Kristin Gail Robinson2003
I wanted to go ahead and send you a rough itinerary. I plan to send updates periodically so that you can post them online, also. Thank you! ~Kristin May 13:-Depart from ATL May 14-17: Arrive in Madrid, stay for 3-4 days, with short trips to smaller, nearby cities May 17/18-19: Valencia May 19-21: Barcelona take night train from Barcelona to one of the towns in the Cinque Terre region May 22-25: Cinque Terre and Pisa (?) May 25-28: Florence (few extra days)--maybe go to Pompeii, or just use them in aforementioned cities May 30-June 3: Rome June 3-6/7: Venice (staying with family outside of city, too) June 7-12: Vienna June 12-14/15: Prague fly to London on either 14 or 15th June 16-30: camp in Lincolnshire, a town northeast of London (I'm a volunteer counselor) June 30-July 13: still up in the air; probably fly from London to south Germany (maybe Munich); then spend rest of time in Germany, Swizerland, maybe Austria, and back through Italy to Rome Depart from Rome on July 13 **I expect this to change somewhat, of course, but as of now it is the plan :). I will keep everyone updated of any changes that happen. Email sent 5/14/03 Hey everyone. Just wanted to touch base and say hello. Don磘 have much time left on computer. So i磎 pasting what Brandon wrote. Howdy y碼ll! Madrid is pretty busy with a festival and apparently a huge soccer match today. Kristin and I are working on about 7 combined hours of sleep since we left B磆am...with about 5 hours of that being me sleeping. We acted like Spaniards and took a much needed seista for 2 hours this afternoon. As I write this, 韙 is 9:45 p.m. here and the sun is still out! Also, it磗 about time for dinner. Apparently eating late over here is the thing to do. I haven磘 figured out when you are supposed to sleep. Anyway, our hostel is pretty nice, and we磖e starting to dominate the metro. I think we磖e going to go to the Prado and some other museums tomorrow. The next day, we磖e going to the Palacio Real...the biggest palace EVER. I hope everyone is doing well. I磍l write again when I get the chance. Adios, Brandon and Kristin May 21, 2003 I decided to wait and write until after I had been in Spain for a few days, thinking that during that time I could not only gather my thoughts, but also have more to draw from. I don磘 really feel prepared to give a very insightful write-up, however. So far, I磛e experienced three cities--Madrid, Valencia, and currently Barcelona--all fairly different. Madrid was, in many respects, a typical big city. It was crowded and commercialized. However, it also was full of interesting places, with the Prado Museum and Palacio Real being two of my favorities. (It was exciting to see works at the Prado that I had studied in my Art Appreciation course.) Another good thing about Madrid was the fact that the city was in the middle of a long festival (San Isidro), with the climax being on May 15th, my second day. Because of the festival, the city was (I磎 assuming) more reflective of it磗 history with traditional dancing, music, etc. So that was cool. Overall, Madrid was a good experience. I was happy, however, to discover that Valencia had a more small town feel (even though it磗 the 3rd largest city). There, I experienced paella (Spanish rice dish, mine with chicken, rabbitt and vegtables), bought local ceramics, and visited some sites. My time there was more relaxed, which was a very good thing because I think I almost had shin splints from walking around Madrid so much (seriously). 3 1/2 hours on a train later, I was in Barcelona. Just from examining the map, you can tell that Barcelona is a big city. And the hostel where I am staying is on the outskirts. The best thing so far has been seeing a lot of Gaudi磗 work. We went to the Sagrada Familia first, a huge church that he began construction on; but even after about 4 decades of work, Gaudi died before it was completed. And they don磘 expect to complete it any time soon. It was amazing, however, how detailed all the architecture is...it磗 no wonder that it磗 taking them forever! :) And then today, we toured a house that he designed. I could go on for a while... So yes, I磛e spent time, seen sights (including many different types of museums--everything from one about ceramics, to Egyptian art, to Picasso.), and interacted with people in 3 cities so far. And although I arrived trying to make comparisons between Spain and America, I磎 thinking that it磗 not really realistic. I mean, sure, I could make a few distinctions (for ex: the people eat a ton of ice cream!, smoke more, and have really late meals); but I try to remind myself that things might not be as at odds as I originally thought. Tomorrow evening I depart from Barcelona to travel through France to Italy, in the Cinque Terre region. Next time I promise not to wait so long to write. Hello everyone! Here's a little update on