I know this is delayed. I just didn't have as much time to make the video until yesterday. I had to wait to be done with the grad school projects from my last set of classes before I could sit down and get it done.
Monday, July 14, 2014
Madrid to Barcelona on the AVE
Here's a little video I made by splicing together short clips from our trip on a high speed train across Spain. It's funny how it looks very similar to Central Nebraska at times with the flatness and farmland in certain areas. However, Nebraska is far more green.
I know this is delayed. I just didn't have as much time to make the video until yesterday. I had to wait to be done with the grad school projects from my last set of classes before I could sit down and get it done.
I know this is delayed. I just didn't have as much time to make the video until yesterday. I had to wait to be done with the grad school projects from my last set of classes before I could sit down and get it done.
Saturday, July 12, 2014
July 12, 2014
Tonight, I'm dogsitting, and the dog seemed a tad bored, so we went on a photography field trip. She got a mini walk and then got to sit in the car on top of a parking garage while I took some sunset photos. It wasn't the most spectacular sunset I've ever seen, but it was still pretty. Monday night was so spectacular that it's going to make it difficult for me to find any sunset truly awesome until I see something that tops it.
Anyway, today was extremely hot and humid, but the evening was quite pleasant. The humidity is getting really old around here. Every day the air feels like you could cut it with a knife and by noon it's suffocating and miserable outside. We've been getting rain so regularly that Nebraska feels like a jungle these days...
Anyway, today was extremely hot and humid, but the evening was quite pleasant. The humidity is getting really old around here. Every day the air feels like you could cut it with a knife and by noon it's suffocating and miserable outside. We've been getting rain so regularly that Nebraska feels like a jungle these days...
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
July 7, 2014 Storms and Sunset
Yesterday gave me the opportunity to get some shots that actually contribute to the original purpose of this blog. For whatever reason, the storms (non-severe storms) that rolled through yesterday were the perfect type for interesting cloud and sunset photos.
I feel like recently every time storms have come in, the sky has already been cloudy or just ugly. It's been awhile since I have seen truly interesting and spectacular cloud formations in Lincoln. There were a lot of storms that went through while I was in Europe, so perhaps I missed many other opportunities.
Anyway, I looked out my window yesterday while my sister and I were waiting around for supper to be ready. I gasped to see extremely unusual gray cloud formations ahead of a few storms that were coming in from the northwest. We jumped up and went out to take some pictures.
Later, as the storms were leaving the area, I noticed the glowing light and figured there may be a few more interesting photo opportunities. I looked outside to see a gold glow in the air and a huge double rainbow. I won't post any rainbow pics because they aren't that amazing. I haven't figured out exactly how to get full rainbow pictures yet. I have a wide-angle lens attachment, but I didn't experiment with it in the moment.
A kid from my apartment building saw me taking pics and told me that it looks even cooler "out on West O Street". I packed up my sister to go investigate. We quickly realized we would not make it out to West O, and went to the 17th and R parking garage instead. She quickly regretted her decision to not bring her camera to Lincoln. I felt bad for her, but I was also glad that I would have the opportunity to use my new camera to capture something cool.
Below are a few of the pictures I got yesterday. I love sunsets and weather like this.
I feel like recently every time storms have come in, the sky has already been cloudy or just ugly. It's been awhile since I have seen truly interesting and spectacular cloud formations in Lincoln. There were a lot of storms that went through while I was in Europe, so perhaps I missed many other opportunities.
Anyway, I looked out my window yesterday while my sister and I were waiting around for supper to be ready. I gasped to see extremely unusual gray cloud formations ahead of a few storms that were coming in from the northwest. We jumped up and went out to take some pictures.
Later, as the storms were leaving the area, I noticed the glowing light and figured there may be a few more interesting photo opportunities. I looked outside to see a gold glow in the air and a huge double rainbow. I won't post any rainbow pics because they aren't that amazing. I haven't figured out exactly how to get full rainbow pictures yet. I have a wide-angle lens attachment, but I didn't experiment with it in the moment.
A kid from my apartment building saw me taking pics and told me that it looks even cooler "out on West O Street". I packed up my sister to go investigate. We quickly realized we would not make it out to West O, and went to the 17th and R parking garage instead. She quickly regretted her decision to not bring her camera to Lincoln. I felt bad for her, but I was also glad that I would have the opportunity to use my new camera to capture something cool.
Below are a few of the pictures I got yesterday. I love sunsets and weather like this.
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Spain/Italy Trip (Part 9)
The last day of the trip consisted of a ridiculous amount of traveling. We left from the Rome airport around 11 a.m. and arrived in Omaha around 9:30 p.m. When you don't consider time zones, it seems like a reasonably short trip considering the distance, but it is NOT. The first flight was around 10 hours long, we had about three hours to hang out in Charlotte, and then the flight from Charlotte to Omaha was 2.5 hours long. When you factor in the drive to the airport and my drive back to Lincoln, I was in travel mode for 16+ hours, and I was awake for many more hours than that. The worst part of travel is definitely the actual traveling part...
