Florence/buying all the leather goods

Hello people,

Sorry I haven't posted anything in forever.

This weekend Malia and I went to Florence. Our flights were originally cancelled and everything was a hot mess, but then we got a different flight, which was then 2 hours late because the front door of the airplane would not close. Seems like that is something you would check... but whatever.

We finally got to Florence around midnight and headed to our hostel. The lady in the bunk below me had some GIANT underpants artfully displayed on a hanger. I really don't know what she was trying to do with those, but hey, good for you lady. artsy.

Saturday we went to the leather market to buy all the things. I had forgotten how pushy the leather sales people can be. I almost bought a custom leather jacket but was afraid I would ruin it or lose it.... andddddd I did manage to lose a bag full of bags later, sooooo good call on not buying the jacket, self.

One guy liked that Malia and I were blonde and offered us anything we wanted for free. We ended up in his shop later and he got totally weird. I was trying on a jacket and apparently he decided that I looked like J.Lo and kept trying to touch my legs.

except with legs, and not dogs.

I bought a giant leather bag to check on the flight back to the states. I was trying to figure out if it was possible to get all my things into my two suitcases, and while I think everything would fit, they would be too heavy. enter, new bag! score. 

My bag is on the right, Malia's new duffel on the left:

We did a free walking tour, which was just awful. I had written in my post from last year that the tour was pretty bad, but we had hoped in a year it would have improved. SO TERRIBLE. the tour guide didn't seem to actually know much about any of the things he was showing us. 'Here is a famous statue created by a famous Florentine artist'  any idea which one, sir?? no? great.

After that we wandered around looking for a place to eat dinner. Grabbed some gelato, because Italy, duh. The two guys who were working in the gelato place were adorable. Malia and I decided they were father and son, because that makes everything more adorable. They were engaging in some sort of gelato beautification contest and kept adding cookies and things to our gelatos and rearranging things and just being adorable. Take my word for it. I can't describe it any other way.

Then we had some time to kill before our dinner reservation and went and rapid fire bought some little purses in the pouring rain. (spoiler alert, these bags for my sistaaaaaas, and I lost them all. SORRY I RUINED CHRISTMAS) The waiters were clearly trying to get us to leave the restaurant quickly and quickly brought out food and then took the plates away and were not properly timing the meal. sooooooo(spoiler alert, mistake) we decided to see how long we could stay at the restaurant. MISTAKE. We ordered wines, coffees, and I kept picking at the bread after we finished our first course. They kept trying to take the bread away though.... GIMME MY BREAD, JERKS.(lots of all caps in this post, sorry world) Sooooooo long story short, we drank alllllll the wine, got separated and I ended up lost and overwhelmed in the pouring rain in Florence surrounded by creeps, lost my umbrella and the purses. *bold caps* SORRY WORLD. 

Sunday we got up and shoved all the things into my new GIANT leather bag(thankfully I didn't lose that as it was considerably more expensive than the other bags(RIP/you're welcome Florence hobos)

We then headed out to go see the David. Weirdly, the Accademia gallery museum thing with the David was roughly twice the price of the Uffizi Gallery which had soooo many more things. Giant naked men really drive the price up I guess. My favorite part of going to see the David was eavesdropping on the little old ladies there who were talking about how amazing the detail on the sculpture was, but that they 'realllllly thought it would be bigger' hilarious. 

Here is the David(iPhone pic):

Here is what I like to think were the intended colors of the David:

pale pink, mustard yellow and HOT.

The Accademia also had this great video of a ginger girl writing/drawing something: 

Perfection.

Here is the Duomo, which I think is my favorite giant cathedral I have seen so far, other than the Sagrada Familia

We grabbed some food near there and then walked over to the Uffizi. They have the Birth of Venus, which was cool to see. and this:

Wonky, stretchy Madonna with wonky stretchy Jesus. AKA 'Madonna with the long neck'

Artist life tip: If you totally botch a painting of something and make it look totally wonky, just add something to the name so people think it was on purpose. noted.

