So, seeing as we are swinging full-tilt into the Thanksgiving weekend I hope you all have some awesome times ahead. However, since I am not in the land of festive early winter dining, my weekend is instead the longest weekend I get whilst studying here in Roma. So, what do you do? Travel. I had thought at the beginning of my trip here that I'd love to check out the big car companies' factories throughout Italia, and other wistful thoughts included trying to explore the Alps a tad (maybe even on a bike!). However, the sad truth is that I never accomplished these ideas and won't have the time to during the remainder of my time here (probably a good thing for the Alps, kinda hard to ride up a steep incline grade when it is covered in ice and snow...). So a bit over a month ago, mostly on a whim, I decided to go with one of my classmates to visit a couple he met pre-quarter in Athens. Turns out they live in Brussels, Belgium (as you probably know, Belgium is a big cycling country). Woohoo. That location almost promises that I'll be able to find some cool local jerseys, a great addition to my cycling wardrobe and also useful souvenirs. The problem with this fairytale trip is that despite our kind emails, it turn out this couple has rescinded their offer. Too bad, we are still coming! So, since you won't see any updates to this blog (likely) over the upcoming days, you now know where I have vanished.
To keep you happy though, I have browsed the interweb and found these pleasant pieces for you:
http://magazines.drivers-republic.com/driversrepublic/thetruth030/ GT2 goodness vs. the Nissan Godzilla
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/No-Bake-Cookies-I/Detail.aspx A tasty looking snack I want to make when back stateside
http://www.gnam.beniculturali.it/ Cool museum we checked out today (Some great stuff here) in addition to the Villa Borgese (a big collection of classical sculpture and artwork including magnificent Bernini Sculptures, a few works of Raphael, and even a large Di Vinci)
Finally, until the end of the week it looks like you can go here http://www.cervelo.com/ and participate in a short questionnaire for a chance to win a jersey.
Alright, Ciao!
Bike Racing, Fit Science, and Physical Therapy
November 25, 2008
November 24, 2008
Venice, Land of Wind Tunnels
So, the main reason for the big delay between this and the previous blog was that 
this weekend I traveled up to Venezia with two of my colleagues here, Ben and Cliff. We left early Friday morning and got into our spots only to realize the train ride was actually 4.2 hours long (I guess they knew, I was the only one who was confused...) So we began our journey hanging out in one set of seats since the departure at 8:50 left the train mostly vacant. Listened to some music (sort of getting tired of some of these mixes now, need fresh stuff :/ ) Then, around Florence the train suddenly got packed and I had to move to my assigned seat after this girl (who must have been in a hurry to sit because she kept pointing and talking at me as I was getting up and moving) came aboard and asked for her seat. Shortly after, but before the train began moving again, my friends ended up being moved to their assigned seats which were just across the walkway from me. Go figure. Anyhow, more music while Italian businessmen read their newspapers and tried to sleep between answering phone calls and getting yelled at to be quieter by a short-tempered woman sitting next to Cliff. Finally we ended up in Venice, and it was interesting to watch the land taper off and soon it was just a bridge of road and track heading out until we pulled into the station.
Once off the train we realized that since Venice is more north than Rome it is cooler, obviously, but cooler than we perhaps were thinking. As we walked around we finally found our little B&B and then set out for an evening adventure. We walked about for around four hours until it was about 6ish and the light was too dark to really take any photos that would turn out well. We made ou
r way back to the room and watched some tv while deciding that we wanted to go out and have a good Venetian meal. We finally found a good looking place and settled in for a great tasting meal that for me included a delicious Venetian bean and noodle soup and was followed by fried seafood before being topped off with a tasty apple strudel thingy. Yum. That day ended with a little MTV-IT.
