A Trip to the Italian Cinema

     So today I went down by the arena to make a test trip before the day of the show to make sure I could get there with no problems. I got down there with no problems, and it's actually a pretty cool place. They have a giant swimming pool right next to the arena, so perhaps I'll get a bathing suit and go down there if it's still blazing hot outside this week. But I probably won't. So when I got down there I discovered that it's not just an arena but that there's also a mall, a McDonald's, outlet stores, and a movie theater. I hadn't eaten anything all day at that point so I decided to walk over to the McDonald's because it's cheap to eat there. For 5 euro I got two cheeseburgers, fries, and a large Coke. That's pretty good considering most other places want like 3 euro for a tiny sandwich or one piece of pizza.
     After eating my lunch I went over to the movie theater to check out which movies were playing. I should note that all the movies are dubbed in Italian if they're not Italian films. I got there and noticed that Beauty and the Beast (or La Bella e La Bestia as it's called here) was playing, as well as Men in Black 3. Beauty and the Beast had started ten minutes before I got to the theater, but it was a movie I already knew so it wouldn't be so hard to understand what they were saying. Men in Black 3 didn't start for another fifteen minutes and I also realized that Beauty and the Beast was in 3D so I decided to see Men in Black. I thought it would be a good experience to watch a movie I hadn't seen before to see if I could fully understand what was happening. When I bought my ticket I said to the girl, "Potrei avere uno per Men in Black 3?" She responded, "Si, venti euro." Apparently when I said 3 after Men in Black she thought I meant three tickets instead of the name of the movie. After clearing that up she felt the need to tell me that the movie was in Italian and not English, even though I had just spoken to her in Italian. I just kinda laughed and told her I could use the practice since I've only studied the language for two years.
     So I get in the theater and it's a little different from what I'm used to in America. There are seat rows and all the seats are numbered and your ticket tells you what seat you have. But this wasn't really a problem because the movie didn't start until 2:30 and there were only a few people at the theater. So the movie started and at the beginning I was still wide awake and trying really hard to pay attention and I was actually understanding it more or less. There were a few parts, like when Will Smith used the neuralizer and explained really fast to the people what had happened, that I didn't really get, but I could follow it. It's still pretty difficult for me to fully understand Italian when it's spoken fast, and once the plot of the movie started to take off I started to not understand so much. About halfway into the movie I was getting tired and not really following what was happening because I couldn't catch everything they were saying, but then the movie turned off. They have an intermission here where they try and sell more drinks and popcorn. At first I was like wtf, but it allowed me to wake up a little and focus more on the movie.
     Now that I was more awake, I could follow it a little better. I didn't quite get everything obviously, but I understood the main idea of what the characters were saying and understood the main points of the plot and what was actually happening. I really liked the ending of it regarding Will Smith's character. When I get home I'm going to watch it in English to fill in the minor details. When I got my nails painted the girl told me that she learned English from watching movies so I'm gonna start watching more Italian movies or movies dubbed in Italian. But just by being here my understanding of the language has really improved a lot. In Venice everyone would ask me how to say things to people or I had to be the translator so I got a lot of practice.
     After the movie ended I decided to take a walk through the mall. There weren't really any cool stores except for a bookstore that also had music and movies. They had a cool Italian bible but it was like 35 euro so I said no thanks. Then in the back of the mall there was this huge store that's basically the Italian equivalent of Wal-Mart. It was pretty interesting since in Venice the biggest store is still only like the size of maybe a Walgreens. They had one giant isle devoted to ice cream. Both sides, filled with different ice creams. It was pretty ridiculous. They also had big bags of Crispy M&M's which I guess I'll have to buy before I leave since I forgot my box of them in Venice. I'm still pissed off at that. I paid 10 euro for those M&M's and only got to eat one bag. But whatever.
     Anyway, once I got out and about I didn't quite feel as alone as I did yesterday. After spending literally all of my time with a group of people I'm not used to being alone anymore. But as long as I have something to occupy my time I'll be fine.

