Dachau, Germania

It was a really weird and strange experience just traveling to the sight of the former concentration camp at Dachau – the first one established by the Nazis in Germany. I took a 25 minute train ride from Munich and then a short bus ride to the memorial site. During that, I saw normal life. I saw children walking to school, playing soccer, etc. But I imagined how I would feel if I lived barely 10 minutes away from the camp. It’s a bizarre revelation, and where memory and history affect regular Germans every single day.

When I arrived, I thought that it would be bigger. I didn’t want it to be bigger, but maybe I felt it should have been bigger according to all the books I’ve read and the material I’ve been taught. But the more I was there, the more I could feel the claustrophobia and the enclosure. The sentiment can’t really be explained, and one can only go here to know what I mean. Dachau is small because it was the first, but imagine being at Auschwitz or Birkenau. At the memorial, the prison had been replicated to resemble what it was like during the internment and a huge monument dedicated to the victims and survivors of the Nazi regime.

Out of all the places that I visited on this trip, I’m most appreciative of this one.

Entrance to the site

Left over railway tracks

Where Jewish prisoners arrived

"Work makes free."

Bunkers

Watch tower

Inside the exhibition camp prison

Shooting wall

International Monument by Nandor Glid

While walking to the labor fields

The fields where Jews labored

The visitor center

Stuttgart, Germania

Buongiorno ragazzi,

Apologies for not having updated in a month! But I’m finally getting around to uploading pictures from my recent spring break, which I spent in Germany and Prague, Czech Republic. Both are gorgeous places with so much history. First stop the adventure was Stuttgart, one of the most expensive cities to live in and has probably one of the highest standards of living in Western Europe. It’s not very touristy, so there’s not much to see in terms of monuments, etc. but it’s very charming. One can also see easily the contrast between modernity and traditional architecture everywhere – the glass on the one side, 18th century Baroque across the main plaza. Here, I also had my first pretzel (laugenbrezel) here, which is pretty much considered the national snack, including of course, bratwurst.

Stuttgart!

Konigstrasse - the main shopping street

Schlossplatz - the heart of the city; pictured is the Jubilee Column and behind is the Konigsbau, now a shopping arcade

Neues Schloass (New Palace); place of the state government

Open air market

Stiftskirche, the main Protestant church built in the 15th and 16th cent.

Shopping plaza with the Stuttgart TV Tower in the background

Another open air market

Opposite view of Schlossplatz...

...and another!

Cento per cento!

On Sunday of Valentine Day’s weekend, a group of ECCO ragazzi headed off to Cento for Carnevale, one of the most celebrated in Italy alongside Venice and Viareggio. Cento is located near Ferrara, to the east of Bologna and has a population of around 35,000. But the town comes alive for Carnevale, and hundreds come and see the huge elaborate floats, which they work on for over five months. Kids and grown ups dress up in fun costumes almost in Halloween fashion, and spray silly string and throw confetti all over each other. There was also a concert in the center of town and lots of vendors selling masks to wear for the event. Cento is also much more family-oriented and less frenetic than carnevale celebrations in Venice and Mardi Gras in New Orleans. And the floats are CRAZY! Dinosaurs, medical supplies, and a huge ship were some of the hundreds of details you can see on them. And then as they navigate their way through tiny Italian streets, people on the floats throw down stuffed teddy bears, balls, and inflatable toys! One of my friends got a Fairy-Barbie themed inflatable raft…weird, but still a nice souvenir =D

-Greg

Entering Cento Carnevale

Bodies climbing up a ship...

Aren't these cool?!

Scary.

Cute and fierce.

Locals dancing on a float

Preparing to raise the flags

A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E

Concert and floats in the piazza

Carnevale craze

Nella bella Verona, dove la scena è collocata*

(*In fair Verona, where we lay our scene)

For the day of Santo Valentino, a group of us did a cheesy and cliche tour of Verona – the setting of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet – but the town was so cute. Festivities and local celebrations were happening since it was both Carnevale time and Valentine’s Day. Many tourists were taking pictures of themselves rubbing the right breast of Juliet’s statue (for good luck of course) and walking up the 400 steps of Torre Lamberti to see the scenic views of Verona all around Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza Dante. And on the day we came, there was a wonderful little jazz ensemble playing in Piazza Dante and a local farmers’ market providing free samples of chocolate, sweet wine, and lemon cake. We even ate at the Osteria di Romeo e Giulietta and I sampled the infamous pasta with donkey meat, which was delicious, and had some wonderful tiramisu as well. Oh and then, some AMAZING hot chocolate at Cappo Cafe, right next to the Adige River, which runs through Verona. An amazing weekend followed by….. (next post following).

-Greg

Ampitheater, Piazza Bra

Shopping street decorated with cutout hearts

<3s

City plan etched into floor

Piazza delle Erbe

Fresh pasta with duck sauce. Yum.

