I Guess I Look Trustworthy?

So this past weekend, John, Brooke and Eric came up to visit, which is sort of awesome. Got to go to Applefest and do the usual Ithaca stuff, but we decided to make a field trip up to Canada to see Niagara Falls from their side of things (meaning the clean side with the Horseshoe, not the lame parts).

So going there and coming back, we had to get our passports checked, which we did without complaint. On the way there, they pretty much didn't ask that many questions. Because they're Canadian, and they don't really think people care enough to bomb them. On the way back into the US, they questioned everyone hardcore. Made them take glasses off, confirm their middle names, ask birthdays, the usual. Everyone but me.

This is the third time this has happened to me. When I went into Germany, I got a quick visual scrutiny from Hans and Franz behind the counter, a stamp proclaiming I had entered through Schoenfeld International Airport, and I was on my way.

When I came back from 5 months abroad, I didn't get a second look coming back through Newark Liberty Airport. The guy looked at me, gave me a quick "How you doin'?" and a stamp and nudged me through security with my huge bag in tow. Not a look, not a question, it's like he saw my Italian last name and my New Jersey birthplace on my passport and figured I was legit.

When we came through Canada, I was the only person in the car that didn't get asked anything. John got asked if he was bringing stuff back through (a hat and a mug), how we all knew each other (high school friends), and how long we had been there (like 4 hours). Brooke got asked to confirm her name and got a visual scan —meaning the customs guy was checking her out. Eric got asked to take off his glasses, confirm his middle name, and confirm his birthday. I got asked no questions, they simply smiled at me and handed back my passport.

I find it amusing and sort of frightening that security doesn't seem to pick up on me. I mean, I have nothing to hide, really. But you never know. Certainly makes traveling to foreign countries easier, though.

"Whoa! Gas was 74 Cents!"

Okay, so Kelly and I decided to start our "Rickmania" movie night (meaning a night of Alan Rickman movies) a little early because, well...

...we've never seen Die Hard. And we felt this needed to be fixed.

So we're watching the movie - which is fantastic, by the way, go rent it if you haven't seen it yet - and as we watch this insane gun battle on the rooftop of the Nakatomi Plaza, we notice two different things other than the plot.

1) I notice that the building used for Nakatomi Plaza looks suspiciously famliar to the building that Irina jumped off of at the end of season 2 of Alias.
2) Kelly noticed the price of gas was insanely low. Now granted, the movie was made in 1988, but still. $0.74 for gas? No way!

Dylan's Been In the Army Too Long

So after a long discussion with Morgan (meaning the length of a Holocaust class), we've decided to go out for Halloween as Captain Morgan and Alex from a Clockwork Orange, respectively.

In this conversation, we discussed what Kelly Paul was thinking of doing, and revealed that Dylan needs to get laid, STAT.

Blatant Boob References vs. Bringing A Dog

It's sort of a tradition in Ithaca that when it's still warm out (meaning the first two weeks of school, usually until Labor Day), everyone flocks to the gorges to swim, cliff jump, tan, drink, and smoke away from campus. It's always packed with girls attempting to show off their bikini bodies to any other willing college boy and/or townie, and guys trying to straddle the line between badass and dumbass while jumping off cliffs and avoiding serious injury.

I myself have done this with more success than most of the frat boys that do the same. That little blob in the red bikini jumping off the 65 foot cliff at Six Mile? All me, baby.

So when I went to Six Mile to do some swimming with Dave and KellyPaul last Saturday that really, everyone there was trying to get some play. And they weren't even subtle about it.

As we were sititng on the steps, this adorable black lab jumped into the lake and started paddling towards us.

"Her name's Chelsea," said this cute townie with too many tattoos for my taste. Although the back one was crazy; he had a spine tattooed on his spine. The dog must've known his owner's intentions, because she cozied up to every girl in a bikini in the place, melting hearts and getting her master an in. I personally thought this was adorable, because I love dogs and happen to have a cute one of my own.

Dave was laughing his ass off at this, saying "Dude, this guy is shameless. He's using a dog to get girls. That is blatant."

Just as he said this, about three semi-good looking girls (I admit it, they were pretty) saying "Oh my God, my suit is like soooooooooooo see-through!"
"I know, I should've worn one that isn't white!"

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to be subtle, ladies.

Lots of Jewish Conversations Today

Earlier in the day, Morgan and I were talking in our Holocaust class about how we didn't really plan on havng the class together. She said the following little gem:

"I was going to write on your wall something like, 'I can't wait to see you! Yay Holocaust!' and then I was like, 'Wait...'"

And now later in the day, I start talking to Madeleine online and the IM happened. To put this a little in context, earlier in the conversation both me and Madeleine were talking about how her classes start on September 8th, which this year is Rosh Hashanah. Which then led us to talking about growing up with Jewish people - or not, in my case.

4 Countries in 10 Days: Me Finally Writing about Spring Break

Oh, so about those 10 days where I wasn't in the UK. Forgot about that.

(All my pictures are on Facebook, so really, go to there for better stories and photos)

So we decided for our Spring Break to hit 4 cities in 10 days: Berlin (Germany), Prague (Czech Republic), Venice (Italy) and Rome (also Italy). First up was Berlin, which we were supposed to fly into on Thursday, March 4th. First we had to get to the airport. There's a train to Stansted, the Stansted Express, from Liverpool Street. Unfortunately, because a few people were running late, we had to take a later train than expected and therefore got to the airport about 15 minutes before the plane was supposed to take off. By some miracle (and a sprint through the airport in my socks), we made it onto the plane, which had been delayed by some miracle of God. We landed and tried to get a train, and I ended up finding the one German guy who spoke perfect English and was going in our direction. So as we were getting off the S-Bahn, Steph decided to pay him for his services with a fruit cookie. We made it to the Heart of Gold in Berlin (best hostel ever? I think so) and ended up taking an epic 4 hour free tour of the city. Got to see the Brandenburg Gate (which is the picture up there, at Pariser Platz), a few memorials, and pretty much all of Berlin in one day.