Last Night in Venice

     I've left Venice and all the people I met there and am now in Milan. Last night we went to the opera and saw Carmen and that was pretty cool. I hadn't yet really thought about the fact that it was our last day in Venice, so it didn't feel any different to me. After the opera ended we walked with professoressa to get our notebooks and grades back, and then said goodbye to her. At that point I started to realize that this journey was ending. A group of people went to the bars, but I decided to go back with the other group who I'd spent the majority of my time on the trip with. Piazza San Marco was in between our apartment and the theater so we walked through it on the way home. I still wasn't really grasping the fact that it would be the last time I walked through the Piazza but I made sure to turn around and get a last glimpse of it before we turned the corner towards our house. The guys stopped to get some food to eat at the girls' apartment, and then we proceeded to hang out for a bit over there. I just sat there enjoying the company of these people who, back home, I never would have met or hung out with. After spending pretty much all of my time with them for the past six weeks I guess I could almost call them close friends. After we hung out for a while we all decided that it was time to go because most people had early flights in the morning. I don't really care for goodbyes, so I kinda just shook the guys' hands and gave the girls hugs and just kinda said "Ciao."
     When I got back to the apartment there was nobody there. At the beginning of the trip there were six of us living there. One of the guys started going out a lot and was never really home, and then four weeks into the trip my roommate moved out. During the last week, one of the other guys' family came to town so he stayed with them and another started sleeping over at another apartment. By the last week it was just pretty much only two of us living there. But on the last night the last remaining person besides me went out for drinks so there was only me. I thought whatever it's not a big deal, and finished putting my clothes and things away and then went to sleep. This morning is when everything went to hell.
     I woke up, and the apartment was empty. Everyone had already left and all of their stuff was gone. The other guys weren't there too often but their stuff was still at home so I didn't really feel like I was the only one there. But this morning, it hit me like a punch in the face that everyone was gone. We're not going to be eating dinner together every night anymore, we're not going to just hang out at each others' apartments anymore, we're not going to see each other every day anymore. It's not a nice feeling to have. I gathered all my things (well, almost all of them... I forgot my box of Crispy M&M's in the fridge) and headed towards the train station to leave Venice. While I was on the train passing through the Italian countryside the song Daniel by Elton John started playing and it made me really sad. I've heard that song a million times and enjoyed it but for some reason it just was really depressing to listen to it at that moment.
     After a long train ride I arrived in Milan by myself. The train to Paris took thirteen hours, but this train ride of three and a half hours to Milan felt so much longer. I got off the train and went down to the subway station to go towards my hotel. As soon as the change came out from the machine where I bought my ticket this dude was right there asking me for money like a vulture. In Venice there are homeless people but they don't approach you they just sit on the steps with their change cup. I don't know, it was just interesting. I didn't give him anything because I didn't like how he just waited for me to get my change and then ran over to me for money. After that I got on the subway and got off at my stop, and headed towards my hotel. After the nightmare of getting lost trying to find my hotel in France I was smart enough to use Google to look at the street view so I could identify which landmarks to follow in order to get to the hotel. I had no trouble at all finding it this time. I checked in to my tiny hotel room, and just thought for a few minutes about how almost everyone else was on their way back to America and I was still in Italy. One of the best parts about the trip was going to see all the landmarks like the Basilica or the Doge's Palace together, and now that I'm by myself I won't get to share my experience of the Duomo or The Last Supper with anyone. Also, the fact that Milan isn't really a huge touristy city like Venice makes it feel even lonelier here. The people I've seen here are all people that live here and aren't on vacation. I really don't know if I'm going to enjoy my time in this city. I know I'll enjoy the blink-182 concert but right now that seems like it's 100 years away. I'm not really feeling homesick, but the fact that all my new friends are back home makes me kind of want to go there. But even when I do eventually go back home I'm probably not going to see them so I don't know why I really feel that way. Perhaps if I go out later I'll feel a little differently, so we'll see.

Trip to Disneyland Paris

     So I finally went to Disneyland Paris. It lived up to my expectations, and even a little more. Almost every ride was different in some way to their United States counterparts. I thought all of the changes were interesting, although I wouldn't say I'd like the same things to come to Disney World. I think the fact that the park was built in 1992 probably helped because there is no sense of nostalgia or history to stop them from trying new things, so they took the chance to make a very unique, different type of Disney Park. So let’s begin my trip report.

     I left the apartment with all my stuff and headed towards the vaporetto to Piazzale Roma. They tried to force as many people as possible into the boat and it was the most crowded thing I’ve ever been on. So after 20 minutes of pure hell on the vaporetto I had enough time to walk to the pizza place where I always go for food. I walk all the way over there, and there’s this Asian tour group with like 50 people all waiting to get pizza. I went to the gelato side of the place and asked if I could just get a slice of pizza from there because I had a train to catch and he looked at me like I was fucking crazy so I left. I had to eat some really horrible pizza instead, and I stopped at the Coop to get a drink before going on the train. So I get on the train and everything’s alright I started reading my book while it was still daylight and then laid down and listened to some music. After listening to music for a while I decided I should probably get some sleep since once I got to Paris it would be a long day at Disneyland. I fell asleep and everything was fine until about 3:00 a.m. when the French immigration police busted into our compartment. They were saying stuff to me in French and I’m in this half-asleep stupor and I kept telling them (in Italian), “I don't speak French.” The other dudes in the compartment with me apparently had some fishy documents or something, and the immigration dudes were like searching them for over an hour. And the whole time I had to stand in the tiny hallway outside the compartment. They didn’t finish until around 4:30, and then I didn’t fall back asleep until about 5:00. So much for getting any sleep.

     After the horrible night ended, I arrived in Paris at 9:30 as scheduled. I wandered around the station following the signs to the RER train in the direction of Disneyland. Upon entering the RER section of the station, I was greeted by two soldiers with huge guns patrolling the area (they were also at the Disneyland station. What a way to be greeted to the Magic Kingdom!). I got my ticket and headed towards my hotel, which was located two stops away from the parks. I had my little map and directions drawn up to find it easily, except for the fact that it was extremely cold and raining so I couldn’t see where the sun was to figure out which way was west. I ended up going north and east of the RER station when I should have gone southwest. I didn’t ask for directions from anyone because I’m a man; I don’t play that mess. After that nightmare, I entered the hotel to check in to my room, which wasn’t ready, so I had to wait another 20 minutes for that. I ran up, plugged my iPod in to charge, washed my hair, used the bathroom, and left. Before going to Disneyland I stopped off at the McDonald’s and ordered five hamburgers and a small fry. It only cost six euro for all that food so I ate two hamburgers on the way to the station and stuffed the rest in my bag to eat inside Disneyland. Disney wants fifteen euro for a meal? Get the hell out of here.

