Howdy there friends. I know I've been neglecting my blog and haven't kept you up to the second on my excursions. Fret not, it's all for good reason. For the sake of the slower crowd, I'll remind you that this past week and a half my Mom and Aunt Jacqui came to visit. I'd just like to mention quickly before I get into all those yummy details that the day before my mother and aunt arrived, Thursday March 10th, Pierre took Kevin, Killian, and I to the Geneva auto show. The spread of car's was amazing inside and out. Having spent so much time in Mia and Chicago I thought I had seen balling. Bentley's, Aston Martin's, Ferrari's, Porsche's have become kind of old hat, but the sheer amount of these luxury cars is what the really amazing part. So to all of my friends that want to marry rich you may want to take a trip to Geneva, chances of it actually happening are much higher there. I'll go more into detail about Geneva later though.
On Friday March 11th my Mom and Aunt landed in Paris and took the TGV (fast train) to Lyon, which is about an hour away. Pierre drove while I rode along to pick them up from the train station and bring them back to Aix. We're in the middle of the packed Lyon train station and Pierre's worried about how we're going to spot them because it's packed. I tell him not to worry that we'll spot them easily because they'll be the only ones dressed as if they're climbing Mt. Everest. He laughs and of course, thinks I'm just teasing them until he spots them coming down the ramp from their train. He points them out to me and immediately starts laughing because I was right. They both have on huge coats, knit hats, scarves, every piece of cold weather gear except for snow boots. I won't tell you the temperature outside so they can save some face, but just know it was definitely easy to spot them. Of course they were tired from their Atlantic crossing so we took them to Aix to meet the family and rest up.
I've mentioned before how amazing I think the Marmion's are and how grateful I am to be staying with them. Now both my Mom and Aunt witnessed their kindness and loving attitude firsthand. Throughout their entire stay we all got along very well and it was refreshing to hear from both sides how much they really liked each other and got along. I really feel like we've gained some french "cousins", if your not from Mia you probably won't understand what I mean by that. Anyway let me recap the first half of the visit. You see that, I proactively split this blog entry into two maybe three different entries because I care about all four of my readers. :D
The highlight of Friday was definitely dinner. Dinner with the Marmion's is always lively and a great time. Things were definitely kicked up a notch when three things were added. Mom + Aunt + Wine = the Charlie Sheen definition of winning. This is where everyone truly became comfortable with each other and the dynamic was really amazing. There we all were, two families who were recently acquainted but it seemed like we had known each other for years. The food, as always, was amazing. Catherine is truly a master in the kitchen. She made tartiflette which is a dish comprised of potatoes, onions, ham, and cheese. It's one my favorite dishes and is a specialty here in the Savoie region. Catherine even made my Mom a vegetarian, onion free tartiflette so she could try it too. That's love ain't it? Dinner went on and we all had a very great time.
On Saturday was the Carnaval in Chambery in which our team, Les Aigles, was marching in. The theme of the parade was countries from around the world and each group represented a different country. Of course, they picked us to represent the US of A. Pierre asked Caleb and I to carry the American flags throughout the parade route. First off, I had so much fun in that parade and I wish I could find some pictures to show you but I gave my camera to my Mom. About midway through the parade my Mom and Aunt decided that they wanted to go shopping so I don't have very much evidence to put up on my tumblr. (http://mmalachi.tumblr.com/ )Needless to say, Les Aigles put on a show for the crowd and Caleb and I were huge hits because of our exotic status as Americans, especially with the ladies. The only problem is that these girls were no older than 13 or 14. Honestly, if I were back in middle school I would've been the man with how many young girls hit on me. I even got a request at the end of parade to dance with a pair of young ladies. I had to respectfully decline this request though. I know, I know I'm a heartbreaker.
