Touring the FC Barcelona Stadium

Benvinguts! (Welcome!)

L'Estadi Camp Nou, the home base of Futbol Club Barcelona, is located close to the city centre and easily accessible by metro. It was a walking distance from Pere Tarres, the hostel where my friends were staying at. I took the metro and get off at Les Corts station, walk 20 minutes to the hostel to meet up with my friends, and then walk to Camp Nou for 35 minutes. It was around 8am, so we got a healthy dose of the morning sun. I had to catch a flight to Amsterdam at 3pm so I wanted to go to Camp Nou as early in the day as possible.

To put it shortly, I didn't expect touring the Barca's home to be that much fun. I wasn't there for an actual match, but they designed the tour so that we felt like we were there for the real deal. With a capacity of almost 100,000 people, the stadium was just spectacular.

The tour took us to the stadium's conference room (where I got to touch their latest UEFA Championship League Trophy), player's changing rooms and massage rooms, lower bowl and upper bowl, praying room where the players get blessed by a priest before every home match, VIP section, and the commentator box. At the beginning and the end of the tour was the museum and FCBotiga, the club's official merchandise store.

We got to stood on the grass where the greatest soccer player ever, Lionel Messi, were being molded into who he is today. Look at my shirt. I really dressed for success that day (and so did my friend Bob).

Pictures from FC Barcelona's Museum and Store:

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Roland Garros 2014

The 113th French Open Tennis Championship, which is fondly referred to as Roland Garros (after a famous French aviator), was held in Paris from 25 May to 8 June 2014 (with qualies started a week before that) and this lucky person just happened to be in town for the second grand slam tournament of the year!

After purchasing ticket from the official website/Viagogo ticket exchange, a process that was a bit more complicated that I had hoped for, I'm all set to spend a Saturday in the sacred terra battuta grounds located at the Auteuil neighborhood. My ticket granted access to all courts, all day.

Every big tennis tournament has a unique atmosphere, and Roland Garros isn't like any other at all. Main Court Philippe Chatrier only holds a little over 14,000 spectators. In comparison, US Open's Arthur Ashe stadium holds 24,000 people and Cincinnati Master's main court holds 11,000 people.



The special event that day was a fun exhibition games to benefit children in Serbia and Slovakia (Novak Djokovic Foundation was a part of it). Most, if not all, Serbian, Slovakian, and Croats players took part, including Goran Ivanisevic (former Wimbledon champion), Jelena Jankovic, Kristina Mladenovic, and the Djoker himself. There was also dance battles, and Jo-Wilfred Tsonga (the French "Muhammad Ali") was cool enough to participate. He kept losing weight so he looked like Muhammad Ali less and less.

I made sure I visited every single courts: Philippe Chatrier (main court), Suzanne Lenglen (second biggest court), Court 1 (a.k.a. the Bullring, because of its shape and the life-and-death matches that were played on it), and the rest of the courts. In tournaments, official matches are played on the largest courts/televised courts. The smaller courts can be reserved by players for practice. Public can access these courts, so if you're lucky you can run into top players practicing on these courts.

Compared to big tennis tournaments in the States, the Roland Garros felt a bit unorganized, although that did not reduce my enjoyment. There were no schedule for special events and some of the staffs were not familiar with their own procedures (such as lunch tickets). Still, it felt very homey and laid-back. I spent quite a bit of time walking around the beautiful grounds which were adorned by the iconic white roses.There were a lot of shop stalls and a lot of ATM machines (because the tourney's primary sponsor was BNP Paribas).

I couldn't stop smiling all afternoon. I finally went home at 7.30pm, when they started closing the venue to get ready for the next day. I wished I could stay long enough in Paris to watch some semi-final/final matches because the tickets were shockingly affordable (I found women's final ticket selling for 99 euro only), but I had to come back to the States because my beloved coworkers were waiting for me. I went home alone by the metro, oozing with a sense of gratitude for being able to be a part of a Grand Slam tournament.

