A good amount has happened since my last post, that's for sure! For one, Joe finally learned the correct spelling of our beloved Ronald Reagan's name (wooo polysci majors!), and two, I have learned I can never be a true wine connossieur because of my terrible colorblindness affliction. Damn you missing red cones, you have RUINED MY DREAMS!!!!!
After our lovely trip to Siena with Reagan, we spent a day in Firenze (that's florence for all you non-italian speaking heathens) visiting the Uffizi art gallery of mainly renaissance works. Let me clarify: we spent 2 hours waiting in line to get into the Uffizi, then an hour and a half seeing about 7208974320 different variations of madonna and child, then took a goddamn siesta for pretty much the rest of the day. One of the only cool stories I learned from my overpriced audio tour was in this room with a bunch of marble statues of men and women in different contortions and poses. Apparently, the mother had the GALL to boast that her children were more beautiful than those of Apollo, and as a result they were all systematically killed. This is the obvious result, because we certainly can't have beautiful children and boasting mothers walking the earth willy nilly, doncha know!
Our last day in italy was spent hiking the tuscan countryside on a wine tour with a guide. Really, it was just the four of us and one other older woman, Paula, who told us stories of all her world travels. Paula went to art school and ended up with the most amazing and bizarre job; she is commissioned to go to meetings and draw graphic representations of what is being said. In the end she has made these amazing colorful posters, like the kind you would make for your oral presentations in high school only much, much prettier. I have no idea what kind of need anyone would have for someone like this, but her job has taken her all over the world and it was amazing to hear of her travels. What a neat thing it would be to see so many things for FREE because of your job? I'm sure I would eventually long for a home to spend extended amounts of time in, but it sounds like an excellent way to see what's out there!
At any rate, we hiked up this mountain and got to see the peak where Leonardo da Vinci tested his flying machines (or rather, his apprentices tested cause hey..who knew whether they were going to work or not?), as well as the place Galileo was exiled to when he proclaimed that the earth was not, in fact, the center of the universe. Amazing views of mountains and valleys full of olive groves on a gorgeous summer day was a very fitting end to our time in italy. Our multi-course meal complete with information on the proper way to taste, smell, and examine the color of wine and olive oil was also, as expected, totally freekin sweet.
After renegade showers in the hotel we had already checked out of, exciting laundry adventures, and a ridiculous lost-in-florence trek with our backpacks we arrive at the sketchiest train station I've ever set foot in. The bathrooms were those HORRIFYING robo toilets I am so fearful of, and I almost wasn't able to go in without freaking out too terribly: thanks inbal for your moral support. Joe and lulu took a video of it to mock me, but I stand by my conviction that toilet areas should not be run by robots. In the station we actually meet up with two kids from Geneseo who had played soccer and graduated in our class. Small freekin world. One of them actually lives down the street from me at home, and also hates Peter Garnsey (kid from my high school, stupid meanie who also went to geneseo)! Oh the lovely connections you can find with others.
When we finally get on our terribly delayed train, we find that our decision to save 25 euro by getting seats instead of beds for our overnight train was a terrible idea. We end up in a cramped cabin with very upright seats that did not recline, in the loudest and most congested car I have ever been in. None of us were able to sleep for more than a half hour at a time, and creepy people (Marilu insists there was one with a cigar staring at her, but then again, she was mumbling about keeping the crazy pickpocketers away all night) kept opening the door to our cabin for seemingly no apparent reason. When the morning finally came, the train stopped and we suddenly realize that an awful lot of people are exiting. With no PA system for announcements, an Italian man suddenly comes to our car to tell us what's going on, in italian. Once I manage to convey to him that we don't understand what he's saying he says 'there is a problem in france, we must leave the train!' Joe later replied 'what's wrong, are they out of baguettes?!' (which of course, became the tagline of the day, said in an obnoxious french accent) Turns out there has been a metro strike in france that is supposed to end soon, but they ended up uprooting us in the most disorganized manner possible and putting us on a new train to france. When we finally arrive and check into our hostel (more like a caribbean-esque haven for california girls and many dumb boys), we shower, get food, and get lost on the way to the beach. When we finally made it, it was goddamn worth it though. Clearest water ever (even if you do have to cause yourself tremendous amounts of pain on the stony beach on your way in), perfect weather and an amazing view of Nice. Later that night we went out to a music festival in old Nice with some friends from our hostel and got to see french swat cars in action (to quell a riot, perhaps?) and the most packed bus home I have ever been on. We barely made it out alive, but I look forward to the rest of my time here in France, for sure.
I miss you guys. Please leave me notes, or write me mail at kristine.teets@gmail.com so I can be happy that people love meee! For those that have written, I will get back to you soon but now I must get to BED
I'll leave you with some quotes! (Mostly, you know, Joe)
"I want you to No-tees"
-Young man covering Radiohead's creep in a piazza in Firenze, June 16
"That would've been horrific, and I would've taken a picture"
-Joe, referring to a pigeon hunting dog going in for the kill, yet failing. Firenze, June 16
"I wonder if michelangelo debated over giving him an innie or an outie"
-Joe, referring to David, Firenze, June 17
"If part of your developmental stage is in a pond. then i will eat you"
-Joe, trying to justify eating frog legs as a vegetarian, Firenze
Joe: Are tomatos fruits or veggies?
Inbal: vegetables commercially, fruits scientifically; let's eat these tomatos like scientists
"Hello, let me introduce you to my sex buddy"
-Julian, hotel clerk, trying to understand the logistics of a sex buddy relationship, such as introductions to friends and family
"I always wake myself up when I start drooling"
-Kristine, bus from siena
Joe: what if they brought gay animals on Noah's ark?
Inbal: I think that's how unicorns died out
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