The End of the Adventure

I am officially back in the United States! After roughly 75 days abroad, exploring the wonders of Rome, Venice, Berlin, Paris, and Barcelona, I am back just in time for the New Year.

I have had the most amazing time in Europe and I know that I will go back. I wish I had had more time for travelling, but beyond that, the trip was excellent.

I want to thank my family and friends for their help and support in this endeavor. I missed you all very much, so it is good to be back. I could never have lasted two and a half months without all of your help.

Grazie a tutti e Ciao,
Kyle

Adventures in Barcelona

Today, I finished up a few days in Barcelona. On the plane, I met three Americans from California who were traveling to Barcelona before they caught the same plane as mine to Rome. After an extremely painful landing (my ears hurt bad and I got a pressure headache), I arrived on Sunday night and made my way to the hostel. My hostel was located in the western part of the city, but was right off of a metro stop.

On Monday, I walked around the Montjuïc Park which is the major area of the Olympic stadium and village from the 1992 Summer Olympics. The park is situated on a hill that overlooks the city to the north and turns into cliffs along the south that fall into the sea. After I took in the park, I made my way to Las Ramblas, the main drag in the city center. The street is a major shopping district and splits the old city into its major divisions.

View of Barcelona from the Park, the grey spikes in the back
is Sagrada Familia, the Church of the Sacred Family.

Around dusk, I climbed back up the hill of the park to the Castell at the top. The Castell overlooks the sea and the park with the city in the background. It was a fortress and still has the cannons and artillery to prove. Either way, it afforded great views of the city at night!

Castell Montjuïc (What my dad kept calling Hercules' Castle)

Unfortunately, on Tuesday, I was sick...I stayed in bed at the hostel to avoid getting more sick.
This morning, I got up early to catch a 6:25AM flight to Rome. I cut it close, but I made the flight and the landing in Rome was much better than in Barcelona.

Ciao for now,
Kyle

Christmas in the City of Lights

This Christmas I spent a few days in Paris, the city of Lights. My flight from Berlin was delayed, but when I got into Paris, I made my way to my hostel in the 15th district on the south west side of the City, close to the Eiffel Tower.

The 3 Ducks Hostel in Paris.

On Christmas Eve day, I planned on taking a walking tour of the city, by the same company from Berlin's tour, but the guides made a good point that their tour was probably one of the only open/running things to do on Christmas day. Instead, I saw Notre Dame, the Arc de Triumph, and another Christmas Market. On Christmas Eve night, I kept the night receptionist at the hostel company while he worked on Christmas Eve. The night ended up being a blast, Loïc (aka Lucky), the receptionist was a Frenchman who studied in Virginia, so his accent was almost non-existent. He played DJ and bartender all night and the hostel residents put together an impromptu dance party at the hostel bar.

On Christmas Day, I went on the tour with another hostel resident, Josh was from Seattle. The tour started at the Fountain of Saint Michel and took us to Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Tuilleries Gardens, the Champs-Elysees, the Arc du Triomphe, and other Paris monuments. That night, Josh and I attended a Noël Mass at the Church across the street from the hostel. 

Wearing the Eiffel Tour as a hat.

Today, I took walked to the Eiffel Tower then checked out the Arc du Triomphe close up before I caught a bus to the airport to catch my flight to Barcelona.

Ciao for now,
Kyle 

A few days in Berlin!

Tonight, I am finishing my stay in Berlin. On Monday, after a delayed flight from Venice, I arrived in Berlin and found my hostel...

Generator Hostel in Berlin as viewed from the S-Bahn
station at Landsberger Allee

The Generator Hostel in Berlin was HUGE. I later found out that the building is a former East German government building which had been heavily remodeled. Now, the interior is very "industrial chic" in blue and green.

On Tuesday morning, I went on a 3 hour walking tour of Berlin. The one of the tour guides picked up a large group of us at the hostel and we met the rest of the tour guides and participants at the Brandenburg Gate in Mitte.

My tour guide, Simon. A British student in Berlin with a witty
attitude...he worked on  tips only... and well I might add.

