been to Florence to see The David, you've never seen The David. full stop, end of story.
after The David i wandered in to the statue room next to it. was instantly put in mind of the Weeping Angels, and left shortly thereafter. bought postcards for those who expressed wishes for mail, and left without seeing any other art. "But Jacob," you may be saying, "surely you missed out on other master works and brilliant examples of art? didn't you maybe rob yourself of more experiences?". to which i say this: no. i missed out on nothing, i deprived myself of nothing. i saw The David, which got more of a reaction out of me than all the other art i've seen in all the other places i've been COMBINED. (note: a small reaction is more than no reaction at all.) so there.
after The David, i walked to the Duomo and paid €8 to go to the top of the dome. 463 steps up, dizzying heights, and, in some places, a marble floor that looks disconcertingly like plywood. i took pictures from the top, and had my picture taken. i'm afraid of heights, so this was no easy trip for me. but well worth it.
after the Duomo, feeling all arted out and not wanting to climb the Campanile for a less impressive view, i walked to a restaurant for a burger. then to a bookstore, bought a book, and then back to the hostel for a nap.
woke at 6, read until 8, had dinner, chatted with fellow hostelers, now it's almost 11 and i think it's nearing time for some gelato.
going to Venice tomorrow. i've heard it's expensive so i'm only staying two days. then to France, where i've got another volunteer experience waiting, then Paris for a few days, then back to the US. we'll see what happens.
that's it for now, i think. any questions?
so hello! i'm in Florence, obviously. said goodbye to the Reinhardts, and arrived here yesterday. checked into my hostel and wandered the city for a while. stood in line for Leonard Cohen tickets for over two hours, only to be told it's sold out. i was so angry i drank three beers without eating dinner. i met a brother and sister from Bristol while standing in line, so they joined me for the beers. good times had by at least me. then back to the hostel, and sleep. i was alone in the room last night, which was nice.
i woke up at 5am for reasons still unknown. may have dozed for half an hour somewhere around 7, but not sure. at 8 i got up and showered (cold shower), then hung around the hostel until 11. walked to the Acedemia (however it's spelled, it's where The David lives), and the line for that was only 20 minutes. which was quite nice.
The David finally got a reaction out of me. i will say this once and you will take it to be the Gospel Truth, never doubted: if you haven't been to Florence to see The David, you've never seen The David. full stop, end of story.
after The David i wandered in to the statue room next to it. was instantly put in mind of the Weeping Angels, and left shortly thereafter. bought postcards for those who expressed wishes for mail, and left without seeing any other art. "But Jacob," you may be saying, "surely you missed out on other master works and brilliant examples of art? didn't you maybe rob yourself of more experiences?". to which i say this: no. i missed out on nothing, i deprived myself of nothing. i saw The David, which got more of a reaction out of me than all the other art i've seen in all the other places i've been COMBINED. (note: a small reaction is more than no reaction at all.) so there.
after The David, i walked to the Duomo and paid €8 to go to the top of the dome. 463 steps up, dizzying heights, and, in some places, a marble floor that looks disconcertingly like plywood. i took pictures from the top, and had my picture taken. i'm afraid of heights, so this was no easy trip for me. but well worth it.
after the Duomo, feeling all arted out and not wanting to climb the Campanile for a less impressive view, i walked to a restaurant for a burger. then to a bookstore, bought a book, and then back to the hostel for a nap.
woke at 6, read until 8, had dinner, chatted with fellow hostelers, now it's almost 11 and i think it's nearing time for some gelato.
going to Venice tomorrow. i've heard it's expensive so i'm only staying two days. then to France, where i've got another volunteer experience waiting, then Paris for a few days, then back to the US. we'll see what happens.
that's it for now, i think. any questions?
Sunday, August 29, 2010
here's a photo of me one day after work. what you can't see is that i haven't shaved, showered or changed clothes in 3 days. the little girl is Rufta, she's the daughter of the Eritrean family i'm sharing a house with. she likes me but doesn't know what to do with me. the feeling is mutual. here you go:
that's all for now, come back again!
that's all for now, come back again!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
if you're wondering where i am...
here's the website:
http://www.giardinoreinhardt.com/it/index.html
also, extra credit: i've heard this movie was filmed and takes place in the area:
Under The Tuscan Sun
i've yet to see it, but i will. feel free to watch it and let me know, yeah?
http://www.giardinoreinhardt.com/it/index.html
also, extra credit: i've heard this movie was filmed and takes place in the area:
Under The Tuscan Sun
i've yet to see it, but i will. feel free to watch it and let me know, yeah?
Friday, August 20, 2010
photo update!!
right. quick update:
i've uploaded all my photos so far, and you can now view them here:
http://gallery.me.com/jacobdanger
enjoy!
i've uploaded all my photos so far, and you can now view them here:
http://gallery.me.com/jacobdanger
enjoy!
Friday, August 13, 2010
This is the time. And this is the record of the time.
Greetings, my frisky little brain surgeons!
i know it's been over a week since i last updated, but this computer hasn't been able to access the internet and i'll be danged if i'm gonna update by phone. so hi!
