лягушка путешественница!

5 days left until I leave for Moscow (and eventually ending up in Copenhagen)! Where did all my time go? Well, I know exactly where it all went: work, east coast, and twiddling my thumbs while trying to avoid doing anything about going abroad for the summer.

Don't get me wrong, I am rather excited on traveling here and there and everywhere in northern Europe. But it's also a lot to do. I remember telling myself in the beginning that I was going to keep it as simple as possible. And I did. But there is some complexity within the simplicity. The only thing I have bought for my trip abroad is a Nikon D3100 found on Craigslist- to replace the D70 that decided to die on me while in NYC. And toothpaste. I will definitely have to buy toothpaste.

Over the weekend, I was reading out of Lonely Planet's Russian Phrasebook while at boyfriend's house. Being who I am, I was picking out the worst things to say, like "I am not happy", "I have diarrhea", "I am Australian" (which I am not), and other nonsense, which just made him laugh at me. At least I started to flex the Russian pronunciation that I never had before. Boyfriend is Russian, so I have a great advantage here, especially knowing Russian that you don't normally find in phrasebooks. Now you might be asking yourself, "Isn't she studying in Denmark, not Russia?" Yes, you are right, I am to study in Copenhagen, but I like anything Russian over Danish, so I'll deal with those Danishes later. So while talking nonsense in Russian with boyfriend and his sister at the kitchen table, his sister decided to draw up a little drawing of a traveling frog on a bicycle for me, which represents me traveling.

The details!: sombrero, the t-square and ruler, and the pointe shoes! лягушка путешественница" translates to "traveling frog." Seeing it written in Russian seems more complicated, huh? Check out more of her work at Yevgeniya Draws. 

Providence In A Day

Providence is a quaint little city.

It was rather cold arriving in Providence, with a cold, dry, wind hitting our faces. What a nice welcome to Providence- my future home for at least a year. We made our way, walking, to our next host's home, up on College Hill near Brown/RISD. We found this place on Couchsurfing (my first choice over hostels, AirBNB, and hotels). I had been looking forward to staying in Providence because it would be my first time being in a Co-op home. The walk there wasn't too bad, but it would have been much easier without carrying bags, since there was a lovely hill to climb (College Hill... should have thought that one through).
Our host, Annejane, was at work, but another housemate (out of the 17 or so that live there), welcomed us with the warmest of all welcomes (his charisma!- well, he is a theater major at Brown). We explored the home and admired the art, the mess, and the character of the co-op house. Just look at the living room:

After settling down, we strolled through College Hill then central Providence to find a bite to eat. I had read so many good things about Providence's restaurant scene, but while walking the city, it felt like half of the establishments were closed down. It was a Tuesday around 2pm. I'm pretty sure they don't do the siesta. We did find something near Johnson and Wales University, a Mediterranean grille cafe. Mediocre food, but not horrible. Afterwards, we made our way to RISD's admissions office, then to the financial aid office. I swear, the admissions office could very well be in the middle of the forest. Our day in Providence ran short, but I got a good, sleepy, feel of the city. I just hope that I can take more of it when I do finally move there.

In the evening we finally met our couchsurfing host at a medieval vocal concert. Random place, yes. Especially because it was at a tomb/museum on the Brown University campus. We had dinner back at the house... a pretty good local, organic, vegetarian dinner. Well, except for the broccoli. Annejane had told us that because Providence has pretty crappy weather for broccoli, it is shipped from California. After talking for an hour or two it was time to hit the couch.

It didn't help that around 2am, there were people in the basement banging away on a drumset. At least it added to the music of the rain outside.

3 days in Boston- Highlights

Alright, I'm back from my mental vacation.

Day one

Flying out of LAX to BOS was seamless. Boyfriend and I barely had to wait to board our flight. Which means I got in about 2 matches of Draw Something before I boarded. Flying across the ol' USA really is something else- the geography of this nation is oh-so diverse from miles above.