the past few days. To be honest, I can't remember the last time I wrote (I've lost track of time a little). But I've decided that instead of writing a separa te e-mail, I will use pieces of my personal journal that I am keeping. -Kristin May 22nd ...Brandon and I had our first "real" experience with the rail system today. Basically, we had no idea how to get on our train, even after figuring out which platform our train was at. However, we weren't the only ones who were confused . Once we figured it out [not that it made sense, we just asked] we were running. It turned out that they didn't close the doors early, nor did they leave on time. Needless to say, it still got our adrenaline pumping. Now, however, I'm on a train on my way to Cerbere, a town over the French border. There we will have about an hour stop, then jump on our overnight (with couchette!). Other people we've ran into on this train don't have sleeping reservations, but I'll happily pay 15 Euro for a peaceful night's sleep. The scenery through the band of small Spanish towns has been picturesque and interesting. Some of the towns seemed to have little other than the stop (no station) and houses. The one thing that remains the same throught the big cities and small town, however, is the graffitti... May 23rd So we had our first experience with the couchettes last night. I have to say it was not as great as I had expected. it was basically a tiny room with 6 bunks, and a small shelf area to put bags. Each bunk had about 2 f eet of space, so there was no sitting up in bed. And I soon discovered the walls were very thin (yet somehow they managed to amplify the snores of the man below me). Needless to say, I slept (which was much appreciated), but it was a restles s sleep. We woke up very early this morning as others in teh cabin departed to Nice, France. From Nice, however, a large part of the train ride was very pretty. The tracks followed the coast for a while, giving a great view of the Me diterranean. During our hour break in Ventimiglia (small town just over Italian border), we ate a quick breakfast. Then it was back in the train for a ffew more hours, this time to La Spezia and then another train to Riomaggiore (the southern most town making up Cinque Terre). Since we hadn't reserved a room that was first on the list of priorities. It wasn't as quick as I had expected, though. Most room rentals were booked full, or others weren't even open. But we got lucky and found a place for 20 Euros each. We share a room with a girl named Zoe, who is from Austrailia (seems really cool, from the short time we've talked). But anyway, we arrived with enough time to do exactly what we came here to do--relax. We headed to the beach since it was warm and sunny. (It should be noted, however, that this beach was made of rocks...and a lot of them! I now realize that I have been spoiled from Destin's sandy white beaches! :) Hungry and dirty, we dragged ourselves up the hill to a local pizza shop...and ate our pizza overlooking the harbour. All in all, this seems to be a great place. May 24th Known for it's hiking trails, we decided to hit the path soon after breakfast. We went from Riomaggiore to Manorola to Corniglia [there are 5 towns--hence Cinque Terre--so we were able to visit 3 of them this way]. The walk wa s great because the trail followed the coast line, with wonderful views of the sea and villages. I tried to take a few pictures, but it's one of those situations where I never seem to get everything I want in the frame. I guess you just have to be here to truly appreciate it. We laughed about how we were hiking after walkign all over the past large Spanish cities. But it was definitely worth the effort... May 25th [Hmm...not too much to report. We traveled from Cinque Terre to Pisa where we spent a little time--by the way, the leaning tower, although still leaning, is not longer suspended by cables, as I thought it was. In fact, pe ople were even allowed to go up inside of it! Well, it surprised me. Unfortunately, much of the rest of the day was lost due to travel to Florence and then the fact that everything was closed in Florence since it was Sunday.] May 26th Wow...today was certainly not what we had expected. I can laugh about it now, but the fact is that we faced some major obstacles. First, I'll tell the good parts. We saw the Duomo (cathedral and baptistery), which was impressive f or the minute details on some of the doors (which depicted scenes from the New and Old Testament), as well as on the outside of the cathedral as a whole. I'm continually amazed by how ornate all of these churches are...very different from what I a m used to. But anyway, we basically just explored other parts of Florence by foot, getting a feel for the city. Then the craziness began. I'll summarize by saying that our hostel was not in a prime location, and