Three Weeks and Counting

Once classes start up again tomorrow morning, I will have a full week of class and stay in Paderno for the weekend, possibly taking a day trip to Asolo and hitting up a discoteca in Bassano for the weekend. The following week I only have classes up until Thursday. The day before, however, is our last gourmet dinner and my birthday, w00t!! We have then have our last, extended travel weekend and some friends and I plan on travelling to Cinqueterra or the Five Lands. The week after that is finals week and then I leave Sunday, so only three weeks left!! As the old saying goes, time flies when you're having fun. After this program ends, I will be going back to Strasbourg for a week then Joy and I will fly back together to the States. I will spend a week back in Iowa City and then go to California to visit family. Soon after, I will off to London again for my internship!!

Baden Baden

For my last full day in Strasbourg, Joy and I decided to visit Baden Baden, Germany and go to the hot spring spa. The hot springs were built by the Romans when they conquered ancient Germania for a place of rest and relaxation.

As we approached the spa from the city's main road, white steam slowly swirled up into the air and gradually dissipated, a result from the cold air interacting with the outdoor portion of the spa's thermal water. The spa's indoor building was relatively modern-looking. The lobby area was walled with numerous panes of glass, stone pillars extending out into the walk way holding up the awning, and a rotating glass door ushered guests in.

Once we entered, we quickly bought our tickets and followed the crowd of people. It was also easy to figure out where to go by following the direction in which it got consistently warmer and warmer. First entering the main spa and looking to the right, one could see a large, semi-circular pool filled with people. A smaller jacuzzi-like pool sat in the middle of the larger pool, and a few people sat underneath a circular fountain spewing water in its entire circumference, letting the water splash over their bodies. To the left sat the even hotter pool surrounded by stone with a waterfall splashing down into the pool.

With a sigh of relief, I gradually eased my body into the pool. Sitting in the warm, thermal water, I felt so relaxed and calm. Not a worry or thought crept into my mind. I felt at peace with the world. I didn't think about homework, tests, internships, or anything that would place even the tiniest bit of stress on my body. My mind was at ease, caring neither about the past or future, only the now.

A Little Bit of Home Away from Home

I am back in Strausbourg, France visiting Joy for my second travel week. The week so far has been pretty uneventful, just the way I like it. While life in Paderno is comparatively slower and more laid back than in the States, it's still nice to get away from the classes, projects, tests, homework, etc and just do absolutely nothing once in awhile with my girlfriend.

Last night we had planned on staying in and making some home-style burgers for dinner; unfortunately, the burgers, bread, and cheese had all molded over. Instead, we opted to dine at a Chinese restaurant near the city center. The interior decor reminded me much of my time in China two summers ago. When you first entered, you could hear the sound of water trickling from the minature stone waterfall into the koi pond. Numerous round tables made of dark wood filled the large room, and the bar area looked much like an ancient Chinese building. It was constructed with plastic yet realistic bamboo siding and the roof was made of what would be round, cylindrical clay tilings. The roof was then finished at the ends with circular tiles with dragons in the middle. The entire restaurant was dimly lit with candles on every table and smaller ceiling lights. The greatest thing to gaze at, however, was the golden dragon swirling above the largest table swirling around staring menacingly at the people eating underneath it. It looked as if it could detach itself from the ceiling at any minute and begin reaking havoc on the entire restaurant.

The food was delicious. It's been awhile since I've had good Chinese cooking, much like the stuff I get to eat back home. We ordered a beef, pork, and duck dish, along with some rice and fried noodles. Dessert consisted of espresso for Joy and some sweet lychees for myself. When he served us the dessert and coffee, the owner of the restaurant and I started conversing in Chinese. Our conversation lasted for about fifteen minutes, and we talked about everyday stuff like where we were from, what we were doing in France, and the like. I learned that he was originally from the Jiangxu province in China, went to Shangang for culinary school and ended up in Strasbourg after being invited by a friend to run the restaurant. It's nice to know that I can still have a full conversation in Chinese with little to no trouble in understanding. One thing I have always regretted is not consistently speaking Chinese with my parents when I was younger. When I started college I took Chinese up to the end of my sophomore year. This year I felt I didn't have the time to take it again, but hopefully I can pick it up again at some point.

