Las Fallas in Valencia

All my pictures from Las Fallas are posted here.

Las Fallas is something that my friend DeeDee had told me about (she's studying in Alicante, Spain), and after hearing more about it from an American we met in Madrid (who absolutely raved about it) I decided to try to make it to Valencia for what is considered one of the most spectacular festivals in the world (it helped that RyanAir flies direct from Marseille to Valencia, and my roundtrip tickets were only 75 euro!). Las Fallas is a week-long festival in the Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia in Spain. It's commonly known as a fire festival, with fireworks displays every night, people setting off fireworks constantly in the street, and a finale with more fire seen since the Great Fire of London in 1666 (too soon?). The city commissions artists to build humongous sculptures and statues throughout the year, and throughout the week they're displayed throughout the city. On the last night, every one of them is burned to the ground except for the one that has been judged as the best, which is immortalized in a museum.

We left for Valencia after classes on Thursday, and made it to the city with no problems. In all, our group was 6 people: myself, my housemate Chris, and 4 girls. When we arrived, we arranged to meet with the "landlord" of the apartment we were renting. With the festival, there weren't any hostels in town, but we were able to find a company in Port Saplaya (10 minutes outside the city) that was renting apartments. It seemed a little sketchy, especially when he asked me to pay 30% in advance. Everything turned out ok though. After getting the keys, we took a taxi ride to apartment, dropped off our bags, and headed back into town (it was St. Patrick's Day after all!). In town we found the streets packed with people. And not just young people partying. There were whole families in the streets, with little kids (and adults) lighting off fireworks everywhere. You couldn't go more than 2 minutes without hearing a firecracker explode near you. We saw people wearing Guinness St. Patrick's Day hats, and went in search of our own. The bar that had been distributing them didn't have any left, but the girls found some Spanish guys outside who gave them theirs. We started talking to a group of 4 people (2 guys and 2 girls, half Spanish, half Italian) who spoke English and ended up going to their apartment building to watch the fireworks that were at 1am. You could not have asked for a better venue. Their apartment was about 4 blocks away from where the fireworks were being launched, and from the roof of their 10-story building it was magnificent. Better than any fireworks I've ever seen. One of our new friends informed me that Valencia is famous for their fireworks, and that those at the Olympics are usually Valencian.

In the morning we were awakened to what would become a theme of the weekend; fireworks going off right outside our window at 8:30 am. However, once up we were able to take in how amazing our apartment was. It was a 3-bedroom apartment with 6 beds, a large living room, dining room, and our own fully-stocked kitchen. The building was literally on the beach, and we had an amazing view of the sea out of our balcony. My friend McKenzie and I decided we were going to save some money by cooking meals, and went to the corner grocery store to stock up. We bought 25 euros of groceries with which we were able to make a large breakfast and dinner for 6 people. For breakfast we made scrambled eggs with mushroom and onion and eggs in a nest, and for dinner we made a HUGE thing of pasta and I made fried potatoes (aren't you proud Grandmere?).

We had a while before the bus to Valencia came, so we went and relaxed on the beach. The whole weekend the weather was amazing (sunny and 70s) and I was in shorts for most of it. When we finally made it into the city we spent the afternoon walking around, exploring, and watching the endless series of parades. Many of the locals dress up in a traditional Fallero costume, and the whole festival is nonstop parades.

After heading back to the apartment for dinner and a quick nap (the Spanish don't go out until well past 11pm) we came back to explore the city. Besides visiting some local bars, Chris and I bought our own fireworks, which were incredibly fun (and cheap) to light off (video of one of them here). For the nightly fireworks display, we headed to the plaza where most people watch from, which is RIGHT next to where they launch the fireworks. This meant that you could feel every explosion going through you, and that the fireworks looked like they were going to land on you. It was an absolutely unreal experience. I got a pretty good video here. I know it looks like it would be the grand finale, but that was only at the beginning.

On Saturday we were (again) woken up to fireworks which sounded like bombs going off under my bed. But it was (again) a gorgeous day. We packed up and, after getting a kebab, headed to the beach to await the bus. As our flight on Sunday left at 7am, we'd decided not to book a place to sleep Saturday night. Unfortunately, this also meant that we would have to carry our bags with us everywhere on Saturday. Luckily though, I had the idea to go to the train station in town where they had lockers. Feeling significantly lighter, we were able to walk around and explore. We spent some time walking around an area that's very similar to Chinatown, where they also had the winning statue. After seeing that, we walked over and got a good spot for the annual Cabalgata del Fuego (fire parade). Once the sun goes down, this parade starts up one of the main streets in Valencia, ending at their version of the Arc de Triomphe. It starts with people in traditional dress marching up the street but culminates in people dressed in crazy costumes wielding spark shooting staffs and pitchforks. There were people on stilts, a horse shooting fire, and a giant mechanical turtle with 6 men inside shooting fire everywhere. This is definitely a video worth seeing.