we ended up going back to where we had stayed the previous night. Like I said...that's a very concise summary :). Tomorrow is a new day, thankfully, and we will be visiting the Uffizzi and Michelangelo's David. Tomorrow will be our last day in Florence, before we leave for Siena and then on to Rome. And so, I end this entry--and day--by know ing that tomorrow will be better. May 27th As expected, today has been a much better day! :) Somehow, we lucked up and visited all of the museums during a special event, because entry was free (always a nice surprise). But instead of writing about the museums--which I hav e talked about in the past--I have to mention an amazing lunch. That's right...I'm talking about food. Actually, it was our waiter who made it memorable as well. He was trying off his English on us--a lot of slang, too--, asking us ran dom facts about our state, and offering to contact the archbishop to marry us. We didn't take him up on his offer :), but it was a pleasant break from the hustle and bustle of Florence. Of course, some of the crowds might have been due to the fact that the Italian president had some sort of engagement in a church next to the Uffizi Gallery. We had noticed that there seemed to be a lot of gaurds outside; but when the b arracades, etc. were put up then we really knew something was going on. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see him because he arrived as we were inside (and believe me, I wasn't going to give up my spot in line after 1 1/2 hours of waiting! :)... Note: I hope I didn't sound unappreciative in my last day or two of the update. They were a little rough, but I'm still very glad and thankful to be here! May 28th We arrived in Siena this afternoon, and had the perfect amount of time to drop off our bags at the hostel and go out to the city for the evening. It was the perfect time of day by then--not too hot, but still sunny. We visited th e Baptistery of the Duomo, which was covered in frescoes, statues, etc. Having little description or explanation of the building we tried to decipher the stories on our own. Afterwards, we began a long period of dinner/people watching in Il Campo, the main square. It was so much fun just watching the locals and tourists (and a lot of cute kids) all milling around. Even the pigeons were entertaining. As the sun was going down we headed back to our hostel, where we found a crowd in the lobby watching the finals of the European soccer league. I had been hoping to go to a game[I played for 12 years growing up], but soon found out in S pain that the season was almost over near the end. Oh well... There are a few cool girls that we've met in coming here, too. It's great to see how people scattered from all over the globe come together. Oh, and what's even more crazy is that 2 of the girls (sisters) are from Mtn. Brook!&nbs p; Yeah, small world. Most others, though, that we've met over our 2 weeks are from other parts of Europe (Britain, especially) or Australia. While in Cinque Terre I asked Zoe why so many people from Austrailia seemed to travel. She describe d it as a middle class rite of passage, although not nearly everyone is able to go. It makes me wonder, though, why there aren't more Americans (and especially more from AL or UA) who do this. Proximity, of course, is a huge advantage for other Europeans. And I suppose that economics also play a big role (I mean , I certainly would not be here if it were not for the award). But it seems that there are other factors as well (maybe the US is so big and diverse on its own?). It's something to think about I guess. May 29th [Spent a nice day in Siena....head to Rome tomorrow.] May 30th Rome...hmm, I'm not sure if it is what I expected. Of course, I had sort of heard two opposing views (really great vs. too crowded/busy). And right now I feel like I've seen both sides. Luckily we arrived early enough to have a full day of adventure...But anyway, we also visited the Trevi Fountain, where we threw pennies over our shoulder. It's supposed to bring you back to the city...We wanted to find a museum that was supp osed to be nearby. It's actually a crypt, where an order of monks took bones from 4000 bodies to make this "artwork". It's kind of creepy, but in a very interesting and captivating way. They decorated the walls and ceiling with bones, in addition to building altars, etc. I do wonder, however, how the idea was conceived. So, after one strange place we ended up visiting a really amazing one: the Coloseum. It's too hard to describe, really. Especially since much of my appreciation came not only from the sheer size, or fact that much of it remains, but ins tead from the planning and ingenuity necessary to build it. So yeah, all I can say is that it is very cool. May 31 and June 1 Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum...the ruins were