Estoy En Madrid

I went to Pamplona from Barcelona and really enjoyed it. I stayed with a 24 year old girl named Irene who showed me around the town and let me sleep on her couch! Pamplona is without a doubt one of the prettiest places I've been to yet. The whole city is a garden, with trees and parks everywhere, very well maintained flowers and trimmed bushes, and fountains. They still have old walls from the 15 and 16th centuries, which they have used as boundaries for these parks. They also have a free zoo of sorts with goats and deer, peacocks and swans in different areas.

I'm in Madrid now, and I'm off to explore it. It was kind of difficult getting to the hostal because Madrid's metro is on strike (seriously, what is it with the European transportation systems and strikes?)

Hope everything's going well at home!

Cinque Terre, Torino, Barcelona

I arrived in Barcelona by night train this morning. The night train was quite an experience. After sleeping in less-than-stellar hostels, a clean bed with sheets and a blanket (and a little bar of soap, toothpaste, and a collopseable toothbrush) feels SO posh. I really felt like this second-class sleeper car (which I shared with 3 other ladies) was the fanciest thing ever!

I had a very long travel day from Cinque Terre yesterday. Tuscany had a train strike scheduled from 10am-6pm and my train out of Cinque Terre was supposed to be at 4. To avoid getting stuck, I left on a 7am train so I could get my connection to Barcelona. This train brought me to Torino, which I guess I'm showing my ignorance by saying I didn't know anything about this city until I showed up in their station. Anyway, I arrived in Torino at 11 am, and my connecting train wasn't leaving until 8 pm. I decided to explore a bit, and found out that Torino is quite a beautiful city. It made me think of the nice parts of New York, with fancy shops and interesting people (lots of neon colored hair). I ate in a really nice cafe with miniature cactuses on the tables and worked on my journal (I've made my journal a priority over blogging, sorry). Then I walked around the city a bit, partly just to see what was there, and partly to look for a cheap belt (I forgot to pack one). All of the stores were way too fancy, and belts cost 15€ at least.

Finally I returned to this nice park across the street from the train station. I asked this middle aged lady sitting on a bench across from me 'Dove posso comprare...?' and pantomimed a belt. She tried to explain to me about this place where I could get a cheap belt, but I was afraid it might be too far away (I cut the bottom of my feet by jumping off a rock in Cinque Terre). Finally she led me to the place she was talking about. She's a Romanian lady who works as a caretaker for an old lady (who she brought along of course). She led me to a booth where a guy was selling belts for 5€. Then, because I'd tried to explain why I didn't want to walk far, she led me to a pharmacy and helped me get some bandaids.

After that, I returned to the park with Maria and her charge (I don't remember her name...) and we hung around on the benches for quite some time. Other friends of theirs showed up and gave happy greetings, and joined the group. Soon there were 9 or 10 people hanging out on the benches, chatting. None of them knew English, but we still managed to communicate using some combination of Italian and Spanish. I told them about my travels, and one guy told me about his family back in the Ukraine, showing me pictures of his recently-married son and his teenage daughter. I had a great time with these people, who were mostly from Eastern Europe and worked in blue collar jobs in Torino. One lady was named Valerie too! They were all so kind to me, and advised me to be careful in Barcelona to avoid theft. They also told me it'd be best to wait in the train station as things started to get dark in Torino. I said farewell to them with an Italian kiss (I was hoping to get this before I left Italy!) and headed into the station to get some dinner and catch my train.

I better get to bed early tonight...my only full day in Barcelona is tomorrow. Stay in touch!

Music in Venice

Hello friends! Internet access is getting harder to find without paying an arm and a leg, so I have to be brief again. I had a wonderful time in Florence and met all sorts of nice people (including a pair of British girls named Michelle and Emily, like my sisters!) My hostel here in Venice is not really my favorite so far (the staff is irresponsible and unavailable, and the guests are mostly a partying crowd). However, my visit here has been totally worth it because I found a free concert in a church right next to my hostel tonight. It was so completely beautiful, I felt like my soul was being renewed. The concert was sacred works by Faure for chorus and organ. Also while I was at the concert, I met these ladies from Massachussetts who are on their way to the same place I'm about to visit (Cinque Terre). We're going to try to look each other up when we're there!

I miss you guys! Send me some love!

-Val

In Rome

Just to let you guys know, I arrived in Rome last night and stayed in a catholic hostel (Ostello Marello). I'm heading out now to see the sites, but I just wanted to give a quick update about where I am. I hope you are all doing well!

-Val

In Istanbul (Constantinople)

I'm in Istanbul now! I traveled by bus from Izmir. My grandparents told me that Turkish busses are wonderful. The one I rode here was definitely luxurious, with an attendant serving tea and coffee every couple hours, as well as cakes and cookies. The Turks sure love their tea! The attendant spoke English, so he asked me about my trip and where I'm from. I'm so glad I put pictures of my family and a map of my trip plans in my journal, because it really helps with conversation.

Tea service on the bus to Istanbul

I have had a wonderful time in Izmir. Yılmaz and Seval really feel like my Turkish parents. We've had a great time making food together (I taught Seval how to make apple pie and Dutch cookies and she and her friends taught me about mantı, a kind of Turkish raviolli) chatting about various topics, listening to classical music, and eating lots of ice cream (Yılmaz was always treating me to ice cream and chocolate).

I love so many things about Turkey. The countryside is beautiful, the people are warm and friendly (Yılmaz and Seval always chat with the shop owners when they go to buy something), the food is delicious, and the weather has been wonderful (except the past three days when it rained). I have had so many experiences, which I have written about in detail in my journal. Here are some highlights:

• Teaching children at Bizimir (Seval's community center) the Hokey Pokey, and learning a song about a little bird (Mini Mini Bir Kuş) from them
• Visiting various different vacation homes at seaside towns.
• Shopping at bazaars and hearing vendors yelling out their wares
• Eating whole fish with the head on -- it was so good and so fresh, I've never liked fish as well as this one.
• Trying a bite of sheep intestine soup...it actually didn't taste that bad
• Hearing a classical guitarist play at Bizimev. He was excellent
• Meeting friends of my grandparents all over the place
• Seeing the ruins of Ephesus and Pergamon (the city where we get the word 'parchment' from)

Anyway, I should get going...I have an early day planned tomorrow! I hope everything's going well at home. Hoşçakal! (Goodbye!)

Sıtuatıon ın Turkey

In case you dıdn't know, there have been some stırrıngs between Israel and Turkey ın the past couple of days. People have been protestıng about sıx Turkısh actıvısts who were kılled off the coast of Israel (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/04/world/middleeast/04flotilla.html). Don't worry about me. Thıngs are just fıne here ın Izmır. I wıll be goıng to Istanbul on Monday, where I wıll be wıth a very smart and capable lady named Yaprak who speaks excellent Englısh, and whose husband ıs Amerıcan. Any of the protests are happenıng ın a dıfferent part of the cıty, and they'll probably be over by then anyway. There's no reason why I would be ın any danger.

From Seval:

Hello Laurıe everythıng ıs alrıght here. Don't worry about anythıng or about Valerıe. We wıll wrıte you soon. Thıs ıs mostly drama that our prıme mınıster ıs creatıng to make a show sınce electıons are comıng up soon.

Love to all! I wıll be flyıng to Rome on Thursday nıght!

-Valerie