Well, I've already posted here about Amsterdam, way, way back at the beginning of the blog, even before I got to Israel, but I'll have a few brief words about the end of my European adventure, with Tom and Dana, in Belgium and Amsterdam.
We woke very early Wednesday morning (maybe because it's so north, but Paris was incredibly dark until about 7:30ish; it was very disorienting) and trained it up from Paris to Amsterdam. The train ride took about 4 hours, and brought us through Belgium and southern Holland. The French, Flemish, and Dutch countrysides were beautiful. I decided that if Israel is California, Western Europe is the Northeast of America - same deciduous trees, brick buildings, smoke stacks, cloud patterns. And it was so relaxing and smooth.
We arrived in Amsterdam and made our way to Tom's uncle Bruce's apartment, which is kind of like the Burrow redux: urban and in a cool old Dutch building on the side of a canal. My remaining 40 hours in Holland was spent dodging the freezing rain and bitter wind, enjoying a great exhibit at the Rijksmuseum, wandering around the streets and canals, and getting overfed by Bruce's luxurious cooking. It was a great way to end the trip.
Now I'm back, doing laundry and seeing (new) old friends. I really missed this place while traveling (I also missed California, but that's a whole different story) and was surprised by how much my life in Jerusalem stayed at the forefront of my mind. I'm really excited now to start my new semester and do many things I didn't get to do in the Fall. I've got a whole 4 months ahead (that's either a very short amount of time or a very long amount of time) to make the most of.
And, I've also got a whole season of LOST to keep me busy. I can hardly wait.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Gaudi, Paree, and Barack
Here I am in rainy, gloomy, romantic Paris. I'm staying with my friend Dana, who is in the middle of a PhD in 19th Century French Romanticism at Emory and is here for the year doing research at the French National Archives. Tom (who was visiting me in J'lem) is also here. I arrived late, late Saturday night after yet another tempestuous Ryanair flight from Barcelona.
The last few days in Barcelona were exciting. My estimation of the city as being a tourist trap didn't change much, but I did enjoy the food and architecture. Friday day Jason and I explored the Picasso museum, which was a weird mixture of really early and really late Picassos. But it was really great; lots of blue period and his entire 54-canvas reinterpretation of Velazquez's Las Meninas, which we had seen a few days piror in Madrid. We also went to the Barcelona Chocolate museum (which included chocolate models of many Gaudi buildings) and then tried to go to shabbat services at the progressive synagogue in Barcelona. The synagogue adventure was strange - I'll blog in detail about it when home - but long story short, much to Jason and my frustration, we didn't get to enjoy shabbat the way we wanted to.
Our final day in Spain was spent between a morning in Park Guell - Gaudi's take on public urban space (a new kick of mine) - which features crazy tile sculptures, buildings that look like they're out of "Hansel and Gretel," and the longest park bench in the world. In the afternoon we saw the Olympic Port and accompanying sculptures built for the Olympics in 1992.
Paris, so far, has been great. Walking around the city, I can see why people fall in love with it, fall in love here, etc. Springtime, Summer, Fall, Winter, there's something totally iconic about it. It's like living in history (in a similar way to Jerusalem). It's very cliched - looking from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre to Notre Dame - it's like being in a movie. Or being on a huge movie set. I keep looking for the cameras.
Dana has been a great host, speaking flawless French (while Tom and I purposefully have been butchering it), and touring us around the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Latin Quarter, Tulieres, the left bank and so on. We've also been eating pretty well. Today, Tom and I reconnected with our bohemian sides as we meandered around Montmartre and the area around the old Moulin Rogue. And now, we returned to Dana's apartment to watch the Inauguration (What a speech! What ambition! Not a campaign speech at all, but something marking the dawn of a new political and social reality. Who's excited?) and CNN's continuing coverage. Currently, Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper are commenting on the lunch being eaten by the dignitaries in the Capitol Hill rotunda.