interesting, and it's amazing to think about how massive it once was. Although, I think I would appreciate it even more if I remembered more from my latin classes in high school. Unfort unately, I can't decipher much from the engravings, etc., but the museums usually help... Pantheon...we were excited that something was open since it was Sunday. The building itself was really intact (the historical reason being that after converting to Christianity, Constantine declared it a Catholic church, so looters stayed awa y for the most part. And that's pretty interesting in itself.) Oh, and I never knew that Raphael was buried there, either. Otherwise, we've been spending time with some of our roommates, particularly a girl named Cybil. She's from Canada, and I've learned a lot (I guess that's easy when you know very little) about their government, social welfare system, educatio n, etc. From what she's described it sounds much more liberal than I ever realized (ex: free health care, but higher taxes; still, it seems like social work in that environment might be easier). And she described their education system as be ing very "honest", or upfront with the curriculum. That is, there seems to be a lot of comparing Canada with other countries, pointing out both the good and bad of their own. Our own system would probably benefit from a less egocentric, and more worldview approach. (Of course, it would need to be motivated out of objectivity and not cynicism, a problem I've experienced from some teachers.) But enough of that for now. I'm probably not making sense, anyway! June 2nd Today we battled the crowds at Vatican City in order to see the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Basilica. The museum is huge...I think I read somewhere that if you walk through all exhibits you will have gone about 4 miles. And I believe it, t oo. I think it was the most diverse museum I have been to so far, because it holds everything from Egyptian mummies to woven tapestries to the Sistine Chapel. I guess that's why you have to donate a kidney to get in (okay, so it's not that extreme ; but they do charge a lot. But I won't go off on that now. Let's just say that after visiting many churches I've examined my views on the fine line between bringing glory to God or to man.). Interestingly enough, Vatican City was the only place "open" today because it was a national holiday. Over dinner at our hostel (they made a pasta dinner almost every night), a priest (?) studying church history explained that the d ay actually commemorates the time when the people somewhat revolted and gained separation of the government from the Catholic Church (I hope I'm getting this correct). That's why today the Vatican is a separate city. Pretty interesting, I thought. June 3- 4 [Brandon, my friend who had been traveling with me, left to go back to the States. I then went to a town outside of Venice where I will be staying with an American family. They are in the military and have been stationed over here for about 3 years.]...My day got a little brighter when I finally arrived in Sacile to meet the Merrill's They were waiting for me as I stepped off the train. And they're great...friendly, sweet kids, and they have made me feel at home. In fact, I feel caught between living inn Italy and in America. I've been able to see a little league baseball game and 5th grade patriotic program, yet still while simultaneously living in a small Italian town. (This stay came at a gr eat time, actually. I needed a little piece of "home".) One of the best parts is talking to not only the parents, but also the kids who have gone to (now, or during part of their stay) Italian school. Basically, I have been able to hear the perspective of American's who have assimilated into the Italian culture. June 5th Today Mrs. Merrill...and I went to Venice. it was a more laid-back way that we explored the city, but it was really nice. I think I needed a break from seeing another church and museum because I was getting a little overloaded. An d, sadly enough, wonderful things can lose some of their luster, I've begun to think, if you allow yourself to get "used to" it. (Does that make sense?) Essentially, I'm trying to make sure I don't start taking anything for granted. So anyway, back on topic...we explored Venice simply by walking around, going in shops, looking at street artists' work, etc. Venice is such a beautiful city; the weather was bright and sunny (which also meant really hot!), and the city seemed to be equally bright and colorful. I finished off the day by learning how to make mushroom rissotto. [I like to cook and learning new Italian dishes was something I had hoped to do. So even though that might not sound like fun to some people, I was really glad! :) ... June 6th The great thing about this area is the fact that it is not only near Venice, but also close