Italy has stolen my heart

So, photos are a no-go until I get a better internet connection. My Hotel in Rome probably will, so expect pictures of Bareclona tomorrow. And information about Barcelona.

Sorry for the very few following about the lack of updates, especially about Spain. I must first inform you that I love love love Italy, and I haven't even been there for a full day nor gone to Rome. The people are a bit kinder than in Spain, and I don't mean they know more English. Though perhaps us SASers have become less touristy and less ugly American after our last port. Well, I still love Italy.

First Barcelona. I kept mostly to the touristy areas and around Las Ramblas... I probably have the name wrong and deeply apologize. It seems I'm regressing. I went and looked at some Gaudi architecture which was stunning - don't worry, I have pictures. In between I saw two castles. No monasteries yet, but I do have a picture of a chocolate monk. That's right. I went to the chocolate museum - well, how could I resist? They had figurines of almost everything in Chocolate, to a figuring of the house and main characters to Pixar's "Up", to goofy chocolate sculptures of Don Quixote. To be fair, the museum was built in an abandoned monastery.

On Las Ramblas were the buskers who act like statues. Some were very creative. We saw a Gargoyle, Jack Skeleington, a Flamenco Dancer, Flower Sellers, bicyclists, etc. There were also many tourist-y shops and restaurants with Tapas. The food was alright, though I'm more for the carb-rich pan, pasta, and pizza in Italy. I had a touch of Sangria - just a drop, I swear! It was quite good though.

Something quite interesting in Spain as how people treated their pets. A small observation to some, but almost no dogs there are on leashes. They walk with their owners, then frolic in the park. They never interact with strangers either. In Italy, it's completely opposite, where the dogs are on leashes, but go up to strangers for attention. The traffic is different to - I'll soon upload a video explaining that quite clearly.

I was there during the game as well. Though many Spainards were there, the loudest and most obnoxious people were the tourists. Not just SASers, mind you - there were many Brits, French, and Australians. Though there was an experience with that one American flasher.

Not to say I didn't like Barcelona. I'm looking forward to all the other ports as well. And if I like them half as much as Barcelona, it will be a good trip indeed. I just don't have a lot to say about Barcelona, sadly. Tomorrow, as mentioned before, I'll be in Rome and have access to a stable free internet, so I'll definitely have a larger report there.

Thanks for reading. Ciao!

Edit:

Barcelona - now in song form:

First Day in Ebinburgh (The time Zone!)

Note: Due to internet issues, this post wasn't able to get to the blog. It was written about 3 days ago. Tomorrow, if I get time and internet, I'll be adding pictures and a new post about Barcelona. Thanks for reading!

3 days to Barcelona! And already 5 or 6 time zones ahead! Happy Father’s day!

The ship is quite enjoyable. Along with Global studies, I have classes in Musical History and fantasy-based Creative writing. We’re reading the original Pinocchio – can you say best classes ever? In a few different languages?

Unlike Edinburgh, whose accent is not so thick as Glasgow’s (more on that later), none of the countries we are visiting will have English as a main language. To be fair, in Egypt they’ll probably peak English while I blunder about in Modern Standard Arabic. Can anyone who speaks Spanish, Italian, Farsi, or French give me a few pointers?

This is one of the goals in the S@S program, to immerse you where you don’t speak the language, and go on true adventures. And adventures surely my comrades will have; it’s no secret that the mainland bars are the first stop for many a student. Not me of course… not much. Did I mention my mom and dad read this blog? So yeah. Hi Mom and Dad!
       
Clubs of course are in full swing, and yours truly has begun the International Movie Club, which will hold movie nights on ship, with a grand total of… 3 members. The LGBT next door had a good 30, though I won’t complain, as after our first meeting myself and everyone one else slipped into theirs. Barcelona apparently celebrates 10 days of gay pride, and we’ll be arriving on the 6th day (I think). Awesome.

Anyway, we’ll be starting the movie club off, hopefully, with a screening of Kite Runner once we leave Barcelona. The title? Well, while switching my clocks around, I noticed that tomorrow we’ll be on the same time as Edinburgh. I know it should be a small deal, but this is really a big thing for me. It just, somehow, makes it so much more real that I’m not only doing S@S, but this fall I’ll be in Edinburgh. I’m not trying to brag, sorry if I come off like that, I just can’t believe my luck.

It’s been 10 minutes since my first test. Quiz, I mean. And a few hours since my first graded paper. It’s going by faster than I’ve imagined, and it’s only been a week. On the boat, we have classes every day, since we don’t have classes in port, and have some days off in-between. This may seem like a lot, but overall we only have 22 classes. Edit: Got an 'A' on my first paper - woohoo!

Oh, have some pictures.(Edit: I'll put these in tomorrow, I swear!)

-Weary

Woe Canada (Picture Heavy)

So far, I’ve already had an adventure, just 1 day into my trip. Readers, remind me never to use continental again. So, I was supposed to get into Halifax at 1 yesterday, and be all smiles and tour and learn everything about Halifax, A to Zed. Unfortunately, our dear Continental canceled our flight… without telling us. We arrived at the airport at 7:30, and were stuck there until 10:30, and thankfully got a new flight… to Toronto. Were we had a four hour lay-over before finally arriving in Halifax at 8. It’s better then nothing though, and the continental ticket woman who gave us our new tickets was very nice.

Halifax is the land of incredible niceness. There’s no other way to describe it. You can stop passersby’s on the street and have half-hour long conversations with them. The shopkeepers are just as nice. It’s actually going to be a shame to leave. If you ever have a chance, go! Be aware, it can be a bit nippy, though. Be sure, if you're the morbid type like me, to learn about the Halifax explosion.

Semester at Sea seems to be a big thing. With 780 student and family, Halifax is a buzz with students. Every college-age person I meet will be on the MV explorer. All of them are wonderful too. Despite the less-then perfect beginning. I have high hopes for this voyage. Tomorrow we board and head to Barcelona. We’ll be there in 10 days.

Sorry for this dry post, have some pictures of Halifax!




















Also, obligatory Halifax youtube video.

All Aboard

Shipping out tomorrow. June 15th, I'll be on the ship, then 9 days, then Barcelona. Expect updates soon. And pictures. Lots of pictures.

Also, the money belt was a bust. Barely big enough to hold pennies, let alone credit card and loose change. Ah well. It's a nice belt.