MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

today, we hitchhike to PARIS!

goes and wanders

brussels-france

i came in Lille yesterday around 5pm with the TGV train from Brussels after all the hassle in the South station of Brussles. Good thing my hosts were really really nice...i really have to go and get them something for all their kindness! i wouldnt have known what to do if they werent there to help...

the tram was late and full, the trains were also late...all becau

se of this damn snow. when i got to the station, good thing Zak was there when me and Salim arrived. we tried getting a ticket but took too long then went up the platform to try and buy there but the train was 15mins late so we went down again but when we finally got to the window, the man said he couldnt sell anymore tickets to the train i needed to take...so, up again to the platform and just got on the train with no ticket...i intended to pay but the man who was supposed to sell me the ticket did not find me! oh well, the hassl

e was the payment, i guess...in the train, i met a couple of people who had no ticket too!

when i arrived, corinne and maica met me in the station and then we walked back to their flat...

sinigang and adobo for dinner! then international get together with their friends...met some italians and talked italian!! haha...i was so psyched with the fact that i carried on conversations in italian!!!

it's snowing again but got to make most of my stay here! oh and my phone started working again..in belgium i guess, my network had no partners...

while planning what to do for xmas and new years

goes and wanders

brrrrgium

i spent my first day walking around and exploring... i got in around 1030 in Charleroi and took the shuttle to the center of brussels. from there i got on the line 5 of the metro to Thieffry where Jean Baptiste, my host, lives...

had a bad start to that day, ripped a shirt and had to sew it back right before i was set to leave, i didnt sleep so as not to oversleep for the 530am bus to the airport but as i boarded he bus, got too tired, slept and woke up when the bus already passed the airport...good thing the end of the line was not too far fro, the airport. realizing i was too early for my flight, i just slept again. boarded, took pics of the dolomites, landed and realized my phone does not instantly go on roaming...baaaaah...why is it that there has to be so much fuss for the networks here??? countries are all close together anyway...now, i have to struggle with having no phone

and not to mention how freaking cold it is here! it was snowing yesterday when i arrived at Jean Baptiste's flat and right now, i have to be in my jeans over my jogging pants over my longjohns over my shorts over my briefs because it is snowing again!!!

the pic up there is not one which i took as i couldn't be bothered to upload pics now...but it is where i was last night...the center had a blue christmas tree and the building to the lit up with moving lights, making it seem like it was dancing...

off to salim's place this afternoon...another couch to surf

goes and wanders

back in the air

i'm off to fly to brussels in a few hours...
yet another 'vietnam trip' for me...not knowing my exact plans are, not knowing much about the country...oh well...

i'm going to be in brussels until the 20th or earlier then heading down to france...or maybe going up to amsterdam...or east to germany...i really don't know and i like it that way...but i stay in that side of europe until the 7th of january, then im off to Rome! 12th im back to padova! back to packing...

goes and wanders

stitched pictures from ski trip!

a few shots i took and stitched up
first one isn't seamless at all...

goes and wanders

snowsnowsnow

just got back from an incredible weekend!
went to alto-adige, some place up north of italy, part of the dolomites...
went skiing finally and must say it's really hard but can be done...it's really fun but i guess the slopes i chose to try weren't suited for someone just starting... now, i am terribly sore and i have bruises on both cheeks of my ass! learning to stop took longer than i hoped so in order to stop when the ride was going too fast for me, i just decide to crash using my ass. the last pic is of me crashing and deciding to rest...

got some cool pictures as well but will have to just upload the ones from my phone as of the moment...the place was incredible, a 2 story house in the mountains complete with everything!
we were 17 erasmus people! germans, portuguese, italian, hungarian, czech, british, french, belgian...

wait for the pics!

goes and wanders

photo of the day

i was walking around the sausage and cheese market down via roma yesterday and saw this.
i did not want to try in the fears of walking around poking people with my stick or something...

goes and wanders

Art: Biennale and Padova Arte

i am here for art.
it is for the love of art that i got this scholarship.
it's not solely in my classes i get my daily dose of art, it is in my everyday life here.
biking around the city, riding through the falling leaves of fall, snaking through the hustle and bustle of the cars, immersing myself in the historic grounds of education...