conveniently located 2 minutes from my hotel and on the way to the RER station

     By the time I finally got to the RER station and on the train it was past noon, and I originally hoped to be in the park by eleven. Obviously, things were not going as planned and I was starting to worry if I would be able to enjoy myself the way I hoped to. It was so cold outside that I seriously considered spending 40 euro on a jacket at the entrance to Disneyland. I entered the park at 1:00 pm and started off walking down Main Street, U.S.A. towards Sleeping Beauty’s castle. I got an awkward photo of myself with the castle in the background on a rainy day in France, and headed towards Discoveryland. Even though it was cold and raining, I still was confident that I could stick to my original plan and do everything I wanted. I waltzed on over to Space Mountain: Mission 2 to pick up a fast pass, and when I got there I discovered it was closed. That’s when I started freaking out because the only thing that had gone right thus far in my trip was the stop at McDonald’s to get my food for cheap.

Entrance into Disney Property from the RER station

Disneyland Hotel, underneath are the ticket booths and entrance to the park

Park entrance. Disneyland Railroad with the 20th Anniversary sign

Main Street, U.S.A. with Sleeping Beauty's Castle in the background

awkward shot with castle.. I was very cold

      I then walked towards Autopia, but the long line and cold weather made me decide that maybe an outdoor go kart ride wasn’t the best idea. Instead, I went into the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea walkthrough attraction. It was really cool; you go through the submarine and at the end there’s a giant squid that attacks the sub. I have a video of it which I’ll put online if I ever get decent internet access. After I got out of that Space Mountain was still closed so I went in the direction of Star Tours and Fantasyland. I noticed that the Fast Pass for Star Tours was only 30 minutes away from the current time so I got one of those and went to It’s a Small World. It’s a Small World is one of my favorite rides so I was really interested to see how it was in Paris. There was a really nice sign at the entrance, and the building I assume is modeled after the one at the original Disneyland. You board the boat outside and then you go around a corner and into the attraction itself. The layout of the ride was a little different, and at one point you go through Italy and go under the Rialto Bridge, where there is also a gondolier next to the bridge. I got a chuckle out of that. You also get to see America and Canada. The Canadians are playing hockey and being all Canadian, and the Americans are wearing football uniforms. It was pretty funny.

The entrance to Discoveryland

The Nautilus

The giant squid attack

I liked the entrance to the ride a lot

The Rialto Bridge with a Gondolier inside It's a Small World

     After It’s a Small World I went to use my fastpass for Star Tours. They never installed the new Star Tours in France so I got to ride the original version of the ride again. I have to say that as nice as it was to not see any garbage from the prequels, the old version is seriously lacking in excitement. The new one is definitely an upgrade, prequel bullshit and all. I still enjoyed it, though; because that’s the Star Tours I remember riding on my one and only visit to MGM when I was a kid. Upon walking out of Star Tours, Space Mountain: Mission 2 had just opened and there was only a twenty minute wait so I jumped in line and tried to prepare myself. Again, the load station was outside but after loading you went into a little tunnel and turned the corner. The car started up like a normal lift hill, but after a few feet it just jerked to a complete stop. You hear a countdown in French of 3, 2, 1…. and then it shoots you out like the Incredible Hulk roller coaster at Islands of Adventure. After a few twists and turns you go into the big loop and then there are some more corkscrews and whatnot. While all of this is happening there are really cool projections of outer space and music playing, and at no point was I concerned about my head being chopped off like I usually am when I ride Space Mountain at home.

Entrance to Star Tours

This was one of the most impressive rides in the park

     The next stop was back in Fantasyland, where I went on Le Pays des Contes de Fées, which is a little boat ride with scenes from various Disney classics as well as some European fairy tales that aren’t Disney cartoons. It was pretty cool; I filmed the entire ride so I’ll put that up on Facebook later. From there I went to Alice’s Curious Labyrinth, which is a pretty decent-sized walkthrough maze. It’s not really a “maze” in the sense that you get lost or anything, but it was fun and by the end I had no clue which way I was going or where I had come from. There were all kinds of things from the cartoon inside the maze, such as the Cheshire Cat up in the tree, the Queen of Hearts and her castle, etc. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the movie so I can’t say anything about specific details, although I’m sure someone could have found many subtle references in the maze that I missed. I took a bunch of photos in there as well that are on Facebook.