The tour started at the Pariser Platz, the plaza behind the gate which is the location of the US and French Embassies as well as the Hotel Adlon, made famous as the location of the Michael Jackson baby-dangle...
From there, the tour took us under the gate and up the road to the Holocaust Memorial, formally named, The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.

The snow-covered blocks of the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin.

After the memorial, the tour continued to a small section of the Berlin wall and Checkpoint Charlie before a short break for lunch. After the lunch break, we checked out Museum Island and the State Opera House, which was under construction.

Overall, the tour was amazing, especially for a free tour! Simon did great and I found out that the same company offers a Paris free tour...I'm totally there!

After the tour, a few of the other people from my Hostel and I went back to the Holocaust Memorial to tour the museum attached. The place was very different from any museum I have been to before. I couldnt take pictures, but I'm not sure I would have anyways, the place was very solemn.

After the museum, I grabbed some dinner with a few people I met on the tour at an Indonesian restaurant. The food was ok, but the German lessons were great!


On Wednesday, I checked out another, more prominent section of the Berlin Wall, known as the East Side Gallery. The section is roughly 1,000 yards long and is covered with art painted directly on the wall! Most of the pieces deal with peace and freedom in some way.

Tomorrow, I am due to catch a flight out at 9:00am, but with the freak snow in the west, we will see!

Auf Wiedersehen,
Kyle

A weekend in the City on Water!

This weekend, I traveled with Annie and her mom to Venice for two nights.

We arrived around 8:30pm to a city covered in snow! It was very pretty until we got a bit lost finding our way to the hotel...

View of the Church of St. Mary of Health and the Grand Canal

Walking around Venice was a bit tricky, but the vaporetti or water buses were great.

A water bus or vaporetto on the Grand Canal

On Sunday, we took a ferry to the islands of Murano and Burano in the Venetian Lagoon. Murano is best known for its glass, of which Annie and her mother bought plenty...lol

Glassblowing demonstration on Murano

 Burano is known for two things, its handmade lace and its colorful buildings.

The colorful buildings of Burano

On Monday, Annie's mom treated us all to a gondola ride! It had been one of her dreams to take a gondola ride in Venice.

Overall, the Venetian adventure was great, now its off to Berlin!

Ciao for now,
Kyle

Thanksgiving Weekend or Bust!

BUST!

So, the Weekend started great on Thursday, I had a great day of planning and relaxing in preparations for what was supposed to be a fun-filled weekend of trips to Viterbo, Bracciano, and Sezze around Rome. Then I woke up Friday...

I hadn't slept well, and I woke with a fever and could barely hold down any food for breakfast. I ended up in bed for most of Friday instead of going to Viterbo and Bracciano, two medieval towns north of Rome.

Insert non-existent photos of Viterbo/Bracciano Trip

On Saturday afternoon, I had been planning to accept an invitation to join our friend and Rome guide Ruth for a stay at her house in Sezze, a small ancient town about 45 minutes south of Rome by train. On Sunday, Ruth was making a Thanksgiving-ish dinner for some British friends of hers and we were invited as well.

Although I was feeling slightly better than Friday, I still was nowhere near ready to make the Sezze trip on Saturday. But there was still some hope! Although Annie had accepted the Saturday invitation, Jordan had agreed to take the train down early on Sunday afternoon after he attended church. I could still hitch a ride then.

Of course, that didn't happen, so I didn't get to see the little town of Sezze nestled in the hills with views of the Sea. I was still not well enough to make any sort of long distance journey, I had trouble running down to the grocery store for some fruit and juice to eat!

Insert non-existent photos of Sezze and Thanksgiving Dinner

 Thankfully, Annie was able to bring me some quail and squash and a slice of pumpkin pie. I will be eating that for lunch today, as once again, I am stuck at home!

Anyways, hopefully the week will turn around! Quickly!

Ciao for now,
Kyle

Fun in Firenze

Yesterday, I took a long day trip to Florence, Italy! I left Rome at about 6:00am on a four hour train ride, I only slept about an hour on the train. The countryside of Tuscany was beautiful!

When I got to Florence, I bought myself a map and pocket guidebook which turned out to be great! Then, I headed over to the Duomo, the main cathedral in Florence. On my way there, a parade was blocking the street.

