The Matt Faus Blog

Ashley came to Valencia this weekend, and we had a great time. When she arrived Thursday evening we dropped her stuff off and went downtown to have a nice dinner. The meal was good and hanging out amongst all of the beautiful architecture of downtown was very enjoyable. After the meal we met some of my friends from Don Quijote a few blocks over and jumped around to a couple of different pubs there for a while, but decided to make it a relatively early night since I wanted to work the next morning. There are really quite a few street vendors downtown, with things ranging from imitation Rolexes, to flowers, to these crazy dancing dolls. Much like the Santa Claus dolls you see at Christmas that sing and dance, these dolls do the same thing. The funny thing was that in the last place we were in, we got the vendor to put 3 of them on our table and had them all dancing at once. All the while, the girl trying to buy one was trying to bargain him down on the price. It was really quite comical to see a donkey and two Dalmatian dolls singing and dancing in synchronization.

The cleaning lady, whom I am ever grateful for, just kicked me out of my room so she could clean it. This annoys me to no end as I have to get a lot of work done today and I can’t freaking be in my room. At least it gives me time to catch up on writing blog posts, now I just wish I could get my stupid Gallery application to work on my website.

I went with some friends from the school I’m studying at to a Flamenco show last night, and it was pretty cool. We got there about 30 minutes before the show began so we were all kind of standing around. They didn’t play any background music, so it was a little awkward at that time, but when the show started it was better.

From what I heard, I think Flamenco is the Spanish version of “flowin’”. There were two guys sitting on stage, one with a guitar, and one with a microphone. The guy with the guitar was playing some rhythms and the guy with the mic was laying down the vocals. The singing was really pretty cool – you could tell by the guy’s face that he was really getting into it. It really reminded me of going to parties where two people would pick up guitars and just start jamming with each other. Improvised music, I think, is some of the most interesting stuff to watch live. It’s like the people playing are just using the instruments as an extension of themselves and talking back and forth with them. It’s also awesome to see how two people can remain so harmonious by only making a plan moment by moment.

Anyway, the Flamenco Dancer came out after a while and that was the icing on the cake. The rhythm was a big part in the music as the dance consists of a lot stomping and twirling. She used her hands as a flourish, twirling them around, and then stomping with her feet to the music. I guess I’m not very good at describing people dancing, but rest assured that it was a lot of fun to watch and listen to.

I had been looking for this for a while, and I finally got the right keywords. What I was trying to do was make sure that a user was logged into a website before my code tried to download something from it. I was setting the CredentialCache to DefaultCredentials, but this doesn’t work unless the user has already logged into the website. So, if you want to pop the default window and get the credentials from the user, here is the link:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-US/library/aa375177.aspx

I’ll edit when I get some sample code working.

The next morning we made an early start so that we could trek to our flight with RyanAir. For those of you who haven’t heard of this airline, it’s supposedly this awesome deal where you can get flights for 20E around Europe. However, that’s only the price they advertise and then when you’re checking out there are all kinds of hidden fees. It’s good for some locations (probably within the same country), but you’ve really got to do your research if you want to find the deals. We probably saved about 20E each on the flight from Paris to Barcelona, but it was quite a bit of a hassle and it took much longer than a more traditional flight would have taken.

The reason RyanAir can offer low prices on their flights is because they basically build their own airports in little towns outside of the bigger cities that everyone wants to go to. So to get from Paris to Barcelona, you actually have to go from Paris to Beauvais (an hour away), by bus, and then you fly from there to Girona, and then finally take another 70 minute bus ride into Barcelona proper. You can definitely save some money with RyanAir, as long as you don’t check any luggage, but just realize that, like so many other things in life, it sounds a little too good to be true.

As mentioned in my previous post, we saw a lot of beggars in Paris that all had the same ploy: poor Bosnian women that had lost their passport. Now, there are poor and homeless people that have legitimately fallen on bad times out of their control and we should help these people. However, these beggars were little more than con artists leveraging the power of deep-seeded human desires to win a few coins, not terribly different than prostitutes. So, in my desire to get a refund for being so uncomfortably assaulted at the Arc du Triomf, I decided that the next Bosnian woman to ask for money from me would see the tables turned. At the Notre Dame Cathedral, such a woman came up to me and before she could say more than a few words I explained to her how I had lost my passport and my wallet and that I needed money to get back to the United States. As she realized that her plan had backfired she reached into her purse and gave me a 10 cent coin, from Australia. That’s right, I got money from a beggar. Boo-ya-kasha!

Well, after a good night’s sleep, Saturday presented us with a whole ‘nother day of exploring the grandiose city of Paris. The decided agenda was Moulin Rouge, Arc de Triomph, Eiffel Tower , Notre Dame Cathedral, Les Invalides, and then back to the Eiffel Tower to see it in day and night light. Ashley and I really don’t take this travelling stuff light-heartedly.