to the beach and the mountains. Today, in fact, they Merrill's took me into the mountains. It was beautiful up there. Later we had dinner at a great restaurant that is known for their Italian mountain cuisine (think ostrich, horse, etc.). June 7th Well, I'm about to leave the Merrill's to go to Vienna. I won't arrive until about 9pm, so I will probably meet up with John Harris on the following day. I'm looking forward to being in Vienna because I've only heard wonderful thing s. But I have to admit that switching to a new language as well as the long train ride isn't as thrilling! :) June 11(?) Well, about a week of being more 创on my own创, and I have to say that I think I磛e done pretty well. :) I can see how people might get to the point where talking to yourself would be normal, but luckily I磛e still had English-speaking company . So yeah, Vienna has so much to offer that even my five days couldn磘 cover enough ground. However, I磛e changed my travel style a little; basically, I磛e decided that it磗 best to pick a few special things about a city and focus on them. ; That means that I cut out a lot of museums and churches; but it also means that I磛e had more time to relax. Anyway, a number of things I experienced in Vienna revolved around music. The first thing was a tour of the Opera House...and that was great. I think it was partly due to my guide (who amazingly seemed to have a real answer to ev ery question). I was amazed bz the Opera House, though, because of everything from it磗 history to its design to the number of productions done each year. Needless to say, it made me no only interested, but also curious. Luckily, the Opera House realizes that there are people who don磘 have a lot of money to spend, but who still want to go. For only 2 or 3.50 Euro, 500+ people can get standing room spots. Of course, you have to line up far in adv ance of the show and, as the name implies, stand throughout it as well. Since I had never been to see an opera, I felt like this was the perfect opportunity. I was there 2 1-2 hrs. before it began, and I磎 proud to say that I stayed the whole time. (Okay, okay...so I left at intermission to get food, not planning to return. But curiosity got the best of me--not to mention that I had dedicat ed the whole evening to seeing it!). Luckily the Opera House has small screens which translate the words into English, otherwise my interest would have been lost much earlier. But it was almost comical. In fact, I磛e decided that the o nly thing you can compare it to is a soap opera--very melodramatic and fairly unrealistic. (Oh, I was seeing La Boheme, by the way.) Overall, I could have skipped the last Act, yet I磎 so glad to have had the experience. The following day I wandered around the gardens at the summer palace. I stayed there for a while, but was so soaked in sweat after about an hour that I returned home. (Yeah, I have somehow conveniently been in Vienna for 5 of the 创abo ut 10 really hot days of the year创. Let me put it this way...it is currently 11pm and 28 C--that磗 82 F. And because it磗 usually so cool here, very few places have AC. So this is definitely one of those 创oh I love being an American创 moments.) However, later that night I saw the Vienna Philharmonic. I regret saying that I don磘 know what exactly was played; I was just so excited to go because there was a cello soloist! So that was really nice. And today I spent the day with John Harris and a German couple whom he had recently met. We spent some time swimming in the Danube River, and then went to dinner at a traditional Austrian restaurant. Also cool was the fact that the girl is a social worker in Berlin; plus, I got to hear stories about both West and East Berlin (because each lived in one area) before the wall came down. It磗 so strange to hear real people talk about events that otherwise were confined to history books or television. So anway, that is most of my time in Vienna. It磗 a great city...my only regret is that I didn磘 have more time to go to Budapest or other nearby cities. Tomorrow I leave for Prague, but I will only be there for 2 days, then it磗 off t o London. Prague ...Let's just say that Prague was an experience. I liked the city, but I will definitely need to go back b/c there were too many bad circumstances that kept me from enjoying my time as much as I would have been able to. But I did make it to the Pra gue Castle and the Jewish Quarter, two of the important areas of the city. However, Prague also helped me to realize that I might have planned my trip for a little too long. I didn't realize how tiring traveling would be! :) Besides, it's been such an awesome trip that I want to make sure and end it on a high note as well. For those reasons, I've decided to come back a few days early. I'll be departing from London on July 1st instead of from Rome on the 13th. London Wow...I have really