Plane rides are fun if they aren't too long, but trips over oceans are excruciatingly boring. By the end of the trip, my knees actually hurt from sitting for so long, and my backside was in serious pain as well. Human beings are not meant to sit down for such extended periods of time...
Anyway, I was pretty thrilled to get back to my apartment and see that it had not burned down or been broke into during my absence. As fun as the trip was, I was thrilled to get back to Nebraska to sleep and get back on routine. I would love to travel internationally again someday, but I think I need a couple years away from planes before I would consider doing that.
Looking back, it was a very eye-opening experience and it helped me break out of my little Nebraska/American bubble. I'm glad I was able to experience other cultures, see the ocean, and get away from daily life.
I don't have any pictures to offer from the last travel day, but here is a video from the trip to Spain that offers a decent representation of the way back. The only difference is that this was an all-day trip rather than an all-night flight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJHeYozC2Q8
Plane rides are fun if they aren't too long, but trips over oceans are excruciatingly boring. By the end of the trip, my knees actually hurt from sitting for so long, and my backside was in serious pain as well. Human beings are not meant to sit down for such extended periods of time...
Anyway, I was pretty thrilled to get back to my apartment and see that it had not burned down or been broke into during my absence. As fun as the trip was, I was thrilled to get back to Nebraska to sleep and get back on routine. I would love to travel internationally again someday, but I think I need a couple years away from planes before I would consider doing that.
Looking back, it was a very eye-opening experience and it helped me break out of my little Nebraska/American bubble. I'm glad I was able to experience other cultures, see the ocean, and get away from daily life.
I don't have any pictures to offer from the last travel day, but here is a video from the trip to Spain that offers a decent representation of the way back. The only difference is that this was an all-day trip rather than an all-night flight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJHeYozC2Q8
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Spain/Italy Trip (Part 8)
Alright, so this post covers the last day of actual touring. It was our second day in Rome, in which we primarily went to the Vatican.
I was pretty excited to go to the Vatican just because it's so world famous and because it's technically it's own "country". Also, I'm not Catholic, but a lot of people on my dad's side of the family are, so I was excited to get some pictures and maybe souvenirs for them. As an interesting side note, the Virgin Mary pedestal thingy and the rosary I bought for my grandpa in Rome were both made of wood and both in his kitchen, which caught fire a couple days ago. I found out yesterday that they were both still in their paper envelopes in the kitchen, but had not caught fire at all... Interesting.... Maybe a little Vatican magic? ;)
The Vatican was very interesting, but one thing that ruined the experience slightly was that there were SO MANY PEOPLE. Nowhere in Spain was as godawful touristy as the Vatican. You were packed into tiny hallways like sardines, so it was hard to even keep up with your tour guide or hear what they are saying. That being said, it was still impressive and very cool. St. Peter's Basilica was incredible. Just when I thought a church couldn't get any bigger...
We were a little smarter about how we "beat the heat" on our second day in Rome. We brought water along and tried to sit down in the shade as often as we possibly could. I still felt uncomfortably hot, but I didn't feel like I was getting heatstroke again.
Below are a few pictures from my Vatican experience.
I was pretty excited to go to the Vatican just because it's so world famous and because it's technically it's own "country". Also, I'm not Catholic, but a lot of people on my dad's side of the family are, so I was excited to get some pictures and maybe souvenirs for them. As an interesting side note, the Virgin Mary pedestal thingy and the rosary I bought for my grandpa in Rome were both made of wood and both in his kitchen, which caught fire a couple days ago. I found out yesterday that they were both still in their paper envelopes in the kitchen, but had not caught fire at all... Interesting.... Maybe a little Vatican magic? ;)
The Vatican was very interesting, but one thing that ruined the experience slightly was that there were SO MANY PEOPLE. Nowhere in Spain was as godawful touristy as the Vatican. You were packed into tiny hallways like sardines, so it was hard to even keep up with your tour guide or hear what they are saying. That being said, it was still impressive and very cool. St. Peter's Basilica was incredible. Just when I thought a church couldn't get any bigger...
We were a little smarter about how we "beat the heat" on our second day in Rome. We brought water along and tried to sit down in the shade as often as we possibly could. I still felt uncomfortably hot, but I didn't feel like I was getting heatstroke again.
Below are a few pictures from my Vatican experience.
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Spain/Italy Trip (Part 7)
In this post, I'll talk about the first day we toured in Rome. We crammed a lot of stuff into one day, so I may not go into tremendous detail about the actual attractions themselves since most of them are world famous and a lot of information about them is already known.