They ended up marching to the Duomo and performing a series of flags routines. It was fun to see, but the Duomo was the main attraction for sure! The building is massive! 300 feet tall and 300 feet long!

Inside, the first person I met in Florence was a tour guide for the church who was from Puerto Rico. He was my age and we quickly figured out he goes to ISU also! Small world...or not...I think Cyclones are just EVERYWHERE!

Anyways, after he gave me a tour of the Duomo, he offered to give me a tour of the city. We did a nice long walking tour of the city, from the Duomo to Ponte Vecchio and then up to Piazzale Michelangiolo then down to Santa Croce before heading back to his neighborhood!

Map of Florence city center. My route for the day: Arrived at the Train Station (24 on the map), went to the Duomo (1), across Ponte Vecchio (12), Lunch on Via San Miniato (near Via Belvedere), up the hill to Piazzale Michelangiolo (20), across Ponte Alle Grazie to Santa Croce (17), back up to Via Guelfa (north of 4 and 2), then back to the Train Station (24)

On the way back from Florence, I met an Israeli on the train who was traveling around Italy for a few weeks, he was great to talk with. We got into Rome around 11:30pm, long day! Overall, the day was great! It was nice to get out of Rome and see something new for a day and it was nice to have a day to myself.

Ciao for now,
Kyle

Ostia Antica and the Lido

On Saturday, Annie and I traveled to Ostia Antica and visited the ruins there. Ostia was the old Roman port town before the Tiber River changed course. The ruins are open air and you can even walk in and around most of them. All of the pictures of Ostia are on Annie's camera, so I will put those up when I get them, but the ruins were amazing. It is crazy to think that those ruins were a thriving town for so long and then were just left to crumble.

After spending a few hours wandering around the ruins (aka Scavi), we hopped on the train and went to the Lido (aka beach). I can officially say that I have set foot in the Mediterranean Sea, right about here! Again, more pictures to come!

Then, this morning, we went out to the market again to look for a few things. I got a small bag for when I go out as a tourist/on the city...kind of like a small messenger bag. It works great and I got it for only €10..so about  US$13. It is big enough to hold a water bottle, a book for train rides, and an umbrella with some room to spare! Annie loves it because now I don't have an excuse to use her purse as storage for tourist excursions, etc...LOL

The market is crazy, at least 10 blocks long and packed tightly...it shuts the area down from about 5am-5pm on Sundays.

View from the South end of the market,
just about a block south of our apartment building.
This is just one of the two rows.

Annie perusing the wares of Porta
Portese! She got a few nice scarves to
blend in with all the Romans.

A view of the market from one of our balconies.
It was about 3:00pm, so the vendors
had already started packing up!

Ciao for now,

Kyle

The Vatican Museums and Roman Rain

 Yesterday, Annie and I braved the light rain and decided to visit the Vatican Museums. On the last Sunday of the month, the museums are free admission! We got to the Vatican around 9:20 and ended up waiting in line for about two and a half hours. We got inside just before they closed the doors for the day. I would love to say that the museums were amazing and fantastic, but after waiting in the rain for two and a half hours, we were tired, sore and cranky, we ended up fast-tracking to the Sistine Chapel which was not what I expected. The chapel was packed like a can of sardines and there were security watching everyone to prevent people from taking pictures. In the end we got in and out pretty quickly. We are planning to go sometime later, but we will reserve tickets so we don't have to wait in line!

The line to get into St. Peter's Bascilica...it was
raining and the line was easily three hour wait.

Our line to the Vatican Museums...also raining
...still ended up with a two hour wait.

A dome inside the Vatican Museums.

A Vatican Museums corridor ceiling, the
net is to catch any falling pieces of plaster.

Long view of the corridor of maps, the walls are
covered in antique renditions of maps of the world.

Another ceiling in a corridor
of the Vatican Museums.

Otherwise, we are currently experiencing Roman rains. It has been raining almost steadily since Sunday early morning and isn't supposed to stop until tomorrow evening. Then we get about 4 days of sun before more rain!

Other than all of that, I am loving my time in Rome! We are thinking of taking a trip to Greece for our Thanksgiving break, but there aren't really any plans yet on the books.

