for he's a jolly good vela

This afternoon was the Gold Cup final, and once again the USA played Mexico. Unlike two years ago though, this one sucked. 5-0 to Mexico, with all of the goals coming in the second half, and each goal being scored by a different player. Okay, so it was only the Gold Cup, and we were fielding what was basically a C team full of MLS players. But still, El Tri's recent World Cup qualifiers have been very substandard. Did they really have to choose this game to start playing well again?

The American fan in me is annoyed, slightly embarrassed, and a little worried as to how this will affect the World Cup qualifier at the Azteca in two weeks. The Arsenal fan in me is pretty damn excited, because let's face it, the second half was totally the Carlos Vela show. He only scored one of the goals but he set up several others. He was subbed on for Medina at the start of the second half and immediately invigorated the whole team. Here's hoping he can do the same for the Gunners this season. Who needs Adebayor? We've got Theo's Mexican Twin.

americans are stupid.

How did they vote this guy off??


Evan and Melissa needed to go, and they're both still here. It's all Tyce's fault for doing that stupid cancer dance. No one wanted to vote Melissa and Ade off after that, and while I didn't want Ade voted off, I did really want Melissa to go. I love ballerinas normally, but she's too one-dimensional and also kind of annoying. I used to love Evan, but he's long overstayed his welcome. Kupono was better than him, and Jason was better than all of the boys. My mom and I have decided that maybe we should actually start voting in these stupid things if we really care that much.

But seriously, what the fuck America? How can you not like a guy that looks like a cross between Eduardo da Silva, Goomba (haha thanks Ali), and a puppy dog? I am most seriously displeased.

spring break adventures, part three: when in rome...buy shot glasses of the pope

Warning: Very long and picture heavy post. There's a lot of history in this city.

I met up with three of the other RoHo internationals in Rome, which was fun except I'm really not a fan of one of the guys that came on the trip. He was his usual self, but we all tolerated it because, well, we were in Rome.

On the first day we checked into our hostel, then went to see the Four Fountains, which was a bit of a letdown because they were flanking a very busy intersection, so there were people and cars everywhere and nowhere to stand. We moved on quickly.

First full day we were there we visited the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and walked around and got lost for a while.

Fontana di Trevi

The Spanish Steps

View from the top of the steps.

Day two was Ancient Rome day. BTW, the whole week I was in Italy it happened to be "culture week" meaning that tons of museums and exhibits and other things were free. So we only had to pay for the audio guides, and then we proceeded to get lost in the ruins, looking for the correlating structures to the stupid guide numbers. We ended up running around trying to identify every structure by its foundations and getting super confused, but it ended up being a ton of fun anyways. And surprisingly informative.

Ancient ruins.

Palatine Hill had a killer view. The remains of ancient Rome are spread out below, and as I looked from left to right the Colosseum loomed out of the distance. It was totally one of those "woah, this is unreal" moments.

View from Palatine Hill.

We splashed out a bit and joined an official tour of the Colosseum because we hadn't paid for anything else so far, and I'm glad we did because it was full of interesting tidbits of info. For instance, did you know that contrary to popular assumption, only four Christians were ever killed in the Colosseum? Also, despite what some people think it was never flooded for naval battles.

The Colosseum. Pretty cool, huh?

The inside of the Colosseum. Really made me want to watch Gladiator.

The third day was dedicated to all things Catholic. We woke up early to take the Metro to Vatican City, which in itself was quite an experience. I never want to take the Roman Metro ever again. We were packed in like sardines and the whole time I was thinking that someone was about to pickpocket me. The random guy in front of me had the same idea about me, since he kept looking backwards at me and his backpack. Do I look like a thief, really?

The Vatican Museum wasn't too interesting. Usually I love art museums, but this was full of religious art which isn't really my thing. Only so many times I can see a graphic picture of Jesus being killed or God casting sinners into hell before I get bored and a little freaked out. But the Sistene Chapel was amazing. We weren't allowed to take pictures or videos, so naturally I took both.

I'm sure this is familiar to all of you. Yeah, yeah I know what you're all thinking: where's the FSM? And the cloud behind God is totally a human brain. Michelangelo was a closet pathologist (autopsist?).

St. Peter's Cathedral is pretty indescribably breathtaking. It's ginormous and a little too ornate for my particular taste, but still really pretty. We spent a long time in there because the four of us got separated and then couldn't find each other again for ages. Then we climbed to the top of the basilica, which was quite literally breathtaking. That's a hell of a lot of stairs and we were exhausted by the time we got to the top.

Halfway up there (at the top of the church but before the cupola) there was a place to stop and catch your breath, and go out and look at the view. This resting place had a gift shop with lots of religious style things to buy like crucifixes and angels and such. They also had shot glasses. With pictures of the pope on them. We dared Rob to buy one from the scary nuns who didn't speak English but he chickened out. Brigid went traditional and bought a rosary for her grandmother. She managed to communicate with them in French. I didn't buy anything because a) my french is atrocious, b) I'm not really one for religion, and c) I had very little money left.