Asolo

Last Saturday some friends and I went to Asolo, a few kilometers away from Paderno. We had heard that there was a bar there where we could play beer pong but long story short, it was a no go. Despite this setback, it was an amazing time. We went to a nearby gelateria, got some gelato, and tasted some strawberry prosseco which was absolutely delicious! The red liquid would bubble in your mouth as the mix of strawberries and wine danced around on your tongue. It was so good we all decided to buy a bottle to ourselves, so you can imagine the look on the locals' faces. A couple of Americans walking the streets cracking bottles and having a good time!

Roaming the streets ended as we trekked up the mountain towards the castle. After a good twenty minutes of huffing and puffing, we finally reached our destination. Out of breath, sitting on a wall with our feet dangling, the view was incredible. Italy stretched beyond what the eye could see. Lights of orange, yellow, and light blue littered the dark landscape, and some even appeared as if they were floating in the sky where mountains could only be seen during the day. Quiet was all one could hear except for the occasional car whizzing by on the freeway, I couldn't help but keep silent as I gazed upon the view stretching before me. It felt surreal thinking I as where I was...

(the picture isn't mine...unfortunately my camera couldn't take a good picture so I thought I'd borrow it from online)

Rainy Paderno & Rome....for the third time

The week before Joy came to visit, the sun came out with full force, shining down on the small town of Paderno. A person could just lie in the grass with the sun beating down on them without a care in the world. Right before Joy arrived, the weather decided to show its ugly side. I am 100% certain there wasn't a day that week that wasn't down pouring and dark. Nevertheless, it was awesome to have Joy come visit Paderno del Grappa. She stayed at the local (and only) hotel, which to my surprise, was rather nice. The room was spacious and well kept. The shower had hot water and pressure, and there was even a fridge in the room (I took advantage of that)! The week was pretty uneventful, save the soccer game with the Italian regional team which didn't turn out pretty.

The following weekend was the school's weekend long break. Joy and I had planned to with my friends here in Paderno to Paris; unfortunately, Great Britain decided to not be great but a pain in the butt. I received an alarming email from my adviser back at Iowa, who was helping me with my internship in London this summer, that the UK decided ONCE AGAIN to change their regulations for student visas. So what this meant was that instead of enjoying a weekend in Paris, we had to go to Rome for me to get my biometric scan and turn in my visa application ASAP.

Okay, so it wasn't that bad. We had visited last year during Christmas break, and I had visited prior to arriving in Paderno. As such, there was no rushed feeling of having to see all the sights. We slept in, saw Trevi Fountain, The Spanish Steps, the Vatican, St. Peter's Basilica, and walked around the Colosseum and Roman Forum, a very relaxing trip. We ended the week in Venice Mestre since it was easier to get to the airport from there and ate at a very nice, local pizzeria. Joy flew back to Strasbourg the following Sunday, and I trained back to Paderno.

March of the Penguins

Joy and I took a train to Basel, Switzerland during my travel week, and we went to the local zoo. I haven't been to a zoo in quite some time, so it was pretty cool to see all the animals. We saw elephants, monkeys, giraffes, bears, different birds, and much more. But what was the coolest thing we saw were the penguins!! What made it even better was that the penguin keeper opened the gate and let the penguins loose amongst the crowd of people watching! It was hilarious watching the penguins waddle out and up the road like a parade, glancing at everybody wondering why everybody was making a fuss and staring at them. Joy and I stayed there for the entire afternoon, ate lunch, and went back to Strasbourg. Now that I have been to Germany and Switzerland, albeit for a small amount of time, I have two countries in Europe that I really want to visit: Spain and Greece.

"There and Back Again" - A Traveler's Tale

Two weeks ago, when I visited Joy for my travel week, we did some pretty cool sight seeing. The great thing about Strausbourg, France is that it's right on the border of the country. One day Joy and I decided to take a walk across the border into Germany and check out the city of Kehl. We went to the river to cross the bridge linking the two countries, but before we did so, we got ourselves some crepes covered with chocolate Nutella and whip creme, a very good, warming snack for a cold winter day! After devouring our crepes, we trekked on over to Kehl and when we arrived, we heard some loud music further down the city. We followed the shouting and music and walked into the Karneval celebration for Germany!! It was pretty sweet; there was confetti everywhere and people were running around in funny looking goblin/troll costumes. Kinda scary, but cool at the same time. We decided to sample the local fare and bought some German bratwurst. Not exactly the same as bratwurst back in the States, but delicious nonetheless! We walked around some more, saw some people line dancing to techno music (yeah I don't get it either!), then we made our way back again to France!