7:57 AM August 23,2011 Gatwick Airport Boarding Area
It's pouring rain outside.
Last day in London :(
I am reluctant to go home.
Spent the last day waking around Oxford and Regent Street. I did get myself a dress from Top Shop.
Watched Les Miserables (again) because Chelsea hasn't seen it. As always, AMAZING show! It was sold out. There were 2 famous people on the show: Alfie Boe, a Classical/Opera singer, and Matt Lucas, the actor from Shawn of the Dead and he played Twiddle-dee/dum from the new Alice in Wonderland. Also, actress that played Elphaba and Fiyero in Wicked 3 years ago played Eponine and Eljoras. Cried the entire time.
Despite being tired, had a great time these past few weeks :)
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Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
London Day 5
11:50 PM August 21, 2011
Went back to Victoria and Albert Museum today. The exhibit I wanted to see, history of fashion, won't reopen until spring next year :/
It's a lot of design exhibits, ranging from theater, furniture, ceramics, etc. They also have statues and paintings and such. I did enjoy the theater and performance exhibit which shows the techniques and methods of how a show gets produced. They had a Kylie Minogue's dressing room and a costume Mick Jagger wore and costumes from Lion King and set designs.
Afterwards, we were going to go bike riding in Hyde Park. The bike sharing system in London is fairly simple, it's the actual acquiring of the bikes that's difficult. The code locks are picky and the bikes are hard to get off the lock. After several frustrating tries, I gave up (Chelsea and Alvaro got their bikes already). I decided to walk and look for the Princess Diana memorial fountain and the Peter Pan statue. Found them both. The Diana fountain isn't actually a fountain, but like a small lazy river that runs around a small mound where you can dip your feet or walk along it. The Peter Pan statue was further away, but I found it (finally! Didn't find it 3 years ago). It's a pretty tall statue, but Peter himself is pretty small. He is portrayed as a young child blowing a horn.
Supposed to go to The Tower of London, but we missed the last entrance. It's not a big loss to me because I've been before. I just felt bad because Chelsea hasn't been. Oh well. Next time. But, we did wall across the Tower Bridge and that was cool.
Jack the Ripper tour was awesome! We took a tour stoic the area of White Chapel where Jack the Ripper murdered his victims. Obviously it's very different from what it was in the 1870s, but it'll always be a mystery who Jack the Ripper was. It was kinda scary because the tour was at night and all the info and places we saw were facts. And now I hope I don't get nightmares.
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Went back to Victoria and Albert Museum today. The exhibit I wanted to see, history of fashion, won't reopen until spring next year :/
It's a lot of design exhibits, ranging from theater, furniture, ceramics, etc. They also have statues and paintings and such. I did enjoy the theater and performance exhibit which shows the techniques and methods of how a show gets produced. They had a Kylie Minogue's dressing room and a costume Mick Jagger wore and costumes from Lion King and set designs.
Afterwards, we were going to go bike riding in Hyde Park. The bike sharing system in London is fairly simple, it's the actual acquiring of the bikes that's difficult. The code locks are picky and the bikes are hard to get off the lock. After several frustrating tries, I gave up (Chelsea and Alvaro got their bikes already). I decided to walk and look for the Princess Diana memorial fountain and the Peter Pan statue. Found them both. The Diana fountain isn't actually a fountain, but like a small lazy river that runs around a small mound where you can dip your feet or walk along it. The Peter Pan statue was further away, but I found it (finally! Didn't find it 3 years ago). It's a pretty tall statue, but Peter himself is pretty small. He is portrayed as a young child blowing a horn.
Supposed to go to The Tower of London, but we missed the last entrance. It's not a big loss to me because I've been before. I just felt bad because Chelsea hasn't been. Oh well. Next time. But, we did wall across the Tower Bridge and that was cool.
Jack the Ripper tour was awesome! We took a tour stoic the area of White Chapel where Jack the Ripper murdered his victims. Obviously it's very different from what it was in the 1870s, but it'll always be a mystery who Jack the Ripper was. It was kinda scary because the tour was at night and all the info and places we saw were facts. And now I hope I don't get nightmares.
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Paris Day 4
8:30 PM August 19, 2011 Eurostar back to London
Last day in Paris :/
Chelsea and I went to go check out the Catacombs. Longest line ever. We waited about 1 1/2 hours to get in. I suppose it was so that it won't be crowded inside. It used to be a quarry and they turned it into a mass burial ground before the French Revolution because the grave yards were full. It's 2 kilometers long (according to the museum information). It's cold, dark and damp. Near the end, you enter the "Empire of Death" where the bones are laid out and arranged. Some of the arrangements are more artistic, the other arrangements are just piles of bones neatly stacked. It's cool, and creepy at the same time.
Last minute shopping at the Galeries Lafayette and I got me some LONGCHAMP LE PLIAGE! Yay!