We headed back to the hostel to grab our bags and hopped in a taxi to the airport. Because of the problems with our flight over to Florence, it looked like we were going to be stuck in the airport forever, but they figured it out. We had a layover in the Amsterdam Airport, which was amazing. They have a nature lounge area that is made to look like a park and has nature sounds playing and lounge chairs and fake trees. SO GREAT. 

My final trip is coming up next week. going to Krakow, Poland! MUST EAT ALL THE PIEROGIES. NOMZZZZZ

hopefully I will find something cool to replace the christmas gifts I lost, otherwise... I'll just come home for christmas and everyone should be satisfied with that.

Happy Monday everyone!

I'm going to the sneak preview tonight, finally got tickets in a semi-reasonable row and not row 1. ROW 17 for the win. Hope the movie doesn't suck.

Part 2: How painted horses and more acceptable that zebras

Okay, now that I have had some Käsespätzle I feel ready to continue...

We left Harrods and headed to the train station to hop on the Eurostar to Paris. My dad was super pumped about going through the chunnel or something and then slept through the whole thing. We had delicious Marks and Spencer salad meal things that Amy and I ate a ton of last summer. Nomz.

8. Paris

9. Hotel sneaking

We got to Paris and got over to our hotel, I had to wait outside and sneak in later because once again I was not a real guest. *That sounds bad, but really it was great because I felt like a spy in stealth mode*

The hotel was very close to the Eiffel Tower so we walked over there and looked at it for a bit. It did its spastic sparkle thing on the hour for five minutes and the creeps tried to sell us champagne, wine, beer, water, keychains, cigarettes, babies, monkeys, drugs, themselves, everything in the world.

10. Walking Tour

The next day we did a walking tour and saw some of the major things: some street called the fishing cat street or something because cats used to fish in that street when the city flooded and French people are creative....Notre Dame, Louvre, other museums, egyptian pillar obelisk thing and more. Then came this:

11. more walking

12. more walking

we did SO MUCH WALKING. We only realized the extent of the walking when we got to:

13. Top of Tower

We went all the way to the top and looked at all of the Parisian things, and charted our walking and it was IMMENSE. and thennnnnn I used the bathroom at the top and I think that was the tallest bathroom I have ever used. (except on planes, but still) THRILLING. Also, these Paris things are out of order because I think we did the Louvre before the Top of the Tower. and before MK+A so we'll get back to that.

15. Louvre

Went in the Louvre and looked at the art things and I had to see this stupid lady again:

Mona's hot younger self on the left. More about that here, and everywhere on the internet.

14. MK+A

After looking at the things, we did the walking because I think the Louvre was in the middle of that and then later on we did some fencing with baguettes in front of the Eiffel Tower. I'll add photos later...

16. D'Orsay

Next day we stored our luggage at the train station then went and looked at the Musee D'Orsay and saw some Degas, Renoir, Monet things. I liked the Degas sculptures. We also went and walked around Montmartre and went in the Sacre Couer, I don't remember when this was, but I illegally took this photo(shhhhh, don't tell anyone, internet people):

We also went in the Notre Dame, again not sure when this all fit in to the Paris timetable...

17. Night Train

That night we took the night train to Hamburg from Paris. There was a mix up and Deutsche Bahn attached the wrong sleeping car to the train and we had a slightly less plush sleeping car. Still cool though. The train guy was ultra german and he tried to explain the whole ordeal to me in German because I answered his 'Do you speak German?' question with 'a little' mistake. He had to re-explain in English.

18. Hamburg

We arrived in Hamburg around 9 am and headed to my place to drop off our things. We wandered around the schanze for a little bit and checked out the weird people before heading to the city center to do some shopping and eating on Mönckebergstraße. I got a new coat for my birthday! Now I won't freeze. (20. Shopping for everything)

19. Apartment

We headed back to my neighborhood to check in to the apartment we rented. The apartment was HUGE. It had a living room, kitchen table room, and large bedrooms. My bathroom was nicer though, toilet and shower in the same room! It was interesting to compare the two apartments. 

