Soup Kitchen

Today was my first day volunteering at the soup kitchen at a church near the school. I got up at 6:50 to be there by 8:00, and met two other girls from ACT there. There were two ladies, Katerina and Hannah, who were very cute and sweet but spoke very little English. They were still fun to be around, and collectively we knew enough/could gesture/sing Frankie Valli. We couldn’t actually help cook, which was really disappointing, because if we did something wrong the ladies would get in trouble, but we peeled potatoes, mixed cheese, washed dishes, and mopped the floor while they made delicious-looking pastitsiou. They also defended us when someone upstairs wanted us to wash the toilets, for which I was grateful….

I almost wish I had been the only American, because I think I would have tried to speak more Greek—one of the girls who was there with me is Greek Orthodox and can speak Greek pretty well, so I was a little too intimidated to try, or there was no need for me to stammer something out when she could just spit it out. I understood more of what they were saying than I thought I would be able to; the only problem is I’m at the point where I know the words, but have to think about it; by the time I listen, recognize a word, and then think of its translation, they’re a whole sentence away and I lose the flow.

I also had my first ACT test today, in Greek 104. It was difficult—I knew all the vocab but the grammar stuff, which made up most of the test, was really tricky. I don’t think I’ll ever get the hang of it. When I handed it in, the teacher glanced over it and then gave me a half-shrug, that could either mean, “Eh, not bad” or “Eh, so you fail the first one. There’s always the next one!”. I’m not really sure.

Here’s some more street scenes of Paris. I still haven’t gotten over the city.

Paris: Je serai de retour!

My last day in France, after a delicious breakfast of fresh croissants, I went to see Versailles. I almost didn’t get to see it, since it wasn’t in the original plan, but I’m so glad that I did. It’s so beautiful out there; it’s pretty much a huge park that’s virtually free to enter so locals come to jog, skate, and teach their children to ride bicycles. Up by the chateau it’s more touristy, but down along the water or through the park it’s all locals, at least at this time of year. We walked Polo around so it was really fun.

Versailles is massive, to put it mildly. It’s so big and done on such a grand scale that you almost can’t get a real sense of how big it is, because every part of it is equally big. Plus, there is so much wealth on display—no wonder there was a revolution, when palaces like this are being built while people are starving! Here come a lot of photos:

It would have taken way more time than I had to do Versailles properly, and I didn’t even go inside, but I’m glad I got to see it.

After Versailles we went back to the house for a delicious lunch and then Nick and I went on a bike ride. He showed me where his school was and then we biked along the Seine, which was beautiful, and also a fun thing to be able to say I’ve done. Unfortunately, Nick’s back tire popped somewhere along the Seine…It was a bit difficult as he walked back and I rode slowly beside him. It was pretty funny, but then we started worrying I would be late. We finally reached the street his house is on, although on the far end, and I rode ahead. I made it back fine, put my stuff in the car and headed out. We actually passed him on the way and I felt pretty bad; I didn’t even get to say a proper goodbye, and he had to walk the rest of the way home since I had to be taken to the airport. Nick, if you’re reading this, sorry about that! I had a really great time anyway!

Unlike the end of my Istanbul trip, where three days was too much, I was very sad to leave Paris and could easily have spent many more days exploring this wonderful city. I will most definitely be back sometime in the future—Paris just has too much to offer that I want to take advantage of!

My connecting flight to Rome got in a little late, and at a gate a little far from the one I needed to be at, so I made a mad dash through Fiumicino to get to where I needed to be, only to discover the gate had been changed and make another crazy run. I began to worry I wouldn’t be able to eat anything but peanuts (which, to be fair, were crackers with sundried tomatoes on Alitalia), but my flight to Thessaloniki was delayed for about an hour and a half due to bad weather. I didn’t have to rush after all.

Now I’m back, going to class living life in Thessaloniki once more. Tomorrow is my first day volunteering at the soup kitchen, where they only speak Greek. We’ll see how this turns out. At any rate, my Paris trip was amazing, I’m so glad I went and recommend this city with five stars and two thumbs up to anyone thinking about visiting!