We finally headed the Plaza del Ayuntamiento, witch is the city hall square, in anticipation of the grand finale: the burning of the largest statue. As we got there 2 hours early, we were able to get amazing spots. While waiting we met all sorts of people: a Slovenian, Brazilians, 5 Penn Staters, and someone I knew from the Pittsburgh Jewish scene. Finally, at 1 a.m. they lit off a spectacular fireworks display, and then burned it down. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. I can't even describe it, you have to watch the video (found below).

By the time this all finished up, it was already 2 in the morning, and we decided to head to the airport. We all settle in on benches near the RyanAir counter, and got in a few hours of sleep. The trip home was unremarkable, with a lot of sleeping, and when we finally got home all of us went our separate ways, to prepare for midterm exams and go about our lives, but forever changed by the spectacular experience that was Las Fallas.

If you want to find out in more about what Las Fallas is, this website covers everything.

You can find other videos from the weekend on my youTube page

Amsterdam

My sincerest apologies to my loyal fans who have been anxiously awaiting the most recent chapter of my exhilarating travel blog. Between all the traveling, they expect us to actually "study" occasionally. I know, right? Ridiculous. This week is midterms week, which means that every day this week I've had an exam or paper due. But, I'm making time out of my hectic academic schedule to keep you up to date on my most recent voyage.

Check out the pictures (not a lot of them) from Amsterdam here.

This past weekend I spent experiencing (there's not another word for it) Amsterdam. My friend from USY, Lauren, is studying in Paris, and we had talked about traveling somewhere together. Her and her two friends were traveling to Amsterdam, so I decided to come along. The only trains available with Eurail seats left on them were Thursday morning, so I decided to use one of my allocated skip days, and took a 10:30 train to Paris. The train was relatively empty, and I had two seats to myself, from which to watch the gorgeous scenery fly by. When I finally got to Paris (it was a three hour ride) I had almost two hours in the city to get from the Gare de Lyon to the Gare du Nord (two major train stations). I set out on a quest to re-find the amazing falafel stand that I'd eaten at this past summer, only knowing vaguely the area it was in. After wandering around the Marais (Jewish quarter) for quite some time, I began worrying about catching my train and asked a store owner to point me in the direction. Having been in Israel two weeks before it really couldn't compare, but I was able to keep enough of an unbiased mind to appreciate the amazing quality of the falafel. With my stomach a little more full, and my wallet a little lighter, I headed for the train station. I got on the train to Amsterdam with no problems, and was off on another adventure.

Our hostel was ridiculously close to the train station (three minute walk) and perfectly located right in the heart of Amsterdam. The room was kind of small, but that's to be expected. We had a room with four beds for the four of us, and our own bathroom which was nice. Despite the slightly cramped quarters, everything was very clean, and the staff was friendly. Our first night we went to find one of the most famous coffee shops in Amsterdam, Kamer, where all the celebrities go (Lenny Kravitz) when they visit. On the way, we stopped for dinner at a nice Italian restaurant. The coffee shop scene is really an interesting experience. It's really amazing that people can just walk into a coffee shop and go up and order any blend of "coffee" they want. I'll leave it at that.

On Friday we went to what is commonly accepted as the best pancake place in Amsterdam, the Pancake Factory. Pancakes are something the Dutch take very seriously, so this is no small accomplishment. I had an amazing nutella and banana pancake, which was enough to carry me through the hour-long wait to get into the Anne Frank house. Unfortunately they don't allow cameras in, but it was an extremely intense and meaningful experience. They've turned the entire building into a museum, and you walk through the house seeing the different rooms, reading selected quotes from Anne's diary, and watching videos which included some very moving interviews with those involved in keeping the Franks safe. At the end of the museum they have an emotional interview with Otto Frank, as well as the original diaries. It was really an amazing and moving experience, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone visiting Amsterdam.

After the Anne Frank house, we visited Bull Dog coffee shop, which is another famous coffee shop. They're like the McDonald's of coffee shops; a chain with franchises all over the city. We walked around the central shopping street for a while, before getting dinner. After dinner we went back to the hostel, took a much-needed nap, showered, and then headed out to see for ourselves the infamous red light district. The red light district is indescribable. With certain grandparents reading this, I feel like it would be indecent of me to go into any detail. It was a unique experience.

