Poltics Abroad

My professor from Drake asked about how they were covering politics over here, so I did some more research and here is what I discovered.

Europeans love Obama. No matter what city or country I am in, Obama´s face is somewhere near by. Oktoberfest, I ran into the Obama supports and here in Spain the apartment we stayed in had a sign on the door for supporting Obama. My professors, when asking us about the election or our views always end it with, "We really like Obama."

And for a while I thought Europeans followed US politics, the way I follow foreign news. That is just not the case. The more I speak to people the more I realize Europeans are probably more educated voters on US politics than most Americans. I didn´t really understand why until my friend told me about a conversation she had with her graphic design professor, an Italian. She asked if he was following the election and he responded, with a face of shock. Then he said so simply, "Of course I do. What happens in the US affects the rest of us." I think I did know that, but I just had no idea it was to that extent.

While, I cannot read any of the Italian publications, I often see the newspapers in Italy--especially the National one, has US politicians on it. Munich, the paper was full of US politics and in Spain the local paper also had election news.

The International Tribune--is the New York Time´s international publications and it has a lot of world news, but of course had a huge story about US elections, especially it being so close to the elections. 

Even one the local nightly news in Italy US politics is a headlining story. And all the magazines we get at home--even the fashion ones are published in Italian and have had US politicians on them. 

That is what I have been observing, but it is much more optional that an home, I was not bombarded by advertisements or commercials... obviously. But if you wanted, it is very easy to keep up with US politics here in Italy. 

So, despite the fact that I am an ocean away from the election at home, I am still getting my fill on U.S. politics. Tomorrow night I am going to an election viewing party, where they will have coverage of the election from 6pm until 4am. I don't know if I will stay for the whole thing, but I will be there for a while watching the developments. I will let everyone know if it is very exciting. 

A little Munich and a lot of Amalfi Coast

If you couldn't tell by my photos, I really loved Munich. It was a fantastic city and I am glad we took time to explore beyond the Oktoberfest tents, it is so much more than that. I couldn't believe how technology-driven the city was. They had motion censored everything, even escalators--which could switch directions depending on which way someone got on! It was the perfect mix holding on to history through statues and buildings and new innovative places--including the best and easiest subway ever. 

But to get caught up, I spent this weekend in the Amalfi Coast. It was really fantastic. It just made me realize for the thousandth time how I am living in a fairy tale. Sitting on the beach of the Mediterranean, visiting Naples, Capri, Amalfi and Pompeii I couldn't believe I was there. Although it was a test of my motion sickness endurance. We were on a bus through the mountains for hours--numerous times and LOTS of boats. And not all of the boats were big. One was a little speed boat in the water, where we were tossed around. My professor even asked if I was okay, because I looked green. I thought for sure the weekend would be full of me being sick, but I as very lucky and never became sick. It was completely worth it, because I have never seen such beautiful places. 

I will write more specifics with the pictures I post, it is better when I describe things with the photos, I feel like it is a more interesting and easy to understand story. So I will hopefully be posting those in a day or two. But just check back for the photos, they are gorgeous! 

Munich

Here are my photos from Oktoberfest and Munich. Click on the title to go to my album. It is getting close to mid-terms so I haven't had time to give a full update of the trip, but I figure pictures are a start! 

Enjoy. 

I am going to the Amalfi coast this weekend, so I will put up some good pictures next week too!

Cinque Terre

Here is a link to my photos from this past weekend in Cinque Terre. I hope this is a better host for photos, let me know if it works better than the other site.

Click on the title "Cinque Terre" to view the album. 

I am headed to Munich for Oktoberfest this weekend, so hopefully there will be some great stories to relay back!

Have a great weekend. 

Another fabulous Weekend

I am worried what I am going to do with myself when I return to the states. The weekend started off great, with a tour of a world-renown chocolate chef who works at the culinary school here. We toured his lab and he showed us how to make chocolate--or how they make it. Then, they let us test taste coco cookies, lemon jellies, 85% chocolate, white chocolate (which isn't chocolate it is just sugar and fat) and regular chocolate. What a great start to the weekend. 

Then Friday night we went to the Florence Wine event. For ten euros we received a class, a punch card and a booklet telling us all about the wines at the event. The punch card has 12 punches and we had three days to try 12 different types of wine. But most stops that night didn't punch our cards...more free wine! But it was a really great opportunity to try the different types of wine from Tuscany. It will be a big help in my wine tasting class, I will finally have wines to discuss. 

Saturday morning, my roommate Maria and I woke up very early and went to the train station to meet with school. (We made it this time ;) We all jumped on a train and headed to Cinque Terre, five small towns on the cost of Italy--two hours north--which are connected by paths through the mountains. We arrived at one, hiked through the mountainous terrain to a second--this was actually quite a challenge, I was huffing and puffing. Honestly, it was worth the small asthma attack because it was the most beautiful place I have ever seen. Maria, who HATES my constant need to take pictures said when we got home, "Stacey, I am actually glad you were the pop-a-frickin'-razzi because the pictures are awesome." Which is a huge step because normally she just says "Do you have to take ANOTHER picture?" And of course I always say "yes."

After we hiked through the mountains, the rocky path just ended and all of a sudden we were in the middle of a town, it was crazy. But we had two hours free to eat or swim or shop, whatever we wanted. Maria, our new friend Jack and I grabbed a pizza and a bottle of wine, then we headed to the beach. It was only about 70 degrees (F) but we were at Cinque Terre, I had to go in the water. It was cold, but worth it. 

When we got out remembered we were not going to go swimming, so we brought out suits in case, but no towels...great thinking. It was fine, we just air-dried. It was a little breezy though! 

Then we met back up with our class and hopped on a boat to a third town, as equally beautiful as the last two. We then walked the paved "love" path to the fourth town. The love path was built in the 1960s when the towns were still very secluded and people stayed in their villages. It was the path that helped lovers from other villages meet up. So today there are paintings on the wall and a lot of graffiti and names up. It was a very beautiful walk also. 

We arrived at our fourth town of the day and had some free time to check out the port and of course grab something sweet before getting back on the train to Florence--more gelato! After a long day, we walked home, snacked and fell right asleep. 

Sunday was another early start. A bunch of us from school did the 5K breast cancer walk together. I was my normal cheerleader self, so excited, getting everybody pumped up for the walk. Then it started...mob mentality. Everyone who wasn't running headed toward the start line. There was no where to go and thousands of people. After a slight panic attack (I knew for sure this would turn into a riot...I heard the news flashes "American Student killed in riot for breast cancer walk") A little dramatic, but it was really traumatizing. 

Finally, the walk started, I met back up with my friends and we walking, waiting for the people to thin out. We waited and waited. It never happened. Then the runners started to loop back to finish they had to run through the walkers going the opposite direction. Good thing for the 10K runners they police escorts for the leaders. It was the most chaotic and crazy walk I have ever done, but it was typical Italy organization. No one is ever quite sure what is going on...crazy. The redeeming factor was the view. Nothing could be better than walking and being able to see all of Florence from the Michelangelo Piazza. It did turn out to be  a great walk--without causalities. 

I also managed to finish some homework and make it to the wine festival one more time! It was another epic weekend in Italy. 

I will put up more photos soon, I am looking for a better place to store them, I had a request from Kristen--she wanted the photos to be easier to access--so hopefully I can find something better. 

Have a great week!