Tomorrow, we're off to Amsterdam to visit Tom's uncle Bruce and his partner Roland, and then on Friday I return to Israel.
The last few days in Barcelona were exciting. My estimation of the city as being a tourist trap didn't change much, but I did enjoy the food and architecture. Friday day Jason and I explored the Picasso museum, which was a weird mixture of really early and really late Picassos. But it was really great; lots of blue period and his entire 54-canvas reinterpretation of Velazquez's Las Meninas, which we had seen a few days piror in Madrid. We also went to the Barcelona Chocolate museum (which included chocolate models of many Gaudi buildings) and then tried to go to shabbat services at the progressive synagogue in Barcelona. The synagogue adventure was strange - I'll blog in detail about it when home - but long story short, much to Jason and my frustration, we didn't get to enjoy shabbat the way we wanted to.
Our final day in Spain was spent between a morning in Park Guell - Gaudi's take on public urban space (a new kick of mine) - which features crazy tile sculptures, buildings that look like they're out of "Hansel and Gretel," and the longest park bench in the world. In the afternoon we saw the Olympic Port and accompanying sculptures built for the Olympics in 1992.
Paris, so far, has been great. Walking around the city, I can see why people fall in love with it, fall in love here, etc. Springtime, Summer, Fall, Winter, there's something totally iconic about it. It's like living in history (in a similar way to Jerusalem). It's very cliched - looking from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre to Notre Dame - it's like being in a movie. Or being on a huge movie set. I keep looking for the cameras.
Dana has been a great host, speaking flawless French (while Tom and I purposefully have been butchering it), and touring us around the Louvre, Notre Dame, the Latin Quarter, Tulieres, the left bank and so on. We've also been eating pretty well. Today, Tom and I reconnected with our bohemian sides as we meandered around Montmartre and the area around the old Moulin Rogue. And now, we returned to Dana's apartment to watch the Inauguration (What a speech! What ambition! Not a campaign speech at all, but something marking the dawn of a new political and social reality. Who's excited?) and CNN's continuing coverage. Currently, Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper are commenting on the lunch being eaten by the dignitaries in the Capitol Hill rotunda.
Tomorrow, we're off to Amsterdam to visit Tom's uncle Bruce and his partner Roland, and then on Friday I return to Israel.
Friday, January 16, 2009
¡Buenos Dias de Barcelona!
I´m writing this from a slightly danky Internet/business office place in Barcelona, down the block from our hotel. It´s a lovely day in this city, cloudy but warm (warm certainly by standards that were set in Madrid, and even compared to Jerusalem).
The trip, now in its 5th day and almost at its halfway point, continues to be exciting and fantastic. Spain is a great country. It´s beautiful, to start. And it feels so European, which, I´m slightly ashamed to say, was a bit surprising. I guess I expected something more Mediterranean. And Spaniards are incredibly nice and attractive. It must be something in the sun and wine. My Spanish really isn´t coming back, drips here and there, but when I hear people speaking Spanish and need to respond, my brains default foreign language is Hebrew, and that´s just been flowing out left and right. I guess that´s good for my Hebrew learning.
Madrid, where Jason and I started out Monday morning, is a fantastic city. It´s old and yet feels fresh and relevant. It´s huge and sprawling, yet feels at times, intimate and very non-alienating. Jason put it best, I think, when he said it was not overwhelming, but still feels full of life. I think that was a very apt description. It´s a real city - one filled with history and culture - but not one consumed with a "touristy" feeling. At the same time, in the three days we were there, I never felt bored; there was always something to do and I could have stayed for another week and explored more and more.
