Alisa In Europe

Barcelona Part Deuce.

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:16:00 -0400

It has been nearly 5 months since my last update!!! So much has happened since then… I finished my backpacking trip, stayed in Barcelona for 15 day, then went to visit my Grandma in Pennsylvania for 3, then arrived back to Boca, where Kayley came down and kept my company nearly 2 weeks……

Going back to the USA I really had no game plan except that I needed to find some way to get my nationality quicker, a visa, or someway to get back to spain legally. So, I googled art workshop, aiming to come back take some french/catalan classes, do some pottery drawing classes, and call it a day until my nationality finally went through…. I never realized that this google search would send me off onto another Journey of life…

Here is when I found Metafora, fell in love with all that it stood for, and rushed to gather the materials and letters of rec. to send them. A few days later my acceptance letters to begin in their International Workshop arrived… Heres where it got hectic, I had about 7 days before classes would begin…. So I bought a one way ticket to barcelona, found bella an amazing home (this broke me), and just came….

….and now here I am, exactly one month 15 days from my first day at Metafora. I have not been this happy in quite some time, this month has mainly been about oiling up my creative gears, which have been left untouched for the past 3 years. Along the way I have been surrounded my many other taleneted artist, and have been so fortunate to have met fellow artists, with some whom i will reamain close friends with for hopefully years to come

white water rafting

Tue, 26 May 2009 14:20:51 -0400

So I finnaly went today! It was raining like woah and super windy, I thought it would be the worst idea ever to still go with the weather but I went with it :)Supposidly this rain made it even better because the water rose so much.

The water was cold, since it was a river that formed from a Glacier that was melting. We geared up in wetsuits, and wetsuit jackets, vest, booties, helmets & headed off. When I first glanced at the water from above I was terrified… and when it ended I was so sad it was over. It was so much fun! Some of the guys that also went with me bought the picture packet and said they would email them to me, so pics should be up soon I hope! There was even a calm part of the river where the guide let us flip out and float for a bit holding onto the boat, this was nice :) Everyone thought it was so cold, but I think it was even warmer then the water I’d been diving the past year…

Well it is Paragliding tommorow!!!!

I am in love with this town! I booked one more night. so tommorow night will be my last night :( It is so beautiful here, and there are so many wonderful things to do I wish I could stay forever….

May 25- Canyoning in Interlaken, Switzerland

Tue, 26 May 2009 05:52:57 -0400

May 2- So yesterday I finnally tried out canyoning for my first time ever! I have never felt adrenalin like this before ever in my life :) It was amazing, the thrill, the water, being inside the canyon :) Here are some pictures, I bought the CD packet to send home to my family some are of just me some of the group some of everyone:) It was sooooo amazing!

Canyoning Pics http://photobucket.com/alisacanyoninginterlaken

Today white water rafting and tommorow paragliding!

I <3 SWITZERLAND

Italia May 20-24

Tue, 26 May 2009 05:17:16 -0400

May 20- I took a train from Florence to Roma, then a metro to meet up with my host to drop my things off to go explore the city. I visited the Colloseum, Palentine Hill, The Forum, The Pantheon, and the Trevi fountain. Then headed to my hosts restaurant to meet up with some Rome CSers for dinner and drinks after. It was the best italian food ever in the whole wide world :)

May 21- I got gutsy and changed some plans around, made the long haul on train to naples where I arrived in the evening. It was the most dirty city I have ever seen in my life, but I didnt go there for naples, I went there so I could visit pompei scavi first thing in the morning :) I got there and the hostel was full, so the man at the hostel made some calls for me , and found me an actual hotel for 30 euro. Sweetness! I think it was called Hotel Garavini, and it worked out perfect since it was so close to the station I just had to walk over in the morning :)

May 22- I woke up early packed up my things and took a train to Pompei in the morning. It exceeded any expectations which I’d had of it! So much of the city was perfectly intact, I could not imagine this was a city of 6 AD, I hope to return again some day.

After pompei I took a train back to naples-bologna-rimini, and headed to the Jammin Hostel to meet up with 2 girls I had met in Florence. I was exhausted, but somehow when they arrived we ended up hanging out having a few drinks with them and there friends, and being awake around 5 something on the beach to see the sun rise! It was amazing! At that point almost half the hostel had joined us throughout the night to get boozey(english saying). Me and the girls headed back to the hostel, and crashed… onto the 23rd

May 23- After going to sleep at 7am we woke up at 9:45 had breakfast and headed to the beach, where we hung out and tanned all day long :) I got super dark! I headed back to the hostel at 5 or so showered relaxed, went to dinner with the girls, sipped some wine, went to sleep.

May 24- I headed to Interlaken, it was an 8 1/2 hour train ride but I am so glad I did it so I could make the best out of the next day. I didnt arrive to my hostel, Balmers until 10 something at night… Italians have no concept of ventilation on trains, it was like an oven in there. to give you an idea of my day and trains (Rimmini-Milano Centrale-Domodossola-spiez-Interlaken. As soon as I stepped off the train even though it was pitch black I knew this place would be amazing I could see the massive mountains with the moon shining behing… Hello Alps :)

Sorry i have not been on so much!