if these weren't enough, i am here at the same time when the Biennale is on-going. it's this exhibition of contemporary art from all over the world. Philippines is not part of it, it will really be an honor though to be asked to participate...yet i have no idea what the standards are to be asked.
the entrance to this is 8 euros and i went twice. 16 euros well spent. thats how much i liked it. the place is huge and i endured two trips of it! by the end of the second trip, my legs were already cramping up and the walk back to the ferrovia did not help since the exhibition is all the way in the other side of Venice.

also, Padova Arte is very much like Biennale but on a smaller scale...it was held in the Fiera Padova, a good 15 minutes away from my flat...entrance was free for students...for me, it was as interesting as Biennale even if it was way smaller in production.

what i really like about art is that it can have many interpretations, you get to see the work of artists and somehow get to see how their minds work, how they see their environment, it's very much like travelling in the sense that you see the distinction and similarities of style and culture..
sure, some may seem incredibly stupid and an obvious attempt of fooling the public by calling their piece 'art' but who knows, it may be that a broken mirror or a floating mannequin made to seem dead or whatnot meant something to the artist...it doesnt have to be beautiful for it to be art and sure, the beautiful ones are more appealing but it takes so much more to see the beauty in the normal everyday hodgepodge of things...


goes and wanders

fall/autumn/autunno

i like fall.
too bad back home, we never get it.
too bad i can't distinguish the colors as well.
but yeah, yellows, oranges, reds and all the hues in between...
___________________________________________

my classes are about to end, officially by wednesday i'll be free to roam around for as long as i want at least until exams in january.
i've booked a one way flight to belgium for only 2 euros. in total, the trip costs 7 euros.
isn't it amazing how flights can be so cheap??? itinerary for belgium? no idea yet...

goes and wanders

tis the season...

today as i was on my way to class, i saw they were putting up the Christmas tree (albero di Natale) in front of the Municipale and yet again, that question of where to spend the holidays and with whom had to be refreshed in my mind. i have been putting off the planning...what to do, what to do...

somehow, this season comes too soon all the time...

goes and wanders

BBQ/ Grigliata

october 31st
ESN rented a villa outside the city for a bbq! of course, spritz and wine was not absent...
it was great to have the villa all to ourselves! an authentic italian villa surrounded by cyprus trees!
met a lot of friendly spanish girls! good thing they talked to us because otherwise we were too hungry to start a conversation...

lately, it's been tiring to meet new people! you go through the same small talk with each and every person...laughing at the same joke you have or they have about the country or the situation...

anyway, back to the grill...after the meals, small talk, frisbee, football, american football, volleyball and whathaveyou...surreal...

*ive been skipping on entries!!! good thing my planner is updated...

goes and wanders

halloweeeeee

party in Banale for halloween!
the other updates will have to follow when i am not lazy to upload, i have tons of pictures to upload with such slow internet!

how do you like my face mask??? i made that out of a trickortreat bag! haha

today, i'm off again to Venice! for the 6th time...with Corinne and Maica

goes and wanders

look at this fool

look at this fool....drinking too much free wine in Venice and making the city corners his own personal bathroom...not to mention puking in the train on his way back to Padova

goes and wanders

surreal

after 2 months, there are still those moments where i step back from what's happening and i look around, hear the sounds, feel the different gusts of the wind and all those other stuff that remind me i am in a different place. these moments are so surreal for me. lately, i have been hanging out with the most diverse crowd...