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Last day in Paris :/
Chelsea and I went to go check out the Catacombs. Longest line ever. We waited about 1 1/2 hours to get in. I suppose it was so that it won't be crowded inside. It used to be a quarry and they turned it into a mass burial ground before the French Revolution because the grave yards were full. It's 2 kilometers long (according to the museum information). It's cold, dark and damp. Near the end, you enter the "Empire of Death" where the bones are laid out and arranged. Some of the arrangements are more artistic, the other arrangements are just piles of bones neatly stacked. It's cool, and creepy at the same time.
Last minute shopping at the Galeries Lafayette and I got me some LONGCHAMP LE PLIAGE! Yay!
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Paris Day 3
12:21 August 19, 2011
Busy busy day 2. I'm tired
Today we went to Versailles. Finally! It's just a short train ride from Paris. The Versailles train station is just a short walk to the actual Chateau. To say that it's huge is an understatement. There is a specific path that you go through to see the exhibitions. But it was awesome. Good thing we went early so it wasn't too crowded. The gardens are AMAZING! It's so big! We didn't really wander around it. I think if we did we'd get lost. I really just wanted to see the fountain at the end, which is of the Greek God Apollo rising.
There is a cafe on-site. It's pretty good.
When we got back to Paris, we went to Musee d'Orsay. Love it!!! A lot of impressionism! <3 a="" actual="" again="" ahhh="" also="" amazing="" an="" and="" anymore="" architecture="" at="" back="" bar="" based="" be="" because="" being="" building="" but="" champagne="" cloudy="" come="" crowded="" eiffel="" especially="" excited="" finally="" first="" garnier="" go="" got="" grumpy="" happened="" here.="" historical="" house.="" how="" i="" inside="" is="" it="" kind="" last="" love="" more="" nbsp="" not="" of="" on="" one="" opera="" p="" phantom="" production.="" regretted="" s="" so="" station.="" story="" t="" that="" the="" then="" things="" time="" to="" top.="" top="" tower="" train="" unlike="" used="" want="" was="" wasn="" watch="" we="" went--more="" went="" whatever.="" why="" windy="">
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Busy busy day 2. I'm tired
Today we went to Versailles. Finally! It's just a short train ride from Paris. The Versailles train station is just a short walk to the actual Chateau. To say that it's huge is an understatement. There is a specific path that you go through to see the exhibitions. But it was awesome. Good thing we went early so it wasn't too crowded. The gardens are AMAZING! It's so big! We didn't really wander around it. I think if we did we'd get lost. I really just wanted to see the fountain at the end, which is of the Greek God Apollo rising.
There is a cafe on-site. It's pretty good.
When we got back to Paris, we went to Musee d'Orsay. Love it!!! A lot of impressionism! <3 a="" actual="" again="" ahhh="" also="" amazing="" an="" and="" anymore="" architecture="" at="" back="" bar="" based="" be="" because="" being="" building="" but="" champagne="" cloudy="" come="" crowded="" eiffel="" especially="" excited="" finally="" first="" garnier="" go="" got="" grumpy="" happened="" here.="" historical="" house.="" how="" i="" inside="" is="" it="" kind="" last="" love="" more="" nbsp="" not="" of="" on="" one="" opera="" p="" phantom="" production.="" regretted="" s="" so="" station.="" story="" t="" that="" the="" then="" things="" time="" to="" top.="" top="" tower="" train="" unlike="" used="" want="" was="" wasn="" watch="" we="" went--more="" went="" whatever.="" why="" windy="">
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Paris Day 2
12:21 AM August 18, 2011
Busy busy!
Is it me or is Paris more crowded that ever?
Le Louvre was horrible (ok, it was horrible everywhere). The lines were so long and people were rude...Bleh! Well, it only bad in the main floor, where Mona Lisa was kept. She's alright. I go to Le Louvre for the Greek statues, especially, Cupid and Psyche.
After Le Louvre, we headed over to Ile-de-la-cité. Saint Chapelle. Finally got to go inside! It's small church that was built as a palace chapel and originally housed the crown of thorns (now in Notre Dame). Very gothic--late gothic with it's huge stained glass windows that depict genesis to apocalypse and its vivid colors on the vaulting. It's awesome.
Notre Dame. Line was huge! Well, it moved quickly. My favorite :)
Afterwards, we went on a boat tour on the Seine. Another favorite thing to do, plus you get to see all the cool bridges.
Montmartre. Took the cable car up. That was pretty neat. I saw the set of stairs we'd have to climb and decided it was for the best that we don't climb it. It was neat to see it at nighttime. It was still crowded, but it wasn't stifling. Had escargot for dinner. They serve it in the shell and I had to learn how to use the tools to eat it. There's this shell holder (it looks like those things you use to break crab shell with) and you use a little fork to get it out of the shell.
It was good. It's not as chewy.