Saturday I wanted to do the Sandeman's New Amsterdam free walking tour (the same company from Madrid), and so we headed to the location where the pamphlet said they would be leaving from at 11:15. Apparently, what that REALLY means is that they leave at 11. So we missed the tour, but went to the Van Gogh museum which was an adequate replacement. The museum has an amazing collection, not just of Van Gogh but also of his contemporaries. The paintings that I liked the most were the ones from his time in Arles. We had just watched a video in one of my classes about Van Gogh's time in Provence, and it was really surreal seeing them in real life a matter of days after seeing them on a TV screen. After the Van Gogh museum we walked over to the famous IAmSterdam sign, which seems to be famous solely for the sake of being famous, but is a cool photo spot. The rest of the day was pretty relaxing, exploring the city. One noteworthy point was when we visited Dampkring, a coffee shop famous for being the location of a memorable scene from the film Ocean's 12 (this scene). Saturday night we went out to some bars, but didn't stay out too late.

The last few days have all been about midterms. I have one more tomorrow, and after that I'm off to Valencia, Spain, for the festival of Las Fallas! Should be a blast!

Check out this acapella group we saw performing in Amsterdam:

Carnival in Nice

Check out all my pictures from the Carnival parade here

Imagine, waking up on a Sunday morning in your own bed! What a concept! Today was the first Sunday since I've been in Europe that I've woken up in my own bed, showered in a familiar shower, and eaten breakfast at the usual breakfast table. It was definitely a nice change of pace, albeit one that's not likely to be continued. However, in keeping with the whole carpe diem, make the most of Europe mentality, today was not to be without its own adventures.

There's a small tour company that pushes a lot of its trips through the program I'm on, and the trip today was a day trip to Nice. Around the world right now it's Carnival time, and Nice has one of the largest and oldest festivals in Europe. So this morning I was up early again, walking 30 minutes towards town for the second morning in a row. I slept for almost the entire two-hour bus ride, and when I woke up we were in Nice! There were a large number of people from my program on the trip, but we split up into groups of five or six and went exploring. It was a totally different feel from last time I was there. The relaxed feel that had saturated the air last time was gone, replaced by a feverish, festive atmosphere.

When we got there we walked around the old city for a bit, got Socca (a Nice local dish. It's like a crepe, but with chick peas in it), got ice cream, and bought fruit at the local market. After sitting on the beach for a bit and enjoying the sun and all the people in costumes, we decided to buy masks and go watch the parade.

They have different Carnival events each day of the week-long festival, but today was one of the last days, and was the grand parade. It was unlike anything I've ever seen before. The floats were absolutely insane. It was like being at Penn State's homecoming parade, but on steroids and ecstasy. The floats are gigantic, and most of them have large moving parts. My favorite was a humongous dinosaur-dragon-thing. It was probably 15 feet high and 40 feet long. Entirely mechanized, there were two men in the bottom working the controls; one to drive the actual float, and the other to operate the head. The entire neck and head moved from side to side, with a smoke machine inside. There was also a girl sitting inside the mouth, attacking the crowd with silly string and confetti. I should mention that there were vendors all over the streets selling confetti and cans of silly string. All the people in the floats have silly string and spray the crowd, and the crowd is only too happy to spray back. People who don't even know each other get into long, drawn-out silly string fights. A 10-year old kid had been spraying my friend Hanna for some time, and I finally got up, bought 4 cans of silly string, and proceeded to empty them all onto this kid, much to the chagrin of his parents. This led to us chasing each other around for a while, attacking each other with confetti, until his parents took him away. Here's another victim of our malice:

Skiing in the (French) Alps

Check out all my pictures from my ski trip here

So this is my first weekend (sort of) spend in Aix since I've been here. Every weekend I've been traveling, and I was excited to get to spend a weekend sleeping in my own bed, and using my regular shower. However, by no means was I about to let a weekend of potential adventures go by, and today I did something that's been on my "bucket list" for some time now: skiing in the Alps.

There's a travel agency in Aix called Idee Nomade, and they do all sorts of cheap bus trips to different places. The one that I had heard a lot about was their ski trips, and they actually have a very good deal. The trip costs 30 euro, and includes a round trip bus ticket (2 and a half hours each way), a day lift ticket, and 20 percent off of rentals. Compared to prices in the U.S., going skiing for a day for under $70 is a great deal. So at six this morning, two of my friends and I got on the bus, and headed for Les Orres in the Alps.