Paris: Je t’adore!

The next morning, the Simons took me to their local market where the smell of the cheeses and fish was enough to drive anyone crazy with hunger, and then it was back into Paris.

Musee Rodin: This was probably one of my favorite things to see. The house where Rodin had lived and worked was converted into a museum filled with mostly his works, as well as a room featuring sculptures by his mistress and some paintings that he had collected. I had never been exposed to his work before and found it absolutely awe-inspiring. He is probably the greatest sculptor ever. His works are so vivid and full of dynamic movement that it’s breath-taking to look at. One of his works that was scaled to life-size was so well done that critics initially brushed it off, saying it must be a mold and not actual sculpture.

Pictured, Young Girl with Roses on Hat (one of my favorites), the Gates of Hell, and the Kiss, one of his more famous works (The Thinker was also displayed here). The Gates of Hell is a depiction of Dante’s Inferno, and The Kiss is based on the story of Francesca and Paolo from the Inferno; shoutout to Junior Year Humanities Class with Fio!

   

Napoleon’s Tomb: Next we went to the Hotel des Invalides and the Eglise du Dome, which houses the remains of Napoleon Bonaparte (we actually walked here the first day but it was closed by that time, contributing to my extreme tiredness!). It was set up almost as a monument to him listing all his great works, and in the center was a massive coffin which I later learned was actually six coffins, each inside the other.

 

Notre Dame: This was probably my other favorite thing. The Notre Dame was so incredibly, amazingly awe-inspiring. It’s massive but at the same time light and airy. One can just imagine how it must have soared over all the tiny peasant huts that surrounded it back in the day. It took over a hundred years to build—can you imagine what it must have been like to work your whole life on something that you would never see the end of, or plan an arch to support x that wouldn’t be completed for another 40 years? The math involved would have been impressive. The cathedrals were the main centers of learning in medieval times, and many of the pictures, reliefs, and sculptures that decorate both inside and outside were meant to educate an illiterate public on the stories of the Bible. Some pictures of the interior and exterior that don’t really do it justice, followed by a picture of me nomming on a delicious crepe right outside the Notre Dame.

 

The remainder of the day we spent exploring the streets, window shopping, and occasionally popping into shops to drool over clothes I couldn’t possibly afford. The Parisians always dress impeccably stylishly, as evidenced by the shops. The Gap was completely different than Gap in America; no way would a store selling only basics survive in France, so they developed an entirely new line that looks way more Eurotrashy. The mannequins in all the windows were set up beautifully, just to walk by was to get a sense of the style, and an instant desire for that exact outfit. We went into the occasional shop for a peek—French women are tiny! Even if the clothes would have fit waist-wise, they would definitely be way too short on someone as tall as me. We drowned our sorrows over not being able to have the clothes with some macaroons—I’d never had them before and they were delicious, it did just the trick!

We went back to the house to chat, watch Rugby (England beat France, and I actually understood what was going on!), watch Gigi (actually a pretty creepy movie: man meets girl, treats girl as little sister, falls in love with girl so makes girl his courtesan, disgraces girl, then [because this movie was made in the 60s] marries girl), and eat the most delicious fish I’ve ever had. It was, again, another day filled with walking, so I was ready to sleep by the end of it.

That’s it for day two, check out the next post for day three!

Paris: Je t’aime!

Paris, I'm in love! I've just spent the last three days in Paris and it was absolutely amazing. I had such a wonderful time. I saw so many different building and museums and works of art and spent the whole weekend in motion, and yet I still barely scratched the surface of what the city has to offer. I will definitely find myself in Paris again, and will love every minute of it. I stayed with the Simons, our good family friends who live 20 minutes from Paris by train. They were so good to me and gave up their weekend to cart me around the city, and they know so much about history and art and Paris that it was like having my own private tour guides. Thank you so much for putting me up, and for putting up with me; I love you guys and had a wonderful time!
 