The Moulin Rouge is pretty far out of town, and a little disappointing from the outside. The red windmill was there along with tourists taking pictures and such, but compared to the other sites we had seen, it was pretty lame. We did, however, buy some crepes from a street vendor and they were delicious. I got a chocolate crepe and Ashley a nutella. Nutella is this really cool chocolate/peanut butter hybrid that is all the rage in Europe. We even had an English-speaking French person take our picture eating them. Afterwards we walked around Moulin Rouge a little bit, but the only thing there is to see in that part of the city is Sex Shops. And I’m not kidding; street after street was filled with Sex Shops of all kinds. Then, back on the metro for the Arc de Triomph.

Upon exiting the metro stop and breaking through to the daylight under the Arc du Triomf ever so much like a groundhog breaking through on that spring day to determine the weather for the next month, we were greeted by a woman asking if we spoke English. We said yes, thinking we would be helping out someone how might have felt like we did just the day before, but it turns out it was just a beggar with a ploy to use human emotion to rip a few cents from our grasp. Alas, I gave her a coin, just so she would be on her way. It was pretty frustrating since I thought it was a sincere plea for help, but no. Anyway, I’ll let you in on the rash of these same beggars throughout Paris and my revenge, later.

The Arc du Triomf was really cool, and something I had never really seen before. We have really cool architecture and buildings in the United States but they almost always serve a purpose. This work is simply a statement of nationality and victory, and nothing else. This is what made it so admirable. We took some pictures and had a look around, but there wasn’t much else to see so we moved along.

The Eiffel Tower was the next stop, and it was really pretty cool. I had in my mind that it would be similar to the Seattle Space Needle, both icons of their respective cities, but the Eiffel Tower was much more impressive. You could pay to go up to the top and take pictures, but we really didn’t feel like waiting in line for at least a couple hours. There were an incredible amount of tourists here, of course, but we were able to take some pretty nice pictures that I’m sure Ashley will frame and hang in her apartment. If I can get my stupid picture application working for my website, then I will post them for the whole world to see. Alas. The other interesting site we saw at the Eiffel Tower was the Band of Bosnian Beggars (henceforth known as the BBB). You could literally look around and identify 3 or 4 women with the exact same garb and the exact same ploy to get a few coins of pity from their fellow man.

All aboaaaarrrrrrd! Next stop, Cathedral of Notre Dame. This place was amazing from the outside. The detail in the stone carvings and the magnitude of the towers was somewhat overwhelming. We took several good pictures of everything here, and then stood in line to go inside. The inside was also quite amazing. The stained glass windows were bigger than anything I had ever seen and the statues of apostles and Jesus were very detailed and spectacular. I just wish we could have gone up in the towers!

Later that evening we headed to the Eiffel Tower to lounge in the park beneath it (with quite a few other people, I might add) under the lights of the stars and the Tower itself. I’m not sure if they do this all the time, but every hour on the hour for 10 minutes they turned on some extra lights that blinked and shimmered all along the length. It was pretty spectacular.

Upon walking into the courtyard of this place, I could do nothing be stand in gaping awe of what I was seeing. I learned firsthand how truly indescribable the magnitude and grandeur of this building is. The walls and parapets were draped in ornately detailed designs and patterns, all carved into the stone which held the building together. The sheer square footage represented by what was surrounding us was overwhelming, and we had only begun to learn about what was held inside. In the middle of the courtyard was the entrance – a gigantic glass pyramid with two smaller pyramids on either side. Passing through the gateway and descending into the belly of the crystal pyramid gave the rightful feeling of entering into an internationally renowned museum, nay, guardian, of artworks of all kinds.

After picking up tickets and an English (they had 13 other languages) version of the map, we headed towards the only painting that either of us had ever really heard much about, The Mona Lisa. It took us an hour to get there. Leaving the lobby and entering into the first hallway is the beginning of an incredible barrage of beauty and wonder. With every step and every glance there are new things to gaze and marvel at, each one more interesting than the last. Paintings of all kinds, sculptures from every era and region of human existence, jewelry from the tribes in Africa to the English Monarchy, Egyptian scepters, French weapons of war, sculptures of Grecian gods, and we’ve only been walking around for an hour!

Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa was interesting, but you really have to stand there and look at it for a while to notice anything peculiar. There were quite a few people congregated there, obviously to see one of the more famous works in the museum. A few even tried to take pictures, despite the signs outside the doors prohibiting such behavior in 14 languages. Regardless, it was funny to hear the Frenchmen yell at them.

