Results tagged “travel” from iVillage - This Fish
I was driving home the other night, and couldn't help but grin like a fool at all the Christmas lights my little community has set ablaze. Trees with their trunks wrapped with white bulbs, fake candles glowing electric orange in apartment windows. And that's when I smacked my hand on the steering wheel and said, "Oh, man! I have to tell the Internet about the Baby Jesus-es!"
I bring you good tidings of great joy, Internet. There is a street in Napoli, the entire length of which is dedicated to the Nativity.
The irony is that it's packed with people, most of whom are trying to lift your wallet, but I digress. It's a whole street filled with shops dedicated to providing the good people of Napoli with their manger scene needs! It was glorious! If it was the kind of street where it was safe to whip out your camera, I'd have pictures to show you - pictures of a store that sold nothing but the Baby Jesus.
Bins, baskets, heaps, walls covered in the Baby Jesus. It was Italy, so we didn't see too much variety as far as skin color, but ignoring that, there was every kind of Baby Jesus you can imagine. Skinny, plump, clothed, nekkid, curly haired, bald. I love that no one can agree on what his Almightyness looked like, and it doesn't seem to matter. You know, so long as you don't go making him black, or *gasp* appropriately Middle Eastern.
Jet lag is is a real kick in the pants. The way I understood it, you're supposed to come home, programmed to another time zone, and sleep for like, a zillion hours. Me, I can't sleep at all. And worse yet, I'm really freaking perky. My backpack is emptied, laundry done (what clothes I didn't throw away), ironed and put away.
But I'm also really scattered. It took me a good thirty minutes just to type those first few sentences. I mean, how can I sit still when there are receipts to organize and attention-whoring kittens to play with. Jogs to take.
Here's a tangent for you: I ate my way through Italy and lost five pounds. Doesn't something about that sound wrong? I'm not going to argue with the facts, but I am going to change a few things about the way I run my kitchen. No more artificial sweeteners, loads more olive oil. I've never been so stomachly satisfied as I was in Italy and yet, didn't meet with AES. You know, Ass Expanding Syndrome. End tangent.
I'm off to burn off some more weird, jet lag energy, and then to Mom's for turkey dinner. You know, speaking of satisfying.
Happy Thanksgiving, my friends.
I'm feeling a bit mentally messy today - half of my brain is busy with planning my trip home tomorrow (I know! It seems impossible that this is almost over) and the other half is occupied cataloging my experiences in Napoli.
Starting out, I was wary about going. I'd been warned by travelers and Italians alike that Napoli was one scary, godforsaken place. Pickpockets! Thieves! Miscellaneous danger! But then, I'd also heard that Napoli invented pizza. Invented. Pizza. Frankly, I think that can erase a whole lot of wrongs. Besides which, I happen to be the kind of girl who can really get into godforsaken. So I made up my mind to love Napoli - pickpockets, pizzamakers and all.
And I did. For the parts of it I was awake, anyway.
The rain followed me from Rome to Napoli and so did the cold that I picked up in Lucca. So after exploring Napoli for an afternoon, I trudged back to the hostel, and crawled into bed. With my laptop and a pizza. So far, the Napoli-haters were seeming like a bunch of chumps. What could possibly be better than a whole pizza for under 3 Euros? Nothing. Unless it's eating it in your pajamas after spending a few nerdy hours at the archaeological museum pouring over Pompeii artifacts. Turns out, I'm kind of a sucker for mosaics.
The next day I headed out to Pompeii - I'll probably end up writing about it more on the other blog, as it was one of those educational, touristy experiences that fits better there than here, but the moment I get back to the states, I'm renting every single documentary on that place I can find. It was fascinating. And cold. Really freaking cold. Lest I had any notions that Southern Italy might be a warmish sort of place, I was speedily corrected by the snow on Vesuvius and the wind in Pompeii. By 4:00 I was back in the hostel for pizza and another nap.
I'd booked a car tour tofhe Amalfi Coast before I arrived, thinking it'd be the best way to take in a lot of territory in a little time. In the end, it was a fantastic idea, because yesterday was the worst of them all - heavy rain and steadily dropping temperatures my capilene long-johns couldn't keep up with. I think my guide was surprised (and totally relieved - she said her hair thanked me) when I suggested we didn't actually have to get out of the car to see things - that if she just pointed, I'd be more than satisfied. By Sorrento, the rain had turned to sleet, and I was nodding off to the rhythm of windshield wipers. I'm sure you can guess how the afternoon wrapped up. With a nap and.. not pizza! I had a big bowl of Gnocci that an Australian hostel-mate had picked up in the market, with prawns, tomatoes, basil and buffalo mozzarella. Drool.