Ciao for now.
Kyle

Italian Olive Harvest and an Old Town

Today, my roommates and I traveled about forty-five minutes, by train, to the small town of Mazzano Romano. There we helped a teacher at the school harvest her olives. We helped rake about 29 olive trees of their 37. It is tedious work, but we all had a blast! They treated us to a massive lunch with a local homemade soup, bread, wine, sausage, and bruschetta.

Annie harvesting olives

Annie carving her Halloween pumpkin,
we toasted the seeds later

Tonight we are hoping to find a Halloween Party or something fun to do...more on that later.

Ciao for now,

Kyle

Dinner with Colleagues

Tonight, after school, Jordan and I met a few of our colleagues for dinner at a Roman cuisine restaurant, Mascalzone Latino. There were originally supposed to be about fifteen teachers joining, but that was wheedled down to five.

The food was delicious, but it took a while to order, the menu was in Italian after all! I ended up ordering Saltimbocca alla Romana, a veal dish with thin slices of ham on top. The whole dish was covered in a delicious gravy.

For dessert, I ordered a Torta di Cioccolata e Arance, basically an orange cake with chocolate. It was so good, I also had a bite of a Panna Cotta with triple berries and a bite of Crem Caramel. Everything was amazing!


Overall, the evening was a blast and it was great being able to get to know some of my colleagues outside of the school. We are already making plans for future events!

Otherwise, Ciao for now!
Kyle

The Ancient City in the Morning, Transatlantic Football at Night!

So, today the City of Rome sponsored a free admission day to the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Palatine Complex in the Ancient City. Needless to say, I was up for partaking, what can I say, free is always a good word to use with a college student!

Anyways, I made my way to the Ancient City from my apartment. On the way, I was crossing Ponte Palatino and came across the remnant of an old Roman bridge, just one of the arches remains!

Part of what is left of an old Roman bridge,
just north of Ponte Palatino

When I got to the Palatino, the lines weren't all that bad, I got in and started to explore the ruins. Pretty quickly, I met a fellow American who was in Rome on vacation for about a week. She had been separated from her friends when they were boarding the train to the Colosseo. We wandered around the Palatino and the Foro Romano for a few hours and got to see some amazing sights!
















After the Palatino and Foro Romano, I walked over to the Colosseo. The line was considerably longer, but the wait was worth it! The monument is amazing, there is nothing to compare!

After a few hours taking in the sights of the Ancient City, I arrived home. Then I found out about the Iowa State vs Texas Football game! I first heard that ISU was winning 11-3, then it was 21-6, finally when I got a chance to log on to the live chat via the Des Moines Register, Iowa State had pulled ahead to 28-6. Then I tried to get a live stream of the game...it took a while, but I finally found one that worked! I started watching around the middle of the fourth quarter as Iowa State was letting Texas closer to the mark! It was difficult to watch! I am extremely glad that I was able to watch a historic moment in Iowa State History!

Ciao for now,

Kyle

Whirlwind of Excitement....and exhaustion

Today, we had our first day at our new school. We met the bus at 7:45AM after having missed two trams to get there....ugh! Then we got a scenic tour of the outskirts of Rome before we pulled into the school. When we arrived, we were supposed to be meeting someone from the Head of School's office, but the office was closed, so another teacher was kind enough to show us all to our cooperating teachers rooms. This kind of screwed up getting ourselves accounts and access to different things in and around the school, but it all worked out.

When I sat down with my first cooperating teacher, I got her schedule and realized that it might be an interesting time for me. Although I am student teaching and I should be taking over classes, I can't really do that with the AP (Advanced Placement) or IB (International Baccalaureate) classes because of the rigorous testing at the end of the year...problem is both of my cooperating teachers have mostly AP/IB courses! Right now it looks like I will be teaching two main classes and then just observing/assisting in their other classes as needed. Overall, this two cooperating teachers deal is a bit confusing and complicated...

Anyway, after a bit, we did get accounts and access figured out and I got myself a lunch account for the school and internet access and all of the requisite information. Tomorrow, I will be sitting in on one of my teacher's classes for the day, then we have a meeting with all three of us, my cooperating teachers and myself, on Friday morning to discuss where things will go from here!