loved London! It's amazing how many exciting things are in the city. Because I only had one day (well, that was the original plan. I ended up with 2 full days because I couldn't catch a bus to the city where my camp is until Tuesday instead of Monday.), I started with a lot of the touristy areas: Buckingham Palace, where I saw the changing of the gaurd; Westminister Abbey (went inside on Tues. where there was an interesting museum); Parliament and Big Ben (I even saw some debates in both the House of Commons and Lords); the Globe Theatre (caught a little bit of Richard II as a groundling!); skimmed through a tiny part (b/c it's so big!) of the National Gallery; and also visited some other areas such as Traf algar Square, Covent Market, London Bridge, etc. Whew! Makes my legs tired just writing about it. And they were two busy days. Luckily John Harris had put me in touch with a really nice lady who not only gave me a great place to stay, but also helped me figure out an itinerary. June 17th And here I am today...about to head off to camp. For those who did not know, I have signed up to be a volunteer at a camp in Mablethorpe, England. It's for underpriveledged children ages 7-11, and the purpose is to give them a tim e to do fun things (beach, arcades, shopping, etc.) that they don't usually get to do. I was supposed to arrive yesterday, as I mentioned, but I should get there by this evening. I'm looking forward to working with the kids, and I think it w ill be a lot of fun. They try to get volunteers from different countries, so hopefully I'll learn a lot from them as well. Anyway, the camp lasts for 2 weeks. After it I will return to London for the night and depart the next morning. I don't have computer access from the camp, so please excuse me if I don't return messages, send updates, etc. Bye! Home Again So where do I begin? I've been home for a little while, trying to collect my thoughts (and put together a scrapbook). And I've spent a lot of time, of course, answering questions about the trip. The most common one is "What/where was yo ur favorite (city)?". And honestly, I don't have an answer. Maybe I just haven't digested it all...maybe I never will have a favorite...all I know right now is that it was all great. That's another problem: when people ask how my trip was, I'm left with little to say other than "It was great." I mean, how do you characterize a 6 week, 13 city/5 country experience? As most of you may already know, this was my first trip to Europe. I started with a much-too-long list of "must-see" cities/countries/sights in the initial planning stages, with one of the most difficult parts of the whole ordeal being to narrow down my focus. And yet, I returned from seeing many o f these cities and sights with a list that is just as long. I knew that I wouldn't get everywhere I wanted, and fortunately that is true. I say fortunately because I think it would have been a bad sign if I had returned with the mindset of " Well, that was fun. Now I've gotten everything I wanted to from Europe." If anything, I learned that I only got a glimpse. But what a glimpse it was! :) I truly saw and experienced art, churches, architecture, people and cultures that I had previously only heard or leaned about. One of the strangest, almost surreal experiences was talking to other travelers about cities we had been to, exchanging advice and opinions: "If you're in Madrid, definitely go to the Prado Museum, although the Sofia Reina was a little disappointing...". These--or similar--words, coming out of my mouth!...I would have never though t that I could speak about so many amazing places from experience. And the fact is, I wouldn't have been able to do so at this point in time were it not for the Ramsey award. Sure, I had worked at a pre-school for the past year, cleaning up spilled milk and mending 4-year-old egos in an effort to save m oney for a trip to Europe. But minimum wage only goes so far, and I can assure you that it does not go 13 cities/5 countries and 6 weeks far. And so, once again, I'm left trying to figure out how to express my appreciation for the award.&nbs p; I realize that it's a constant effort on the part of the Board, contributors, past recipients, etc. to keep it alive and well. I look forward to being beyond the minimum wage days, when I can give back and help continue the award (although I'm not able to promise too much with a social worker's salary :). I planned to write more about what I learned, or some of the particular experiences that meant a lot to me. But I'm still thinking; it takes a while, I now realize, to digest all that I've done. So I plan to send another update. B ut for now, I wanted to make sure that I had a chance to say thank you and let you all know that it was an amazing experience. Sincerely, Kristin |
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