Spring Break- Italy

It's a beautiful day and there's street fair not too far away with ethnic food (I heard rumors about nachos) and great shopping. I'll blog about Italy later. In the mean time, here are some pictures to give you a hint of our travels! BTW: I'm spending quite a bit of time getting this stuff together, so please give me some feedback (facebook, email, comments...) so I keep it up. Though, I must admit that it is nice to be chilling in Starbucks rather than assembling manymanymany IKEA pieces to furnish the new flat.

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Spring Break- Berlin and Greece

Hi friends, family, strangers, and lurkers. First, I recognize that I seriously dropped the ball in maintaining this blog. I'm going to give serious effort to keeping this up-to-date and a thank you to Heather for reminding me that some people really enjoy it. (Frankly, it feels kinda vain to blog.) I'm going to do a series of blogs to try to catch up!

Spring Break was awesome!. I got to spend loads of time with people I adore, visit two new lands (what the kids in my class call other countries), and relax. Whoopie!

First, Amanda arrived in Berlin to tour, recover from jetlag, and catch up on life. It was a bit tough to juggle teaching and touristing, but worth every minute. We even went to three new places I hadn't visited. (berliner Dom, Deutsche Historische Museum, and Pergamon) Also, we saw the Egyptian Museum, that wasn't the Egyptian Museum (long story which probably isn't funny except to the 2 of us.) The best parts were showing Amanda all of the silly stuff (Look!That's my grocery store. Ohh- that's the pizza place with the cute waiters!) and having the time to talk without the phone bill at the end. Poor Amanda, though, the U-bahns and busses were on strike which seriously complicated tourist locations and travel times. At least, we thought, we'll go to Greece and everything will be better!

Amanda and I chilling at the top of the Berliner Dom. Awesome view, no?

After one of the tastiest Berlin brunches I have ever experienced (Rubens on Merhingdamm), we set off on our journey to Athens, Greece. (Not Athens, OH, like many of you first thought...) The traveling was uneventful, except for the fact that we waited for our gate until the time the flight should leave. The flight was relaxing and when we arrived in Athens it was WARM and dry!Amanda and I ready to take off for our holiday in Greece and Italy!

We arrived in Greece and hopped directly on a bus to the city center. Amanda chatted with a nice lady, while I (separated from them by luggage) watched as we drove through Athens. At the time I was particularly surprised to see a Chili's restaurant. (Afterall, Wednesday is fajita day and it had been 3 months since I had enjoyed a fajita.) We arrived at Sytagma Square and headed to check in at the hostel. It was a bit tricky figuring out where to go and I can't say that the area was particularly lovely, but we managed okay. What was really odd, though, was seeing the HUGE piles of trash. Apparently the garbage workers were on strike. Why I didn't take a picture, I'll never know. this is the stuff I always think you'll be interested to see. We shared a hostel room with another girl our age who has been traveling for a year and she recomended that we get up early the next day and head to the Acropolis since the school and senior groups usually arrived around 11. (She was right.)

Lookin' cute at the Pantheon on St. Paddy's Day. (We wore green and our sunscreen, moms...)

After visiting the Acropolis (which seemed like a trip back in time to Hum 110 with Tammy Thompson and Odysseus) we grabbed some lunch at a cafe near the Tower of the Winds. This was, of course, after I was reprimanded for sitting on a bench which was actually some ruins. Some other people were sitting on an identical one about 50 meters away, and the guard informed me that they were old... "not older than the ruins," I wanted to retort. (But I'm wimpy with authority figures and therefore dutifully cast my eyes downward in shame, stood up, and nodded agreeably.)

Since I can't relive each event, I'll hit the highlights with a few favorite stories of Greece.