In the end, the only thing dangerous about Napoli, was the quantity of food I consumed there. If I don't fit in my airplane seat tomorrow, I'm going to be really irritated with myself.
Between the food and the people, it's hard to say what I've loved best about my last few days in Rome. It certainly isn't the monsoon we're having right now, or the nasty cold I picked up somewhere along the way - that is one thing I'm sure of.
But the food! The food isn't exactly your typical Roman fare. In fact, I've only eaten out twice since I got here on Monday. I've devoured the rest of my meals right here in the hostel at the Beehive Cafe. Vegetarian and mostly organic, the yummy meals are made right in front of your very eyes, from vegetables grown in the on-site garden, by Francesca and Gianluca.
Pumpkin/Gorgonzola quiche. Yogurt with granola and fresh fruit. Chickpea, lentil and broccoli soup. Tagliatelle with arugula, sun dried tomatoes and Parmesan. Multi-grain oatmeal with fresh pears and honey. Minestrone with crusty bread. Nutella crepes with ice cream. Wine. And tea. Lots and lots of tea with honey.
You get a pretty good idea of what's for dinner while you're eating breakfast. Francesca starts tossing vegetables into a big pot, and then it's only a matter of waiting. Dinner every night is a parade of exquisitely good food and a riot-a-minute conversation. Throw three Americans, a Canadian or two, a couple of Aussies, a few Brits, and a Greek gal into the same room with overflowing plates of pasta and free-flowing wine and the result is... well, it's the receptionist coming down the stairs to remind us that quiet hours have begun. Twice.
And then there's Carlo, the young Italian guy in the dorm. In common, Carlo and I have a bunk-bed and a cold, and not a whole lot more. But that seems to be enough to keep the conversation flowing. He is, I think, the most earnest person I've ever met and he goes to the greatest lengths to hurdle that language barrier.
This morning, I teased him about his snoring.
"Oh, no! Really? I snork?"
I choked on a giggle. Snork.
"Only a little," I told him. "I'm just teasing you."
"Tonight, if I snork, you..." he made a gesture, indicating that I should punch his bed from below.
"I would never!"
"Only for you, I tell you to do this."
And then this morning, when I saw him at breakfast, he asked if he had snorked again the night before.
"No, no. I slept like a baby," I lied.
There was no way I was going to tell him the truth. Just like I'd never, ever tell him the word isn't snork.
I hadn't been in Rome more than a couple hours when he stepped out next to me on the sidewalk - from the doorway of a bank. He was dressed impeccably in a dark gray suit with all the trimmings - right down to the shiny cuff links. As he moved onto the sidewalk we made eye contact, and as I began to pass him, he commented (in English) on the beauty that was my hair.
I smiled politely. I do have a nice head of hair.
And, as I got a few steps away, the well dressed bank man amended his compliment with a politely-worded question.
"Would you like to f--k?"
Oh, Rome. You know just what to say to a girl.
Sometimes, when you're in the middle of a kiss, you realize that it's not just a kiss, but a really good kiss. And the moment you realize this, your stomach flips, your toes curl, and your brain goes very, very soft -- so soft that you wouldn't be able to think any important thoughts, even if it became absolutely necessary. And you sigh. In defeat as much as satisfaction, because the kiss has won out over everything else.
That is what Lucca is like. A very good kiss.
The trees raining their leaves - dinner plate sized sheets in yellows and browns, and the smell of bread baking, and the voices of old men arguing about politics and sports as they shuffle by, and the winding cobblestone streets almost vacant of other tourists. I've walked the top of the city walls for hours, once at sunset, to watch the sky turn pink against the hills. My camera is useless here. There's just too much to take in.
I am beginning to think this place is enchanted. I tried to leave -- only for the afternoon, to see Pisa and its all-important tower -- and met with a train strike. The man at the Tabacchiere smiled as he told me.
"No trains until... cinque," he said, holding up five fingers.