The view was already phenomenal just when we got off the bus. You turn around and just see mountain ranges everywhere. After a few runs on the green slopes with my two friends (neither of them are very experienced skiiers), I ambitiously decided to go for the top. After a few long ski lifts, I made it to the top of the mountain. They have regular ski lifts that will take you up to a certain point, and past that you need to take drag lifts, which at first are terrifying. With the drag lifts, you grab on to a pole with a flattened end, stick it between your legs, hold on, and it drags you up. The drag lifts to get to the summit had signs warning that they were extremely difficult, and at an angle greater than 50 degrees. I decided not to go all the way up at first. The view from where I was though was absolutely breathtaking. I don't trust my own mastery of the English language enough to do it justice, so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. I was still getting warmed up, and not sure how hard some of the slopes were (we don't have "red" slopes back home), so I took a blue slope down. Upon deciding that that was easy enough, I went even HIGHER the next time. From the summit of the mountain, you feel like you're at the top of and end of the world. Looking off one side you see all the slopes, and wayyyy down at the bottom the ski village. On the other side it's all sheer white mountain faces as far as the eye can see.

We could not have asked for better weather. I had borrowed a thin jacket and gloves from a friend, and I had a hat, but didn't have any snow pants. I went in only wearing jeans, and it turned out to be fine. It was so warm all day, especially in the sun, that I ended up not wearing my hat for most of the day, and went on some runs without gloves.

I spent most of the day at the summit of the mountain, where the most difficult runs were. The most difficult runs are generally labeled "red", with the listing of "black" being reserved for a few extra-difficult slopes. I accidentally went down one of the black slopes, but managed to make it down without falling. The runs were absolutely phenomenal, and I was skiing faster, steeper, and better than I ever have before. It was such a nice change of pace having only ever skiied in the U.S. (and not even out West), where most runs down the mountain last a few minutes, tops. Where we were, it took over 20 minutes to get from the summit to the bottom, and that was while going at near-breakneck speed.

Tomorrow I'm off to Nice for Carnaval!

My (second) Winter Break

I'm going to try to make this post concise, as fitting a whole week into a single post is a daunting task. The photos from my trip are here. (EMBEDDED PICTURES TO COME)

While most American college students have to settle for a measly single winter break, the Institute for American Universities believes that their students should have TWO winter breaks. So having already spent a month on break in Pittsburgh, and having only spent three weeks in classes in Aix, I spent a week-long vacation in Israel. The "real" reason for the vacation is that the end of February marks a vacation period for the French, and in the spirit of experiencing the full French lifestyle, this wondrous policy trickled-down to us lowly Americans.

My flight was scheduled to leave Marseille at 7 A.M. on the Friday before break. The only problem was that the airport is a 30 minute bus ride from Aix, and the first bus doesn't run until 4:40. On top of that, the bus station is a 30 minute walk from our apartment, and I didn't feel like asking Dominique to drive me. So I had decided to take the last bus out of Aix Thursday night, and sleep at the airport. Unfortunately, that week I came down with a monster of a cold. The combination of not sleeping in Madrid and the sudden change to rainy days hit me hard. Feeling miserable, I asked Dominique and she amazingly agreed to drive me to the bus station for the first bus. As it turns out, I need not have been worried about time. The airport was relatively empty, and it took me less than 20 minutes to get from the front doors of the airport to my gate. The flight was uneventful, and upon arriving in Tel Aviv I took a taxi to my friend Davida's apartment where I spent Shabbos sleeping on a most uncomfortable mattress.

Aside from Friday night which we spent going to a barbecue and a bar, I only had Saturday in Tel Aviv. We ended up doing what was probably the best thing for my cold: going to the beach with a group from Davida's program. It was 80 degrees and sunny out, and a perfect day for the beach. After eating some delicious shawarma, I laid out in the sun and took what may be one of my all-time favorite naps. When I woke up, my cold was completely gone. We spent the rest of the day relaxing at the beach, playing backgammon, paddle ball, and listening to people play guitar.

The next day (Sunday) I woke up early and took the bus to Jerusalem. Finding my way was relatively uneventful, and Bubbie's (my grandmother) instructions proved to be detailed and accurate. After arriving at her apartment, we spent the next several hours talking and playing cards. It was so nice getting to spend time with her, as I hadn't seen her in over three years! We got falaffel for dinner, and I can't even begin to describe how good Israeli falaffel is. So I won't. The next day I made my way (with great difficulty) to my aunt's house where I got to spend several hours playing with my cousin's infant daughter, Devorah. The combination of seeing my aunt for the first time in 3 years, and getting to play with an adorable baby made for a great day, which was capped off by getting to have dinner with the rest of the family.