21. walking tour/Hafen City

We did another walking tour in Hamburg. I liked this tour guide more than the last one I had in Hamburg. Despite his weirdly giant pants... We saw all the things and then wandered around the Hafen City... we made it down to the Unilever buidling, which looks a bit weird on the outside, but has a cool atrium. After some internet searching we learned that it is a suuuuuuper green eco building and has won awards for that. Get it Unilever.

22. ferry boat

We took a ferry boat taxi metro public transport boat trip around for a little bit(2 HOURS!) It was freezing but there were some entertaining German children at our table. I was eating a granola bar and they were watching me and then pulled out some cookies and candy. You showed me, children. You win.

22.5. Fischmarkt

Don't know why this wasn't on the list. We did soooo many things my brain is mush. We got up super early Sunday morning to head over to the Altona Fischmarkt. It is a huge deal in Hamburg. The fish people sell the fish to drunken partygoers and early risers. There was also delicious waffles, baked goods, pasta, clothing and an auction hall with a live band. I have been to the Fischmarkt once before but I was in the other category of visitors last time, so this was a whole new, much colder, experience. 

23. Blankenese

We headed to Blankenese on Sunday. It is the Treppenviertel stair town stair quarter stair something... It was cute! lots of stairs and winding streets that lead to the water. It reminded me more of Italy than Germany so that was interesting. In one of the stores there, this was on the wall:

I'm pretty sure that was real. blegh. poor little guy. I'm telling myself it was a painted horse, somehow that makes me feel better about it.

24. Hamburger Meile

Monday we hit up the Mundsburg center and Hamburger Meile shopping mall. It was GREAT! We bought shoesssss. I posted this on facebook:

Parents are doing Europe RIGHT! I also got some new boots to help with the winter and horrible weather, some cool high top sweater tennis shoes and some cool heeled short boot shoe things(photos soon). Also bought a pair of black ankle boots to replace the pair I bought last year in Amsterdam, but they are suuuper squeaky and loud, so I am going to try to return them tomorrow.

25. Wheelie

26. Future fabulous life

These two really go together. Wheelie is the three-legged dog I will have in my future life. It was determined that my future life will be fabulous and expensive and I will have a lot of excellent leather luggage and purses and wallets and things and an adorable three-legged dog with a wheel named Wheelie. This is super important to me.

BONUS

We ate so many delicious things over this trip. Breads, more breads, delicious potatoes from this place near me, must go back often, beers, wines, noodles, cheeses, desserts(mom and I had waffles for dinner at this place in London, YUM!) 

and then Dad ordered this:

It is a pig knuckle. And it had hair on it. Sooooo there's that. Good beer though.

8. Paris

9. Hotel sneaking

10. Walking Tour

11. more walking

12. more walking

13. Top of Tower

14. MK+A

15. Louvre

16. D'Orsay

17. Night Train

18. Hamburg

19. Apartment

20. Shopping for everything

21. walking tour/Hafen City

22. ferry boat

23. Blankenese

24. Hamburger Meile

25. Wheelie

26. Future fabulous life

Okay, so that's the end of the trip! They headed home with suitcases packed full of shoes and wine and candy and presents and things... I had a great time! See you guys for Christmas!

I will hopefully upload some more photos soon! Still need to transfer them from my camera... and now that I have home internet I should probably post some more photos from the last 3 months... but I just keep watching internet television. Caught up on White Collar! and now all the Fall shows are starting, I don't know how I will make time for it all...

Happy almost birthday to me!

22 just sounds so much more real that 21. Maybe it's time to start looking for Wheelie

I need to hibernate

Okay, Hi!

*I posted this earlier and the formatting was crazy, hopefully this is better*

Not on the list:

My birthday is approaching. Huzzah. I have plans to make a delicious birthday treat on Sunday to bring to work Monday. Duh, it's Puppy Chow. I bought some German peanut butter. or Erdnusscreme... here's hoping that works... Also after Sunday I can say 'Ich bin zweiundzwanzig Jahre alt.' score.

I am also planning a trip to Florence to buy leather goods for my future fabulous life(#26, more later). I will try to mix in some other cultural things, but I think the leather markets count as culture, and really I just want to buy leather things. If I like you, maybe I'll buy you a present. But I will probably selfishly buy a billion things for myself.