I'll pick up where I left off from the last post. We left port in a bus and headed into Rome, which was about an hour away. At that point, we were all dying slightly because we hadn't had anything to eat since we had crappy ferry lunch food. I think we finally got to the restaurant to eat around 10 p.m. We had salad, real Italian lasagna, some kind of ice cream (I don't know if it qualified as gelato). I don't know if it was a good restaurant or if I was just starving, but it was the best food I had had in days...
We finally got back to our hotel to check in around 11 p.m. and had to get to bed quickly to prepare for the horrifyingly early morning ahead of us. What sucks about all of the hotels I stayed in in Europe is that air conditioning is never at the quality one would hope... Maybe I'm over-generalizing, but most people I know like it to be cold in a room when they go to sleep, and most people can't sleep when it's too warm. Well, it was ALWAYS too warm in Europe. In every hotel I slept in shorts and a tshirt with either the thinnest sheet blanket or no blanket. Even when the AC was on maximum at these hotels, it felt like it never got lower than 75 or 80 in the rooms. What killed me was that the housekeeper at our Italian hotel would open the windows while we were touring and we'd all come back to lovely, baking hot rooms. Even if you instantly shut the windows and turned the AC on blast, it never cooled down enough for me to be comfortable.
Speaking of the heat, Italy is blazing hot in comparison to Spain. In Spain it was almost chilly at times and wearing jeans was not a problem. In Italy, I was sweating profusely at 9 a.m. and my legs were stuck to my jeans. One thing that ruined Italy for me slightly was the weather. It was sunny, but miserably hot. I regretted not bringing shorts for those few days very much...
The first day, we went to the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, St. Paul's Basilica, and then our tour guide pointed at various other things as we drove along. We also got to see the place where Julius Caesar died, which is mind-blowing the longer you think about it. The architecture in Rome is "similar but different" as compared to the architecture in Spain. It's hard to explain exactly what's different, it just is... The Colosseum and Roman Forum were also amazing when you think about how incredibly old all of the structures are. There's nothing in the U.S. that old, so it's amazing when people talk about a building being build in the "B.C." era.
One place that I can only claim to have seen briefly was The Catacombs, which is a huge system of underground tombs. We met up with our tour guide and went towards one of the entrances. He sat outside and talked about some diagrams and history for what felt like an eternity. It was stiflingly hot with all of us standing under this canopy in close quarters, 90-degree heat, and zero wind. I started feeling very lightheaded, so I went and sat on the side. I thought I would feel better going underground where it was cool, but I was wrong. We stopped at the first area where our tour guide began to talk again, and I could sense a faint coming on. I tried to tell my boyfriend that and tried to bend over to get the blood flow back to my head, but he insisted that I should stand up. Bless his heart, but I'm not sure he understands the fainting sensation very well. He kept propping me up, which is about the worst thing he could have done. If I could have stepped out into the "hall" and just bent over, I think I would have been okay and able to go on because generally I can completely avoid fainting if I can get blood flow to my head immediately. However, he redeemed himself by basically dragging me out of the tomb and fighting off the other tour guides to get me to an exit. I don't think I ever fully fainted because I remember everything that happened and I never completely went limb. I was on my feet, but I couldn't see anything (my vision was totally blacked out). He found a staircase and we sat down. Somehow, in a 50-degree cave, I was sweating...
We left out of that peaceful little exit that no one was guarding and found our way to the gift shop area. I still felt off, but I didn't feel like danger was imminent anymore. My boyfriend stated that my face was no longer paper white, which was a good sign. At the next stop (St. Paul's Basilica), I got a water bottle and some ice cream to cover the possibility of low blood sugar and dehydration at once. I don't really know what caused the problem, but I guess I now have a story to tell my children some day...
To take a step backward for a moment, I do want to discuss the difference I noticed between Italian and Spanish tour guides. Any time we had a guide for a specific attraction in Spain, the guide was always very concise and speedy. In Toledo, we practically had to jog to keep up with our guide. In Italy, however, the guides were remarkably long-winded. They would stand at one object and give a 10-minute explanation of each thing. It would have been better if they had hit the main points and moved along... If I had to choose, I would choose a Spanish tour guide any day of the week.
Anyway, upon arriving back at our hotel, I'm pretty sure the first thing every person did was shower. I was disgusting by the end of the day from the insane amount of sweating. I then got to hop in bed and continue sweating since the A/C barely seemed to work... I know I'm coming off whiny, but I really mean this as a positive in that going to Europe made me appreciate a lot of the things I consider a "basic amenity" at home that are obviously not available in many place around the world.
Finally, here are some of the more interesting pics from the day.