This was an interesting ride. If I get decent internet I'll upload the video

entrance to the Labyrinth

The whole park had cool stuff like this around it

     Staying in Fantasyland, I took a look at the brand new building they have which is used specifically for meeting Mickey Mouse. I briefly considered going in because the wait sign changed from 50 minutes to 35 minutes while I was in front of it, but I decided that I should head towards Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril in case it had a long line and/or the fastpasses were running out. I walked out to the corner of the park, passing through Adventureland and Pirate’s Beach along the way. Pirate’s Beach is a little play area for kids with a pirate ship and some other cool stuff. It’s themed very well, as is the entire park. That’s one of the things that stuck out the most to me, how the park is very well-decorated and kept up nicely. So I walked over to Indiana Jones and it was closed, of course. Not wasting any time, I started back towards Pirates of the Caribbean but first stopped to check out the Aladdin walkthrough. It was pretty cool; it was just a collection of models that depicted the story of the movie. After that killed about ten minutes I went to Pirates, which had a thirty minute wait. Throughout the entire time I was waiting there was this annoying little toddler next to me that had one of those Buzz Lightyear toy guns that makes all kinds of annoying noises, and this kid had the button pressed down on it for 30 minutes straight. Luckily, I got a different boat than them. I had read online that the French version of this ride is different than the American one, and it was. You start out going around a corner, where there is a restaurant where people can eat inside the ride. There’s nothing happening at this point so really if you eat there all you’re going to see is a boat pass by every few seconds. After turning the corner you go up a big lift hill and as you’re going up A Pirate’s Life for me begins playing while you’re in the dark. From there, the boat goes through the fort that the pirates are attacking and there is some cool stuff to check out. Interestingly, in this room is where you see the pirates in the jail cell trying to call the dog with the keys. After passing that there is a mild-sized drop, and the ride proceeds in the same sequence as the Florida version. However, instead of that fire scene being the end of the ride there is another drop, and the ride goes a little longer. The first room you enter after the drop is the scene that the Florida version starts with, with the skeleton pirate steering the boat. Then you go into this weird room full of treasure and a skeleton woman wearing a dress and a fancy hat, and a chandelier hanging above her. It’s really creepy but also really cool. After this room there are a few more skeletons and whatnot and you get off. The best thing about the ride, though: there was not a single character from any of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies in it at any point. It’s not tainted with Jack Sparrow everywhere like the one back home.

This is brand new for the park's 20th Anniversary

I thought this was a nice photo op. interesting fact: I've never ridden Dumbo. But this is what I mean when I say the park was extremely pleasant to just look at even if you didn't go on a ride

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril, which was closed at the time

One of the scenes depicted in the Aladdin walk-through attraction

Pirates

This is the room at the end. I wish I could have gotten a better picture

     I then headed back to Indiana Jones to see if it had reopened, and thankfully it had. There were still fastpasses available for only 15 minutes later, but the ride had a 40 minute wait. I didn’t get it, but I ran and got a fastpass and then went and ate the food I brought with me to kill the time. I brought three hamburgers from McDonald’s with me, and they were ice cold by the time I ate them, but they were still delicious because they cost me a grand total of 3 euro, while lunch in the park restaurants would have cost me 15 euro. I was really shocked by how high the food prices were, since when you factor in the exchange rate that’s like 20 dollars to eat lunch, and it appeared to be the same food they have in Florida. So after scarfing down two of my three burgers I went back to the entrance of the ride, where some random guy asked me if I wanted a fastpass. I already had my fastpass but I took it anyway so I could keep the one I had as a souvenir. Upon entering, I was greeted by several tents and trucks scattered about for an archaeological dig. Inside one of the tents is Indy's hat and whip sitting on a crate. This is the only sign of Indy in the whole attraction. The entire rollercoaster is built on and around this huge temple, and it really looks impressive. I got to the load station and was ready to go, and the ride started off. You go up the lift hill, go through a few drops, twists, and turns and then you hit the loop. After the loop there are a couple more twists and turns and then the ride is over. The whole thing lasted maybe 30 seconds. It was an extremely rough rollercoaster; with every turn and drop my head slammed against the restraint and I was worried that I’d have a headache for the rest of the day. However, I got off and felt fine. I have to say this ride was a little underwhelming. Out of all the rides this was the only one that didn’t quite meet the expectations.

These look familiar

It wasn't the best ride, but it looked kinda cool at least

     After Indiana Jones, I headed into Frontierland. I grabbed a fastpass for Big Thunder Mountain, and then headed towards Phantom Manor. Besides Space Mountain: Mission 2, this is the ride that is the most different. There’s no Liberty Square or New Orleans Square in Disneyland Paris, so the Phantom Manor is in Frontierland, and the ride is set in a run-down town from the gold rush era. The entire property is overgrown with trees, vines, and whatnot, and the Manor itself is pretty dilapidated. Also, the music of the ride is different. It has its own full musical score with an actual orchestra, which is pretty cool. Inside, the first room you enter and also the stretching room are more or less the same as the American version. However, the stretching portraits are different and the narration is in French so I couldn’t understand it. When the body hanging from the ceiling is shown, you can see the phantom standing over it holding the rope. Anyway, the ceiling stretches and the floor also sinks so the stretching room lasts a little longer. Almost the entire layout of the ride is different except for a few scenes. For example, the clock that says 13 instead of 12 o’clock is still in the ride, Madame Leota still has her scene (she speaks both English and French, although she doesn’t summon the spirits she tells about the bride and the murdered husband), and it ends with you going outside. One other interesting thing, once you get in the doom buggy there is no narration for the rest of the ride. From what I gathered, the story seems to be that the phantom lives in the Manor and kills the bride’s husbands. When you get to the room that, in Florida, would be the attic where the bride has the axe because she killed her husbands, the bride in the Manor is crying at her desk. It’s pretty cool because there’s also a mirror in front of her that’s shaped like a skull so it’s kind of creepy. After that room you go outside and you see the phantom laughing, and next to him is a grave that he dug which I guess is because he killed the husband. It’s hard to explain it, but if you search Youtube I’m sure it would make a little more sense. Once you get outside it’s also totally different. There’s like a zombie dog and also all these rotting corpses coming out of their graves. You don’t just go out into the courtyard; you go out into the abandoned town where all the ghosts are out and about. There’s also a hitchhiking ghost at the end, but it's not the normal ones; it's the dead bride or something. So that’s Phantom Manor.

