Travels and Letters

DNortonLand was wandering around Athens and London last week and forgot to post updates. So expect awesome pictures/commentary on the Parthenon/London/the state of Europe/the meaning of Christmas over the next few days and weeks. If I can figure out how to upload the pix into the computer.

In other news...the letter project is completed! 2010's goal to write a letter each week to someone new (along with 2 more letters each month to the same people) was a complete success. In my mind at least. I ended up writing more letters than that, as I didn't really limit myself to just one letter per week sometimes, and I have DEFINITELY written more if you count all of the postcards that I have sent as a part of my travels.

In thinking what it means for a New Year's Resolution, though, I'm not sure what I gained out of this project (other than the chance to use old stationery and purchase some newer, more awesome stationery... and then use that, too).

I'm not sure if it improved my penmanship. I think my lines are straighter, but I'm not sure my handwriting is any more legible (or prettier for that matter--I've always liked my handwriting, but have never felt like it qualifies as 'pretty'. Unique, maybe. But 'pretty'? Not quite).

I'm also not sure if it actually improved my writing ability. I think it did, because I tend to take more care constructing sentences in my letters, since I know that I won't have the opportunity to correct a misinterpretation. At the same time, though, I highly doubt that it helped me improve my academic writing. I think I need a different resolution for that.

So...will I keep writing letters? I sure hope so. I've had a lot of fun this year, and everybody that I have talked to really liked getting a letter in the mail. Those reactions are priceless, and even better are the ones where people decided to write back, even though they really didn't need to. I think I would like to change it up in the coming year, though. Writing to a different person every week sometimes led to some really similar letters, as I felt that I had to introduce the project with every letter I wrote. I didn't have to do that with the letters that I sent to the same people every month, so I think that I am going to adjust the project to where I am writing to the same 4-6 people every month.

Also, Brother K and M just got me some gorgeous stationery, and I really want to use it.

Even though I know that you're really only supposed to make one New Year's Resolution in order for it to be completely effective, there are one or two more coming up on the horizon. So, I'm looking at the continuation of the letter project as just a continuation of a good habit, not as another resolution.

On the Flight from Munich to Athens:

Not in the mood to do real work on the PhD apps, nor do I want to read Meditaciones del Quijote, my Spanish philosophy book that I’m trying to bang out over break. Not really in the mood for philosophy.

Glance at the cover of the Lufthansa magazine sitting in the pocket of the chair in front of me. And I have to laugh. It’s so German! There’s really no other word for it. The three main headlines read as follows:

“German author Julia Franck describes a magical journey”

“A Collection of enduring travel memories”

“[Philosopher] Alain de Boton on the art of travel”

I said that I wasn’t in the mood for philosophy. HA! Only a German airline magazine would devote an entire edition to philosophizing about travel. This intrigued me. In the states, airline magazines are fluff pieces: straight-up company propaganda, maybe with an interview of some celebrity to actually attract a passenger to read it, but they are very definitely not highbrow literature. Nor do they generally deal in philosophy.

However, the philosophy of travel is fascinating. Why do people travel? What do they expect to gain? Questions like this are ones that Alain de Boton, author of The Art of Travel, answers, while at the same time proposing new manners on approaching travel, especially for the travel industry. My favorite quote is as follows:

“[The biggest obstacle we face is] overcoming fantasies about travel, trying to be imaginative and breaking away from clichés. Travel is full of them: the sunny beaches of x, the beautiful mountains of y. It’s always suggested that certain destinations are good and that others do not even qualify as destinations. It’s very normal, for example, to go to New York; it’s not very normal to go to Kansas. But maybe Kansas is actually better for you. Perhaps it suits you more.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Also, now I want to read his book. Drat!

Don Quijote is my Homeboy

Brother K thinks I need to make this into a T-Shirt.

Krakow, Part VI

Saturday was really foggy, so after our wanderings, which took us by the Krakow castle--Wawel Castle

(Pronounced Vavel, and whenever I heard it, I thought someone was saying vaudeville.)

(I need to get my ears checked.)

After the walk, we went back to V's house and made cookies. Because she has an oven. And because I miss chocolate chip cookies. And because I've never baked chocolate chip cookies without being able to measure the ingredients exactly. But that's ok, because they turned out great!

Om nom nom nom nom.

And because Saturday was really foggy, we woke up Sunday to a BEAUTIFUL hoarfrost. 

We headed over to the Krakow castle, where I took all of these lovely pictures of the hoarfrost and of a 1000-year-old castle.

(Don't forget that I took them without being able to see them!) 

Outdoor frosty, snowy, decked-out Christmas tree

V was laughing at me the whole weekend because I was slightly obsessed with this whole really cold, snowy, winter-thing they've got going on in Poland. But she said that seeing it through the eyes of a foreigner made her realize how awesome and Hallmark-y it totally was. 

Krakow! Part V

Friday was also the day that all the air traffic controllers in Madrid had gone on a spontaneous strike, and thus, the entire country was completely paralyzed. Basically, if my plane had left any later in the day, I wouldn't have been able to have my wonderful vacation with V! 

V and D in front of the Krakow Christmas tree!

Also, if the strike lasted for very long, I wasn't entirely sure how I would get back to Madrid to finish writing all of my papers, but...that's thinking for another day. We had a beautiful (albeit pretty foggy) weekend ahead of us, so we went out for a walk. 

Because that's what you do in foggy, cold Krakow in the winter.

We wandered by V's University (and into the university museum to warm up right in time for the English tour!). Copernicus was a student at this university (although it isn't actually the place where he formed his whole heliocentric theory of the solar system, they're still pretty proud of his presence in their halls).

