Our adventure in pictures

I finally uploaded our pictures to Picasa!

To view the album directly, check out the album online here.

Hola from Barca! (Venice-Netherlands)

I am currently sitting on the computer at our hostel in Barcelona- we walked from the bus station last night between 11:00 and 12:00 through a still very busy La Rambla to this funky little place in the Gothic Quarter really close to the water end of Barcelona's busiest shopping street. The internet connection is decent and nobody is in line, so I will try to upload a few pictures and let you see our who/what/where of the last few days. Hard to believe that it has already been a week!

 First stop: Venice, where I ran around the city with George, Erin, and Mr Madden for a day and a half... (click read more)




 Then on to Fulda (via Frankfurt Hann airport, which is not in Frankfurt). I hung out with Anne Stein for a few days- brought back a lot of old memories and made some new ones!

6 trains after Fulda I was finally in Amsterdam. The next morning I met Ana at Schiphol airport and we ran around the city for the day... 

... and from there, to Harlingen the next morning. Bas and Rik picked us up at the station and then turned the two of us loose to explore the city

Ana+Poffertjes

Oma and Opa- the Mast is finished!

gallivanting with sheep on the dijk

Thanks again to Bas, Rik, and Max!

More on Venice

    Launie shared a few more pictures of Venice with me, which is Fantastic since I really didn't take that many, and she was the only person to have her camera out over dinner! I ordered a Menu, which is essentially the deal of the day. It was three courses: Penne, Polenta with Gargonzola and Bleu cheese, and a salad. Yes, in Italy they eat the salad last and always serve bread with the meal so you can wipe your plate! Kate ordered a Pizza with Artichoke and Fungi (they call mushrooms what they are). Launie ordered a Calazone that was stuffed with a couple different types of cheese and had an egg somehow fried inside of it. Two of their fellow Landscape Architecture students joined us- the more the merrier!

    The other handy bit about having 

Launie's photos is that she got some of the traditional costume and the back corners of Venice where we were lost for a short time- until we went into a tiny shop and the girls asked for directions! Once we knew which Piazza we were in, it was no trouble getting back to the main bridge. On the way, we passed buildings where the laundry was hung out to dry, the tiny bridges were empty,

 and just a few costumed Venetians were reclined in the sunny piazzas. Still, the €2 map that I bought at the beginning of the day was a worthwhile investment! 

    The ESN office organized a city walking tour on Sunday afternoon. Afterwards, we all went in to the Gösser brewery for talks and drinks- where everyone ordered tea because we were freezing! Anyways, sitting across from two Italians the group started talking about what Venice would 

be like in 50 years. The city was once around 200,000 people, and now only 60,000 Venetians live there. The older generation is gone. The conclusion of the Italians? Without drastic intervention, the city will be gone in 50 years. Storm surges, high tides, and settling pile foundations are slowly taking their tole on 600 years of brick, stone, and plaster. 

    I am still hoping that the little bag of postcards and souvenirs that I left on the bus turns up at some point, although my second visit to the travel agency was a fruitless as my first, because in 50 years that may be all that I have of Venice! (Also, the bag contains part of Emily's birthday present... blast!)

    Thanks again for dinner, Dad! Oh, and the girls and their friends said to say "thanks!," too!

Venice: Karneval

    Yesterday started with an alarm going off at 03:30, a short bike ride to the Mensa (with Ruth on the back rack for the first part), and a 6+ hour bus ride across the Steiermark, through the Alps, and into Italy. We piled off the buses and took off on foot into Venice. What a city! Packed with thousands of tourists, but spectacular nevertheless. I met up with Kate and Launie, housemates from the Rock who are studying in Firenze/Florence, at the Ponte Rialto, and we wandered into the Piazza San Marco. Venice was alive with colourful, intricate masks and costumes wherever you turned. We got lost in the northern part of the island, and had my 'birthday' linner at a little cafe. The rest of the crew ordered Pizza or Calzone, but I decided to go for the daily Menu (special) in the Italian style, which started with Penne in a zesty tomato sauce, then Polenta, and finally a salad.

When the Firenze crew had to leave to catch the train, I met back up with Ainhoa, Tomás, and Alex. We wandered slowly back towards the bus- stopping to look at costumes and masks and for Gelato, Macchiato, and Glüwein. It was a very quiet bus ride back to Graz!

    It was a day to see Karneval, not Venice itself. I need to go back and see the Guggenheim collection, the frescoes, climb the tower, ride the boats...

Off to catch a city tour of Graz, check out the photo gallery for more pictures!