My first view of the Phantom Manor

Big Thunder Mountain from the front door of the Phantom Manor

     I still had a while before I could use my fastpass for Thunder Mountain, so I decided to go back towards Fantasyland and see what the wait was to meet Mickey Mouse. Along the way, the sun finally decided to come out so I got some nice photos of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. When the sun hit the castle it looked a lot more impressive than when it was raining. I snapped like a million photos of it because every time I walked passed it I thought it looked so cool that it necessitated a few photos.

It was still cloudy at this point

     After the brief pause to take a few photos, I went over to the Meet Mickey Mouse building and it was a 30 minute wait. I had a while before my fastpass could be used, so I thought, “What the hell, let’s go meet Mickey.” When I finally got up to the front and told them it was just me the cast members and the other people in line looked at me like I was a total weirdo. Since they had already judged me I felt free to be completely ridiculous. On my way back towards Thunder Mountain I stopped by Sleeping Beauty’s Castle again because underneath it there’s a dragon. When I walked in it was sleeping and after a few seconds the eyes opened up and it came to life and started moving around and doing general dragon-ry.

Fuck yeah!

underneath the castle

     So now we’re moving towards Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and for the whole day I had been confused as to how you get on the ride. The line and the load station are on the edge of the lake but the ride itself is in the middle of the lake, and nowhere is there a track or bridge or anything connecting the two. I got on the ride, and in front of the load station when you take off it’s like an indoor tunnel. So that’s how they did it… you go under the lake! After that it was pretty much standard rollercoaster nonsense and it was fun, and at the end it takes your photo again as you go back underground to get back to the load station. The rides may not have necessarily been extremely different from the Florida versions, but little things like going underneath the lake are what made it unique.

     After getting off of Thunder Mountain, there was just one more ride that I needed to go on that they don’t have in Florida: Les Voyages de Pinocchio. On the way there I caught the tail end of the Disneyland 20^th Anniversary Celebration Train and got a nice shot of Mickey Mouse. The clouds had also almost completely cleared up so I got my best photo of the castle at that point as well. Here in Italy Pinocchio is like the most popular Disney cartoon. A lot of the shops have Pinocchio puppets and stuff. Pinocchio was pretty cool; there were neat animatronics and then the big whale popped up at one point and you got swallowed. The ride was a little bit like Snow White’s Scary Adventures to me.

     I then went back to City Hall in Main Street, U.S.A. to find out the deal with the first visit buttons. The lady told me they don’t do the buttons like that in Paris which I thought was rather shallow and pedantic. Then I went in the big Disney store to get a glimpse of the merchandise available to start thinking of what souvenirs I should get and the price range of items. The merchandise at Disneyland Paris is just turrible. The men’s apparel is particularly bad, with very little to choose from. I was hoping to find a cool 20^th Anniversary shirt but the only decent one was like 27 euro and the ones that were cheaper looked like they came from like one of those discount gift shops that you see just outside of Disney with the signs that say “Disney shirts 3 for $10” or something like that. So I moved on and headed back into the park to go see what else to do.

The Big Cheese himself

Once the sky cleared up it was awesome

The load station of Pinocchio

The cheap, flimsy name tags they give out in Paris instead of first visit buttons

     First up was It’s a Small World, and this time I just sat back and enjoyed the ride without filming or taking any pictures. It was really nice to just sit and enjoy the ride. After getting off that I ran towards Discoveryland to get a fastpass for Space Mountain: Mission 2 so I could do that again. At this point, the sun was starting to set, the children were all exhausted, people had begun to leave for the day, or some were waiting for the Disney Dreams show to start so they could have the primo spot right in front of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. As a result of this Pirates of the Caribbean had only a 5 minute wait so I jumped on that, and then headed towards Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril where the only wait was pretty much the time it took to walk from the entrance to the load station. It felt even worse the second time, but it was still fun. I then booked it for the Phantom Manor because I still had some time before I had to be back at Space Mountain, and it also had a 5 minute wait. Everything was coming up Milhouse! While I was over there I got some nice photos of Thunder Mountain and Phantom Manor in the sunset.

Big Thunder Mountain around sunset

The Phantom Manor at sunset

     At this point I went back to Space Mountain because my fastpass was valid at that point. I asked the girl at the ride if I could keep my fastpass as a souvenir, and she said yes, surprisingly. I had to tell her that I wasn’t going to ride it again because she kind of suspected me of something, but I got to keep it nonetheless. Space Mountain was even better the second time I rode it, so much so that I’m almost tempted to say it was my favorite thing in the park. When I got off the ride it was 10:00 pm, only one hour until the Disney Dreams show started. The sun had finally gone down but it wasn’t quite dark yet and I got a cool photo of the Space Mountain building. Since I had some time before the show started I did the only sensible thing I could think of and went back to the Phantom Manor again. The first two times I rode it there were problems and the ride had to stop a few times, but on this last time everything worked perfectly.