After taking his sweet time to get there, my dad finally showed up on Monday night (lazy bum). We did some relaxing sightseeing together, toured our old neighborhood, and went to an incredible stalactite/stalagmite cave. Hidden for thousands of years, this cave was uncovered years ago during a routine mining blast, and exposed to the world breathtakingly intricate marvels. Despite there being a group of a million loud seven year-old girls in the cave with us, it was a good experience. Afterwards, we visited a national park that is home to a fortified Crusader farm house.

The highlight of the trip, and the reason we went, was the wedding of my cousin on Wednesday. If you haven't been to an Israeli religious wedding, it's quite the experience. This was my third such wedding, but it's always a bit overwhelming. The actual ceremony only takes about 15 minutes, after which follows 4 hours of food (a LOT of food), music, and (most importantly) DANCING. It's a crazy time, during which it's customary for people to try to entertain the bride and groom. This is exhibited through juggling, lighting hats on fire, silly masks, and a miniature hot air balloon. All of this was going on while I was trying to catch up with family members I hadn't seen in years (some of whom I'd never met), but all in all it was an amazing night.

The next day dad and I spent the day in the Old City of Jerusalem, walking around and re-experiencing all the sights, sounds, and smells. My favorite part was going to the new Aish HaTorah building (where my uncle works) which is right next to the Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock. I'm convinced that the roof of the Aish building has the most spectacular and unobstructed view of these two holy sites in the entire city. It was an amazing sight, and I couldn't stop taking pictures. That afternoon I met up with one of my closest camp friends, Rayna, right outside the old city. Rayna is currently in the Israeli army, and is in a special canine unit. We spent the day walking around, catching up, and having dinner at a restaurant near the infamous Ben Yehuda Street.

On Friday, Dad and Bubbie and I went to tour the Ayalon Institute. In the years leading up to Israeli independence, the Israelis were fighting a sort of war of independence against the British. The precursor to the Israeli military, the Haganah, had established an underground system of manufacturing weapons piece by piece, but were constantly low on ammunition. They decided to create a Kibbutz whose sole purpose would be to serve as a bullet factory. Hidden under the laundry room, 40 Israeli youth working for 4 years, making millions of bullets that aided in the fight for the liberation of what was then British-mandated Palestine. The factory has been kept as a museum, and it was a very surreal experience descending into the depths of the factory.

The entire extended family spent Shabbos in my uncle's town, Kiryat Sefer. I spent most of the day sleeping (5 hour nap), but the rest of it was spent praying, eating (a lot of eating), listening to speeches (a LOT of speeches, none of which I could understand) and playing with my adorable little cousins. It was a relaxing day, as Shabbos should be, and I was sad when it was time to leave on Sunday.

The post should end here, but it doesn't because my voyage home was terrible. To begin with, the Tel Aviv airport is one of the slowest airports I've ever been to. We had to wait through a line to get our check-in bags X-rayed before even getting to check-in. The check-in line was moving at a snail's pace, but I finally made it to the counter. The agent asked if I wanted a window or aisle seat, but then smashed my hopes against the rocky shores of reality by informing me that there were only middle seats available. However, it turned out there weren't ANY seats available, and she explained that they needed to open more seats up. However, there seemed to be a light at the end of the tunnel, as she informed me that I would be traveling business class! This also proved to be a tease, as when I got on the plane everything made sense. The business class aisles were exactly the same as the rest of the plane: two aisles of 3 seats each. However, in business class there was an armrest inserted in the middle seat, giving the aisle and window seats room to spread out. However, they had taken out the armrest in my seat (hence the "opening up new seats"), and my "business class" seat was really just a middle seat in the front of the plane. Our plane was 40 minutes late departing, which made me nervous as my connection in Paris was only an hour to begin with! This led to me hustling through Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris, and making my flight to Marseille. Unfortunately (but not surprisingly) my bag did not make it. After getting back to Aix I took a 2 hour nap, and was woken up by my phone ringing. Air France was outside, having driven my bag from the airport in Marseille to my doorstep in Aix-en-Provence. Tout est bien qui finit bien!

All in all, my trip to Israel was a refreshing change of pace from my previous travels. Being alone with family was a pleasant experience, and I enjoying not having to deal with the hectic pressures of standard tourist traveling. It was a relaxing week full of family, fun, and good food. With that being said, I was happy (as always) to return to the comfort of Aix, to see my friends, and to be able to speak the local language.