We focused our visit on the two main art museums - the Reina Sofia on the first day and El Prado on the second. I really enjoyed them both; the Reina Sofia focused more on modern and contemporary Spanish artists, really the 20th century. The contemporary stuff was fine and weird - there was this fascinating photo exhibit of an apparently famous photographer who autobiographically showed the rebellious life in a post-Franco era 1980s. The surrealism and cubism was great; Guernica, I think, was the highlight for both Jason and myself. As great a museum the Reina Sofia was, El Prado, which we saw on our second day, was fantastic. It was a huge, huge building filled with art from the Renaissance to the mid 19th century. The Spanish collection - Las Meninas, Zubaron´s still lifes (thank you art history class), El Greco, Goya (I never was a fan of his until this week) - was fantastic. And all the rest. The museum seemed to be greatly curated - but it´s all in Spanish - so we did the audio guide, which really enhanced the experience.
Barcelona, as a city, seems a lot more touristy. It´s only been a day +, so I can´t say for sure, but I´m not as impressed with it as Madrid. It feels much more intense and active, less like a city, and the people don´t seem as friendly. The architecture, however, is amazing. The whole Moderisme kick, with the Gaudi and Co., really makes the city stand out. Yesterday we went to the Sagrada Familia, which may been one of the most amazing buildings I´ve ever seen. It was incredible - all of the stone and the sculpture and the stylized decorations. I would definitely come back to Barcelona when it´s finished, in like 30+ years.
And then, of course, there´s the food. Our firs day in Madrid we ate really well - a delicious fixed lunch menu which is all over the country; for me I had fiedgua (Paella with noodles instead of rice) and rabbit - and then a big paella dinner. Our last morning in Madrid we indulged in churros y chocolate, hot churros that come with a cup of rich, hot dipping chocolate. The wine, as well, is fantastic. Even cheap, house wine, is really tasty. We also had some great tapas here and there, especially dinner last night at a hard core tapas bar in Barcelona´s old city - the bar is covered with 2-3 bite canapes, from fish to meat to cheese to sweets, each one with a skewer. You help yourself and at the end pay by skewres. Talk about finger food. Not eating pork is hard, really hard, but I think I´m doing all right for myself.
The biggest highlight of the trip so far (sorry museums) was seeing my friends Stephanie and Michelle. They were friends in LA, who moved to Madrid in the spring to teach English indefinitely (Steph is also and EU citizen, and Michelle, well, avoids the immigration officials), and Jason and I met up with Stephanie Tuesday night, and she brought us to a hangout with some of her and Michelle´s friends. Wednesday evening, before we went to Barcelona, we met up with Steph for a walk and cider & tapas as well.
Now we´re off to the Picasso museum, and then a stroll around the old city, and then the Barcelona Chocolate museum, and then tonight we´re going to try and find the Progressive community in Barcelona for services (it being Friday and all). tomorrow is our last day, and I´m trying to convince Jason to go to the Barcelona Sex/Erotics museum - a kitschy delight! - but he´s not having any of it. Probably see some more moderisme buildings and the Olympic Park. And then, I´m off to Paris, where I meet up with Tom and Dana. I´m super pumped for that leg, more new cities, new art to see, and new foods to eat.
The trip, now in its 5th day and almost at its halfway point, continues to be exciting and fantastic. Spain is a great country. It´s beautiful, to start. And it feels so European, which, I´m slightly ashamed to say, was a bit surprising. I guess I expected something more Mediterranean. And Spaniards are incredibly nice and attractive. It must be something in the sun and wine. My Spanish really isn´t coming back, drips here and there, but when I hear people speaking Spanish and need to respond, my brains default foreign language is Hebrew, and that´s just been flowing out left and right. I guess that´s good for my Hebrew learning.
Madrid, where Jason and I started out Monday morning, is a fantastic city. It´s old and yet feels fresh and relevant. It´s huge and sprawling, yet feels at times, intimate and very non-alienating. Jason put it best, I think, when he said it was not overwhelming, but still feels full of life. I think that was a very apt description. It´s a real city - one filled with history and culture - but not one consumed with a "touristy" feeling. At the same time, in the three days we were there, I never felt bored; there was always something to do and I could have stayed for another week and explored more and more.