Space Mountain: Mission 2. This photo was taken at 10:00 pm

I thought this would be a nice photo

     So at this point it was the end of the evening and all the people were lined up waiting for the Disney Dreams show to start. It’s pretty similar to the show they have at Disney World where they project the show onto the castle itself and shoot fireworks and whatnot. This one was Peter Pan themed, and it started with You Can Fly. The basic premise was that Peter Pan’s shadow escaped and they went through all the Disney cartoons and songs trying to get it back. What was cool was that the show was in multiple languages. You Can Fly was played in English, Be Our Guest was sung in French, and the Pinocchio sequence was in Italian. All in all, it was a solid ending to a great day at Disneyland but there was just one thing missing. They don’t sell Mickey Bars there! But that’s okay, I’m sure it would have cost like 7 euro or something crazy like that.

I'm sure you can picture what the show consisted of more or less based on this

     My final thoughts on Disneyland are that it’s a very interesting place. The rides aren’t quite as toddler-oriented and adults can enjoy them just as much as kids can. Obviously, nothing will ever be able to replace the Disney World that I grew up with and spent my childhood in, but this Disney Park is just as unique and interesting as the one back home. When I got back to Venice people asked me if it was better than the one back home, and I replied to them that it's not "better," it's just different. When I first booked the trip to go I was concerned about the amount of money I was spending, but after going I'd say it was worth it. I don’t know if I’ll ever get another chance to visit Disneyland Paris, but I'd go again.

My final view of Disneyland at the end of the day

La Mia Venezia

I should note that this is the paper I wrote for my class about Venice, using quotes from the various readings and whatnot we did.. it's not perfect, and you can also see at one point where I blatantly try to improve my grade (you'll know which part), but it is what it is. Enjoy!

     Prima di scrivere della mia Venezia, vorrei condividere una citazione da Carlo Goldoni. In I Rusteghi, Canciano dice, “What would you have me say? I am a man of few words; I take no interest in the news, and I don’t care for conversation.” Questa frase è una descrizione perfetta della mia personalità quando sono arrivato a Venezia. Quando ho letto questa frase, l’ho evidenziata subito. Se avessi avuto una scelta, sarei venuto qua da solo e non avrei parlato con nessuno. Non mi piace essere con un gruppo; preferisco fare cose da solo. Io sono un lupo solitario. L’unico amico che devo avere è una chitarra; tutte le altre persone possono andare al diavolo. Non mi importa per niente. Allora, la ragione per cui scrivo di questa citazione è perché mi sono accorto che io ero come Canciano. Non ero nè divertente, nè contento prima di venire a Venezia. Quindi, da quel momento ho deciso di dimenticare ogni prudenza e ho cominciato a divertirmi con i miei nuovi amici. Pensavo che fosse interessante il mio cambiamento di atteggiamento. Non lo so. Il punto è che questo viaggio in Italia era un successo perchè tornerò negli Stati Uniti un ragazzo diverso. Prima di venire qua, non volevo parlare con nessuno, ma adesso io sono un pò più aperto con altre persone.

     Avendo scritto una piccola introduzione del modo in cui questo viaggio a Venezia mi ha cambiato, comincio a scrivere della mia Venezia. Questa città è una che confonde; non è semplicemente una città che si può attraversare o conoscere. È soggetto a frequenti mutamenti. Quando si vede Venezia durante la mattina e durante la notte, non è la stessa città. Anche quando si vede un edificio da un punto di vista, non si può riconoscerlo da un altro punto di vista. Inoltre, da un giorno all’altro Venezia cambia. Come la poesia Venetian Morning dice, “Each new morning must first show her the opals / she wore yesterday, and pull rows / of reflections out of the canal / and remind her of the other times: / only then does she concede and settle in.” Con ogni nuovo giorno, Venezia prende la sua forma. Non prende la stessa apparenza in giorni consecutivi; gli edifici paiono completamente diversi ma anche allo stesso tempo non cambiano mai. Io posso riconoscere, per esempio, Piazza San Marco in qualsiasi momento, ma non sembra che la Basilica o Palazzo Ducale abbiano le stesse apparenze ogni volta che attraverso la Piazza. Questa è la ragione per cui mi piace girare per la città: posso vedere tantissime cose che non ho mai visto o posso vedere diversamente un edificio. In A Sentimental Guide to Venice, Diego Valeri dice, “To take such a stroll without any pre-established itinerary is perhaps the greatest of the pleasures which anyone can go in search of when in Venice.” Sono d’accordo con questa frase perché quando giro per la città da solo, di solito è una delle cose più rilassante che posso fare. Quando esploro Venezia da solo io sono sempre sbalordito dal modo in cui un luogo può sembrare così diverso quando ci arrivo da un’altra calle.