I have home internet now and it is AMAZING. Bad timing though because it is approaching hibernating season and now I have a great reason to stay in bed all day and watch internet television and never go outside. Also yesterday I accidentally(on purpose) bought a TON of candy... stockpiling for the winter, it will most likely be gone by Sunday. Tomorrow I have made plans to attend a fitness class though, so I think it's fine. Also, fitness class!! Who am I?!

I went to German class last night and I wasn't too lost... We are learning more about grammar and tricky language things that I can't really handle in English... soooooo we'll see.

alright, time to tackle the list... these things seem like they happened sooooooo long ago.... sorry if it is jumbly and virtually incoherent(but really, aren't all of my posts jumbly and incoherent?) 

0. The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared

I bought this book after seeing it twice in the airport. I didn't know I would have internet, so I didn't want to wait and buy the Kindle edition. Also the book cover is nice. 

I am about halfway through this book and it is GREAT! This super old man decides to ditch his 100 year birthday party and then shenanigans occur. Murder, elephants, death by elephant... it's great. Get it. Or wait until December 19th and you can borrow it from me.

1. london luton

2. london hotel

3. sleeping on the floor like a high-class hobo

Combined: 

I flew into London Luton airport and the border control guy was mad at me because I didn't have the address written down on my entry card. I took a bus to a train to another 2 trains to get to the hotel. The hotel was SWANK. I am glad I brought my leather duffel bag instead of my backpack. I still felt like I didn't belong though. Maybe in my future life. I was not techincally allowed to stay at the hotel since the room was booked for 2 people and I slept on the floor on a bed of throw pillows lined up. They were about 2 inches wider than my body. I probably should have moved in to the bathroom because there was a tv in there and heated floors. Now I know for next time. 

4. changing of the Horse Guards and Mitt Romney's prancing dancing pony

Saturday morning we went to go see the changing of the Horse Guards, which looked a lot like Red Rover for a little bit. I entertained myself by making up conversations between the horses... one looked like he was struggling. must have been out too late the night before. Pictures and captions to follow. I think it would have been more entertaining to watch Mittens' pony dance around, but I'll take what I can get.

5. London Bridge

6. London Tower

*bonus: Tate Modern Revisited, Chipotle, Harry Potter Bridge

We walked around London some more and I wasn't allowed to eat Chipotle. I am going back to London this Thursday–Sunday, so I plan to eat Chipotle at least 12 times. We ended up walking around the water and going in the basement of St. Paul's, I made the mistake of going in the Diaper changing bathroom stall, the things I smelled in there will scar me for life. We walked across the London Bridge(this might all be in the wrong order) and looked at the London Tower compound/area. My mom said she read somewhere(or made up) that the workers get to live in some rooms in there. Could be cool, or super creepy, or both. We then went in the Tate Modern because it is free and full of hilarious things. My favorite piece: a mirror glued to a canvas was still there. Also I'm pretty sure I saw someone I recognized from Cincinnati, if that was you.... let me know. It was on September 15th.

7. Harrods

Harrods is GIGANTIC! and super fancy. I found a lot of things for my future life. Like spectacular Burberry trench coats. Yum. The sales lady recommended that we go to the Toy World when I asked her which part of the store was the best.

I bought these. and paid way too much for them apparently. But look how cute they are!

Okay, time for lunch. I will write more later... but this should keep you all occupied for now.

0. The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window and Disappeared

1. london luton

2. london hotel

3. sleeping on the floor like a high-class hobo

4. changing of the Horse Guards and Mitt Romney's prancing dancing pony

5. London Bridge

6. London Tower

7. Harrods

8. Paris

9. Hotel sneaking

10. Walking Tour

11. more walking

12. more walking

13. Top of Tower

14. MK+A

15. Louvre

16. D'Orsay

17. Night Train

18. Hamburg

19. Apartment

20. Shopping for everything

21. walking tour/Hafen City

22. ferry boat

23. Blankenese

24. Hamburger Meile

25.Wheelie

26. Future fabulous life