Arc du Triomphe. Climbed all 200+ steps to the top (and most of it was a spiral stair). Great views, especially of Paris at night.
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Busy busy!
Is it me or is Paris more crowded that ever?
Le Louvre was horrible (ok, it was horrible everywhere). The lines were so long and people were rude...Bleh! Well, it only bad in the main floor, where Mona Lisa was kept. She's alright. I go to Le Louvre for the Greek statues, especially, Cupid and Psyche.
After Le Louvre, we headed over to Ile-de-la-cité. Saint Chapelle. Finally got to go inside! It's small church that was built as a palace chapel and originally housed the crown of thorns (now in Notre Dame). Very gothic--late gothic with it's huge stained glass windows that depict genesis to apocalypse and its vivid colors on the vaulting. It's awesome.
Notre Dame. Line was huge! Well, it moved quickly. My favorite :)
Afterwards, we went on a boat tour on the Seine. Another favorite thing to do, plus you get to see all the cool bridges.
Montmartre. Took the cable car up. That was pretty neat. I saw the set of stairs we'd have to climb and decided it was for the best that we don't climb it. It was neat to see it at nighttime. It was still crowded, but it wasn't stifling. Had escargot for dinner. They serve it in the shell and I had to learn how to use the tools to eat it. There's this shell holder (it looks like those things you use to break crab shell with) and you use a little fork to get it out of the shell.
It was good. It's not as chewy.
Arc du Triomphe. Climbed all 200+ steps to the top (and most of it was a spiral stair). Great views, especially of Paris at night.
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Saturday, August 20, 2011
London Day 4
So, I'm back in London.
OMFG! Got tickets to the sold-out show, "Much Ado About Nothing," with David Tennant and Katherine Tate and it was AMAZING! Hilarious!!!! Katherine Tate's character, Beatrice, was kinda chav and David Tennant was speaking I his Scottish brogue! I die!!!!! Awesome team!
Unfortunately, they left right after the show, so I didn't get them to sign my program (apparently, David and Katherine had a "previous engagement"). However, I did get the actor who played Claudio to sign my program. He is a hottie.
It was a slow day(?)....and by that I mean we weren't running around town trying to do everything. Chelsea and I met up with Alvaro and we went to the art museum at The Somerset House. It was pretty small museum but they had great stuff--a few Van Gogh, Monet, early Picasso, Rodin, Gaugin....afterwards, we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum but we got there at closing time and so we were only there for a few minutes. And then, it was show time. :)
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OMFG! Got tickets to the sold-out show, "Much Ado About Nothing," with David Tennant and Katherine Tate and it was AMAZING! Hilarious!!!! Katherine Tate's character, Beatrice, was kinda chav and David Tennant was speaking I his Scottish brogue! I die!!!!! Awesome team!
Unfortunately, they left right after the show, so I didn't get them to sign my program (apparently, David and Katherine had a "previous engagement"). However, I did get the actor who played Claudio to sign my program. He is a hottie.
It was a slow day(?)....and by that I mean we weren't running around town trying to do everything. Chelsea and I met up with Alvaro and we went to the art museum at The Somerset House. It was pretty small museum but they had great stuff--a few Van Gogh, Monet, early Picasso, Rodin, Gaugin....afterwards, we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum but we got there at closing time and so we were only there for a few minutes. And then, it was show time. :)
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Amsterdam
1:43 PM August 16,2011 Thalys train to Paris
Amsterdam was interesting. Once we got to the city, it smells...differently. The city itself is interesting due to the fact that majority of the city is built on reclaimed land and make due with what little land you have, and canals! Ok, you can say it's like Venice, bit not really. Venice is built on a lagoon and is sinking, Amsterdam is built near a river (near the North Sea[?]) which water pumps working to keep the water out (those would be the windmills, actually). Buildings have cool gables with hooks on them. This is used to get furniture up the building through the widows because the door would be too narrow, and do you really want to haul furniture up stairs?
Dutch architecture is really cool (and continues to be cool, Rem Koolhaus and OMA, Coop Himmelblau anyone??). It's gothic, but instead of using marble, they use brick and the skinny houses with big windows and gables.
Did the Canal tour. It was very relaxing and it was pretty. I feel asleep for the last part of it, but Chelsea said I didn't really miss anything, so that good haha
Van Gogh Museum. That was awesome! My favorites were the Apple Blossoms, Iris, and The Bedroom. I had to stop myself from making Doctor Who references hahaha
Met up with Yolanda and Sebastian at night and did what young people (and not so young) do in Amsterdam.
I suppose I should talk about the Red Light District. It's pretty interesting at night. It's packed with people, mostly people who are curious and want to see women sitting in shop windows, barely clothed. There were a lot of neon lights advertising for sex shows, sex stores and brothels. It didn't seem seedy either. There were a lot of bars, coffee stores and fast food (not fast food chains). I'm guessing fries are the drunk food of choice in Amsterdam because there are fries shops and stalls everywhere! They're really good, really hot.