     In particolare, c’è un negozio di elettronica che vedo spesso quando parto da scuola. Un giorno, sono tornato a casa in un modo diverso. Pensavo che questa direzione fosse molto lontano dal mio percorso normale. Ho visto un negozio di elettronica e mi pensavo, “Questo negozio sembra familiare.” Mi sono fermato e ho guardato l’interno del negozio. Mi sono accorto che quel negozio era lo stesso negozio che io vedo quasi ogni giorno quando torno a casa da scuola. Quell’area sembrava così diverso quando l’ho vista da un altra direzione; non potevo credere che fosse la stessa calle. Mi faceva pensare di Invisible Cities, quando Calvino dice, “the ways that open to each passerby are never two, but many … each inhabitant can enjoy every day the pleasure of a new itinerary to reach the same places.” C’è una certa soddisfazione quando si scopre un nuovo percorso per raggiungere lo stesso luogo. Non posso descriverla esattamente ma è un buon sentimento, secondo me, perché mi piace esplorare e perdermi per trovare nuovi percorsi e scoprire nuove cose. Non si può conoscere la città se non si va dove non si è mai andato. C’è un’altra citazione da A Sentimental Guide to Venice, che dice, “Blessed are the poor in the spirit of topography, blessed are those who know not what they do or whither they go.” Mi è piacuta molto questa frase quando l’ho letta per la prima volta perché, in poche parole, mi descrive. Non posso usare una mappa quindi vago per la città fino a quando trovo quello che cerco. Inoltre, non voglio dipendere da una mappa perché se io usassi la mappa per tutto, non conoscerei per niente la città sé stesso; conoscerei la mappa. Vorrei essere un esperto di tutto, quindi è necessario che io vada in tantissime direzioni per scoprire tutto di Venezia. Quando si può arrivare in qualche luogo senza usando una mappa, altre persone pensano che si sia un esperto. Nei primi giorni del programma, la nostra bellissima, giovane, intelligente professoressa (posso ricevere un buon voto?) ci ha guidato al nostro apartamento una volta, e pensavo che fosse incredibile come lei poteva passeggiare per la città senza l’uso di una mappa e senza guardando i segni. Da quel momento è diventato una necessità per conoscere Venezia in quel modo. Quindi, ho cominciato ad esplorarla di notte e ho scoperto una città completamente diversa.

     Ho scoperto che questa città che è in continuo cambiamento non cambia solo l’apparenza. L’atmosfera della città cambia anche. Durante il giorno, ci sono tantissimi turisti e tutti i negozi sono aperti. Non mi piace questo. Tutti i negozi hanno le stesse cose e, secondo me, questo scredita la città di Venezia. Le cose che questi negozi vendono sono oggetti superficiali fatti solo per i turisti stupidi, e quando le vedo mi fanno pensare del fatto che questa città una volta grande è adesso ridotta ad essere semplicemente una trappola per turisti. Di notte, comunque, non c’è nessuno nella strada ed i negozi sono chiusi e questo rende la città veramente diversa. Dopo il sole tramonta, i negozi chiudono, ed i turisti tornano alla terrafirma, Venezia diventa bella di nuovo. Quest’idea mi fa pensare di Lord Byron e la sua poesia Canto the Fourth, in cui dice, “I stood in Venice, on the ‘Bridge of Sighs;’ / A palace and a prison on each hand.” Su un lato, c’è un bel palazzo e sul altro c’è una brutta prigione. Due cose così diversi, eppure così vicino. Questo è simbolico del modo in cui Venezia cambia dal giorno alla notte. Il giorno e la notte sono separati da poche ore ma la differenza tra loro è grandissimo, simile a come la prigione e il Palazzo Ducale sono molto diversi eppure c’è solo un piccolo ponte che li separa.

     Vorrei precisare questo tema delle due Venezie diverse (quella del giorno e quella della notte) perché ho trovato alcune citazioni dai poeti stranieri che descrivono i miei pensieri su quest’argomento. Cominciando con la Venezia del giorno, ho trovato due citazioni interessanti che sono simili alla mia opinione. La prima viene da A Toccata of Galuppi’s di Robert Browning e dice, “Dust and ashes, dead and done with, Venice spent what Venice earned!” Quando leggo questa frase, penso di come Venezia sembra essere morta. Guardando fila di persone in attesa di entrare la Basilica di San Marco o il Palazzo Ducale, mi fa ricordare il fatto che questi edifici non servono più uno scopo utile eccetto turismo. Adesso questi edifici sono solamente strutture vuote dove possiamo cercare di ricordare la gloria passata di Venezia. Anche i negozi che vendono i regali scadenti fatti in Cina diminuiscono la storia di Venezia. Ho letto il libro di Francesco da Mosto prima di arrivare qua e mi interessava molto la storia di questa città; sembrava una città orgogliosa con una grande storia. Quando sono arrivato la vista dei tantissimi turisti e dei negozi di articoli da regalo ha rovinato quest’idea che avevo di Venezia. È una cosa se io vado a Disneyland e vedo questi negozi e turisti perché Disneyland è stato costruito per quello scopo, ma questa è Venezia, presumibilmente una grandissima città piena di storia. Come Lord Byron ha scritto, “The spouseless Adriatic mourns her lord!” Non potrei essere più d'accordo.