One of my favorite times was when we went to the Temple of Zeus Olympian and relaxed. The weather was incredible and the sight more astounding. Since Amanda and I felt we had seen the majority of what we wanted to see (excluding the Museum of Personal Hygiene, the Acropolis Museum and the outdoor theatre) we sat and relaxed. While there we enjoyed the wild roaming dogs. Often, they would bark at people who got too close to the ruins or people who seemed to offend them. (Of course, they loved us. Secretly, I think Amanda has a tad smidgen of Dr. Dolittle within her.) While relaxing near the ancient temple we saw one dog barking toward the fence. We looked to see what ticked this dog off and saw people sticking their cameras through the fence to take pictures. Apparently, this dog regards non-ticket paying photographers as little more than piles of ant pee (more on this later)and went crazy. the most amazing part was that the offending photographer backed off. We imagined that the dog's internal monologue went something like this "Hey! Hey. You with the @#$%^ camera! Yeah you- the guy clicking away with the digital camera. You didn't pay! Buy the (expletive) ticket. It's only a few Euros. You probably already bought it, schmuck! Look on the Acropolis pass. Yeah. THAT'S RIGHT YOU SHOULD WALK AWAY FROM ME! I'm a roaming wild hound with a knack for appreciating ancient architecture. Put the camera away. Yeah, move on. Yeah. (Sniff.)"

Amanda and Zeus's Temple (note the Top 10 Guidebook- shout out!)

Another special memory was walking down the street toward our second hostel (since the electric people and the public transport people were on strike too. Did I remember to mention that?) and feeling a burning sensation in my nostrils. I told Amanda that my nose hurt and the back of my throat felt wierd too and she said she felt the same way. As we continued the walk we remembered the pension strikers we previously saw that day (see photo below) and imagined a grand story that a riot broke out and they were pepper sprayed. Later, we found out that it was true, and we were walking through the area about 2 hours later. It hurt. No fun. Really glad we weren't there earlier! (Of course, we stopped for a baklava tasting to soothe ourselves afterward.)

Strikers on parade.

Overall, I really enjoyed Athens and plan to head back eventually. Next time, I'll try to hit up the islands too! Any takers? After Athens, we made our exodus (see below) to Italia!

Waiting for election results... (I'm starting to get twitchy.)

It is infuriating that Dave sent out that slanderous lie about my father. Hopefully, the people of the 83rd District voted wisely for the public servant and not the lying idiot puke of pharmacyville. If that idiot will lie to get the job, won't he lie to us in any other event which suits his purpose? I hope Dad sues. (Really, I do. Please, Dad?)
-A

P.S. Dave, paying your taxes on time would be the principled act, but since you're not a man of integrity I suppose you can just ignore this note.

The Lost Events

Being abroad is lovely for many reasons, but it is also tough to miss the important events in the lives of family and friends. Here are three I'm missing now.

1. The final days of my Dad's campaign (He's the best man I know!)
2. My grandma's 38th birthday
3. The impending birth of my friend Vanessa's daughter

It is hard to not be around to support, encourage, and/or celebrate for these important events. I hope they know I'm with them in spirit.

On a related note: Vote on March 4th. When else does the government ask for your opinion?

Another lesson you only learn once...

Swish. Swish. Swish. Click. (The sounds of my holiday in the Alps are keeping me sane.)

Last night I returned from my skiing holiday in the Alps. I can hardly stop myself from looking at my new phone wallpaper taken on a trail down the side of Patscher Kofel. If you clicked on the link, you may notice the incredible beauty that makes you think, "What a photographer!" Honestly, though, the area was so gorgeous that any amateur (me) could get great pictures. Skiing in the Alps was an incredible experience and I think I said, "I just can't believe we're here. Doing this. Here." at least 45 times. It still seems unfathomable.

At Mad River Mountain (6-16 years ago) I was a decent skier. Not anymore. I pretty sure I became a chicken/wimp in the past several years. Maybe I'm just more aware of my bones, spinal cord, and mortality than I used to be, because I was a big old wimp in the Alps (I also believe this has something to do with the incredulous tone in my dad's voice when I told him I was going to ski in the Alps and he replied with, "Get a lesson as soon as you arrive. Better yet, get a lesson before you rent the skis." I imagine he was just picturing receiving a call from me in traction at an Austrian hospital and having to pass on the news to my mother. ) Anyway, I was cautious.