Ciao for now.
Kyle

Explorations of the Eternal City

Today, after meeting the school bus at 7:45AM to see where it picks up and to let them know we would be starting tomorrow, we decided to take in some of the sights of Rome.

The Pantheon (under construction/cleaning)

We walked up to the Pantheon which was deserted, it was an hour before opening time...lol Then we made our way to the equally deserted Piazza Navona, beautiful still.

The central fountain in Piazza Navona and the Church of St. Agnes in Agony

 After some time taking in the sights of the Piazza Navona, we made our way back to the Pantheon just as it was opening for the day. The monument is beautiful and grandiose, but I somehow expected it to be bigger...Hollywood has made it out to be a larger building than it really is...a feat I don't understand as the monument is massive already!

After we had taken in the Pantheon, we explored our way to the Trevi Fountain, on the way we stumbled upon "The Pontifical North American College" which is the Bishop's office for US visitors to the Vatican...its a ways from the Vatican itself, just tucked away on a back street...lol

When we got to the Trevi Fountain, it had gotten to be about 9:30am, so there were a bunch of tour groups, but we found a section to the right side of the fountain that was relatively deserted where we could take pictures easily...

The Trevi Fountain

After we had each tossed our coin into the fountain, insuring our return to Roma, we found ourselves at the famed Spanish Steps. They were a bit crowded, but definitely worth the walk to get there...

The Spanish Steps, named for the nearby Spanish Embassy

Overall, the day was a resounding success...

Ciao for now,
Kyle

Street Markets and Walks along the River

Today, my roommates and I decided to check out a massive street market which takes place outside our building every Sunday. The market was HUGE and packed tightly with tents for every type of merchandise you could think about. We were totally unprepared for the magnitude of the experience, but we did manage to find a nice cutting board for the apartment for only €5! (The one that came with the apartment is more suited to a doll house than a furnished apartment...lol) We also found a splatter screen to help with some of our pots.

After we walked to one end of the market, we came back down along the Tiber River. The views were fantastic:

View of the Tiber River, looking through Ponte Sublicio.

Overall, things are going great! On Tuesday, we are making a dry run to meet our school bus which will take us to the campus, but we do have to walk a bit or catch the tram to the bus stop.

I am really getting excited to begin teaching again, now I just have to try not to sleep in so often! LOL

Ciao,
Kyle

La Città Eterna...finalmente!

Well, it's official! I'm in Rome, sitting in my flat with my roommates and colleagues. We have just come in from a short walk around the area to get a bite to eat on our first night in Rome. We found a neat little Patisseria (bakery) that also had a Gelatoria window....needless to say, first night in Rome is off to a great start with Strawberry and Chocolate Chunk gelato!

Ciao for now,

Kyle

First Day with students.

Yesterday was the first day for my students. It was an interesting time, our classes seem pretty good, but there are some interesting characters who might provide some entertainment over the next two months.

I have yet to find out who my supervisor is for the first placement, but I hope I find out soon. I really don't want to miss a meeting or something and be forced to do this again! LOL

That's all for now...I'm exaughsted.

~

And so it begins

Tomorrow, I begin my student teaching experience!

I am extremely excited to get started. My cooperating teacher seems like a very chill, enthusiastic person who I expect to get along with great. The school and community seem like a great small town atmosphere and they seem to cooperate extremely well. I was told that letting the students go around the community during school hours would most likely be no problem...wow. That would never have happened back home, but I am excited for the possibilities.

~

Planning

Although my Rome placement doesn't begin until the middle of October, planning is in full swing! I am meeting with my flatmates on Tuesday night via Skype and we will be talking about finalizing our plane tickets. We will also be meeting together with our supervisor for Rome later this week, also via Skype.

I am really excited for the coming semester. Now it's back to doing work at work and more packing tonight to get ready for moving apartments in Ames!

Getting Ready...

So, here we go...just over one month left until I begin my student teaching experience! I'm excited, nervous, apprehensive...all at once. I will be teaching middle school Geography and American History classes starting in August until the middle of October. Then, its off to the Eternal City!