We focused our visit on the two main art museums - the Reina Sofia on the first day and El Prado on the second. I really enjoyed them both; the Reina Sofia focused more on modern and contemporary Spanish artists, really the 20th century. The contemporary stuff was fine and weird - there was this fascinating photo exhibit of an apparently famous photographer who autobiographically showed the rebellious life in a post-Franco era 1980s. The surrealism and cubism was great; Guernica, I think, was the highlight for both Jason and myself. As great a museum the Reina Sofia was, El Prado, which we saw on our second day, was fantastic. It was a huge, huge building filled with art from the Renaissance to the mid 19th century. The Spanish collection - Las Meninas, Zubaron´s still lifes (thank you art history class), El Greco, Goya (I never was a fan of his until this week) - was fantastic. And all the rest. The museum seemed to be greatly curated - but it´s all in Spanish - so we did the audio guide, which really enhanced the experience.
Barcelona, as a city, seems a lot more touristy. It´s only been a day +, so I can´t say for sure, but I´m not as impressed with it as Madrid. It feels much more intense and active, less like a city, and the people don´t seem as friendly. The architecture, however, is amazing. The whole Moderisme kick, with the Gaudi and Co., really makes the city stand out. Yesterday we went to the Sagrada Familia, which may been one of the most amazing buildings I´ve ever seen. It was incredible - all of the stone and the sculpture and the stylized decorations. I would definitely come back to Barcelona when it´s finished, in like 30+ years.
And then, of course, there´s the food. Our firs day in Madrid we ate really well - a delicious fixed lunch menu which is all over the country; for me I had fiedgua (Paella with noodles instead of rice) and rabbit - and then a big paella dinner. Our last morning in Madrid we indulged in churros y chocolate, hot churros that come with a cup of rich, hot dipping chocolate. The wine, as well, is fantastic. Even cheap, house wine, is really tasty. We also had some great tapas here and there, especially dinner last night at a hard core tapas bar in Barcelona´s old city - the bar is covered with 2-3 bite canapes, from fish to meat to cheese to sweets, each one with a skewer. You help yourself and at the end pay by skewres. Talk about finger food. Not eating pork is hard, really hard, but I think I´m doing all right for myself.
The biggest highlight of the trip so far (sorry museums) was seeing my friends Stephanie and Michelle. They were friends in LA, who moved to Madrid in the spring to teach English indefinitely (Steph is also and EU citizen, and Michelle, well, avoids the immigration officials), and Jason and I met up with Stephanie Tuesday night, and she brought us to a hangout with some of her and Michelle´s friends. Wednesday evening, before we went to Barcelona, we met up with Steph for a walk and cider & tapas as well.
Now we´re off to the Picasso museum, and then a stroll around the old city, and then the Barcelona Chocolate museum, and then tonight we´re going to try and find the Progressive community in Barcelona for services (it being Friday and all). tomorrow is our last day, and I´m trying to convince Jason to go to the Barcelona Sex/Erotics museum - a kitschy delight! - but he´s not having any of it. Probably see some more moderisme buildings and the Olympic Park. And then, I´m off to Paris, where I meet up with Tom and Dana. I´m super pumped for that leg, more new cities, new art to see, and new foods to eat.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Finally finally done
So.
This past week was my first final week of graduate school. One down, five to go.
It was a pretty intense period. The week prior to finals, the last week of December, I had a huge Ed presentation (on the "Challenges and Opportunities" of Jewish summer camping) as well as my Bible final - it was a ten-minute reading exam where we sat alone with the professor and read for him and then translated into modern Hebrew. And then he asked us questions about the text. It was actually kinda fun.
(Of course, between the last week of classes and finals was New Years. Amy, in her infinite amazingness, organized the HUC Prom. She rented out a kareoke bar neat campus, and for a cover it was semi-open bar, dancing, snacks, kareoke, party hats. Lots of fun.)