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Amsterdam was interesting. Once we got to the city, it smells...differently. The city itself is interesting due to the fact that majority of the city is built on reclaimed land and make due with what little land you have, and canals! Ok, you can say it's like Venice, bit not really. Venice is built on a lagoon and is sinking, Amsterdam is built near a river (near the North Sea[?]) which water pumps working to keep the water out (those would be the windmills, actually). Buildings have cool gables with hooks on them. This is used to get furniture up the building through the widows because the door would be too narrow, and do you really want to haul furniture up stairs?
Dutch architecture is really cool (and continues to be cool, Rem Koolhaus and OMA, Coop Himmelblau anyone??). It's gothic, but instead of using marble, they use brick and the skinny houses with big windows and gables.
Did the Canal tour. It was very relaxing and it was pretty. I feel asleep for the last part of it, but Chelsea said I didn't really miss anything, so that good haha
Van Gogh Museum. That was awesome! My favorites were the Apple Blossoms, Iris, and The Bedroom. I had to stop myself from making Doctor Who references hahaha
Met up with Yolanda and Sebastian at night and did what young people (and not so young) do in Amsterdam.
I suppose I should talk about the Red Light District. It's pretty interesting at night. It's packed with people, mostly people who are curious and want to see women sitting in shop windows, barely clothed. There were a lot of neon lights advertising for sex shows, sex stores and brothels. It didn't seem seedy either. There were a lot of bars, coffee stores and fast food (not fast food chains). I'm guessing fries are the drunk food of choice in Amsterdam because there are fries shops and stalls everywhere! They're really good, really hot.
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London Day 2 and 3
5:05 AM August 15, 2011 Gatwick Airport on the way to Amsterdam
They've change Gatwick Airport! It's so much nicer! More shops and places to eat, clearly marked signs, nice lighting. It's so much better from what it was 3 years ago!
I love traveling, but it's rather difficult when you have to lug all your shit everywhere. How do they do it? I'm a horrible packer.
Anyway, London Day 2.
Changing of the Guards. That was awesome! I enjoyed all the pomp and circumstance of it all. What I did not enjoy are the people who don't follow directions as simple as "don't block the walkway," "keep moving" and "don't stop." Seriously, how hard is it to follow directions, especially from a police officer on a horse?!? But anyway, it was cool.
London Eye. Well worth the price. It was AWESOME!!! And that's saying something because I hate ferris wheels. You can barely feel it move and when you get to the top, the views are amazing, especially on a sunny day.
Tea Time at St Paul's Cathedral. It was alright. The scones were a bit dry. It's no Mock Turtle in Brighton.
St Paul's Cathedral. It was closing when we got there, but we got to go in for a bit. Very pretty. Very baroque, but in a British way.
Walked across the Millennium Bridge (a personal fave) over to the Tate Modern Museum. It was...umm very interesting. It was very modern...and some of it I did not understand, but some were really cool.
The Wizard of Oz The Musical. Andrew Lloyd Webber, you've done it again! Amazing, amazing show! It's still based on the original movie, but ALW added new songs and music to the score. It was fantastic! Michael Crawford (the original Phantom) played the Wizard. Got pictures and autographs from the cast! Yiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!
Day 3:
London Boat Tour. We got the combo deal with the London Eye. I love boat tours because it's a different view of the city. Plus it's a great way to see the city without walking hahaha
British Museum. Greek antiquities and Parthenon frieze and pediments, Egyptian mummies, Assyrian gates, Rosetta Stone, and the best part is that it's all FREE! I love British museums for this reason. But I do love British Museum. I love the "Enlightenment" section, which is basically a giant library with the world's knowledge and a bunch of cool Greek or Classical statues.
They've change Gatwick Airport! It's so much nicer! More shops and places to eat, clearly marked signs, nice lighting. It's so much better from what it was 3 years ago!
I love traveling, but it's rather difficult when you have to lug all your shit everywhere. How do they do it? I'm a horrible packer.
Anyway, London Day 2.
Changing of the Guards. That was awesome! I enjoyed all the pomp and circumstance of it all. What I did not enjoy are the people who don't follow directions as simple as "don't block the walkway," "keep moving" and "don't stop." Seriously, how hard is it to follow directions, especially from a police officer on a horse?!? But anyway, it was cool.
London Eye. Well worth the price. It was AWESOME!!! And that's saying something because I hate ferris wheels. You can barely feel it move and when you get to the top, the views are amazing, especially on a sunny day.
Tea Time at St Paul's Cathedral. It was alright. The scones were a bit dry. It's no Mock Turtle in Brighton.
St Paul's Cathedral. It was closing when we got there, but we got to go in for a bit. Very pretty. Very baroque, but in a British way.