I smiled in return. "No trains," I repeated. "I guess that means I should get some gelato and go for a walk."
He grinned again. "Good, Bella. Very good."
So I walked, and then sat in a shower of leaves, read some Paul Auster, and thought, "Yes. Good. Very good."
(A permanent link to my travel blog, On the Road, is in the drop down box on the right)
The six bed dorm in the Venetian hostel had become seven beds for the night.
On Sunday night, it would be just me and Daniel, the boy with the ripped jeans from Melbourne. I would sit in my black slip on the bed across from him, darning his jeans, first using up all the red thread (cotton, to him) and then the green. We'd tell stories and laugh and drink red wine out of flimsy plastic cups. And before going to sleep, we'd set the alarm for 8:00, to get up early to pack and go in search of Internet and coffee. And after, I wouldn't say good-bye, but leave for the train when he'd gone upstairs to pee.
But before all that, in the beginning, there were seven beds in a six bed dorm and we were all a little drunk.
(You'll have to forgive the typing and spelling errors in this post. I'm using an Italian keyboard on what has to be the oldest computer I've ever seen, with a blinking green screen that might make me fall into a twitchy fit at any second.)
Several people have asked how I feel about traveling alone. It must be miserable! Or wonderful! And yes, yes it is.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised about this, but I am not homesick. At all. I miss my cat and my big, comfy bed and such, but I don't want to go home (though, in all honesty, I do have to remind myself of that when I am having a particularly frustrating TrainItalia experience and my back hurts and I really, really want a hot bath). It's Because of the way I'm wired that I don't get lonely. At least, not as a result of the absence of people. I get lonely when I don't feel wanted or appreciated. That is isolation. Exploring Venice without a partner, is not.
Most of the time, I've found that I love traveling alone - walking by myself, eating while absent-mindedly flipping through a guidebook (there are tomato stains all over mine), not stopping to see important works of art because I just don't want to. Spending twenty-two minutes trying to get just the perfect shot of some chubby-cheeked urchin trying to decide if feeding the pigeons is a safe activity to engage in. God, he was cute. And I love not having to worry about being somewhere or pleasing anyone. It's selfish and it's satisfying.
I miss touch, though. I could use a hug, or sixty, right about now.
And I wish, so much, that Sarah could be here with me. We wanted to see Italy together. And when I see gorgeous red shoes or a smoking hot gondolier, I think, Oh, Sarah. Where are you? But even Sarah and I would have to take alone time if she were here. Hours of it. Because I know that she, like I do, revels in the experience of swimming around in her own thoughts, and the freedom of stopping to take just one more picture of pretty window boxes without having to care if it holds anyone up.
When she asked how it was for me, being by myself, I wrote:
You know what's hardest? Being alone in my wrong-ness. Like when I go out to eat, and fumble around trying to find words, or to get what I want - I'm the only one looking like an ass. There's no one to turn to and say, "God, I hope I get the trout and not the tripe." That's what's hard.
But that's how it is. The selfish and the satisfying can turn so quickly into the empty and meaningless if there is no one to share it with. Which is why, dear Interweb, I thank the Baby J that all of this possible. Sharing things, without proximity or touching, with miles and miles between me and the ones I love. A photo sent to Sarah of beautiful red shoes. A message from Jamie, "Dallas misses you." An email to my mother that says, "Venice!" And one from her that says, "I worry. I'm glad you are safe."
So you see, I am alone here. But I am not lonely.
I am engulfed in sound. It's familiar in tone, but when I try to separate it into words, it becomes chaos. It hums -- and sometimes, roars -- around me, punctuated by the bright noise of wine glasses meeting. Tink!
Eating out is intimidating. Just ordering - no, asking for a table - makes my mouth sweat.
Tonight, I order wine and the scallop mezzalune with lobster ragout - by pointing. It feels so caveman, but I've learned my lesson. I made the mistake of speaking Italian at the first restaurant. A mistake, only because I did it correctly. And in reply, came a flurry of songwords -- some vaguely familiar because of their closeness to Spanish, but mostly foreign and confounding. I simply shrugged in response.
Mi dispiace. No parlo Italiano.
And still, she looked at me as if certain I was telling a fib. As though she wanted to say, But you just did speak Italian. Finally she gave up, grabbed a menu and smiled.
"Okay, dee-ner for one. Yes?"