I left Thessaloniki early in the morning and had a stopover in Rome. It was funny to think that that's actually the first time I've really flown by myself--the only other time was when Katie and I went to Minnesota, but she was still too young to technically fly alone so we did the whole escort thing (which basically meant we were just the last to get on the plane, since mom dropped us off at one gate and Aunt Beth picked us up at the other). It was a pretty uneventful experience and I found all my gates easily.
 
The Simons picked me up at the airport and we went straight into the city. Both Friday and Saturday we spent all day hoofing it around the city, walking everywhere or taking the subway to see as much as possible. We saw some amazing works of art, architecture, and history. That was part of what made Paris so amazing, the abundance of art. Everywhere you turned and every building you entered, there was some painting or sculpture or building of beauty and significance. There were more museums than I could visit, but I loved the ones we did. It's not just the museums, though, it's the city itself. I could have spent a few days just wandering around the streets, or sitting in one of the parks. It was a little overcast, slightly rainy, and winter, so there were no leaves on the trees or flowers in bloom, but it was still so beautiful! All this combines to make the hipster in me very happy....
 
Anyway, some of the things I got to see:
 
The first place we went to (none of my pictures came out) was an English-language bookshop right near Notre Dame called Shakespeare & Company which set a magnificent tone for the rest of my France trip. It was run by a woman who was a member of the Resistance during the war, and it’s cute and cozy with books haphazardly lining the walls, floor to ceiling, and piled around the room. If you’re any kind of writer they let you stay overnight for free in one of the little rooms—it was just so cute and kitschy that I fell in love.

After, on the way to a place for lunch we ironically walked through a street that was row after row of Greek restaurants and Greek-style tavernas. How funny would it have been to practice my Greek while in Paris? I don’t know if you can see in this picture, but one sign says “Meteora” and another further down says “Gyros”.

 

Louvre: I got to see the Louvre, which was very interesting, because when I say see the Louvre, I mean I glimpsed a tiny fragment of it. With over 35,000 pieces of art, it would take nine months just to glance at each piece. Keep in mind that the Louvre was originally a palace, so the rooms and setting itself it beautiful to see. We followed an audio tour that took us by three of the most famous works; Venus de Milo, Victory of Samothrace, and the Mona Lisa. VoS was really well done and amazing, especially the lead-up to it, since it was placed with swooping wings at the top of a wide flight of stairs. The Mona Lisa was absolutely mobbed with people. As a painting I’m not actually that thrilled with the Mona Lisa—at the risk of sounding pretentious I think Da Vinci has far better works—but I did walk around and it’s true, her eyes really do follow you!

Venus de Milo, Victory at Samothrace, Da Vinci's Virgin of the Rocks, the Mona Lisa (watching you from both angles!) and two pictures of the Louvre itself.

    

   

 

Musee d’Orsay: Housed in a former train station, this museum displays mostly Impressionist works. I love Renoir and Monet, so it was fun to see some of their paintings, but I also discovered Degas, who I liked a lot. I got yelled at for taking pictures and had to stop, but go google Degas’s Ballet Lesson. Pictured, Renoir’s Le Moulin de la Galette, and Degas’s Blue Dancers.

 

Eiffel Tower: Despite initially losing the tower, we did manage to see it in the end. Did you know that Parisians initially hated the tower, and the only reason it was saved from being torn down was that it was perfect for radio transmissions? Now people hawk miniature versions of it everywhere, even out in Versailles.

  

Our last stop day one was to see the Arc de Triomphe and have a glass of wine on the Champs-Elysees and watch the world go by. How much more Parisian do you get than that?

 

That night the Simons took me out to an absolutely delicious meal at a restaurant in their town. It was scrumptious, but and I went to sleep soon after. The food, the wine, and the massive amounts of walking I did that day (I don’t know if you can tell from these little blurbs, but we walked far to each of these places!) exhausted me. It was an amazingly fun day, though.

That’s all for day one. Since I had trouble with file sizes when uploading Istanbul, I’m going to break it up again. Days two and three to follow!