Tiramisu. Gone. In 5 seconds.

Bella Verona

Venetian masks per Carnevale

Love notes

Piazza Dante

Verona on top of Torre Lamberti

At the top of Torre Lamberti

I like Verona. a lot.

Fragole at the Farmers' Market

Firenze on a Thursday

Ragazzi,

Firenze is lovely. It really is a gorgeous city – everything looks important and historic and old and interesting. The problem with Florence is that it has SO many tourists – Koreans, Japanese, British, French, and German. They’re unavoidable so it’s very difficult to use my Italian there even when I really tried. Ugh, FAIL. But I still had a great time just walking around and seeing the sights. In the Uffizi Gallery, Botticelli’s Primavera is fantastic – probably my favorite painting in the entire place. I also saw Michelangelo’s David, which is super cool, but kinda weird looking at the same time. I only visited Firenze for a day, and was planning to head to Pisa, Lucca, or Genoa the day following, but I wasn’t feeling well and it was raining cats and dogs all over Italy during that weekend. Better luck next time. Not for sure what I’m planning for this weekend yet, BUT I might be heading to a local carnevale in Cento, Italy! If not, I will be posting again in a few weeks with a runthrough of whatever city I go to next. OH BTDUBS, just booked Frankfurt and Prague tickets for spring break. LOVE this continent.

Ciao tutti,

Greg

The Duomo

The interior of the Duomo

Stained glass inside

Looking outside while climbing to the top

Scenic view from the top

Gorgeous

Piazza della repubblica

Inside the Galleria degli Uffizi, home to Botticelli's Primavera and the Birth of Venus

Ponte Vecchio, or Old Bridge

Across from Ponte Vecchio

A view of the Duomo

Una piccola gita a Ravenna

Ragazzi,

Ravenna is a lovely little town to the east of Bologna in the Emilia-Romagna region. Famous for its mosaics and collections of Byzantine art, it used to be the capital of the Byzantine Empire. Ate some amazing pasta there, and, even more awesome, saw Dante Alighieri’s tomb there. “Sweet.” I know.

Ciao,

Greg

Ravenna, Italy

Piazza del Popolo

Church of San Vitale

*Love* this pic

Dante's tomb

A hanging candle inside his tomb

Via Dante Alighieri

Mmmmm...pasta

Cheers, Greg

Saluti da Bologna (…finalmente)

Ciao ragazzi,

Many apologies for not having posted for weeks! I’ve already been in Bologna for nearly a month (holy moly)! Internet hasn’t been the fastest, and the connections here sometimes utterly fail. BUT – I was finally able to do it! Bologna has been wonderful so far – it’s a gorgeous city, with a lot of history, porticos all around, delicious bakeries, bread shops, piccoli bars, ristoranti and supermarkets that don’t cater to the tourist crowds (because there aren’t any).

I live in a studentato (a dormitory, more or less) called Ghigi, which is where most of the fellow ECCO students live. I have a pretty nice set up, I must say. I live with 11 other people (!) who are all students at the University except for another fellow ECCO participant from Wellesley, who is here for the year long study program. All of them are really nice, and I learned that they are actually not all Italian. One is Serbian, another Albanian, and even one from Cameroon, but I actually learned that many students who live in the dorms are international or from the South of Italy, since if any of them lived close enough to Bologna, they would just commute. I share a double, and each double has its own bathroom. We all share the common area and kitchen, which has a nice flatscreen TV and three refrigerators. Also, everyone in the ECCO program is incredibly nice and friendly, and many of them are from other colleges besides Wesleyan, Vassar, and Wellesley. The rest are from Princeton, Tufts, Barnard, Bucknell, and Colby.

But as for the “study” part of this semester, I haven’t started any real classes yet. ECCO classes start Feb. 8, and university classes start Feb. 15 for me. I just ended my Intensive Italian class, which was from 9:30am-1pm everyday for 3 1/2 weeks. Yeah. EVERY. EFFING. DAY. Apart from that, I’m pretty free usually in the afternoons. Most of the time, there is some sort of presentation at the ECCO office, but otherwise, I could just head back to my studentato to sleep (hahaha) or I’ll go get a pastry/coffee, maybe look around and shop, head to an open piazza, or buy groceries. I cook dinner with friends almost every day. Usually pasta, but recently we’ve been able to find an asian market, and my friend knows how to make some really good asian food. BUT HOW I am craving a burrito so bad right now. Or pad-si-ew. Or a juicy steak. But, alas, I am stuck with pasta, pizza, and panini for the next 4 months. FML. Hahaha, it really isn’t all that bad, but I really need more protein and veggies in my diet, cause it’s CARBS and more CARBS every day.