Sigh. Yes. Dinner for one.
The roar dies, just for a second, and I think I can hear one of my own thoughts. But then poof! it gets lost again as the table next to me erupts in cheers. Accustomed to restaurants where people make polite chit-chat over dinner, the Italian dining experience is an adventure in frenzy. Loud and indistinguishable - it makes me feel drunk. Or drugged. Or underwater.
But I don't mind too much. Because the wine is so excellent - my nostrils get a taste before the glass in to my lips - and the food is equally hypnotizing. And before I know it, it's gone. All the Porcini mushrooms and the roasted pork. Gone. And then another face is floating in front of me, singing words that don't register. After a moment, the face darkens, then brightens.
"Ooh, eez Een-gleesh, yes? You want something else?"
Yes. Dessert.
(I recorded 30 seconds of ambient noise at the restaurant to share. It recorded at low volume, so you may have to turn it up. In fact, DO turn it up. You know, for that next-best-thing-to-being-there feeling.Download it here.)
It is the capital of Awesome.
I have found a laundromat in Turin, and now I have clean, really clean, clothes. I have eaten Parmesan risotto, had what has to be the realest, yummiest espresso ever, and now, I'm going to go on a walk and take some pictures. There is a skinny mirror in my hotel, the towels as big as ME, and I've been drinking wine all day long.
This place is okay by me.
The camera: is a point-and-shoot, Pentax Optio M10. Flickr has a nice little write-up on it.
I've just been madamed for the tenth time in as many minutes, and I must have frowned involuntarily, because the attendant stopped in the aisle and leaned over me.
"Something is wrong, madame?"
"No, no. Everything is perfect."
The rhubarb raspberry cream tart was perfect. As were the marinated mushrooms and caramelized onion quiche. Ridiculously so, for train food. It's all this madame business. It makes me feel old! The last time I was on the Eurostar, I was traveling with my mother. She was madame and I was mademoiselle and that was great. It made me feel very young and cute.
I'm still young and cute, dammit! At heart, at least. I mean, I obviously look every second of my (almost) 30 years. But still.
I'd suggest we just dispense with the formality altogether, but they're all very polite here in first class, it might cause some sort of train malfunction. Did you catch that? First Class. Because I am a classy gal. Actually, when I was given a Eurostar voucher to get me from Point A (London) to Point B (Paris, to catch a night train to Barcelona), it was for a round trip ticket. And when Nigel, the friendly Eurostar agent, learned that I wouldn't be returning to London, he sent me an email,
"Since you won't be returning, we would be happy to offer you a one-way ticket in first class."
And I'd be happy to accept!
Unless, of course, they don't bother with this madame crap in standard class. And if that's the case, I'm picking up my rhubarb raspberry tart and going to sit with the commoners. Where I will be blaming Nigel for making me suddenly feel very much my age.
Madame, my ass.
I just want to be let alone.
This is not, by any means, a dig at my traveling companion. If not for her, my stupid German-accented driving commentary wouldn't make a ripple. I love laughing ourselves to sleep and sharing desserts and playing the synonym game we play when trying to find new words for 'pretty.' Because, of course, Scotland is pretty. And gorgeous and exquisite. And... well, it's Angie's turn now.
I'm just not used to this. Eating, sleeping, teeth-brushing - I'm accustomed to doing it all alone, on my time, and to no soundtrack other than the thoughts in my own head. And Angie isn't really one for companionable silence. And that's totally alright - not everyone prefers to sit in absolute quiet. But boy, I sure do. I love quiet in the car, and quiet while I'm wandering, and I don't necessarily want to have the street signs read to me. But saying this kindly and diplomatically can be hard -- if not impossible -- because it's usually at wit's end that it occurs to me to mention it.
Speaking of the car and wit's end: Driving on the left side of the road is, incidentally, totally nerve-wracking. The streets here are incredibly narrow. And if it looks like a turning lane, it probably isn't. And if your GPS tells you to go right, she probably means left - so that's no help at all. And by the end of the day, I've very nearly had three strokes and a total emotional melt down, and then, I still have to buy gas at EIGHT DOLLARS a gallon. Man, am I glad I'm done with that whole thing and back on the train, letting someone else do the driving.
And even in all this missing my alone time, I know that when Angie leaves on Sunday, I will wish her back again to read me road signs.