The curve of the walls near the top of the cupola. I'm not claustrophobic in the least, but this part even had me a little spooked.

View from the top.

A Swiss Guard in the fabulously stylish uniforms allegedly designed by Michelangelo.

We found another tourist to take a picture of the whole gang.

After we left the Vatican, we realized that we hadn't quite gotten our fill of climbing things, so we climbed to the top of the Castel Sant'Angelo. Another great view from the top.


That night we went to a (surprise, surprise) pizza place in Trastevere (the medieval quarter) for dinner. This place was recommended as having the best pizza for a reasonable price in the city, and I wholeheartedly agree with that guide book. It started raining while we ate, but stopped before we left so we decided to get gelato as well. Bad idea. Just as we were finishing our cones we saw lightning and the wind started howling, and within two seconds we were drenched. And we were all the way across the city (and the river) from our hostel. So we had a long walk in front of us and by the time we got back we looked like this:
Brigid and I were numb and slightly delirious by this point, and we turned on Italian TV and proceeded to find every channel hilarious. There was a football talk show with these old men with the most ridiculous haircuts I've ever seen in my life. And Italian pop music is...well, awesome, to say the least. Fun times.

Our fourth and final day was filled with seeing/doing the miscellaneous things that we couldn't do the previous days. First stop was Piazza Navona, to see more Bernini sculptures. I swear, just like Florence is filled with Medici things, Rome is covered in Bernini.

Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi

From the back, con obelisk

Then we moved on to the Parthenon.

Raphael's tomb. And a bit of my finger. Picture taking win right there...

Bernini's Fontana del Tritone in Piazza Barberini

Finally, we went to the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II, or the Altar of the Fatherland. We wanted to climb more stairs, and didn't have anything else on our list of things to see. Unforch it closed right when we got there, and then we got yelled at by guards for sitting on the steps outside while we figured out what to do after.

When in doubt, get gelato. Since the guidebook pointed us in the direction of great pizza earlier, we decided to trust it again when it said Gelato di San Crispino was the best in Rome. And boy were they right again. I got nocciolo e cioccolato (hazelnut and chocolate) and it was pure creamy heaven.
*deep breath* Oookay that's pretty much it. The next morning the three others had an early flight so they left before I woke up, and I took a noon train to Pisa. My final Italian adventures coming soon...

spring break adventures, part two: gelato and michelangelo

More train issues resulted in me not having any time to spend in Nice (quelle tragédie), so I will skip right on to Italia. First stop: Florence/Firenze.

Some of the city + the Arno + pretty mountains in the background

This city is so pretty. I am forever indebted to my mom for telling me to go here instead of Milan. The hostel I stayed at (The Archi Rossi, if anyone is planning a trip and wants a rec) was my favorite of the whole trip. The room I stayed in was huge and spacious, and they served free breakfast and dinner every day except Saturday.

I met lots of really cool people in the hostel, including a girl from Maryland who was studying abroad in Amsterdam for the semester, a guy named Kevin from Arizona who looked like a 90s boyband reject, and Lizzie, my new buddy who lives in Hammersmith and works for the BBC.

The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore

The first morning I tagged along on the free tour that was set up by my hostel, and it was actually really informative. I love free tours because you actually learn shizz, but you don't have to skip lunch to pay for it! (Hey shuddup, I really had to watch my spending on these trips!)

The fake David they put up after they moved the real David inside to protect him

I spent most of the rest of the day wandering around, looking at the architecture and numerous pieces of art around the city. I had the best pizza I've ever eaten for lunch, and then went back to the hostel and had free pizza for dinner. I pretty much survived on a diet of pizza margherita in Italy.

The second day I crossed the river and walked up the hill to the Piazza del Michelangelo, because the view is incredible. It was a gorgeous day too and I spent most of the afternoon up there just reading and walking around and soaking in the Italian-ness.

Both nights I hung out with Lizzie and Kevin and a few other people (whose names I can't remember) in the common area of the hostel, drinking wine and limoncello and just chatting about random stuff. We also went to get gelato several times because, well, it's pretty much an orgasm in a waffle cone.

So yeah, like London, Paris and Barcelona before it, this city was one of my immediate loves. If I knew how to speak the language I could happily spend a very long time there.

so i think i can blog?

I have no excuse for the lack of posts. I suck. I swear I'll try to be back and blogging normally soon, but for now I just had to post this. I can't get over this dance. Best thing ever. It seriously gave me chills.

jandj 10 @ Yahoo! Video

The clearer (and shorter) version of the dance is here, but youtube wouldn't let me embed it.

Jason and Jeanine are my two favorites this season and I was so glad when they got paired. They are awesome together.

Mary Murphy is still freaking annoying though.

spring break adventures, part one: españa, te amo

It's been forever since I got back, so I figured I'd better just sit down and get this done. Two months after the fact...sorry about that, but exams have kind of been more on my mind than blogging. Apparently I fail at multitasking. Anyways I have a lot to talk about, so the recap will have to be split up into several entries.