The next day we were off to Prague, and after a really sort of sketchy uncomfortable bus trip, we reached Prague/Praha by 11:30ish. Once again, we didn't know the language - this time we didn't even have Paloma, who spoke the language. Now without Paloma or Sabina (who decided to go to Munich instead of go to Prague), we were at the train station with metro passes, koruny, and no idea where we were going. Steph ran into another guy who spoke English and led us directly to our hostel's street. She wasn't too quick with the cookies, though, and he left before we could properly say thank you. We figured out (we being me, Steph, and Carrie) that the koruny is weak against the dollar - meaning we could actually eat a real meal in Prague rather than eating street food like in Berlin - and then we set off for another set of free tours. We took two, taking the whole day and covering the entire city (including Prague Castle), ate dinner, and generally decided that Prague was amazing and fully worth picking over Vienna.

Next up was Venice. After a rather amusing train trip on the Hogwarts Express from Prague to Salzburg and then from Salzburg to Venice San Marcos (with the last leg being a nerve-wracking transfer in Austria), we reached one of the more beautiful cities I've ever seen.

And then it fucking SNOWED.

Dead serious! We were expecting 50 degrees and sunny. Turned out to be 30 or less and 4 inches of snow/slush that the Italians were completely unprepared for. We were also unprepared, me with non waterproof boots, Steph with Keds, and Carrie with my Chuck Taylors on (which was great for packing my bag but bad for keeping your feet dry). It didn't stop us from eating gelato every day (which is unreal, it's so delicious) or trudging through the city to see San Marcos Cathedral and the Modern Art Museum. But it did stop us from staying out past like 7, because we were tired and freezing our asses off. This was the city we chose to spend 2 full days in rather than any other, and I don't know if that was the right choice or not. Anyway.

Next up was Rome, with no transportation issues getting there (oddly enough). We got to see the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and Pantheon on our first day there. Unfortunately, I found out later from Dave that the Via Della Palombella, or "Palombo Street," was right behind the Pantehon. Bummer. The next day we hit the biggies: The Colluseum (beyond awesome) and the Forum (even better), as well as the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica. We literally went to another country by crossing a road. Got some great pictures, had some yummy pasta/pizza, got to keep a giant bottle of Coke, and (other than some difficulty getting to Ciampino airport via the train), we got out just fine and back to London.

And when I got back, I was still sort of on break because my parents and sister came to come visit. I had to take classes, sure, but I also got to go on the London Eye, in the Tower of London, in the Tower Bridge, in Westminster Abbey, in the Imperial Warm Museum, in Wimbledon, and other wonderful places that I didn't get to go to before without them here. I also got to show them around a country/continent they had never been to before. Mom needed some help figuring out the money (she didn't know what all the coins were, so anytime she had to pay, she needed me there), and Dad didn't have much luck with the beer or the coffee over here (warm and too frothy, respectively). Corinne seemed a little bored, but she's not a huge traveler like me. They all seemed to like the London Eye and the views, and we all thought Wimbledon was awesome too. Sort of funny the first day, they were all falling asleep on the London Eye (they were pretty freaking tired after that flight).

But the spring break didn't end there! Not only was I playing tour guide for my family for the week after I got back (which was really really fun), but the girls and I had booked Ireland for the weekend afterwards. Not only did we not realize how close to Spring Break our trip was, but we also didn't realize that we decided to go to Ireland on St. Patrick's Day weekend. We oddly didn't go out to the pubs (we wanted to, but they were expensive) because we had to wake up all the mornings we were there. The first night we got there we were just tired. The next we went to the Cliffs of Moher (where they shot the Cliffs of Insanity for The Princess Bride, part of Harry Potter, and the segment of Late Night with Conan O'Brien where he went in search of his Irish heritage). And the next day my alarm didn't go off and we almost missed our flight back to London (sense a theme?) because we had to get on the plane by 7:40 AM GMT. We made it and made it back all in one piece (very very tired), and it was fun.

That's it. That's my whole spring break rolled into one very long blog entry.

Project Runway and Scrabble

So after going to the doctor yesterday morning and picking up some vitamins for school (you would never believe how expensive they are, who knew?), the family and I hit Hibachi for some yummy dinner and then I headed over to Laura's for the Project Runway premiere.

Much to her delight (and my disappointment, I was gunning for Korto), Danny V won the All Star challenge, and the night was set for a Tim Gunn overhaul. The premiere was fun, and I did like the winner (hated the guest judge, though, Lindsay Lohan has a powerful strain of bitch face), but really, the highlight of the night was Scrabble.

That's right. Scrabble with Brandon, Laura, and Rachel until about 2 AM. It got to the point where Rachel and I just had shit vowels. I got second place, but more importantly, I didn't quit halfway through like I usually do with Scrabble. I get fed up with the game pretty quick, oddly enough.

Boy Scout Entertainment

As you may/may not know, I'm heading north of the border in a few weeks (not as fun as South of The Border, but whatever) to Corolla in the Outer Banks. Laura, Corinne, Sarah, Mom, and Dad and I are heading down on the 18th, and we found out that the Outer Banks, well...

...there's not much town there. There's an aviation museum (for the Wright Brothers), the beach, restaurants, more beach, golf, and more beach.

So I've decided (with the help of Matt Biddle) to hold a beach photo scavenger hunt. You try to find as many of the things listed on or around the beach or town you're staying in, take pictures of them, and then upload them to Facebook.

I just need ideas to take pictures of on the beach.