As a side note: I have to say I'm amused by the comments that express displeasure that I'm blogging about traveling (and, god, the nerve, linking to where I've posted the photos I've been taking). I'm not sure what I'm expected to write about... when this is a personal blog, and personally I'm traveling right now. For the next several weeks. I'll be staying put in Barcelona next week, so I hope to be able to get out, meet the locals and have some fresh, funny stories. In the meantime, jump ship if you must, or stay and have a look at some photos I took in the shire and on the moor.
"I was just wondering if it would be impolite to lick the plate," I said, when he came to check on us.
"I won't tell if you won't tell," he said, smiling.
We were just spooning the last bits of desert into our mouths, seriously considering the plate-likcking thing, when he made a sweeping gesture with his hands.
"I could put a curtain up right here, so no one else can see."
Apple crumble. Toffee sauce. Rich vanilla ice cream. It was exquisite. And after a disappointing day, it was miraculous, too. I learned years ago, while traveling with Jen, that if you want to save a bad day, you eat it out. Spend too much money on ambiance, wine, and food that will go straight to your backside, and can undo whatever ills the day has done.
And Aberdeen was ill. Whatever degree charm Edinburgh possessed, Aberdeen had it crowded chaos. We walked the city with a "This is it?" cloud hanging over us, sorry that we'd made the detour. Turns out, we're Aberdeenshire people. Country not city. Can't win them all, I thought. And then, I turned to Angie,
"I think my credit card should buy us dinner and rescue what's left of today."
She didn't argue. We arrived at the restaurant expecting upscale Italian, only to find it had been replaced by an uppish scale not Italian place. Sea bass with carrot puree, chicken stuffed with broccoli mousse, cream of broccoli soup, warm bread and olive oil and apple crumble - steaming hot and heavenly.
I only wish there were more days that needed such saving.
(More travel adventures at On the Road.)
"Are you girls from here, then?"
"No," we laughed. "Texas."
"You're easily mistaken for local girls," the man told us, before offering us a round of drinks.
Pleased and flattered, we politely declined and went back to listening to the band that had assembled in front of the pub window. Angie does fit in here, with her ginger-colored hair and warm freckles.
"Sure, I look like I belong here," she said, under her breath. "Until I open my mouth and Texas comes out."
By 9PM, our bellies were full of warm food (shepherd's pie) and good drink (rich, red wine) and the pub was full of local patrons and a folk band - a guitar player, a fiddler, a bagpiper, a bodhran player, and an elderly storyteller. The old man sang a Capella, traditional songs about wars and famines and death - as all good storytellers do. But the guitar player, whose vocals were thick and mellow - not unlike John Denver in tone - sang of pretty girls with hair swinging about theirs shoulders and sunlight in their eyes. The feeling that invaded the room was, for lack of a better word, generous. It felt like a gift.
I kept my head long enough to save a bit of the gift for you. Have a listen.
Update: the player isn't working. Sorry! I'll try again later.
For more adventures (and photos!) check out On the Road.
"Ooh! I know! I have a protein bar!"
"Yeah, and I have a big old bag of Shut Up," Angie said under her breath.
I snorted at Angie. The two rows of women behind us had ceased talking hours before and had taken up squawking. That's really the only word for it. It was infuriating. Our plane had been diverted to JFK because of something to do with a computer glitch and a fuel gauge or somesuch - the crew had been sent to their seats mid-dinner service. And now, four hours later, we sat there on the tarmac trying to sleep off our frustration and hunger. And the crows behind us would not shut up.
"I eat a power bar every day!"
"Don't they like, make you fat?"
The crow directly behind me was now standing up, yanking at the back of my chair as she went on and on about protein and calories. As my head bobbed from its pillow, I declared I'd had enough. The entire plane was full of exhausted passengers, plunging ear plugs deeper, trying desperately to sleep. And these four were making it impossible.
"Ready?" I asked Angie.
"Mmm hmm."
I pushed the button on my armrest and leaned back with as much force as my 5AM body could muster, sending the Protein Crow tumbling to her seat.
"Well that was rude!"
I swallowed a laugh. Angie bit her lip.
"She did it on purpose," Friend of Crow cawed. "I saw her look back."
I rolled my eyes into the back of my head. I was disappointed she'd only seen me look back once. I mean, I'd been sending withering glances for a solid hour.