On sunday was our game against the Cannoniers. For which, a new level of excitement was in the air around the house because my Mom, Aunt, and Catherine quickly discovered they were going to be partners in crime at the game. For those of you who've ever sat near my Mom and Aunt at a game know exactly what I mean. The rest of you will soon understand. To say that they were the three loudest people at the game would be an understatement. They were complete hooligans, but it was awesome. Catherine had her trademark trumpets and was screaming in French. My Mom and Aunt on the other hand were their usual selves screaming out all types of things at everyone on the field and at one point my Aunt Jacqui even screamed out tire-bouchon, which means cork screw in English. Of course everyone was laughing at the trio of hooligans and their great quotes. My personal favorite is when it hit halftime my Aunt Jackie yelled out, "It's halftime, do they want us to do a halftime show?" The game was hard fought but unfortunately we lost 8-3. Which is a true shame because we were unable to get our first win and our OL/DL coach Phillipe donned a dread-lock wig the whole game to emphasize the "Marshall touch". Hopefully soon we can get that first W and begin our winning ways. After the game my Mom and Aunt got their first and only taste of McDonald's in France. After the game we just all chilled out at the house. In our next adventure I'll bring everyone up to speed on the second half of my Mom and Aunt's visit in France.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Venezia and Absinthe: quite the mix
Howdy everyone. Oh yes, I'm back safe and sound after my first adventure in a hostel and let me tell you it was a grand ole time. First of all, I'd like to start off by saying how truly amazing Venice is. I really do want/need to go back because I still haven't taken a gondola ride. I'll fully explain why throughout this entry. Also make sure to check out my tumblr @ mmalachi.tumblr.com. (There you go Liliya, I figured it out :D)
I departed for Venice last Sunday morning (Feb. 27th) from the Chambery train station. Pierre and Catherine dropped me off and told me to call if I needed anything and I talked to Pierre a couple of times throughout this LONG journey to update him on my progress. I decided to take the train from Chambery to Venice because I figured I have to take at least one train trip while in Euro land. Even though my trip was extremely long and at times very boring I'd say it was pretty cool. The train route was very nice and I got to see a lot of the country side, mainly in Italy though because of course I fell asleep throughout the rest of France. I had one change and that was in the Milan train station, which was packed to capacity so I got a little taste of Milan but a taste none the less. The only real highlight of my trip on the train came while en route to Venice from Milan. I missed my original train from Milan because the train from France was delayed but my ticket was still good for a spot on the next train just not an assigned seat. I realized this and went to the emptiest compartment I could find so there wouldn't be any problems with people asking for their seat. About halfway through the ride these two women come into our car bringing the total head count up to about 10. Seriously, the entire train car is empty and of course she walks right over to me and says these are our seats. I was in disbelief at this but I got up without a word of protest and walked the literal foot over to the next row of seats. I guess she really wanted those seats.
Eventually we begin to approach the city limits of Venice and I could not take my eyes off of the scenery outside. Venice has two parts, the modern city and the old town. You have to cross the bridge to get to the old part and it kind've reminds me of 395 back in Miami going to South Beach with the cruise ships to the side and the ocean surrounding you. However, Venice is a hell of a lot cooler because once you hit the old town there are no more cars, scooters or anything of that nature. The only way to get around Venice and it's plethora of tiny alleys they call streets are walking or a boat for the canals. Venice is one of the easiest places to get lost I've ever been and I spent an almost an hour looking for the hostel I was staying because I couldn't find the entrance even with directions. I had to call twice and eventually they were able to direct me towards the door. I stayed at L'Imbarcadero and I definitely recommend it. It has an amazing view right on the Grand Canal and I met plenty of really cool people during my stay. Even the guy who runs it, Alex, was cool as hell. He's a young Iranian guy and he directed me throughout the city for places I should check out for food, parties etc. The first night was pretty standard, I was one of the first people to arrive during the evening so it was pretty empty. I went to dinner by myself at a nice place around the corner from the hostel that Alex told me to check out if they had room. After dinner, I of course wanted to wander around the city so Alex suggested I head to Campo Santa Margherita for a drink and for a little taste of nightlife. I had a beer walked around a little bit and headed back to get ready for the next day's festivities.
The next day at breakfast is where I met the crew. There were people all of the place staying in the hostel. Three American girls, two Israeli guys, three girls from Brazil, a Norwegian guy, and a Colombian girl who lived in Australia. I don't know how to spell everyone's name properly so I'm going to leave them out (lol) except for my 3 buddies who helped make up the grand adventure. At breakfast everyone was just talking and getting to know everyone better when we found out that Alex was going to head to San Marco so we all figure it'd be better to go as a group instead of wandering alone down the city streets by ourself and getting lost. At 10:30 we all head out with Alex over to San Marco and if any of you still reading this have played Assassin's Creed II, it looks the exact same way it does in the video game. Nerdy, yes I know but it was amazing to actually be there in person. Alex had to go back to work the hostel so we all started heading back with him because it was lunch time and we didn't want to get lost. Of course, since we were in tourist mode we did get separated from Alex but we made it back to the Hostel under my new friend Deirdre's guidance. For lunch my newly assembled wolf pack of my homie from Norway Håkon, Brianna and Deirdre two of the American girls, headed back to the same place I had dinner last night. We decide to kick things up a notch at lunch and order two liters of wine with lunch. before I change subjects, for lunch I had spaghetti with black squid ink and pieces of squid mixed in, it was so good but I was nice enough to share some before I devoured it all.
After lunch we didn't want to just head back to the hostel because we had limited time in the city and the weather was decent so we decided to walk around and see the sights while simultaneously having a bar crawl. Typical Americans right? Anyway towards the end of the tour we ended back up at Campo Santa Margherita and stop in one of the bars there to have a drink of Absinthe. When I say that after that sh*t hit the fan, it would be an understatement. If you've never had a drink of Absinthe I'll tell you that it is literally the Devil's juice and it did it's job. While we're leaving the bar Deirdre walks off because she says knows the way back to the hostel and that we're going the wrong way and she'll meet us when we get back. Long story short me, Alex, and Håkon had to spend two hours looking for her because like I said earlier Venice streets are quite easy to get lost on, especially after some absinthe. I had fun though got to see more of the city than I ever imagined and I got my pizza at the end of the night. Until our next adventure kiddies. It should be a good one Mommy and my Aunt Jackie are coming over to have some crazy Euro land adventures with me.