Day 2 was mostly taking photos and checking out churches. It is crazy to wander into some random church and see before you one of those famous
paintings you see in every art history class you've ever taken. As the day rolled on we ate too much food and then ended up walking around buying stuff for a bit (I got a cool sweater, mostly because I was getting chilly but it looked nice so I lucked out). Too full still from lunch we grabbed some little snacks and went home to watch tv and movies until Cliff decided he wanted food. So, we walked around for a bit before sitting at a little cafe and he order food while I payed too much for beer. Woo-hoo
Finally day 3. So, since we barely hit any museums yesterday today we scrambled around and found ourselves in the museum that didn't end. After about an hour in a museum about Venetian history we were suddenly in a classical sculpture gallery. Backtracking we continued the first museum and then ended up in a painting collection! Then, right as we were about to leave we got taken into a solo artist show by an Austrian artist who was painting Venice. As we left we noticed another entrance into what appeared to more museum, but we were wiped out. We continued to wander abo
ut for a bit, ate some Chinese food for lunch (I felt a little bad about eating Chinese in Venice, but I needed something new) and then we sat on the water-bus taking photos until they kicked us off at the end of the run. Now, only a few hours left til our train, we walked about with the wind slowly picking up and making it even colder. Photos pretty much done for the day we went to the station and climbed aboard the train and waited there eating a bit until it left about 45 minutes later. Venice done.
this weekend I traveled up to Venezia with two of my colleagues here, Ben and Cliff. We left early Friday morning and got into our spots only to realize the train ride was actually 4.2 hours long (I guess they knew, I was the only one who was confused...) So we began our journey hanging out in one set of seats since the departure at 8:50 left the train mostly vacant. Listened to some music (sort of getting tired of some of these mixes now, need fresh stuff :/ ) Then, around Florence the train suddenly got packed and I had to move to my assigned seat after this girl (who must have been in a hurry to sit because she kept pointing and talking at me as I was getting up and moving) came aboard and asked for her seat. Shortly after, but before the train began moving again, my friends ended up being moved to their assigned seats which were just across the walkway from me. Go figure. Anyhow, more music while Italian businessmen read their newspapers and tried to sleep between answering phone calls and getting yelled at to be quieter by a short-tempered woman sitting next to Cliff. Finally we ended up in Venice, and it was interesting to watch the land taper off and soon it was just a bridge of road and track heading out until we pulled into the station.Once off the train we realized that since Venice is more north than Rome it is cooler, obviously, but cooler than we perhaps were thinking. As we walked around we finally found our little B&B and then set out for an evening adventure. We walked about for around four hours until it was about 6ish and the light was too dark to really take any photos that would turn out well. We made ou
r way back to the room and watched some tv while deciding that we wanted to go out and have a good Venetian meal. We finally found a good looking place and settled in for a great tasting meal that for me included a delicious Venetian bean and noodle soup and was followed by fried seafood before being topped off with a tasty apple strudel thingy. Yum. That day ended with a little MTV-IT.Day 2 was mostly taking photos and checking out churches. It is crazy to wander into some random church and see before you one of those famous
paintings you see in every art history class you've ever taken. As the day rolled on we ate too much food and then ended up walking around buying stuff for a bit (I got a cool sweater, mostly because I was getting chilly but it looked nice so I lucked out). Too full still from lunch we grabbed some little snacks and went home to watch tv and movies until Cliff decided he wanted food. So, we walked around for a bit before sitting at a little cafe and he order food while I payed too much for beer. Woo-hooFinally day 3. So, since we barely hit any museums yesterday today we scrambled around and found ourselves in the museum that didn't end. After about an hour in a museum about Venetian history we were suddenly in a classical sculpture gallery. Backtracking we continued the first museum and then ended up in a painting collection! Then, right as we were about to leave we got taken into a solo artist show by an Austrian artist who was painting Venice. As we left we noticed another entrance into what appeared to more museum, but we were wiped out. We continued to wander abo
ut for a bit, ate some Chinese food for lunch (I felt a little bad about eating Chinese in Venice, but I needed something new) and then we sat on the water-bus taking photos until they kicked us off at the end of the run. Now, only a few hours left til our train, we walked about with the wind slowly picking up and making it even colder. Photos pretty much done for the day we went to the station and climbed aboard the train and waited there eating a bit until it left about 45 minutes later. Venice done.
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