What Happens In Madrid...

Stays in Madrid. (but there are still photos on facebook)

And therefore, this post will be lightly censored. I leave it to the reader's imagination to fill in any gaps of further adventures that are not being included in this post. This past weekend I went to Madrid and it was...interesting. It was my first time taking RyanAir, which in itself was an interesting experience. RyanAir flights leaving Marseille have their own terminal, which has the feeling of being in an airplane hanger rather than an actual airport. But the plane was nice enough (737), and the flight was smooth enough with the exception of one thing; when you’re on a RyanAir flight they try to sell you things the whole time. Whether it was food, cigarettes, or cologne, during the entire flight there was someone of the PA system reading off a catalog. But I was able to put my iPod on, tune out, and get some quality sleep.

As we were leaving the airport in Madrid, my friend Marc-Adam realized that he had lost his iPod, so we had to go back to the terminal to try to look for it. As it was already past 10PM, the girls decided to go do their makeup in the airport bathroom, so we could go out as soon as we got to the hostel. After a 30 minute metro ride to the hostel, we showed up around 11:15. Everyone quickly got ready, and we went to meet my friend Alex's friend. As we were waiting around in a plaza, an American (Sam) came over and started talking to us. He was wearing a Chai necklace, and we found out that he's teaching English in Spain for the year, and was meeting his friend, whose birthday was that day. Coincidentally, we were all planning on ending up at the same club, and he asked if we wanted to go to an apartment party. The party was mostly English teachers, which meant either Americans or Anglophile Spaniards. We met a lot of interesting people, and it was nice hearing so much English in a country where none of us speak any of the language.

Eventually we headed for the infamous Kapital night club. This club is 7 stories, with each story being slightly different. The top 2 are lounges, the 4th and 5th are dance floors, and the bottom 3 all center around one massive dance floor. Interesting side note: when we asked Sam if we could buy beer anywhere, he took us to a woman standing on the street corner holding a bag and asked her for beer. She took one out of her bag and sold it to us for a euro. These people are all over the city, waiting to sell you cheap beer. This was good, as drinks were incredibly expensive in Kapital. There was an 18 euro cover charge, which included one drink, but it was well worth the experience. We ended up meeting up with Sam and his friend again, and they had bought a 300 euro private room overlooking the dance floor for his birthday, so we stayed there for a while. It was an absolutely crazy atmosphere...words can't describe it. We didn't get back to the hostel until 6:30 AM.

The next day we got up and headed out to explore the city. I had heard about a company called Sandeman's New Europe, and was excited to try it out. Sandeman's runs free English-speaking tours in most major European cities (as well as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem). The tour guides work entirely on tips, and (I've heard) they're all very relaxed, funny, and knowledgeable. We met at Plaza Mayor, which is a big open square filled with street performers, artists, and people dressed up like Disney characters. Our tour guide was an English guy named Jake, and he was great. We were in a group of about 40 (he said it was the largest he's ever had), but he was loud enough for all of us to hear him. He was funny, and had lots of great historical anecdotes and myths about the places we saw. He definitely knew what people would find interesting and wouldn't. The tour was about 3 hours, and it felt like we hit most of the major tourist sites: churches, castles, theaters, the palace, etc.

One interesting thing I noticed is that despite being a free tour, the tour guides do alright for themselves. There was a tour through the tourism office that was being offered at 4 euros per person. Sandeman's is a "free" tour, but the tour guides mention at the beginning and end that they only get tips for their time. Our tour guide was very good, and at the end people were giving him anywhere from 3-10 euros. I'm sure that despite being a free tour, he made more off of us than he would have anywhere else.

After a much-needed nap at the hostel, we went out for the night. None of us were feeling like repeating the previous night, so we decided to skip any clubs and check out Madrid's famous Tapas bars. These bars are all over the place in Madrid. Tapas is a type of appetizer, and usually you pay one low price for a drink and the appetizer. The type we got were different meats, and you ate them on a baguette. After leaving the tapas bar, we inadvertently walked into what must be THE American pub in Madrid. I don't think I heard a single person in the bar speaking Spanish, and they had NHL hockey on TV. Very weird feeling. Anyone walking in would've thought they were right back in State College. We finished the night at a hookah bar, before heading home for some much needed sleep (but not before being accosted by prostitutes).

Sunday morning we had a few hours before we had to be at the airport, so we decided to check out what our tour guide had told us is the largest flea market in Western Europe. Every Sunday an entire section of Madrid is flooded with vendors setting up booths to sell their goods. Hand-made crafts, art, second-hand goods...anything you can imagine you can find there. We spent over an hour walking around, and it was unlike anything I've ever seen before. Think Chinatown on crack.