Next on my list: The US Open, Wimbledon, and The Australian Open! :)

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Training Dragons in Ghent

It was a free weekend so I bought a high-speed Thalys train ticket from Paris Gare du Nord Station to Bruxelles-Midi Station then to Ghent-Sint-Piters Station situated in a small Belgian town west of Brusells.

The Thalys roundtrip ticket from Paris to Brussels was about 120 euro and the Belgian local train from Brussels to Ghent was only 10 euro roundtrip (50% discount on weekends!). The local train looked like it came straight out of a factory: it was sparkling clean and it looked very modern. I was planning to go solo but I found a lovely companion at the last minute.

After 2 hours of train ride from Paris, I suddenly found my self surrounded by Medieval Castles in Ghent, Belgium. This couldn't be real.

Back in the days (i.e. Middle Ages), Ghent was the most powerful city in Europe. Until the present time, Ghent is still adorned with elegant and imposing medieval buildings that are remarkably preserved. Unlike Brussels, where French is mainly spoken, Ghent is located in the Flemish region of Belgium and its primary languages are Flemish and Dutch.

The public transportation (tram) was exceptional and the people were just amazingly pleasant (a guy at the station walked us to the tram stop and a guy at a chocolate shop gave me a piece of Belgian chocolate for free).

The city breathed an atmosphere that was a mix of laidback locals and classy tourism. After seeing people all dressed in the same demure fashion in Paris, all rushed to wherever they had to be, it was a joy seeing people walking around Ghent in pretty colorful spring dresses and high heels and with normal pace.

The city centre was bustling on that Saturday morning. Local artists were painting and selling their crafts along the river. Just 2 blocks away from the city centre, Het Gravensteen (Castle of the Counts) stood tall. The castle was built in 1180 by a count after he got home from the Crusades to intimidate potential attackers. It also has a well-equipped torture chamber inside.

I skipped the torture chamber this time and opted to go to the Belfort et Lakenhalle, a belfry that holds great bells that have rung throughout the centuries. The entry fee was only 5 euro per person, and after climbing some stairs and riding an elevator for a very brief time, we were rewarded with such amazing views of the Sint-Niklaaskerk (St Nicholas' Church), a Schelde Gothic church that dates back to the 13th century.

I forgot to mention that I did meet the dragon at the Belfry.

This was the very dragon that used to be on the very top of the tower. Do you know how in the States some buildings have a chicken that spins on top of the roof? Why go for chickens when you have dragons. It's not that the chickens in Ghent were not awesome. The people just knew the best place to put their chicken on: the plate.

Gentse waterzooi is one of Belgian signature dishes. It originated in this city and I only needed a spoonful before I decided that this was my ultimate comfort food. The heavenly soup base of egg yolk, cream, and vegetable broth complimented the fresh herbs, leeks, tomatoes, potatoes, and chicken thrown into this unearthly concoction. I will report when I successfully recreate the dish in my American kitchen.

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Imagining I'm a Versailles Princess

When I grew up in Indonesia, I read a Japanese comic book (manga) about French royalties that live Versailles Palace. Sounds random? Yes. It wasn't until I was adult that I learnt that the comic had a lot of lesbian elements in it. Sexual orientations aside, visiting Versailles felt like jumping into the fairy tale.

The Palace of Versailles is a symbol of absolute monarchy, which was experienced by the nation in the 1600s. It was the residence of Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI (which can be differentiated by their wigs' shape and color) until the French Revolution began and people thought enough is enough and forced the royal family to move back to Paris, which is about 12.5 miles away from the palace.

It was raining a lot that day but we got lucky and got nothing but a bit drizzles when we toured the palace. I came with my University of Wisconsin/Novancia classmates as Versailles was one of the trips arranged by the school. For some reason, the program coordinators always managed to find the best tourist guide for us (or were all tourist guides in France that awesome?). For easy communication between the guide and the group, the tour guide provided us with radio receivers and earphones. She would then whisper to her radio and that way we won't confuse her with other tour groups, and the noise level in the palace was kept under control.

After 5 minutes, I decided that I really loved our tour guide! She was pretty and fun and schooled us about the history of the palace without being annoying, and every few minutes she would quizzed us.