When we finally arrived to Boston's Logan Airport, we went straight to the small apartment boyfriend found on AirBNB (we tried so hard to find a couch via Couchsurfing up until 2 days before departure, but it seems like those Bostonians are so busy!). Since our host was still at work, she had send a message to boyfriend explaining how we can find the keys to the apartment. This was the fun part- I felt like I was placed into a mini-detective story. The key was in the back yard, under a blue bucket. There were 3 blue buckets in a yard approximately 50'x50'. Third time's a charm, evidently; boyfriend found it under the blue bucket nearest the building. After we settled in, we went to downtown Boston and just walked around. Didn't know what quite to do. I had been to Boston 3 years before, so I had some bearings around the city. I had left the city guide and the map at the apartment, so I really had to use my memory. And when hunger stroke, I knew exactly where I wanted to go for dinner: Regina's Pizzeria!

North End is definitely a little gem in Boston, and my favorite place in the city. I definitely recommend going to Regina's (in North End's location!) to everyone and anyone! 10" pizzas are about $8-10 each, and definitely worth the taste. I have been to Italy and had gotten plenty of pizza-tasting experience there, and trust me when I say that this pizza at Regina's is pretty close- like a hair away- from Italy's. My favorite is the Formagio Bianco (their four-cheese pizza). Got it last time, got it this time. Will get it again and again!

Day two

Freedom Trail time! But before that, we paid a visit to Trinity Church. Back in architecture school, in the American architecture course, that building was studied. It was basically our duty as alumni to visit the site. We didn't go inside, but we took enough photographs. Our journey through the Freedom Trial began through the Boston Public Gardens, where  we found ourselves accidentally 'participating' in the Walk Off Hunger Walk. The charity walk actually ended at the Boston Common (the park adjacent to the Public Gardens), so cheerleaders welcomed us to the finish line. I felt like a local for a few minutes. We made our way to the official beginning of the Freedom Trail, finally. I had forgotten how many cemeteries there are in Boston. But I am not complaining, I could spend all day walking cemetery grounds. So on we went from historical monument to monument, taking pictures and admiring the city. At Faneuil Hall, a solicitor tried to win our favor, and confused me for boyfriend's wife. I can't complain there. In North End, we stopped by a little souvenir shop that I had visited 3 years before. I really wanted to revisit the shop because the store owner has such a Bostonian accent, and I wanted boyfriend to hear it. He actually didn't say much, almost nothing at all, until I was at the counter purchasing my 2 postcards and mentioned that I had visited his shop 3 years before. He chatted up a bit, telling me that it was great that I had remembered his shop. And boyfriend got to hear his accent. I told boyfriend that we had to make a stop at Mike's Pastry to get some cannolis. The cannolis there are giant, and we probably could have done with just one. But we got 2- a vanilla florentine cannoli and an amarato cannoli. We never got around to eating them until later that night, right before sleeping, and we didn't eat half of it.

We started to rush a bit to visit the USS Constitution because the ship closed admission at 5pm. We barely got there- 10 minutes shy of closing time. Although we missed the last ship tour, we got to board the ship and spend time on deck.
The Freedom Trail is about 3 miles long from beginning to end. I wan't looking forward to the walk back to central Boston.

Day three

Boyfriend had scheduled an information meeting about the GSD (Graduate School of Design) @ Harvard prior to arriving in Boston. We had a late start that morning, with boyfriend assuring me that we were going to make it to Harvard from the apartment in 10 minutes time. Where he got that time estimate, I have no idea. It was more like 45 minutes. But we got there, and getting there late was no biggie. After the info meeting, we took a quick tour of the GSD, and I fell in love with the giant mess that is the studio space. We walked through the main campus towards are lunch destination: Mr. Bartley's Burger Cottage. My cousin wanted to go there last time years ago, but it was closed on the 4th of July. So I made it a point to go there this time. It's a rather old hole in the wall, and a bit quirky inside with their wall decor.

