Saturday, June 13, 2009
An Open Appology
I wish to apologize to everyone who read my blog. I have started going back through my blog. I am sorry that I subjected you all to poor grammar and spelling. Since I was trying to write these as quickly as possible I never edited them, but I had thought they turned out well until I went through them again. I'm so sorry! lol
Monday, June 8, 2009
Yay Italy!
Wow! So I am on a very long plane ride from Munich to Los Angeles while writing this. Sorry I couldn't write this any earlier but I only had a few minutes of internet access over the last 3 days. We drove north to Florence a few days ago. This trip was mostly for shopping. We got a tour of a leather working factory that had been famous for making leather boxes without stitches, nails, or glue since the 16th century. I have been in desperate need of a wallet ever since mine quite literally exploded a month or two ago. The city of Florence set the economy of mainland Europe since they began minting coins in gold for the first time since Charlemagne in the 8th century. In a lot of ways the city has remained a major place for trading (I.e. Shopping). However, it also is home for perhaps the most famous museum of art in the world, the Uffizi. We spent hours wandering around the confusing halls picking out the one's we would take home with us. But my favorite museum was the Dante museum. Other than the fact that I thought the Inferno is a brilliant work, and the museum gave me a new perspective on it, I have no explanation for why I thought it was cooler than the Uffizi. It just was. After swearing I wouldn't buy anything else, I ended up getting an awesome sweatshirt from the University of Florence!
The next day was filled mostly with driving to Milan. I am absolutely shocked at the size of Italy! I had severely underestimated it. It took five hours, and we had the most amazing bus driver, Nico Magnifico. We got there at about 1 pm and were allowed free time to go and explore the city. I have been complaining about my legs being in pain for most of the trip, but I think with all of the exercise has caused me to lose 7 pounds or so. But by this point in the trip I was starting to determine what I wanted to do by whether or not my legs could take me there and whether a lack of money was an issue –by this point I had exactly 5.20 Euro to my name. We saw the beautiful Cathedral of Milan, which has won out over St. Stephen's in Vienna. It is enormous and has enough spires to make it look like an ornate pincushion. The place is significant for a few reason: The edict of Milan issued in 313 which legalized the practice of Christianity, the baptism of St. Augustine the most influential Christian author of his era, and the establishment of Church supremacy over that of the State which was pushed by Ambrose the bishop of Milan. The city of Milan does not preserve any significant ancient sites, and is now known as one of the world capitols of fashion. As if tourists like us were not easy enough to spot, the difference was made even greater by how well the Milanese dressed. Men who were not conducting business were still dressed in suits. As would be expected, the prices of the shops here were outrageous, and since I didn't have any money left it was rather dull place. Next time I should remember to save a 100 euro or so.
The morning we left, we got to sleep in extra late. I needed that so bad! We got to the airport and tried to check in but we were told that our plane was still in Munich with “technical problems.” Not a very reassuring statement to be sure but it ended up only being about 30 minutes late. Right now I am sitting on an Airbus (ICK!!!) somewhere over between Greenland and the Ungava Bay at 36000 feet (that's a little under seven miles... INSANE!!). It is currently 59 degrees Fahrenheit below zero with zero chance of rain. Our ground-speed velocity is hanging at around 597 mph (once again... INSANE!!). Our seating situation really worked out well. My buddy Aaron and I got the center aisle of four seats all to ourselves! I really can't wait to get home and take a real shower.
The next day was filled mostly with driving to Milan. I am absolutely shocked at the size of Italy! I had severely underestimated it. It took five hours, and we had the most amazing bus driver, Nico Magnifico. We got there at about 1 pm and were allowed free time to go and explore the city. I have been complaining about my legs being in pain for most of the trip, but I think with all of the exercise has caused me to lose 7 pounds or so. But by this point in the trip I was starting to determine what I wanted to do by whether or not my legs could take me there and whether a lack of money was an issue –by this point I had exactly 5.20 Euro to my name. We saw the beautiful Cathedral of Milan, which has won out over St. Stephen's in Vienna. It is enormous and has enough spires to make it look like an ornate pincushion. The place is significant for a few reason: The edict of Milan issued in 313 which legalized the practice of Christianity, the baptism of St. Augustine the most influential Christian author of his era, and the establishment of Church supremacy over that of the State which was pushed by Ambrose the bishop of Milan. The city of Milan does not preserve any significant ancient sites, and is now known as one of the world capitols of fashion. As if tourists like us were not easy enough to spot, the difference was made even greater by how well the Milanese dressed. Men who were not conducting business were still dressed in suits. As would be expected, the prices of the shops here were outrageous, and since I didn't have any money left it was rather dull place. Next time I should remember to save a 100 euro or so.
The morning we left, we got to sleep in extra late. I needed that so bad! We got to the airport and tried to check in but we were told that our plane was still in Munich with “technical problems.” Not a very reassuring statement to be sure but it ended up only being about 30 minutes late. Right now I am sitting on an Airbus (ICK!!!) somewhere over between Greenland and the Ungava Bay at 36000 feet (that's a little under seven miles... INSANE!!). It is currently 59 degrees Fahrenheit below zero with zero chance of rain. Our ground-speed velocity is hanging at around 597 mph (once again... INSANE!!). Our seating situation really worked out well. My buddy Aaron and I got the center aisle of four seats all to ourselves! I really can't wait to get home and take a real shower.
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