Continuing on, we could only make it through a little over 1/3 of the museum before our feet, and even more so, our minds were simply exhausted from the objects and images we had put through their processing regions. By the time we were leaving, I recognized the sensation I was experiencing. The only other time I had experienced such an overwhelming of the mind was after my Calculus II final, freshman year at UTD. I simply could not comprehend things around on a deeper level that simply “chair”, “street”, or “bridge”, much like after leaving the Calculus exam, I looked at my watch and had difficulty determining what time it was – the beauty section, or the numbers region in the case of the Calculus exam, had simply been stretched beyond its ability. I couldn’t even recognize Ashley in a crowd of strangers.

After a very long day and a good meal next to the river, we headed back.

Oh yeah, I was kidding about not being able to recognize Ashley. Also, I know my pictures page is broken and I’ve been trying to fix it, but I’m pretty busy with work right now and I don’t really have time to mess with it. Hopefully I can get it figured out the next time I play with it, but if not I might start putting pictures on another site.

Upon stepping foot into a chilly and dreary Paris morning after spending a large portion of the past 24 hours travelling, I was a little less than impressed with my surroundings. “Oh well”, I said, “I just need some coffee, but first, a bathroom.” So, we made our way out of the train and into the station where the only bathroom in site had a sign outside signifying that you must pay for each use, depending on what kind of business needs to get done. So, I paid my .5E and obtained relief. They were nice bathrooms, but it was a little weird because the cleaning lady was directly behind me just going about her business. Also, the urinals were in plain sight of the entrance to the antechamber. Over some much needed coffee and grub, we figured out the paths we needed to take through the Metro to the accommodations and we were on our way.

The Metro system in Paris is outstanding, but after the amount of travelling we had done and the overwhelming sensation of not understanding anything that anyone around you is saying, we had a bit of a difficulty with our first few rides on the Metro. Hesitations here, wrong turns there, and a few other events turned what should have been a quick trip into a 3 hour ordeal. Luckily an English woman with a baby strapped to her chest and several bags of groceries stopped and helped us out.

After freshening up a bit, we were ready to hit the city by 2pm. The first stop was the Pantheon. I still don’t fully understand what this thing is, but one of the information pamphlets stated that it was a “secular cathedral” used to honor great scientists and philosophers. Whatever it was, it was absolutely gorgeous within the walls. With several statues and grand murals, the hall was truly reminiscent of Great Men of the World.

The thing I found most interesting about the Pantheon was the pendulum that it housed. This pendulum was suspended from the very top of the dome all the way to the floor. With this much suspension, it takes very little energy to maintain movement, as the earth moves beneath it with each cycle. As the Earth rotates, the pendulum’s swing will change angles, thereby providing a means to mark time. For the past 100 years (or more, I’m not sure), this pendulum has swung in the center of this great hall, much like the beating heart of the iron-clad leaders the hall commemorates.

After spending several minutes in awe of the pendulum, we headed down into the Crypts. The crypts were really quite plain and uninteresting to view, but the fact that they housed the remains of the great philosophers Rousseau and Voltaire was pretty cool.

Emerging from the Crypts into a sunny and cheerful afternoon was just what we needed for the strength to carry us through the streets past the Cathedral of Notre Dame, the Concierge, and Hotel de Ville as we made the trek to the Louvre Museum. On the way there, we saw several artists selling paintings along the river, along with souvenirs and post cards. I bought a few things for some friends back home, and Ashley did the same, but we hurried a little as we wanted to have plenty of time at the Louvre and then come back to these sites the next day.

Upon arriving at the Louvre Museum, my perception of beauty began to radically transform…

Well, the Paris adventure begins with a train ride, actually two train rides that equal 15 hours worth of transportation. You see, Valencia is not terribly well connected with other countries throughout Europe. If you’re planning to travel anywhere outside of Spain, then you’re going to have to go to either Barcelona or Madrid. So, I headed to Barcelona on Thursday afternoon in order to make in there in time to catch the overnight train to Paris.

The train was really pretty comfortable, compared to a plane or a bus, but it wasn’t exactly easy to sleep. About one hour into the train ride there was quite a commotion in our car. There were five French-speaking Arabs that had stowed away in the bathrooms from Barcelona in an attempt to attain a free ride back to Paris. Upon the discovery of their plans the train conductor stopped the train and was forcing the illegitimate passengers off. However, these men would not go without a fight. I didn’t understand a word of what they were saying, but I was able to ask another passenger later and he explained things to me. Anyway, the police finally came and forcibly removed the men and we were on our way. At least we weren’t on some other car where we couldn’t see the reason that we were stopped for half an hour.

Otherwise, the train ride was rather uneventful. I met some other American travelers in the cafeteria car and we talked for a little bit, but that’s about all.