Then, we wandered by a cloistered convent, where I took this picture as evidence of the ridiculous amounts of snowfall in Krakow.

Seriously. There was a LOT of snow. And I didn't even have a snowball fight or make a snowman or anything.

Also, please remember that those last two pictures were taken without my being able to see the picture itself. Other than cutting off the top of the fountain (I can only guess that that is what the second picture is, given all the snow), I think I did a pretty good job.

Krakow! Part IV

Friday night was a Christmas Party with V's class, and then Saturday, I woke up and my camera didn't work. To clarify: It still took pictures. I just couldn't see them. That's right...my screen was dead. And since my digital camera doesn't have a viewfinder, well, let's just say that it made taking pictures the rest of the trip verrrry interesting.

For instance...this is the picture that I tried to take when I first discovered my camera didn't really work right. I was too afraid to zoom in, for fear of not being able to capture that dude throwing snow off the roof.

Krakow gets so much snow that people have to clear their roofs so the ceiling doesn't fall in.

Krakow! Part III

St. Mary's Cathedral is right on the main square, and it just so happens that the main square is host to Krakow's glorious Christmas Market. And it just so happens that Krakow's Christmas Market blows the Hyde Park Christmas Market right out of the water in terms of festive, traditional, arctic holiday cheer, as in: it was snowing, and there weren't any haunted houses.

It was like being in a Hallmark Christmas movie!

Unfortunately some of my pictures are a little blurry, but that big barrel is actually a little stand selling hot mulled wine. I tried some in London and didn't particularly like it, but after a cup of the stuff in Krakow, I'm a huge fan. At first, I really couldn't understand why anyone would heat up wine. And Krakow taught me why: Because it is freakin' freezing!

The Christmas market also had the following stands:

We passed by the Christmas market every single day, and on the last day, I bought me some slippers. They're so warm and comfortable...It's like walking on pillows!

Krakow! Part II

Coffee Heaven--home of the delicious snickerdoodle drink--is located right by the entrance gate to the old city of Krakow. 

It's a pretty cool building, with an awesome gate. There was a really awesome accordion player playing some super-lively music under the arch. I'm not sure how he was able to bear the cold, but his music was really good.

We then wandered through the Krakow main square and into this beautiful church: Saint Mary's. It's a really pretty baroque styleon the inside, with a gorgeous navy/royal blue ceiling with golden stars painted on. Looks like the starry sky and reminded me a lot of some of the Islamic ceiling decoration that I've seen in Andalusia, mainly in the ceiling=sky part.

I didn't take any pictures of the inside, since we didn't really come in through the visitors entrance. It was kind of nice not taking a picture inside of a cathedral. Made me focus more on enjoying the building itself.

It is really nice that Krakow has so many churches/ cathedrals. Since it was so cold out, stopping in at a few on the wanderings really helped me stay a little warm.

Krakow! Part I

Got into Krakow Friday morning at about 9:30.  It was cold and snowing and really grey--Absolutely perfect Winter Wonderland weather! 

Hung out at the house while Vica studied for a test and I worked on a paper and then we went to lunch...delicious pierogi:

 From this cute little shop!

There are approximately 5 tables for 4 people in this joint. If someone is sitting at a table, you just up and join them. It's adorable.

After, Vica took me to a little coffeeshop to do some work while she went to take her test. Unfortunately, the coffeeshop did not have a chai tea latte. However, they did have a chai coffee, which I ordered sans coffee, thinking that it would be somewhat like a chai tea latte. Instead, I'm fairly positive that it was simply chai-flavored hot milk.

It was like drinking a snickerdoodle!

Obligatory London Picture

It's Obligatory!

Bright red phone booths and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It's beginning to look at lot like Christmas!

London IV

Breakfast Saturday morning: K&M wanted to take me to this brunch place near their house called Brew, but the line was out the door, so we went to another brunch place near their house: Giraffe.

It's a chain, but that doesn't matter because the food was delicious. D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!

Them's some blueberry & banana pancakes. They are going on my list of all-time favorite pancakes.
Even if I hadn't been pancake-starved, they still would have made the list. 

I haven't had pancakes in about 3 months. Normally, that doesn't bother me. In fact, pancakes aren't my favorite type of breakfast food. (I prefer waffles).

HOWEVER, when you don't really have the option of ever having pancakes because you are living in a country where, for whatever reason, the ENTIRE POPULACE does not believe in eating a decent breakfast...well, then. Pancakes become a PRETTY BIG DEAL.

Also, I love this restaurant because they included their own version of this poem on the back of the menu:

Smiling is infectious,

You catch it like the flu,

When someone smiled at me today,

I started smiling too.

I passed around the corner,

and someone saw my grin,

When he smiled I realised,

I’d passed it on to him.

I thought about that smile,

Then I realised its worth,

A single smile just like mine,

Could travel round the earth.

So if you feel a smile begin,

Don’t leave it undetected -

Let’s start an epidemic quick

And get the world infected!

Cheers!

London III

Christmas Market was actually kind of creepy. I already mentioned the strange mixture of State Fair, Renaissance Fair and Santa's workshop that it was, complete with lots of crazy amusement park rides.

BUT...I forgot to mention the Halloween Haunted House aspect.

That's right. Because clearly the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Christmas is a giant skeleton in a bright red robe playing a violin. It was creepy. Christmas shouldn't be creepy (ok, well, maybe if you're Tim Burton, but I'm not him, so Christmas isn't creepy).

And then, of course, there was this.

HeHeHe

Ok, now that's just funny. Ain't nothing creepy about penguins.