They were pissed. But a mighty miracle had been wrought. The crows, who'd been shushed by everyone row 30 and back for the better part of... I don't know, eternity had finally shut up. They spent the rest of the flight talking in low(ish) tones about what a raging bitch the girl in 37J was.
A raging, immensely satisfied bitch.
I leave for the airport in about, oh, five minutes. My hair is still wet, I haven't brushed my teeth and... well, a dozen other things. But I wanted to announce the birth of the new travel blog! Go over and have a gander. I'll be updating it regularly on my trip with tips, lessons learned, what to love about each place I'm visiting and, of course, photos.
There will be an actual blog post coming later today - from my layover in Chicago, most likely. But for now, it's ready-or-not, here I come. And good grief, I hope I'm more ready than not.
Yesterday was chaos. You can see it in my apartment. Laundry strewn around the bedroom; dishes in the sink - six inches away from their intended resting place in the dishwasher; the darkened half of an avocado, exposed and ruined on the cutting board. I would never waste an avocado! But things kept happening and I kept not getting around to putting it away.
First there was the Passport Freak Out of '07. My passport expires six months after we leave for Scotland, and I'd just read an article about how a valid passport really isn't valid if it expires in... you guessed it... six months. I shot of an email to my mom (two heads are better than one) and the Internet research began. And you know what I found? Not a single person, government website or travel agency could agree whether or not the countries on my fall itinerary would let me in. So then, I started calling travel agencies. And consulates. It was truly a reach out and touch someone kind of day.
Now, I don't want to read any comments (not a one, do you hear me?) about how I'm going to be in trouble, stuck at some border because of my decreasingly invalid passport. I won't. The British consulate told me they don't care what people on the Internet are saying; so long as my passport doesn't expire while I'm away, I'm fine. Same with the Italians.
Good. Great. Grand. Molto bene.
After that, I mellowed out a bit and got down to work. I know I've been teasing you with the details of the new gig, and here they are at last. I've signed on to do some travel writing for a student travel company. You know those international student IDs you get when you go gallivanting around Europe? That's what they do. And what I'm going to do, is some gallivanting of my own. Then I'm gonna blog about it - the ins and outs of hostels and Eurail and eating on the cheap. On the Road with This Fish. The blog will be strictly travel - all the other stuff about life, love (and sometimes, the lack thereof) will be right here. Stories about tours and tourists? There. Stories about just what I did with those tourists? Here.
My trip to Scotland then, because someone wants to pay me to see the world, is turning into my trip to Scotland, Spain, France, Italy and possibly Greece. While some aspects of being away for so long are overwhelming, there's always Tuscany in the fall. how lovely does that sound? Tuscany in the fall. I say that to myself when I'm stressed out over logos and blog design and wondering how Hal will take to living at my mother's house for a month or so, and it all starts to melt away.
So, while things are a little stressful, they could certainly be a lot worse. I'm betting that whatever the word for 'chaos' is in Italian, it sounds perfectly lovely.
The helicopter on display in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum is not the helicopter from Magnum, P.I.
And that’s just one of the many important facts I picked up on our trip to Washington D.C. this weekend. It’s a very informative city! Informative and awesome. I do not think there is any way the experience could have been more perfect. From a free hotel upgrade to the tastiest food (thanks for the recommendations!) to the sunny (and sunburny) weather, the weekend met and exceeded all my expectations. And most importantly, while visiting some of the most top-notch museums and national treasures, I gained a great deal of wisdom. And not just about helicopters.
Here are some more very important facts:
Teenagers suck. They are horrible and they ruin things. Cleverly, they can be ranked in horror and suckage by the color of their t-shirts – Pink Group being the most annoying, and tapering off in suckage with Green Group, who mostly minded their manners, but still spoke in registers only dogs can hear.
Mango margaritas were obviously on god’s creation to-do list right after ‘heavens and earth.’ And he saw that they were good. Very good.
Teenagers ruin the International Spy Museum.
Julia Child was a spy.
There are approximately… a whole lotta steps up to the Lincoln Memorial.
The Hope Diamond is not nearly as big as you think it is. But that will not stop you from scanning the room for security cameras. Jewel heist!
Teenagers ruin the Natural History Museum.
Sarah Brown ruined the Constitution.