The only thing I bought that day wasn't at any of the vendors, it was at a camping/outdoors store. I'd heard it be recommended to get a sleeping bag liner for staying at hostels, and a few of my friends had them. Hostel sheets are almost always kind of gross, but a sleeping bag liner fixes that problem. It's basically a sheet that's been sown up, and intended to line the inside of a sleeping bag. However, it can double up as a buffer layer between you and the sheets of carnal pleasures past. It folds up into a compact carrying case, and fits easily into a backpack. I feel much better having bought one. Next purchase: a micro-fiber quick-dry compact towel!

In comparison with my trip to Cassis, I felt much better prepared for this trip, while still feeling like a rugged traveler. Compared to some of my friends who checked bags, I pulled off a very minimalist approach. Just my backpack, travel-sized toiletries, and a few changes of socks, underwear, and shirts. I wore the same jeans the whole time, and didn't shower, but felt pretty comfortable, and no one complained about the smell. I really like the sense of freedom I get from walking around in a city I've never been to with everything I need in one small bag. I think that's a basic human feeling, as people have been walking the earth for centuries.

"Whatcha mean, walk the earth?

You know, like Caine in Kung Fu, walk from place to place, meet people, get into adventures."

A Day (Weekend?) in Cassis

Check out the pictures from my trip here

This weekend was my first REAL excursion (i.e. not planned by the program I'm on). While going someplace further in Europe like Amsterdam had been brought up, a few friends and I settled on Cassis, a small town on the Mediterranean less than an hour south of Aix. There were going to be four of us going on the trip, until we found out that the bus left Aix at 8 A.M. This obviously meant cutting down on the nighttime activities Friday night, which some of the group were unwilling to sacrifice. However, around 11 P.M. Friday night my friend, Mckenzie, and I decided to suck it up, cut our night short, and wake up early for the trip to Cassis. It turned out to be the right decision.

Cassis is known mainly for its calanques. The dictionary definition of "calanque" is rocky inlet. Between Cassis and Marseille, there's a series of these rocky inlets running along the coast which are absolutely gorgeous. These back-to-back inlets create stunning peninsulas that you can hike on. There are three close enough to Cassis to be within reasonable hiking distance. While these three are the popular destination, some brave souls actually make the 7+ hour hike from Cassis to Marseille and see them all.

So Saturday morning I dragged myself out of bed, grabbed a backpack with little in it but my journal and camera, headed outside and caught the bus where I met up with Mckenzie. We had an hour stop in Aubagne, a small town that was quite lazy early on a Saturday. After a 2nd bus ride (total transportation cost: 7 euro) we arrived in Cassis, and headed for the Office de Tourisme. From the moment I saw the town's port, I realized that it is what I've always imagined a Mediterranean Provencal town to be like. At 10 A.M. on a beautiful, sunny Saturday, it was very picturesque. The woman at the tourism office gave us a map of the town, and pointed us in the direction of the calanques, although she was a bit surprised we didn't have a car. The walk to the first calanque was about an hour, which gave us a good chance to see a bit of the town on our way there. The whole place has a very Greek island feel to it, and is quite a contrast to Aix-en-Provence. Along the way we passed a beach, where dozens of people were lined up sunbathing, and one brave woman was actually swimming.

We finally made it to the first peninsula, and the view was absolutely amazing. In a 270 degree view we could see all of Cassis, a magnificent cliff branching out into the water, and the Mediterranean Sea. The first calanque was relatively flat, with perfectly smooth, flat rocks down by the water. We had bought a typically French lunch before heading out (baguette, cheese, wine, and oranges), and sat on the rocks enjoying our lunch watching the Mediterranean crash inland.

Satisfied with lunch, and excited to see what else Cassis had in store for us, we headed out for the second calanque. The hike became a bit steeper, and the second calanque was much higher than the first. At the actualy inlet, there's a beautiful beach and grassy area that feels very tucked away in the surrounding hills, like its own little oasis. Wanting to experience everything we could before the last bus left for the day (at 4 P.M.) we hurried on and trekked to the top of the second peninsula, which had a more stunning view than the first. Not only could we see the same things as before, but we could see the first calanque, and see how far we had hiked. At this point, we realized that to make the bus, we would need to hike back immediately. However, we still had yet to see the third calanque, which the lady in the tourism office said was the best. Both of us were bummed about leaving so much unseen, so we made an extremely spur of the moment traveling decision, and decided to stay the night. We called the tourism office, asked for the cheapest hotel, and decided that for 50 euro split between two of us it was worth staying. The feeling of freedom and spontaneity that resulted from this decision is, in my opinion, the essence of travel.