On Tuesday the 14th of April I flew from London to Barcelona to start my two week backpacking adventure. I had to take the bus to the Plaça de Catalunya from the airport, and for the whole bus ride I was looking out the window with this huge grin on my face. It was cold and rainy in London but I was in Spain, with the sun shining on everything, giving it all a lovely orange glow. There were palm trees and Messi shirts everywhere. The latter mainly because it was the day of the second leg QF between Barcelona and Bayern Munich, which I watched with some locals while eating dinner. There was also a German couple there, who were sad about Munich losing so badly but were good sports about the whole thing.

La Rambla, where my hostel was located (well it was on a side street, but within walking distance).

I was lame and kind of forgot to take pictures of Barcelona. I was also only there for a day, so I didn't get to see much of the city beyond the Plaça Catalunya. What I did see was amazing though. I really want to go back to Barça for a longer amount of time soon.

The next day I took a train to Valencia, and on the way I sat across from a family from Virginia! The daughter was studying at Valencia University for the year and the parents had come to visit her for the week. Odd coincidence I thought at the time, but I actually met a bunch of people from VA over the next few weeks. Apparently we're all very worldly.

Valencia train station. I thought it was a pretty sweet building.

My hostel in Valencia was really great, with this huge kitchen area where everyone hung out and cooked dinner and drank together (a litre of sangria was 80 cents at the local shop). I talked Canadian politics with a girl from Ottowa and a couple from Quebec, which was pretty interesting because I know nothing about it.

The next day I went to La Ciudad de las Artes y de las Ciencias (the City of Arts and Sciences), which is a group of crazy looking futuristic buildings housing museums of...you guessed it...art and science. The science museum was pretty cool, but a lot of it was only in Spanish so I didn't understand much of it. I really need to learn how to say more than "I'm sorry, I don't speak Spanish", "Go Spain/Barcelona", "I love you", and "Where's the metro?".

As my friend said on facebook...this is not a building, it's a space ship.

I met up with fellow footie-lover Gina there, and we took a quick trip to the Mestalla. Doesn't look like much from the outside, but I hear that the inside is pretty awesome. Go here for proof.

Then we walked around the city some, ate delish paella, went to the very cool-looking silk exchange building, and took refuge under a building's overhang while it rained a lot. WTF, weather.
On my last day in town I took the metro down to the beach, because the weather was (finally) gorgeous. I didn't bring my towel or bathing suit with me, so I didn't actually sunbathe, but I did lay on the wall by the sand for ages.I also visited the local indoor market for lunch and to stock up on oranges...because what is a trip to Valencia without oranges?? I didn't take a picture of that but it was a really cool building. And I spoke Spanish to the girl at the fruit stand. Kind of.

Everyone heard/read my ranting about my stolen iPod, so I won't go back into that again, but here's the park where it happened. Not exactly the type of place you'd expect thieves to hang out, is it?Due to unforeseen train issues, I ended up going back to Barcelona for a night before traveling on to France, instead of taking an overnight train to Nice. Because I was effectively stranded there and my train didn't get in until midnight, I coudn't really be picky (i.e. money-conscious) about where I stayed and ended up at a hotel instead of a hostel. I didn't mind though, because it was the best night's sleep I had all trip.

Next up: Italia!

back...with pandas and new music.

Okay, I'm back in the blogging world. Or at least I hope to be. I have ridiculous amounts of travel recaps needing to be written, so I figure if I take myself off hiatus that will force me to stop neglecting them. Plus exams are over (woohoo!) so I should actually have time to write.

New song of the week is "The Boss Americana" by Albert Hammond, Jr. from 2008's release Como Te Llama. I'm always a little bit wary of members of a band putting out solo albums because most of the time the individual parts never quite measure up to the whole (just look at Carl Barat and Pete Doherty), but I just got this album a few days ago and I actually like it better than some of The Strokes' stuff.

The reason I got this (and lots of other stuff...about 2000 songs worth) is because my friend Phil came to visit this weekend. I love hanging out with him because while we have practically the exact same taste in music, we don't actually have a lot of the same music. His music library is filled with albums that I've had on my list for ages but never got around to getting (Belle and Sebastian, Arcade Fire, Pulp, early Ash and late Blur, The Zutons, The Hives, etc. etc.), and I have a ton of old school rock that he doesn't have (David Bowie, The Clash, The Kinks, The Velvet Underground, and so on). Ours is a synergistic relationship.

Friday night we went into London to meet up with a girl I met in Florence, who was hosting a "panda pub crawl". Why, you ask? (And many people did). Well, why the hell not?

We took pictures in the middle of the road like the Beatles.

We drank bamboo shooters.

We met a group of Freemasons.

And we hid from vultures.

It was by far the weirdest night I've had in a very long time. But it was totally fun. I also swear to Iker I saw Andrey Arshavin walking around Holborn. I'm so going to miss London.