I'll pick up where I left off from the last post. We left port in a bus and headed into Rome, which was about an hour away. At that point, we were all dying slightly because we hadn't had anything to eat since we had crappy ferry lunch food. I think we finally got to the restaurant to eat around 10 p.m. We had salad, real Italian lasagna, some kind of ice cream (I don't know if it qualified as gelato). I don't know if it was a good restaurant or if I was just starving, but it was the best food I had had in days...
We finally got back to our hotel to check in around 11 p.m. and had to get to bed quickly to prepare for the horrifyingly early morning ahead of us. What sucks about all of the hotels I stayed in in Europe is that air conditioning is never at the quality one would hope... Maybe I'm over-generalizing, but most people I know like it to be cold in a room when they go to sleep, and most people can't sleep when it's too warm. Well, it was ALWAYS too warm in Europe. In every hotel I slept in shorts and a tshirt with either the thinnest sheet blanket or no blanket. Even when the AC was on maximum at these hotels, it felt like it never got lower than 75 or 80 in the rooms. What killed me was that the housekeeper at our Italian hotel would open the windows while we were touring and we'd all come back to lovely, baking hot rooms. Even if you instantly shut the windows and turned the AC on blast, it never cooled down enough for me to be comfortable.
Speaking of the heat, Italy is blazing hot in comparison to Spain. In Spain it was almost chilly at times and wearing jeans was not a problem. In Italy, I was sweating profusely at 9 a.m. and my legs were stuck to my jeans. One thing that ruined Italy for me slightly was the weather. It was sunny, but miserably hot. I regretted not bringing shorts for those few days very much...
The first day, we went to the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, St. Paul's Basilica, and then our tour guide pointed at various other things as we drove along. We also got to see the place where Julius Caesar died, which is mind-blowing the longer you think about it. The architecture in Rome is "similar but different" as compared to the architecture in Spain. It's hard to explain exactly what's different, it just is... The Colosseum and Roman Forum were also amazing when you think about how incredibly old all of the structures are. There's nothing in the U.S. that old, so it's amazing when people talk about a building being build in the "B.C." era.
One place that I can only claim to have seen briefly was The Catacombs, which is a huge system of underground tombs. We met up with our tour guide and went towards one of the entrances. He sat outside and talked about some diagrams and history for what felt like an eternity. It was stiflingly hot with all of us standing under this canopy in close quarters, 90-degree heat, and zero wind. I started feeling very lightheaded, so I went and sat on the side. I thought I would feel better going underground where it was cool, but I was wrong. We stopped at the first area where our tour guide began to talk again, and I could sense a faint coming on. I tried to tell my boyfriend that and tried to bend over to get the blood flow back to my head, but he insisted that I should stand up. Bless his heart, but I'm not sure he understands the fainting sensation very well. He kept propping me up, which is about the worst thing he could have done. If I could have stepped out into the "hall" and just bent over, I think I would have been okay and able to go on because generally I can completely avoid fainting if I can get blood flow to my head immediately. However, he redeemed himself by basically dragging me out of the tomb and fighting off the other tour guides to get me to an exit. I don't think I ever fully fainted because I remember everything that happened and I never completely went limb. I was on my feet, but I couldn't see anything (my vision was totally blacked out). He found a staircase and we sat down. Somehow, in a 50-degree cave, I was sweating...
We left out of that peaceful little exit that no one was guarding and found our way to the gift shop area. I still felt off, but I didn't feel like danger was imminent anymore. My boyfriend stated that my face was no longer paper white, which was a good sign. At the next stop (St. Paul's Basilica), I got a water bottle and some ice cream to cover the possibility of low blood sugar and dehydration at once. I don't really know what caused the problem, but I guess I now have a story to tell my children some day...
To take a step backward for a moment, I do want to discuss the difference I noticed between Italian and Spanish tour guides. Any time we had a guide for a specific attraction in Spain, the guide was always very concise and speedy. In Toledo, we practically had to jog to keep up with our guide. In Italy, however, the guides were remarkably long-winded. They would stand at one object and give a 10-minute explanation of each thing. It would have been better if they had hit the main points and moved along... If I had to choose, I would choose a Spanish tour guide any day of the week.
Anyway, upon arriving back at our hotel, I'm pretty sure the first thing every person did was shower. I was disgusting by the end of the day from the insane amount of sweating. I then got to hop in bed and continue sweating since the A/C barely seemed to work... I know I'm coming off whiny, but I really mean this as a positive in that going to Europe made me appreciate a lot of the things I consider a "basic amenity" at home that are obviously not available in many place around the world.
Finally, here are some of the more interesting pics from the day.
 |
| The Colosseum |
 |
| Inside the Colosseum |
 |
| St. Paul's Basilica |
 |
| St. Paul's Basilica |
 |
| Inside the basilica |
 |
| The area where Julius Caesar died. |
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| The Pantheon |
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