Backlogging: the parents and my pal Al

In the last three weeks, my parents came to visit one week and then my oldest pal, Al. They forced me back into my true role as a tourist. I visited Rome and Siena with my parents, Milan and Venice with Alex.

My parents were originally supposed to fly into Florence for a night, then we were all going to go to Rome together. That morning I get this email from my mother:

I guess you got Dad's skype msg that we are now on our way to Rome. I hate that we won't be w you Fri night, but we will find each other at the Vatican Sat am. We think we will be at Hotel Amalfi...

We get into Rome at 3, so I'm sure we'll be wiped.

I love you

Mom

Having no way to get in touch with them and doubts about finding them 'at the Vatican,' I took the train to Rome to meet them at their hotel after they checked in. I was a little scared when I bought my train ticket and called the hotel to hear that 'The Russells are to check in tomorrow, not today,' but fortunately they were waiting for me at the hotel.

In Rome we did everything a good tourist should do-- spent a day at the Vatican, toured the colliseum, threw coins into the Trevi Fountain. I threw my coin from a level up from the fountain and completely missed the first time, then a man on the lower level picked up my coin and threw it over his shoulder. As the story goes, throwing a coin over your shoulder into the Trevi Fountain means you'll return to Rome, so I wonder what an assist means..

One of better memories sidetracking our trip to the Coliseum to go up a cool-looking tunnel, then entering a church and discovering a really nice horned Moses statue. Turns out the church was San Pietro in Vincoli, and it was Pope Julius II's tomb, made by Michelangelo. Pretty cool to be able to 'happen upon' a Michelangelo piece.

We also had a tour guide at one point who was a UNC graduate. She couldn't find a job that utilized her degree in the U.S., so she decided to visit her Roman friend that she met while studying abroad. One thing led to another and she's a freelance tour guide for the Vatican and

In Florence, Anna made us dinner one night and my conversationexchange.com friend, Eleonora, gave us a tour. And we walked.

And Siena. It was cozy and not quite as gray as Florence. A picture of the city , mostly the Duomo that, of course, we entered and looked around while reading a tourist pamphlet:

Then there was a week during which I wrote very important papers, then Alex came. We set goals to eat a gelato and visit a church every day. I think she was 6/6 for churches, 5/6 for gelato, so priorities were good. We were late to pretty much every train, always my fault, and only one time did it end not ideally.

We started in Milan. It was clean, liveable, not very touristy but still with an Italian feel. Alex had her first aperitivo experience as well as hostel experience, which was much cleaner and quieter than the norm.

This is one of many 'Alex and Horse' shots from the week. This particular horse was in Venice.

The next day we were trying to get to Lake Cuomo, which Study Abroad peers said was gorgeous and Rick Steves said celebs like Madonna and George Clooney frequented the area in his Italy guidebook. We missed the train to the city Rick recommended in his guidebook, my bad, so we took a train to Lecco, a city Rick didn't recommend but I'd seen on a website for Lake Cuomo tourism. On the train there was small talk with a Spanish mom and daughter. I asked them if they were going to Lecco for a vacation. They laughed and said they were going to find work. I wondered why it was funny.

Turns out Lecco had the feel of those little towns in Nevada with gambling computer games supporting the entire community's economy. There was a mountain, there was a lake, but there wasn't much else. We 'brunched' and returned to Milan.

That Friday we went to Venice. It was very cold and very rainy. The perks were our chocolate feast and finding San Marco. Despite San Marco being the biggest tourist magnet in the city and signs at almost every corner, it's pretty hard to maneuver the streets of Venice. My inner middle-aged man is proud to say that we never once asked for directions, I led us there in around two hours by following a map. To Alex's pleasure, there were horses on top of San Marco. On the way back we had hot chocolate, chocolate cake and a chocolate meringue. And that was the only day Alex didn't get her gelato fix.

Wonderful time with guests. Glad I have an old friend and parents who weren't afraid to take advantage of my current living situation and entertained my wealth of Renaissance knowledge I regurgitated onto them as we wandered through Florence. And that I had an excuse for whipping out a map.

I don't know how to delete this picture!!

Fall break of Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris

Six weeks have gone by with only Facebook photo album documentation of my times in Italy. I was kicking myself a little for not writing more on my blog, but then again, I can only recall taking out old journals a few times in my life. Once to refresh the memory for a class paper, another time out of boredom, after which I decided my 16-year-old inner thoughts were not something that should ever be relived. But, just in case life deals me unfortunate cards and I must live vicariously in this experience rather than be busy in a new experience, I'll try to catch up, starting with the fall break of a lifetime. I went to Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris.

Starting with departing from Florence. On the way there, I waited 30 minutes for a train to Pisa before realizing the train wasn't coming (I was engulfed in Harry Potter), so I had to catch another train to get to the airport. When I got to Pisa Central Station, I realized the train to the airport would get me there after check-in time for my flight, so I went down to the street by the station and asked a man unlocking his bike if I should take a taxi to the airport. He said no, I'll walk you there, then put my suitcase on his bike and walked me to the airport. I made it on time for check-in, and he told me if I went to the Florence theater and ask for Alberto the Electrician, he could meet me and give me a tour.

So Amsterdam. This picture, one of many almost identical pictures, well embodies my experience there. I took lots of pictures of Blair and told her "I'd make her famous like Twiggy." Another great Blair memory was the two of us breaking off from the rest of the group to get Thai food and going shopping at one of those gift shops equivalent to Wings in eastern beach towns. After spending a long time contemplating our purchases, I got fingerless, candy cane-striped mittens. The body of the gloves don't keep my hands warm, only remind me of how cold my fingertips are. Blair bought a yellow scarf with purple roses she calls an 'Ed Hardy' scarf.

Other activities in Amsterdam included walking through the redlight district, touring the Van Gogh museum, and hanging out with Dutch boys. Two days wasn't enough.

Then Brussels. I compare the city to Atlanta. Like Hotlanta, which seems a little out of place as a metropolis in the South, Brussels seems to have a bit of an identity crisis as the capital of the EU. It also shares Atlanta's unattractive urban layout and dull, gray building facades. But because it's so awkwardly defined and not a must-see for most tourists, the fun's without affect and doesn't seem to be generated for the masses. The best part was the beer and waffles.

This is a picture at a bar we frequented two nights in a row called Delirium. It had 2,500 different types of beer on tap, a beer-lover's Utopia.

Paris. Here I met high school friend Erin White, who took me on a food tour of the city and made visiting all the must-sees of the city so incredibly easy. I saw the Eiffel Tower, Orsay Museum, Notre Dame and bunches of bridges, among other things. Best things I consumed, a hard call to make, included an omelette, macaroons, and a home-cooked meal at the apartment. Best night out was Halloween. I was a deviled egg, which I realized in retrospect was probably lost in translation in the French-speaking country of France, Erin was Kesha and her roommate Allie was a Frenchman. We danced on a little stage and went back home to eat cheese and watch Jersey Shore. Great to have great friends living in great locations with extra beds.

This is a picture of the Seine River that runs through the city. The trees in the parks and along the river were turning yellow and couples were publicly displaying affection in every romantic or non-romantic (subway?) spot in the city.

That break was amazing. Maybe reliving experiences ain't so bad.