I departed for Venice last Sunday morning (Feb. 27th) from the Chambery train station. Pierre and Catherine dropped me off and told me to call if I needed anything and I talked to Pierre a couple of times throughout this LONG journey to update him on my progress. I decided to take the train from Chambery to Venice because I figured I have to take at least one train trip while in Euro land. Even though my trip was extremely long and at times very boring I'd say it was pretty cool. The train route was very nice and I got to see a lot of the country side, mainly in Italy though because of course I fell asleep throughout the rest of France. I had one change and that was in the Milan train station, which was packed to capacity so I got a little taste of Milan but a taste none the less. The only real highlight of my trip on the train came while en route to Venice from Milan. I missed my original train from Milan because the train from France was delayed but my ticket was still good for a spot on the next train just not an assigned seat. I realized this and went to the emptiest compartment I could find so there wouldn't be any problems with people asking for their seat. About halfway through the ride these two women come into our car bringing the total head count up to about 10. Seriously, the entire train car is empty and of course she walks right over to me and says these are our seats. I was in disbelief at this but I got up without a word of protest and walked the literal foot over to the next row of seats. I guess she really wanted those seats.
Eventually we begin to approach the city limits of Venice and I could not take my eyes off of the scenery outside. Venice has two parts, the modern city and the old town. You have to cross the bridge to get to the old part and it kind've reminds me of 395 back in Miami going to South Beach with the cruise ships to the side and the ocean surrounding you. However, Venice is a hell of a lot cooler because once you hit the old town there are no more cars, scooters or anything of that nature. The only way to get around Venice and it's plethora of tiny alleys they call streets are walking or a boat for the canals. Venice is one of the easiest places to get lost I've ever been and I spent an almost an hour looking for the hostel I was staying because I couldn't find the entrance even with directions. I had to call twice and eventually they were able to direct me towards the door. I stayed at L'Imbarcadero and I definitely recommend it. It has an amazing view right on the Grand Canal and I met plenty of really cool people during my stay. Even the guy who runs it, Alex, was cool as hell. He's a young Iranian guy and he directed me throughout the city for places I should check out for food, parties etc. The first night was pretty standard, I was one of the first people to arrive during the evening so it was pretty empty. I went to dinner by myself at a nice place around the corner from the hostel that Alex told me to check out if they had room. After dinner, I of course wanted to wander around the city so Alex suggested I head to Campo Santa Margherita for a drink and for a little taste of nightlife. I had a beer walked around a little bit and headed back to get ready for the next day's festivities.
The next day at breakfast is where I met the crew. There were people all of the place staying in the hostel. Three American girls, two Israeli guys, three girls from Brazil, a Norwegian guy, and a Colombian girl who lived in Australia. I don't know how to spell everyone's name properly so I'm going to leave them out (lol) except for my 3 buddies who helped make up the grand adventure. At breakfast everyone was just talking and getting to know everyone better when we found out that Alex was going to head to San Marco so we all figure it'd be better to go as a group instead of wandering alone down the city streets by ourself and getting lost. At 10:30 we all head out with Alex over to San Marco and if any of you still reading this have played Assassin's Creed II, it looks the exact same way it does in the video game. Nerdy, yes I know but it was amazing to actually be there in person. Alex had to go back to work the hostel so we all started heading back with him because it was lunch time and we didn't want to get lost. Of course, since we were in tourist mode we did get separated from Alex but we made it back to the Hostel under my new friend Deirdre's guidance. For lunch my newly assembled wolf pack of my homie from Norway Håkon, Brianna and Deirdre two of the American girls, headed back to the same place I had dinner last night. We decide to kick things up a notch at lunch and order two liters of wine with lunch. before I change subjects, for lunch I had spaghetti with black squid ink and pieces of squid mixed in, it was so good but I was nice enough to share some before I devoured it all.
After lunch we didn't want to just head back to the hostel because we had limited time in the city and the weather was decent so we decided to walk around and see the sights while simultaneously having a bar crawl. Typical Americans right? Anyway towards the end of the tour we ended back up at Campo Santa Margherita and stop in one of the bars there to have a drink of Absinthe. When I say that after that sh*t hit the fan, it would be an understatement. If you've never had a drink of Absinthe I'll tell you that it is literally the Devil's juice and it did it's job. While we're leaving the bar Deirdre walks off because she says knows the way back to the hostel and that we're going the wrong way and she'll meet us when we get back. Long story short me, Alex, and Håkon had to spend two hours looking for her because like I said earlier Venice streets are quite easy to get lost on, especially after some absinthe. I had fun though got to see more of the city than I ever imagined and I got my pizza at the end of the night. Until our next adventure kiddies. It should be a good one Mommy and my Aunt Jackie are coming over to have some crazy Euro land adventures with me.
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