     Comunque, è veramente un’altra città durante la notte. Tutta la storia, tutte le leggende prendono vita dopo la luna sorge. Quando i turisti partono ed i bruttissimi negozi chiudono, Venezia smette di essere una trappola per i turisti. Diventa la città che Francesco da Mosto ha descritto nel suo libro. Di notte, non c’è niente da distrarmi da apprezzare la città. Ho trovato un’altra citazione di Lord Byron (ho già studiato e mi piace molto Byron; era un personaggio molto interessante) che dice, “Those days are gone – but Beauty still is here. / States fall – Arts fade – but Nature doth not die, / Nor yet forget how Venice once was dear, / The pleasant place of all festivity, / The Revel of the earth – the Masque of Italy!” Secondo me, questa citazione è una descrizione della Venezia della notte. Di notte, si può vederla com’è perché non c’è niente eccetto te e la città.

     Insomma, questo è più o meno come ho visto Venezia durante il nostro viaggio qua. Qualche volta pensavo che Venezia fosse bellissima, e qualche volta pensavo che fosse brutta. Non c’è solo una Venezia rigida; cambia molto spesso quindi la mia opinione cambia spesso anche. Spero che questa composizione sia sufficiente.

Funny thing that happened on the train

     So when I got on the train to go back to Venice from Paris there was this really cute American girl in the same compartment as me. We start chatting for a while about why we're in Italy, what we did in Paris, school, Disneyland, tattoos, and whatnot and she turns out to be pretty cool. After she told me about her tattoo, I rolled up my sleeve and showed her Kermit, which got a laugh. She was getting off at Milan because she had to change trains to go to Florence, where she's studying abroad with her school. I told her that I was going to Milan on Saturday for a blink-182 concert and she thought it was cool and said how she hadn't gotten to see blink in concert yet but that she thinks their concert would be a lot of fun. After hearing that she likes them and might want to see them I started thinking, "Okay so she's really hot, into piercings, tattoos, and at least likes blink enough to want to see their concert... there's just one more thing we need to know about."


     When the lady came around to check our tickets and passports I took out my wallet, which has a Panthers logo on it (as everyone knows). She says to me, "You're a Panthers fan?" I reply, "Yeah since I was a kid." Then she says to me, "Me too! I love them." I thought to myself, "Dude! There's no way this is real life right now..." The chances of this happening have to be like at least one in a million. After a while, since it was the night train that you sleep on, we both went to sleep. I hadn't slept in 2 days and was exhausted after running around Disneyland so I passed out once I closed my eyes. Sadly, when I awoke the train had already passed through Milan and she was gone. I never even got her name or said goodbye to her. The only thing I know is that for the next two weeks she's going to be in Florence. And thus ends the sad tale of Reese's missed opportunity on the train in Paris.

Maybe I should take a detour through Florence before going to Milan. Lol

Trip to Dolomiti Mountains

     So…. We went to the Dolomiti Mountains on Friday. We had to meet at Piazzale Roma at 6:45 am, and we live on the other side of the city by San Marco so we had to wake up at like 5:30. I accidentally overslept for like 15 minutes so I was late getting out the door, then I realized I forgot my headphones for my iPod so I had to run back and get those and then take off towards Piazzale Roma. I felt so gross when I got there because I pretty much sprinted across Venice to make it on time. But it was all worth it because there was this little café where we met that had this awesome croissant filled with chocolate. It was almost as good as that Men in Black donut they had at Dunkin Donuts. The one that was shaped like a star and had chocolate frosting and sprinkles on top and the inside was filled with more chocolate awesomeness. That still is the greatest thing I have ever tasted. It’s like a party in your mouth, and everyone's invited.

     The ride to the mountains was a long one. We got on the people mover to the bus station which was cool. The people mover in Venice is like riding the monorail at Disney World it was so fun. I’m wondering why I spent like 250 bucks on a trip to Disneyland Paris when there’s this awesome people mover thing right here that only costs one euro. Anyway, we got on the bus at 7:30 and rode for two hours towards somewhere on the Swiss-Italian border. I charged my iPod for two days straight before this trip and the fucking thing died before I even finished listening to one album. Then at the end of the night when I vapped it back home I listened to it and it stayed on the whole way. Weird. So during this two hour drive I passed out, and when I woke up there were huge mountains everywhere it was weird. We stopped at this little place to eat that had a playground in front, so of course I ran to the swings and did that for a few minutes. After we left there we stopped at this big lake for about an hour. They had paddle boats to rent so we hopped on those and had a little fun. I was freaking out because the boat was so little and was like sinking and we were in this huge lake. At any moment it felt like Jaws could jump out of the water and eat us, and there was nothing I could have done about it. I hate being on the water or near the water. I made a video of us on the boat but the language of the other boys is like rated X and the internet here is too slow to put it online.

     We ate lunch at this cool restaurant it was good, and then went to the top of the mountain. It was treacherous at the top of the mountain. I kept slipping on the snow and almost fell to my death on at least two occasions. Kids, don’t try to climb a mountain and film a movie at the same time. But I have a really cool video of me being stupid on a mountain so it was worth the risk of death. There’s nothing really more that I care to write about regarding the trip to the mountains, so that’s it. The pictures on Facebook should allow you to see somewhat what it was like up there.

     Oh and on the way back my professor was like trying to get people to sing because on the bus there was a microphone.. I didn't sing anything but I told some jokes. What do you call an elephant and a rhino mixed? Elefino! After I told that joke I said wocka wocka and then my two Italian professors proceeded to sing Mahna Mahna. I filmed them singing it, too. I don't know if they noticed, though. If I get better internet I'll post it on Facebook.