Walked across the Millennium Bridge (a personal fave) over to the Tate Modern Museum. It was...umm very interesting. It was very modern...and some of it I did not understand, but some were really cool.
The Wizard of Oz The Musical. Andrew Lloyd Webber, you've done it again! Amazing, amazing show! It's still based on the original movie, but ALW added new songs and music to the score. It was fantastic! Michael Crawford (the original Phantom) played the Wizard. Got pictures and autographs from the cast! Yiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!
Day 3:
London Boat Tour. We got the combo deal with the London Eye. I love boat tours because it's a different view of the city. Plus it's a great way to see the city without walking hahaha
British Museum. Greek antiquities and Parthenon frieze and pediments, Egyptian mummies, Assyrian gates, Rosetta Stone, and the best part is that it's all FREE! I love British museums for this reason. But I do love British Museum. I love the "Enlightenment" section, which is basically a giant library with the world's knowledge and a bunch of cool Greek or Classical statues.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Paris Day 1
11:02 AM August 17,2011 in line for Le Louvre
I hate people and long lines. It's crowded and hot and I should have woken up earlier. Whatever.
Anyway, we got in to Paris Gare du Nord around 7:30 PM. After checking in and taking showers, Chelsea and I headed out to Champs-Elysees.
I love Champs-Elysees at night. Even though majority of the stores are closed, the lights are awesome. And it's not as crowded at night.
Went back to the same restaurant from three years ago, Chez Clement. It wasn't as great of an experience as it was then, but it was still pretty good (right on the sidewalk of Champs-Elysees and a view of Arc du Triomphe, hello!).
Duck confit. To die for. So tender, and pretty much falling off the bone. Crispy skin. Yum!
After dinner, Chelsea and I went to see a cabaret at the Lido. That was really cool. I felt like I stepped back in time to those movie-musicals set in the 1940s or something. Very glitzy. Plus it didn't hurt that our tickets came with a bottle of champagne ;)
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I hate people and long lines. It's crowded and hot and I should have woken up earlier. Whatever.
Anyway, we got in to Paris Gare du Nord around 7:30 PM. After checking in and taking showers, Chelsea and I headed out to Champs-Elysees.
I love Champs-Elysees at night. Even though majority of the stores are closed, the lights are awesome. And it's not as crowded at night.
Went back to the same restaurant from three years ago, Chez Clement. It wasn't as great of an experience as it was then, but it was still pretty good (right on the sidewalk of Champs-Elysees and a view of Arc du Triomphe, hello!).
Duck confit. To die for. So tender, and pretty much falling off the bone. Crispy skin. Yum!
After dinner, Chelsea and I went to see a cabaret at the Lido. That was really cool. I felt like I stepped back in time to those movie-musicals set in the 1940s or something. Very glitzy. Plus it didn't hurt that our tickets came with a bottle of champagne ;)
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Sunday, August 14, 2011
London Day 1
7:55 AM August 13, 2011
Pints of strongbow and pitchers of pimms did me in...and a couple of shots of sambuca. To be fair, we started at 6 before dinner. Ok, here's the story. We get a message from Alvaro to meet up by the London Eye because everyone was there. Chelsea and I walked from Trafalgar Square to meet up. We find Alvaro and Pete at a pub, Tessie and Katie and everyone were in line for the London Eye. Alvaro said line was WAY too long so Chelsea and I decided to stay at the pub. At the pub we met this couple asking us about American politics and they bought us drinks. And kept buying us drinks. They were really cool, really nice people. After the pub, we had dinner and met up wit Alvaro's friends. And went to a bar...for some pimms. Both favorite drinks in one night....oye.
We were productive prior to drinkfest. Since we are staying at Piccadilly Circus, we are SUPER close to Chinatown. So, for brunch Chelsea and I had a shit-ton of chinese. Ok not really a shit-ton just fried rice, chow mein, ha gao, spring rolls and some other dim sum noodle dish. And it was HEAVEN! I've been craving rice for so long!
Afterwards, we did the Westminster thing: went to Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, St James' Park, Trafalgar Square, National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery, and walked Whitehall (and that is where we found Alvaro and Pete at a pub).
We paid the entrance fee to Westminster Abbey and it was worth it. You can see the progression of British Gothic Architecture throughout the abbey. AND poet's corner is awesome! All these people in literary history are buried or have a plaque in their honor.
We didn't really go inside Buckingham Palace. It's about the same price and you can't take pictures and it's only the state rooms. The Queen wasn't home. She's hanging out in Scotland right now. Walked The Mall to Trafalgar Square, passed Clarence House (I was looking for Harry. He wasn't home).
National Museum was cool. It's pretty much a bunch of paintings from 1500-1900s.