Being cautious was just fine for the group I was skiing with. I was with two teachers who had never been on skis and another who went sking when she was much younger. On the first day, we went to Nordpark and spent the day on a very small hill for the very new skiers. One of them is a true risk-taker and just went at it. She's a natural athlete, and became more skilled after running into a few people, as well as with practice and being told to get some control. The other was pretty cautious, but preferred (like me) to have total control. She has real skiing skillz, but perhaps has the same fear of pain/broken bones. I spent most of the first day with the latter learner which was relaxing and a good way to ease into skiing in the Alps. In hindsight, I wish I had taken a lesson on the first day so that I would have gained personal skiing confidence.

On day 2 we went to the Stubai glacier for more skiing and there... I remembered/learned the importance of reading signs. After quite a bit of time with the new skiers, the other girl who had previously skiied and I went to the top of the glacier (reread the last four words to recognize the heaviness of what we went through) to do a long blue (easy) run. So... Elly and I went up to the top to see four potential trails to the base. We spent considerable time looking at the map to make a prudent choice and headed down the mountain. We were feeling pretty impressed with ourselves as we handled a tight turn and a fairly steep slope. While congratulating ourselves, we noticed that we had reached a fork in the trail. We could go right or left and randomly chose right. About 10 meters down the slope, I yelled to Elly that my sunglasses were probably distorting the colors on the sign, because the sign for trail 7b looked like a really dark blue. We continued the slope for about 15 more meters until we noticed that it ended with a cliff. At that point, Elly sidestepped over to a sign, removed her goggles, and yelled that the sign was actually black, not dark, dark, dark blue. She announced that she was climbing back up to the fork. (Better the devil she knew and all that...) I pondered my skiing abilities and then took off my skis in the middle of the slope and started to climb. (Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.) I should have just sidestepped back up. Anyway, then I had to carry skies and poles and trudge up a ski slope. I trudged up for about 20 steps and then started to slide back, so I consciously chose to fall. Elly was yelling encouraging words from the top, but I was petrified from the slight backwards slide. Whether it was the 3200 meter altitude or nerves, I 'll never know, but I got sick, got up and tried again. After two or three rounds of this, I walked to the side of the slope and finally got a decent foothold and climbed to the top. There, I fell down on my back, took some deep breaths, and flipped out. Even as I write this, my palms are getting sweaty and my heart is racing. (Of course, after flipping out, Elly and I took great pleasure in the story we could now tell!)

The next few days were pleasantly relaxing. We spent a day at Lake Constance with a new Aussie friend, Dazzah, went skiing at Patscher Kofel, and spent the last day back at Stubai where I read each and every sign. The last two days I did a few short red runs, but mainly kept to the blues where I had less fear of death. It just seems incredible that I spent a week skiing in the Alps on a glacier, no less. I'll load some pictures pretty soon and you'll just have to say, "Magnificent!" (Actually, you can say whatever you want. I'll be picturing you saying magnificent, but you might be thinking, "Really dark blue? Stupid.")

Some lessons you only have to learn once...

Right now I'm back at my old haunt, Dunkin' Donuts.

"Why, Ashley?" you might ask. "You have a lovely apartment complete with Aztec furniture and Internet access."

Well, I came home today to see that my power had been turned off. Apparently, I forgot to enter my customer number when I transfered the money to pay the bill in January. When I got a second letter, I assumed the money had not transferred yet. (Note to self- it's time to sign up for volkschule German.)

Now, I've just finished repaying the bill. I'll get someone at school to help with the details in 9 days so I can get my money back.

That's right! 9 days! Tomorrow I'm climbing aboard a train to go skiing in Innsbrucke with some friends in celebration of Winter Break. I need it. Today at school was TelePizza Day, an assembly, my class finished and published our informational book about Egypt, and I threw a Valentine's Day party for them. (I almost feel sorry for their parents- they were SO wound up! Blame the gummis, people.)

Sorry about the resolution. Have you kept yours?

Six

I've lost six umbrellas since moving to Berlin. Two of them went astray this morning. Dang.