Tue, 19 May 2009 15:02:55 -0400

Here is my update of where i have been, i have been so busy, and always on the move. so here is an update of where i have been and where i will go…So for now… A Link to some Pics…. www.photobucket.com/alisaineurope and some updates on where i have been Vienna april 20 21 22 Salzburg 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 may 1 budapest hungary 3 nights zagreb croatia 2 nights plitvice national park croatia 2 nights zadar croatia 2 nights dubrovnik croatia 1 night split croatia 1 day then a night train lubjana, slovenia 2 nights venice italia 2 nights bologna italia 2 nights 1 night in florence right now, and then tomm im off to rome for 2 to 3 nights…. afterwards maybe milan, then switzerland… and then June 11 to the 14 Sailing in Holland!

April 23, 24, 25. Salzburg, Austria

Wed, 13 May 2009 12:35:31 -0400

April 23 We rented a little car from Europe Car, It was a class A mercedes, cute, and like nothing I have ever seen in the USA. Driving in Vienna was nuts, the buildings were so close together the GPS kept telling me to turn at the wrong places!

The drive to Salzburg was wonderful! We took the highway to Bad Ischl, and then the scenic route to Salzburg throught the Salzkammergut Lakes. The sites we saw were some of the most beautiful I have seen in my life! As we were driving through the mountains it started to snow. The whole experience was just really nice

April 24 Today we went to Mozarts home in Salzburg it was quite amazing to see letters written between him and his sister, to see the kitchen where his familys meals were prepared, and to see his violin.

In the afternoon we went on a Sound of Music tour, it was fun. We got a few pictures in places where scenes of the Sound of Music were filmed, and our tour guide was quite the character ^_^! … no really, she was :)

April 25 Today was my last day with my mama :( We drove off to the Saltmines & did a tour! We got to slide down salt slides, go across the underground salt lake & hear the stories of how the mines came to be and Salzburg got its name! Oh and we had to wear these special white outfits :) we looked like surgeons!

Vienna 2009

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 04:22:12 -0400

Vienna 2009

April 20,21,22...Vienna, Austria

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 04:20:06 -0400

April 20 We left Bonn (with german wings), and in the afternoon we arrived to Vienna, and checked into our hotel on the park ring. That evening we went to a little Italian place for dinner, very good & owned by Italians. Afterwards we went to see a Concert at the Opera house. It was so beautiful, and fun to imagine what it may have been like in the older days.

April 21 We woke up early and headed off to The Spanish Riding school, to watch a practice, this was where Sisi used to practice. We then went to the Imperial palace museum where there was beautiful baking utensils, fine china, and glass from when Sisi and Franz ruled. Afterwards we went to the Sisi Imperial apartments, and then to her Schloss just on the outskirts of vienna. The palace was beautiful, and we visited the oldest Zoo in the world…. so old that most of the animals were dead hehe, inside joke for you mami.

April 22 I txt my father with birthday wishes, and walked around town with my mom, went to see some older books, and took a city train around the park ring where the sights were pointed out through automated headphones….. and then that night the doctor came to see me (oh yeah, i left out the part where my foot was bothering me and making weird noise when I moved it) Long story short, it was tendonitis, he gave me shots in my foot that hurt like heck and came again in the mornign for the next round :(

April 19

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 15:48:26 -0400

Today we packed up, said goodbye to Tootji & headed to Bonn… Where we visited the home where Beehtovens was born. Then discussion arose about Austria. That evening I decided to abandon my my plans to visit Poland, and my mother and I bought tickets to go to Vienna the next day :)

April 18- hollanda

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 15:44:22 -0400

day 2 holland. we were going to go to a flower festivle, but the line of cars seemed to run for miles… after seeing that we gave up, and headed to Amsterdam to walk around and check out some cute antique shops.

April 17- Brussels, Belgium/Holland

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 15:42:53 -0400

I arrived to Brussels in the late morning, It was rainy and windy all day. (thank god i bought my raincoat & rainbow umbrella before leaving the USA.. sooo after my train ride I walked around for a bit, then stopped for some lunch- Curry Mussels with frites… a very typical belgian dish, but for me fries and mussels are two things that just dont go together, or maybe i am just not big on fries :) Around I decided to walk back to the train station. I meant to walk back to the Central station, but ended up going the wrong way & walking 1/2 way across the city through a turkish ghetto:) but I ended up at the South railway station where I catched a train and headed to the airpot to wait for my mom & cees. Once they came we got in the rental car and headed to holland :)

Once at the hotel we settled in a bit & went up to see Tootji. Then off to dinner, at a very cute little restaurant which used to be a part of an old palace, through the windows we saw bunnys, deer, goats, and chickens… Sooo Cute!