With renewed vigor, we headed for the third calanque. This trail was much steeper than the previous two, and we found ourselves climbing over rocks and walking up steep hills. But by the time we made it, it was absolutely worth it. The point that we arrived at was much higher than the previous two, and was hundreds of feet above the inlet below, where there was another beach. We made our way out onto a rocky outcrop, and sat looking down at the ant people below us. It was one of the most magnificent views I've ever seen. A huge valley spread out below us, with cliff faces staring back at us from the other side, and a view of the Mediterranean over that. Absolutely stunning. After enjoying the view for a while, we decided to head back to the grassy area in the second calanque and rest for a while (this was after 5-6 hours of hiking).

As we were finally heading back into town, the sun was setting across from the giant cliff. Neither words nor pictures can truly do it justice, but the whole cliff face was glowing an intense orange that phenomenal. When we got to town we went to check into our hotel. The hotel was pretty small, but it was right off of the main street and we could see the port from our window. The room was kind of small, but we didn't need much. Luckily there were two beds and Mckenzie, being the gentleman, let me take the big one. We realized that we could fit 4 or 5 people comfortably in those 2 beds, which might be nice for future trips (would mean each person only paying 10 euro). The one downside to our spur of the moment traveling is that we had nothing with us. Only the clothes on our backs (which after 7 hours of hiking were kind of gross) no deodorant, toothpaste, or contact solution. So we went exploring, and after visiting a super market and a pharmacy found enough basics to survive the night comfortably. We then went to get dinner to bring back to the hotel, and found a pizza place. We almost weren't able to pay for our pizza though. We each only had 100 euro notes, so Mckenzie tried to pay with a debit card, which the guy said no to. Then we asked if 100 euro notes would work, and he laughed at us. We were able to scratch together enough coins though, and with the fruits of our exploration headed back to the hotel. After polishing off the pizza while watching The Simpsons in French, we passed out pretty hard for a few hours, and woke up at 9 with the intentions of checking out the casino. After showering and getting changed (back into the same clothes), we headed for the casino.

When we got to the casino we found out that French law requires non-EU citizens to present a passport to get into casinos. Neither of us had ours, and so we were turned away, but not before the guy at the front desk told us there was nothing else to do at night in Cassis. He was right. As much as I loved the sights of the day, Cassis made me appreciate the thriving nightlife in Aix. The town was like a ghost town, with 2 bars open. Neither were too exciting, so we retired for the night.

The next day we found out that there was only one bus back to Aix, at 4 P.M. This was much later than we'd planned on staying, but we decided to make the most of it. There is a chateau up on a hill overlooking the town, so we decided to check it out. We made our way up to the top, and found that the chateau is a private bed and breakfast, fenced in and locked up, which didn't really stop us. We made it into the inner courtyard, where we found a magnificent view of the town and surrounding area. When a lady came out and started asking us how we had gotten in (in French), we played the ignorant American card. (in very loud English) "What? I'm sorry I don't speak the language. What? We're just taking pictures!" until she smiled at us and left. Our next stop was a nearby vineyard, which we found closed on Sundays. We were able to take some cool pictures through the fence, but ultimately left disappointed. Finally, we headed to a nearby beach which was very rocky, but pretty nonetheless. There were people snorkeling, and so we watched them while enjoying a snack.

Feeling like we'd seen all that Cassis had to offer, we decided to head back to the first calanque to hang out and have lunch for a few hours. After another typical French lunch, Mckenzie took a nap on the rocks while I wrote in my journal, looked through pictures, and sat watching the boats go by. It was a beautiful sailing day, and I wanted so badly to go jump in a boat by myself and take it out. Before we left, we each wrote messages and sealed them up in a bottle which we threw out to sea. I'd never done it before, and it's kind of a cool feeling.

So, that was my big adventure of the week. I really liked having the ability to just decide to stay an extra night, and it was nice being able to just pick up and leave the hotel, but there's definitely some things I'm going to start keeping in my day bag, just in case:

• Extra shirt, socks, and underwear
• Contacts case filled with solution
• Travel-sized deodorant
• Passport
• Pills (tylenol, dayquil, nyquil)
• Flashlight
• Pocket knife
• Bottle Opener
• Lighter
• Cards
• Sharpie

I'll be better about that next weekend, when I'm in Madrid! Until then, classes classes classes.