"Who was being crowned in the "Coronation of Napoleon" painting?" Josephine.
"This Greek deity had a sun symbol on top how him. Who is he?" Appolo.
"What time does the king wake up everyday?" 7.30 am.
"What time does the public would come to his bedroom and watch the King pretend to wake up and get ready?" 8.00 am.

I wish my history teacher in school was this awesome.

The most awesome part of the Palace itself is, of course, the gardens.

The downside of being on a guided tour is that you have to follow their schedule. We were given only   30 minutes to roam around the gardens. Had it been a sunny day and no schedule, I would have spent maybe close to two hours in the gardens alone! To say that the gardens were big was an understatement. I wonder how much time the Louises spent in their gardens?

Here are some pictures of the exterior of the palace. I will update this post with pictures of the king's and queen's bedrooms, the Hall of Mirrors, and the ornate details on various parts of the palace.

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Prepping for Europe - Part I

I felt like everybody has been to Europe but me (of course that isn’t true). But honestly, I haven’t stepped my feet on too many places outside of US and Indonesia (less Indonesia than US). So here’s my chance. I took a (small) leap of faith and decided to spend all my vacation days this year in Europe. Some most important prep activities: getting a Schengen visa, booking flights to Paris, and buying train/flight tickets between European countries I plan to visit, in this case France, Spain, Netherlands, and Belgium.

Booking Flights
Ideally you’d want to have a visa in your hand before purchasing your flight tickets. But of course I don’t live in an ideal world and I forgot that I need a visa (because all my travel companions are US citizens and they don’t need a visa to visit Europe).
If you book about 8-10 weeks ahead, you could get flights as cheap as $850 roundtrip from Chicago O’Hare Airport (ORD) to Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG). Cheapest flights sold on online travel agencies are dominated by Turkish Airlines, Polish Airlines, and Delta. Most of my friends went with Delta Airlines- talk about brand loyalty. I had my heart set on Turkish Airlines before I stumbled upon a cheaper direct flights offered by American Airlines about 15 minutes before my payment for the Turkish Airlines tix were due. So after some serious discussions with myself, I got the American Airlines tix (Chicago-London-Paris then Paris-Chicago direct flight).

Applying for a Schengen Visa
After I came to realization that I don’t have the perks of an US Citizen, and I’m probably not a “preferred” tourists for European people, I started preparing my visa application. I have to admit, living in US kind of made me a bit oblivious to non-headline issues in the rest of the world. There is no “French” visa anymore, there is only “Schengen” visa, which is good for 22 European Union countries BUT NOT United Kingdom. I was pissed of for exactly 2 days and considered ranting to my British Branch Manager.
I assembled my application according to instructions on the France Consulate General in Chicago website, http://www.consulfrance-chicago.org/spip.php?rubrique178. I chose the short stay visa and referenced the “vacation” classification instead of “student” classification, although I will be taking a class in France. I had to get a letter from ERM (my employer), a letter from University of Wisconsin describing my program, 3 last paystubs (“nota gaji”) to prove that I’m working and earning salary, 3 last bank statements to prove that I’m not a hobo, one passport picture, flight itinerary, and, the most burdensome, proof of hotel bookings in Europe. After I put together everything, the final document is about 1/3 inch thick (nowadays I only take a single sheet of paper when applying for US Visa, for comparison).
I scheduled my visa interview with the French Consulate in Chicago (just north of “the Bean” a.k.a. Millennium Park) via their online appointment system. Although the amount of documentation I had to provide beforehand intimidated me a bit, the actual interview process was nothing like in US Consulate. I managed through the whole interview speaking only French, which I learned 10 days before (because I only had to say “Bonjour”, “oui”, “oui”, “cette”, and “merci beaucoup”. The consulate only wants to send your visa by mail, using an USPS Priority Mail Express envelope that you prepaid for ($19.90, overnight service). But you could always beg, like a couple of Indians interviewed before me. Pleasant surprise: I didn’t have to pay a penny because they considered me a student! (otherwise I would have to pay about 80 euros).

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