Besides being in Bologna, I’ve went to Ravenna with the program for a one-day tour to learn about Byzantine history. The town was really cute, really beautiful, and the pasta I ate there – DABOMB. And coming up, starting today actually, there is about a 5 day “intersession” before the start of ECCO classes, so I’m going to be heading to Pisa, Firenze, e Genova for a few days. Should be a wonderful little side trip. =D

But I can’t wait for my real classes to start, and go traveling to all the other European countries. I’ll try to update more often as the semester continues. I know that WES is still amazing as usual and I am so JELLY not to be there. I miss it sooo much. You guys don’t know how lucky you are!! See, you would never think, but I miss complaining about the food, walking in the freezing cold up the hill from Hi-Rise, smelling like Weswings, and doing absolutely nothing in ST, Olin, or Scili. Have a great start to the semester everyone! Keep in touch through Facebook or email!

Ciao,

Greg

Basilica of San Petronio, the 5th largest church in the world

Sette giorni a Parigi

Ciao ragazzi,

Hope you all had a wonderful New Year’s! It’s already 2010 – holy moly. I spent the last seven days in Paris, which was so much fun, but NOT without its missteps. First off, I had my very first hostel stay, about 15 minutes from the Eiffel Tower in the Commerce district, and I can honestly say that it was one of my most horrifyingly unclean experiences of my life! We had two different hostel bookings, so we stayed in two different rooms throughout the 3 days we were there, but the first room was out of a horror film – there was a big hole in the door, so it was not even warm! The water was barely tepid. Bunk beds. 4 people in a room smaller than a double in the Butts. I KID YOU NOT. Actually the size compared to Lo-Rise singles. The toilets and the showers (I didn’t shower for nearly 3 days)….I cannot express how much I yearned for Wesleyan accommodations. Anyway, that was the bad part. OH, and the fact that my two friends got sick/ill during the trip.

But apart from that, Paris is GORGEOUS and I would totally love to go back. We stayed in Chinatown on our first 4-5 days – which is a really lovely area. There are a lot of cheap Asian food restaurants, boulangeries, patisseries, and tiny food shops. And the location was close to a bunch of metros (which took us barely a day to get used to). The first time we went to get food was at this Chinese bakery, where I spoke Cantonese to the cashier (who spoke French, Mandarin, Cantonese, and English). Also, for the first 3 days, all I ate was pretty much Vietnamese and Thai food with assorted French baked goods.

But then, I had my first real French food unexpectedly on the way to the Eiffel Tower. Some nice French businessmen spoke English and helped us dissect the complicated French menu (which I didn’t understand, since it was mainly French specialities and not simple French mots). For the appetizer, I ate a simple French salad with cold potatoes in a cream sauce with meat from the throat of a chicken (!). It was actually pretty good. For the main course (this was during lunch), I had veal in a mushroom sauce with brown rice. The French dude said both dishes were very “French.” Go me.

So here was our itinerary for the trip:

Day 1: Various monuments, Champs-Elysees, and Eiffel Tower for New Year’s Eve

Day 2: Basilique du Sacre Coeur and Moulin Rouge in the Montparnasse District

Day 3: Versailles

Day 4: Musee du Louvre

Day 5: Eiffel Tower

Day 6: Avatar at the l’Ambassade on Champs-Elysees

Day 7: Parisian Catacombs and Avatar (again)

Paris was lovely, but also expensive. It’s hard to avoid touristy venues and more expensive food prices, but Chinatown was super cheap, so I’m totes going back to that area if I go back to Paris =D But now, I’m back at Rome and heading to Bologna tomorrow at 7am! Wish me luck as I start my “actual” study abroad adventure!

Salut,
Greg

Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris

Candles in Notre Dame

In front of the Louvre

Arc de Triomphe, New Year's Eve

Eiffel Tower sparkling at night

Basilique du Sacre Coeur

Moulin Rouge in the "Red Light District"

Someone likes cotton candy...

The Hall of Mirrors at Versailles

Trees in a freeze

In Marie Antoinette's estate

Under the pyramid, looking up

Looking down from the Eiffel Tower

Corentine crepe: stewed apples, cinnamon, and whipped cream =)

La prima sosta – Roma.

Ciao ragazzi,

I’m already missing Wesleyan and being at home doing nothing and always sleeping in….but I’m so excited for my semester abroad. I can’t promise that I’ll be writing a lot on this blog, but I will try to upload many pictures for you all to see. Right now, I’m in Rome with my two friends, Babs and Khue, but tomorrow, we’re flying to Paris for New Year’s. In the last two days, I went to the Vatican museums, Naples, and Pompeii. Photos below, please comment freely and update me about your lives as well!!

Ci sentiamo presto,

Greg

Outside the Vatican walls

A view of St. Peter's Basilica

Wenzel Peter, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden

One of many paintings in the museum

Museum ceiling

Pompeii!

Stone path

More Pompeii

1st century B.C. stairs

Cracked frescoes

=D

Columns in the Grand Temple

Pompeiian bathhouse

Planting terraces in the Villa of Mysteries