Blogspot just deleted my entire post, leaving only what's above in a draft form. no me gusta. no va bene. so, here goes with the rest of the post as i remember it:
still in Cortona, Italy. working a little, getting some sun and eating. the Eritrean (google it) family i'm staying with made me some zighini. it's vegetables and meat in a bit of sauce, served on plates of this spongy bread-like thing. similar to a taco, which i tried very hard to eat like a taco, but not similar enough. you rip off a piece of the bread-like thing, scoop the vegetables and meat onto it, and put it in your mouth. no silverware needed. it's good, a little spicy.
i've also eaten... falafel, ratatouille, countless pastas, two pizzas, and one lasagna. i'm eating well.
work is good. gardening and nipping buds and weeding and trimming and watering and such. it's different, but not too bad. i've discovered i rather enjoy weeding. it combines my slight destructive urges with my tendency to focus on tiny details to the point of neglecting the bigger picture. so it works well for me, i think. there are only two problems with this. 1)sitting or knealing hurts my back after so long, and 2) i only know two kinds of weeds, so i know i'm missing many other kinds. i'm not efficient enough, but i enjoy it anyway.
i've met many different kinds of spiders. and lizards and frogs and mosquitos and bees and wasps and beetles. but the spiders interest me most. i'm not as afraid of them as i used to be, i think. but maybe i'll change my mind if/when one of them attacks. mostly i think they're interesting, the way they look, and how they interact with their webs and how they live with the other animals. FYI: spiders LOVE daylillies.
anyway. i'm slowly learning the language, picking up words here and there. i use a translator app i put on my iphone when i need to say something to my coworkers, and that seems to be working out okay for now. i've gotten to the point where i can understand most of the directions i'm given. well, most of the directions, i can understand most of them. if that makes sense.
on Tuesday i got a ride into Cortona to run some errands. i got groceries, work pants, and a haircut. i feel much better now.
the haircut was kind of awesome. the guy used only scissors on my whole head. i was impressed.
then i got a coffee, then a beer. waiting for my ride to pick me up and take me back to my apartment. she went to the post office while i was in the hair salon. it worked out well, and a good time was had by all.
i've worked out that i'm only allowed to stay in the European Union for 90 days. so in a little over a month, i have to leave Italy. either go back to the US, or to China, or to some country outside the EU, but there i'd have to stay for 90 days before i could come back to the EU. not sure yet which i'll do, but at least now i know what my options are. extension visas are granted, but only for certain reasons (business and schooling are common. i doubt i'd make a compelling reason.)
so there's that. i think i'm done now. i'm sure i forgot something, but oh well. have fun, and drive safely!
i know it's been over a week since i last updated, but this computer hasn't been able to access the internet and i'll be danged if i'm gonna update by phone. so hi!
Blogspot just deleted my entire post, leaving only what's above in a draft form. no me gusta. no va bene. so, here goes with the rest of the post as i remember it:
still in Cortona, Italy. working a little, getting some sun and eating. the Eritrean (google it) family i'm staying with made me some zighini. it's vegetables and meat in a bit of sauce, served on plates of this spongy bread-like thing. similar to a taco, which i tried very hard to eat like a taco, but not similar enough. you rip off a piece of the bread-like thing, scoop the vegetables and meat onto it, and put it in your mouth. no silverware needed. it's good, a little spicy.
i've also eaten... falafel, ratatouille, countless pastas, two pizzas, and one lasagna. i'm eating well.
work is good. gardening and nipping buds and weeding and trimming and watering and such. it's different, but not too bad. i've discovered i rather enjoy weeding. it combines my slight destructive urges with my tendency to focus on tiny details to the point of neglecting the bigger picture. so it works well for me, i think. there are only two problems with this. 1)sitting or knealing hurts my back after so long, and 2) i only know two kinds of weeds, so i know i'm missing many other kinds. i'm not efficient enough, but i enjoy it anyway.
i've met many different kinds of spiders. and lizards and frogs and mosquitos and bees and wasps and beetles. but the spiders interest me most. i'm not as afraid of them as i used to be, i think. but maybe i'll change my mind if/when one of them attacks. mostly i think they're interesting, the way they look, and how they interact with their webs and how they live with the other animals. FYI: spiders LOVE daylillies.
anyway. i'm slowly learning the language, picking up words here and there. i use a translator app i put on my iphone when i need to say something to my coworkers, and that seems to be working out okay for now. i've gotten to the point where i can understand most of the directions i'm given. well, most of the directions, i can understand most of them. if that makes sense.
on Tuesday i got a ride into Cortona to run some errands. i got groceries, work pants, and a haircut. i feel much better now.
the haircut was kind of awesome. the guy used only scissors on my whole head. i was impressed.
then i got a coffee, then a beer. waiting for my ride to pick me up and take me back to my apartment. she went to the post office while i was in the hair salon. it worked out well, and a good time was had by all.
i've worked out that i'm only allowed to stay in the European Union for 90 days. so in a little over a month, i have to leave Italy. either go back to the US, or to China, or to some country outside the EU, but there i'd have to stay for 90 days before i could come back to the EU. not sure yet which i'll do, but at least now i know what my options are. extension visas are granted, but only for certain reasons (business and schooling are common. i doubt i'd make a compelling reason.)
so there's that. i think i'm done now. i'm sure i forgot something, but oh well. have fun, and drive safely!
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