National Portrait Museu has a new exhibit up: Hollywood Silver Screen from 1920s-1960s. It was awesome!!!! <3 also="" and="" br="" harry.="" le="" of="" portrait="" sigh.="" wills="">
Pints of strongbow and pitchers of pimms did me in...and a couple of shots of sambuca. To be fair, we started at 6 before dinner. Ok, here's the story. We get a message from Alvaro to meet up by the London Eye because everyone was there. Chelsea and I walked from Trafalgar Square to meet up. We find Alvaro and Pete at a pub, Tessie and Katie and everyone were in line for the London Eye. Alvaro said line was WAY too long so Chelsea and I decided to stay at the pub. At the pub we met this couple asking us about American politics and they bought us drinks. And kept buying us drinks. They were really cool, really nice people. After the pub, we had dinner and met up wit Alvaro's friends. And went to a bar...for some pimms. Both favorite drinks in one night....oye.
We were productive prior to drinkfest. Since we are staying at Piccadilly Circus, we are SUPER close to Chinatown. So, for brunch Chelsea and I had a shit-ton of chinese. Ok not really a shit-ton just fried rice, chow mein, ha gao, spring rolls and some other dim sum noodle dish. And it was HEAVEN! I've been craving rice for so long!
Afterwards, we did the Westminster thing: went to Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, St James' Park, Trafalgar Square, National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery, and walked Whitehall (and that is where we found Alvaro and Pete at a pub).
We paid the entrance fee to Westminster Abbey and it was worth it. You can see the progression of British Gothic Architecture throughout the abbey. AND poet's corner is awesome! All these people in literary history are buried or have a plaque in their honor.
We didn't really go inside Buckingham Palace. It's about the same price and you can't take pictures and it's only the state rooms. The Queen wasn't home. She's hanging out in Scotland right now. Walked The Mall to Trafalgar Square, passed Clarence House (I was looking for Harry. He wasn't home).
National Museum was cool. It's pretty much a bunch of paintings from 1500-1900s.
National Portrait Museu has a new exhibit up: Hollywood Silver Screen from 1920s-1960s. It was awesome!!!! <3 also="" and="" br="" harry.="" le="" of="" portrait="" sigh.="" wills="">
Hello London!
1:52 AM August 12, 2011
London, finally!
Hostel situation: meh. I'm slightly disappointed because our room looks nothing like the rooms on the website. The website rooms have art on the walls and the seem a little bigger; our room looks like an old dorm room. It's decent enough. It's right on Piccadilly Circus so I'm not complaining.
Chelsea and I have a dilemma. How the hell did we accumulate so much stuff? And how are we going to drag it around??? Must find solution.
But anyway, I'm glad to be back in England. I've missed it so much.
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London, finally!
Hostel situation: meh. I'm slightly disappointed because our room looks nothing like the rooms on the website. The website rooms have art on the walls and the seem a little bigger; our room looks like an old dorm room. It's decent enough. It's right on Piccadilly Circus so I'm not complaining.
Chelsea and I have a dilemma. How the hell did we accumulate so much stuff? And how are we going to drag it around??? Must find solution.
But anyway, I'm glad to be back in England. I've missed it so much.
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Last Day in Rome
6:56 PM August 11, 2011. Fuimicino Airport, Rome.
Got back from Salzburg yesterday via Berlin (yes, that is the other direction. Our flight connected to Berlin). Since we had a 6 hour layover, Chelsea and I explored Berlin for a little bit.
We went on a boat tour of the river Spree(the river that runs through Berlin). We also had sausages and a stein of beer.
Now, sitting at the airport waiting to check in. They are now telling us we can't check until 7:30 :/
I'm ready to leave Rome. I had a great time, but it's time to leave. Most people were nice, others were very rude, but that's how it is in most places.
I'm over the cobblestone streets that hurt your feet and make car/bus rides very bumpy. I don't want to look at pizza and pasta for a long time. I want rice that isn't arborio. Damn it, I want soy sauce that doesn't cost €6 for a little bottle.
Yes, it's time for something new. And I am so excited to he going back to England, even if it's just for a little bit. I feel like I'll be coming home (plus I can wear more clothes).
Yes, there is turmoil around England--Liverpool, Manchester and London. And I'm staying in London. However, the riots in London are in East London and I won't be going anywhere near there. I just need to excise more caution. Anyway, I can't wait to go back!
Got back from Salzburg yesterday via Berlin (yes, that is the other direction. Our flight connected to Berlin). Since we had a 6 hour layover, Chelsea and I explored Berlin for a little bit.
We went on a boat tour of the river Spree(the river that runs through Berlin). We also had sausages and a stein of beer.
Now, sitting at the airport waiting to check in. They are now telling us we can't check until 7:30 :/
I'm ready to leave Rome. I had a great time, but it's time to leave. Most people were nice, others were very rude, but that's how it is in most places.