Their menu is fun to look at, too. Take for instance "The Barack Obama: (one and done?) with feta cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion, and french fries" and "iPhone: ("Siri"ously delicious, ask her) boursin cheese,grilled mushrooms & onions w/sweet potato fries."
Just go to the website and be entertained by their menu. Burgers from their gourmet menu run about $10-12,  with fries. Otherwise, look above their grill and you will find another menu with simpler choices that run from $7-10, with potato chips (they're local!).
From Harvard, we decided to walk to MIT via the riverside. It didn't seem too far away. Well, it might have been not too far (like 2ish miles), but it took so long to get there. We met up with a friend who is currently doing her graduate studies in architecture at MIT, and she showed us around the media room on campus. I think we played more ping pong than touring the media room.
2 hours worth of ping-pong.

Ja! Housing in Copenhagen

I am back from my 9-day trip on the other side (the east coast). I’ll post more on that later, but my brain needs a little vacation from the vacation. I think we have all been there.

The night before my departure, I was in contact with a girl in Copenhagen who was renting her room out in Copenhagen for a month and a half- the perfect window that I needed to find housing. Earlier that same day, I opted out of school housing in Copenhagen because I didn’t see it fair to pay $2,500 for less than 50 days. Although that included a metro pass (periodekort) and $200 food stipend, I knew I could do better. I had been looking online during work (I’m still a good, hard, worker) for rooms/apartments, but either the prices were still too high or the apartments were just too far. I turned to Couchsurfing.com, and I found a group that is dedicated to finding housing and apartments in Copenhagen. With luck I wrote a post asking for a room during specific dates. No luck there, probably because I was asking to move in during the middle of the month, and with a more-or-less tight budget. Later that night, while packing at home, I decided to take a short break and look again. I found that someone had posted their room for rent, because she was going on vacation to her homecountry of Lativa. I wrote her, expressing my interest (and with a hint of desperation). Surprisingly enough, she had written back no more than 2 hours later, showing my photos of the apartment.

Well, skipping though more details, I ended up getting the apartment. Funny how I managed to do all of this all online. I’m quite proud of myself. I made an apartment room rental contract while I was in Boston, and finished up when I arrived in New York. Originally I didn't plan on bringing my laptop with me, but alas, I did. Doesn’t seem too much of a vacation now.

1.5 months rent: less than $1,000 USD (trust me, thats pretty good for Copenhagen housing)

4.8 kilometers away from school.

A short walk from the metro, another short walk from the bus stop.

Oh, and did I mention that the two other housemates are Italian? I get to practice my Italian!

I’m all set. 

East Coast Countdown

I picked up my Russian Visa last Saturday. I am almost set to go! Time to invade Russia.

I get so caught up in my plans for this summer, that I forget that I'm paying the east coast a visit for 10 days, starting this weekend. Boyfriend and I will be traveling to Boston to visit the city and Harvard and MIT. After Boston, we will take the train to Providence and spend a day there so that I can get a feel for the city and the RISD campus before I move there in September. Then we are off to NYC and we will meet up with boyfriend's sister (who would have arrived two days before), and a cousin of mine who now calls NYC home. This will be a great vacation from work (much needed). To save some money (who doesn't like to save money?)- I have found certain days of the week where some museums/attractions are free in New York. Here are some to name a few:

Museum of Modern Art: free Fridays 4-8 pm
Metropolitan Museum of Art: everyday pay what you wish
Museum of Art and Design: Thursday and Friday pay what you wish 6-9pm
Museum of Fashion Institute of Technology: free everyday
Brooklyn Botanical Gardens: free Tuesdays
Bronx Zoo: Wednesdays pay what you wish
Guggenheim: Saturdays 5:45pm-7:45pm pay what you wish (tickets in advance)

Seems like my schedule, for the most part, revolves around these free museum hours. I'm not complaining.

Is it possible to travel too much? I think not.