April 16- Antwerp, Belgium

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 15:35:49 -0400

I arrive to Antwerp in the early afternoon by train from Brugge. What a cute little town :) I walked and walked and walked & never got bored :) I took a stroll by the riverside where i stumbled across an old castle which will now be converted to a maritime museum. But to top off my day, my week, my year…. I visited the Plantin-Moretus Museum.. “An old building which housed a 16th century print house.Has all of the originalhouse the two oldest surviving printing presses in the world and complete sets of dies and matrices, it also has an extensive library, a richly decorated interior and the entire archives of the Plantin business.”.. At the end of a lovely day my host Stefan picked me up who was wonderful! We went to a grocery store picked up some veggies and couscous & went back to his place to cook. We had dinner with some awesome rioja & then headed off to a couch surfing meet up & then to a jazzfusion show they were great :) On the way to the CS meet up Stefan showed me some underground bars how they were built in the old day, several bars underground set up in a tunner and you can go from one to the next.

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 15:17:40 -0400

April 15- Brugge, Belgium

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 15:16:46 -0400

I woke up early to take a train from Brussels to Brugge. I was not very impressed, way too many tourists :( It was soo crowded it felt like another day at disney. Subtract all the tourists walking around from the equation and it would have been a very cute town :) In the morning I walked around the farmers market, had lunch at a tea house, visited the Belfry tower, went to see the “holy blood”, but best of all was the boat tour… It was so nice to take a cruise around on the canals. I ended my day visiting an old monestary & called my CS host.

Lode was very nice he came to pick me up, we enjoyed long conversation on the way back to his home. His wife Martin & 10 year old son Jonas were wonderful. There home was so cute, she designed it herself! Complete with a slab of the berlin wall in the front yard (pictures will be posted later :) Jonas did not speak english so we communicated with the very little french I know :)

April 14, 2009- Brussels, Belgium

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 15:11:40 -0400

I took an afternoon flight from Barcelona, Espana… Then from Brussels International I took a train to Garre Nord Station in Brussels where I met Edward, my first time being hosted ever! He was great :) He picked me up at the station, and we walked back to his dorm in Brussels (in the turkish area of town) It was like a mini-Turkish town. I tried some unfiltered apple juice mmm! & that evening we went to a turkish pizzeria which one of his school friends for some “turkish pizza” which was very similar to a flat bread. I also tried his salty yogurt drink which was very similar to an unsweetend indian drink called a lassi.Afterwards we went to a bar where I tried my first Duvel aka the devils beer :) mmmm We then watched an american comedy with his friend on a projector & then I fell asleep to catch an early train to Brugge the following morning

Sorry for the lack in posts!

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 11:37:01 -0400

i have been very very busy, and sometimes when I sit down at a computer I use it real quick, but just to check email or find couches. So here you go :) i will break up my past 2 weeks or so :)

First Barcelona CS party

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 08:00:39 -0400

Went the night before last & met lots of people hehe only one originally from spain, but it was fun :) I am so lame, everyone was boozin it except me, i have to lean off the water and become a bit more european:)

Today I went to an area where they dug up roman ruins from 4 B.C. yup, and all this is under Barcelona, by the “bario gothico” just under our feet and all these buildings that are hundreads and hundreads of years old anyways….

Mmmm Well tommorow I am off to Brussels, and I will have my first CS experience where I am being hosted and not hosting:)

oops

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 15:36:00 -0400

i left some awesomeness out :) I went to Girona today and had lunch with Ester and her friend (a girl i met on the egypt trip last year). I forgot how much fun we had talking, and when i am living in barcelona then we can hang out more

adventurosa

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 15:33:48 -0400

i ate 1/2 a spring rabbit yesterday. how is that for adventure :) yup i took a step out onto a scary branch and ate 1/2 a baby rabbit ;) mmm and it was good, just like chicken! because you know, everything has to taste like chicken. well what took a big step from me is something that people here eat all the time… weird huh! maybe i will eat a cricket one day…

Dia Una y dos Barcelona

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:50:35 -0400

Soo. It was a long flight. US airways definatly does not have what I would call comfortable seats, well compared to United… but hey the price was right :)

Sooo after a long flight, and wait for my bags it was so nice to see my grandfather. He picked me up we relaxed, and hung out. Then we had dinner at 4 Gats Restaurant, Translated… 4 Cats restaurant. But it was very cool! this is a restaurant where picasso and his friends went to eat, drink, and talk. (Excuse the grammer in this post i am at an internet cafe and typing quickly hehe)

Then we went to a beautiful concert at Il Palau de la musica, this place is unlike any concert house you have ever seen. Look it up online :) We saw a ukranian group that preformed the four seasons. The Ukranian lady playing violin was amazing!!

Then today we walked down la rambla, and went to see Lola a lady we had met on our trip to egypt.

Well… I am off

xoxox