I'm over the cobblestone streets that hurt your feet and make car/bus rides very bumpy. I don't want to look at pizza and pasta for a long time. I want rice that isn't arborio. Damn it, I want soy sauce that doesn't cost €6 for a little bottle.
Yes, it's time for something new. And I am so excited to he going back to England, even if it's just for a little bit. I feel like I'll be coming home (plus I can wear more clothes).
Yes, there is turmoil around England--Liverpool, Manchester and London. And I'm staying in London. However, the riots in London are in East London and I won't be going anywhere near there. I just need to excise more caution. Anyway, I can't wait to go back!
Salzburg: The Sound of Music
11:00 PM August 9, 2011
Going on The Sound of Music tour was a dream come true. I've always wanted to go see Salzburg ever since I can remember (since the first time I saw the movie).
We didn't get to see the front and back of the house (they're both private property) but we did see the front of the house from far away through the tree-line way from where Maria sang "I Have Confidence" and the Von Trapp children were hanging from trees.
We got to see the lake behind the house where the children and Maria fell out of the boat.
We went to the little town of Mondsee to St Michael's Church where the filmed the wedding scene.
AMAZING apple strudel! With warm vanilla sauce. DIED!
The tour was a great way to see the hills and lakes outside of Salzburg.
I also bought me some dried edelweiss. The story with edelweiss is that a man who likes a girl is supposed to give her edelweiss. The catch is that edelweiss only grows on the tops of the alps around Austria.
We also went to the garden where many of the scenes of "Do Re Mi" were filmed.
After the tour, Chelsea and I went up the hill to Nonnberg abbey where the real Maria Von Trapp was studying to be a nun and where the movie filmed all the abbey scenes. It's still a nunnery today.
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Going on The Sound of Music tour was a dream come true. I've always wanted to go see Salzburg ever since I can remember (since the first time I saw the movie).
We didn't get to see the front and back of the house (they're both private property) but we did see the front of the house from far away through the tree-line way from where Maria sang "I Have Confidence" and the Von Trapp children were hanging from trees.
We got to see the lake behind the house where the children and Maria fell out of the boat.
We went to the little town of Mondsee to St Michael's Church where the filmed the wedding scene.
AMAZING apple strudel! With warm vanilla sauce. DIED!
The tour was a great way to see the hills and lakes outside of Salzburg.
I also bought me some dried edelweiss. The story with edelweiss is that a man who likes a girl is supposed to give her edelweiss. The catch is that edelweiss only grows on the tops of the alps around Austria.
We also went to the garden where many of the scenes of "Do Re Mi" were filmed.
After the tour, Chelsea and I went up the hill to Nonnberg abbey where the real Maria Von Trapp was studying to be a nun and where the movie filmed all the abbey scenes. It's still a nunnery today.
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Thursday, August 11, 2011
Salzburg Day 1
11:40 PM August 8, 2011.
It had been a long day. Like I said in the last blog, we took the night train from Venice to Salzburg. I was in and out of sleep on the train and for the last hour I couldn't sleep. We got to Salzburg before 5 AM. I informed the hostel that we were to arrive at 5 and we got there, we couldn't check in yet (and they were fully booked for the night so our beds weren't ready). Chelsea and I slept on an L-shaped couch in the corner of the lounge room until it was check in time. We were knocked out! Once we checked in, took showers and got the day started (at 2PM).
I've said previously that I like European rain, I take it back. Rain in Salzburg is COLD. It felt like winter in San Diego. We weren't prepared for cold, so first order of business was to get warm. I bought a cheap pair of flats and leggings to go with the clothes I brought (only dresses). Once that was settled, we went about our day.
Salzburg is a very pretty small city built on the foothills of the Alps, in between Germany and Italy. It's very green. Its famous for music--not just The Sound of Music, it's the birthplace of Mozart and the Salzburg Music Festival.
We just walked around Salzburg Old Town (where majority of the historical and tourist things are located). We had lunch near Mozartplatz. I had goulash--like a tomato-based beef stew and potatoes. A welcomed break from pasta and pizza.
We also visited Mozart's birthplace, where they have some of his instruments. That was pretty neat. Then we had tea at Cafe Tomaselli where Mozart used to hang out at. We took the cable car(I believe it's called festungsbahn) up the top of the hill to the Salzburg fortress. It had great views of the city and the surrounding hills.
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It had been a long day. Like I said in the last blog, we took the night train from Venice to Salzburg. I was in and out of sleep on the train and for the last hour I couldn't sleep. We got to Salzburg before 5 AM. I informed the hostel that we were to arrive at 5 and we got there, we couldn't check in yet (and they were fully booked for the night so our beds weren't ready). Chelsea and I slept on an L-shaped couch in the corner of the lounge room until it was check in time. We were knocked out! Once we checked in, took showers and got the day started (at 2PM).