Finals week was a doozy. I had four exams, a paper, and a Hebrew Literature take home exam, all due within three days. Nuts. But all in all, I spent the weekend prior preparing and writing my paper (which was entitled "Constructing the White City: Tel Aviv as Physical and Sacred Space in Israeli Collective Memory." How's that for academic mumbo-jumbo? In actuality, it came out really well. I was very proud of my work and the ideas in the paper. It was fun, as well, to write a real academic paper again. I haven't done that in a while) and so the week flowed really well. I got to relax, spend time with friends and classmates before break, and enjoy some time in Jerusalem.
Then, Wednesday night, Tom and Emma came! They were just off a Birthright trip, and here to stay with me for the weekend! It was really great to see them and we had an awesome time. Thursday was touring Joel's Greatest Hits of Jerusalem - seeing sights off the beaten path, like Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Israel Museum, Tmol Shilshon, Babette's Waffles. Friday we went to the Carmel for the weekend, and toured a bit around Haifa, went to some artist's colonies, Ceasaria, Tel Aviv. It was a lovely weekend. Emma left last night for home, Tom this afternoon for Paris.
And in a few hours I'm off to Europe as well. I leave early Monday morning (my time) to Madrid, with my friend Jason. We're in Madrid three days, and then head off to Barcelona for another three days. Then I go to Paris where I meet up with Tom and Dana (who's working on his PhD in Paris for the year), and we're there four days. Then we visit Tom's uncle Bruce and his partner Roland in Amsterdam for two days, and then I fly back to Tel Aviv. After a few days, Tom and Dana come visit me. The party never ends.
This past week was my first final week of graduate school. One down, five to go.
It was a pretty intense period. The week prior to finals, the last week of December, I had a huge Ed presentation (on the "Challenges and Opportunities" of Jewish summer camping) as well as my Bible final - it was a ten-minute reading exam where we sat alone with the professor and read for him and then translated into modern Hebrew. And then he asked us questions about the text. It was actually kinda fun.
(Of course, between the last week of classes and finals was New Years. Amy, in her infinite amazingness, organized the HUC Prom. She rented out a kareoke bar neat campus, and for a cover it was semi-open bar, dancing, snacks, kareoke, party hats. Lots of fun.)
Finals week was a doozy. I had four exams, a paper, and a Hebrew Literature take home exam, all due within three days. Nuts. But all in all, I spent the weekend prior preparing and writing my paper (which was entitled "Constructing the White City: Tel Aviv as Physical and Sacred Space in Israeli Collective Memory." How's that for academic mumbo-jumbo? In actuality, it came out really well. I was very proud of my work and the ideas in the paper. It was fun, as well, to write a real academic paper again. I haven't done that in a while) and so the week flowed really well. I got to relax, spend time with friends and classmates before break, and enjoy some time in Jerusalem.
Then, Wednesday night, Tom and Emma came! They were just off a Birthright trip, and here to stay with me for the weekend! It was really great to see them and we had an awesome time. Thursday was touring Joel's Greatest Hits of Jerusalem - seeing sights off the beaten path, like Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Israel Museum, Tmol Shilshon, Babette's Waffles. Friday we went to the Carmel for the weekend, and toured a bit around Haifa, went to some artist's colonies, Ceasaria, Tel Aviv. It was a lovely weekend. Emma left last night for home, Tom this afternoon for Paris.
And in a few hours I'm off to Europe as well. I leave early Monday morning (my time) to Madrid, with my friend Jason. We're in Madrid three days, and then head off to Barcelona for another three days. Then I go to Paris where I meet up with Tom and Dana (who's working on his PhD in Paris for the year), and we're there four days. Then we visit Tom's uncle Bruce and his partner Roland in Amsterdam for two days, and then I fly back to Tel Aviv. After a few days, Tom and Dana come visit me. The party never ends.
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