Friday, Modena with Miriam and Owen to see the town and taste some old Balsamic Vinegar
Sunday, i went to Verona with the Erasmus people, my bike got stolen!!!! i knew it was too beautiful and new for those thieves to resist
Monday, bought my 'new' bike, (now i feel like an old lady biking around the city!) then had dinner with Virginie at my place then went to the tandem night where i taught some English girls how to count and say their name in tagalog,
Tuesday, dinner at Gert-Jan's, we were 20+ people and the food was international as well as the company,
Wednesday, dinner at the Mensa with the other erasmus and then drinks at Dennis'. after we headed to Metropolis to watch some jazzband trick it out...
Thursday, the afternoon i went to buy gloves in H&M in the nearby mall and then had a german dinner at Isabel's
Friday, did not wake up for the 10am meeting to go to Venice so i followed Isabel, Jurg, Owen, Marius and Nile an hour later..went to see the Biennale, an amazing Art Exhibit from all over the world, it's a shame the Philippines had no exhibition...then Bacarata with the erasmus, free wine and pizza! got too DRUNK...can't even remember all the people i met last night plus i puked in the train...indeed, i left my mark, not a very good one...

Today, i plan to go to Vicenza for the Chocolate festival...i'll be sleeping over Vanessa's place and then she's going to show me around tomorrow! this week has been so busy. too busy. i need to take a day off from all these things...

oh yeah, i've also been going to class of course...ive never missed one! slowly but surely, i will be getting what they've been talking about in class.

tomorrow night, another erasmus party is lined up...the traffic light party. come in green if you're single, red if you're not and yellow just so you have a reason to reject the ones you don't like...i'm wearing black. just because i have the excuse of saying i'm colorblind.:D

goes and wanders

recap

i haven't found the time to write recently although i am always online.
not so much has happened in terms of traveling, ive been busy with school and erasmus get-togethers. recap...

school has been blaaaah. been three weeks since i started and thankfully, i think somehow, my comprehension is getting quite better. the first week was just like polsci classes all over again but this time even the language i couldnt understand. my professors are quite helpful though.

ive replaced H.Gladys but in memory of her, i will call my new one Glahdys, parang pinoy lang, parating may nawawalang H. She is now with a friend from Mauritius. She was just always flat and fixing her meant 20 euros and for that i can buy a new bike and a new lock! which i did. got my new one for 16 euros.

Erasmus, its pretty cool how its arranged here. Europeans and now, also people who arent europeans are able to study elsewhere other than their own university. but somehow, its becoming more of a reason to party abroad. oh well, when in Rome. (another city i have to get to soon) last night was the welcome party and i got home around 5am. wew. i feel so cool. in fact, i feel SOM mall cool.

the weather has changed so much in a span of one week. it has dropped 10 degrees! its 12 degrees celsius max and 4 degrees minimum as predicted for today! its getting harder to bike around in this weather.

i wish my friends were here.

goes and wanders

no pics! im lazy to upload.

Jesolo

a train to mestre and a bus to jesolo brought me to one of the longest stretch of beach i have been! i wasn't expecting much but the sight of the sea when i finally found it from the station just brought excitement, once again, i had contact with the ocean! if only the waves were strong enough to surf!
i definitely will be back again, it being an hour away.

goes and wanders

paying it forward

after a number of couches surfed, i finally have the chance to pay it forward.
this weekend, i have two guests. they are art students in berlin, germany but they are not germans. two girls, one from lithuania and the other from japan. today, i brought them around the center and then suggested they visit venice after lunch and then again tomorrow.

it's quite fulfilling to be a host but there is also that pressure of offering a nice experience to your guests. i hope to get more nationalities to surf my couch in the near future.

goes and wanders

pomegranate run

i ran again today.
there's something about running in another country. i'm just more motivated. especially in the states. mostly, i'd attribute it to the weather. sweating is not mostly because it's scorching hot and terribly humid outside but because you actually did work out!

after my run, i did some exercises i used to do for pole vault and i can still do them perfectly! i did not realize i am not that out of shape. in your face, ____!

oh and in the park, i picked a pomegranate from the bush...it wasn't as ripe as people would want them to be but to me the sweet and sour mix of the taste is amazing and the idea that i just grabbed it off the branch! wew. haha



goes and wanders

H.Gladys

here she is, my H.Gladys.
i got her on the 21st of august and since then i have relied on her.
she has saved me quite a number of euros already. not to mention the exercise i get from her. bike stealing is quite rampant here, unfortunately.
everyone pray that me and H.Gladys will never part.

goes and wanders

sartorialist hunt begins

goes and wanders