I've said previously that I like European rain, I take it back. Rain in Salzburg is COLD. It felt like winter in San Diego. We weren't prepared for cold, so first order of business was to get warm. I bought a cheap pair of flats and leggings to go with the clothes I brought (only dresses). Once that was settled, we went about our day.
Salzburg is a very pretty small city built on the foothills of the Alps, in between Germany and Italy. It's very green. Its famous for music--not just The Sound of Music, it's the birthplace of Mozart and the Salzburg Music Festival.
We just walked around Salzburg Old Town (where majority of the historical and tourist things are located). We had lunch near Mozartplatz. I had goulash--like a tomato-based beef stew and potatoes. A welcomed break from pasta and pizza.
We also visited Mozart's birthplace, where they have some of his instruments. That was pretty neat. Then we had tea at Cafe Tomaselli where Mozart used to hang out at. We took the cable car(I believe it's called festungsbahn) up the top of the hill to the Salzburg fortress. It had great views of the city and the surrounding hills.
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Sunday, August 7, 2011
Venice: Day 2
9:47 PM on the night train to Salzburg
Funniest thing, I'm sitting next to a priest in our little 6 person cabin. It feels like hogwarts express and I half-expect someone with a cart to sell me a chocolate frog. And 2 girls from Manchester.
The day's mission was to buy real Venetian masks and a Murano glass piece. Met up with Tessie, Huber and Pete at Realto bridge. It's neat, it's a bridge that has shops and stalls on it and the shops and stalls extend throughout the street. It's not a converted old bridge, it was always this way. Saw the most amazing Murano light fixture...€1000. :| At least they'll ship it to you and would be insured.
We took a gondola ride. Chelsea and I never thought we'd get to ride one because it would be too expensive to split it between us (we didn't think people were gonna come with us to Venice). It was AWESOME!!!!! I don't care that it's touristy and kitschy, it was fun! I was holding on for dear life on the part where we were on the grand canal because the boat was tilting side to side (grand canal is the main thoroughfare for boat transport). The gondolier sang to us! Hahahahaha! We got to go under bridge of sighs (yea!) and the gondolier said that Venice is not sinking, but the water level is rising (still sinking). THEN, it rained. The rain made it funner! The gondolier sang 2 lines from "Singing in the Rain." The rain reminded me of punting in Cambridge when it started to rain haha
I don't care, it was still fun. Summer rain is fun in Europe because it's refreshing.
Chelsea and I successfully completed our mission after about 15 mask stores. We found reasonably priced masks that are hand made in Venice. And they are amazing and beautiful! We also bought Murano glass rings and I got a Burano lace fan.
I enjoyed Venice lots.
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Funniest thing, I'm sitting next to a priest in our little 6 person cabin. It feels like hogwarts express and I half-expect someone with a cart to sell me a chocolate frog. And 2 girls from Manchester.
The day's mission was to buy real Venetian masks and a Murano glass piece. Met up with Tessie, Huber and Pete at Realto bridge. It's neat, it's a bridge that has shops and stalls on it and the shops and stalls extend throughout the street. It's not a converted old bridge, it was always this way. Saw the most amazing Murano light fixture...€1000. :| At least they'll ship it to you and would be insured.
We took a gondola ride. Chelsea and I never thought we'd get to ride one because it would be too expensive to split it between us (we didn't think people were gonna come with us to Venice). It was AWESOME!!!!! I don't care that it's touristy and kitschy, it was fun! I was holding on for dear life on the part where we were on the grand canal because the boat was tilting side to side (grand canal is the main thoroughfare for boat transport). The gondolier sang to us! Hahahahaha! We got to go under bridge of sighs (yea!) and the gondolier said that Venice is not sinking, but the water level is rising (still sinking). THEN, it rained. The rain made it funner! The gondolier sang 2 lines from "Singing in the Rain." The rain reminded me of punting in Cambridge when it started to rain haha
I don't care, it was still fun. Summer rain is fun in Europe because it's refreshing.
Chelsea and I successfully completed our mission after about 15 mask stores. We found reasonably priced masks that are hand made in Venice. And they are amazing and beautiful! We also bought Murano glass rings and I got a Burano lace fan.
I enjoyed Venice lots.
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Venice: Day 1
11:32 PM August 6, 2011
Venice is beautiful. You get out of the train station and you are facing the Grand Canal. And no, it didn't smell. Rumor has it that Venice smells bad in the summer.
You can easily get lost with all the narrow streets and bridges crossing the canal and the streets with no names. We got lost looking for our hostel--the directions the hostel people gave us was confusing.
As I've said before, we were tired, so it was awesome getting to our room and lying down for a bit. AND there was tv. We watched the Italian version of Maury show--hilarious!
We had lunch next to a small canal by our hostel. I had a typical Venetian dish--spaghetti with cuttlefish cooked in its ink. Ok, I was very afraid of this dish but comes highly recommended by Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern. I mean, the sauce is black and made with ink! However, it was very, very delicious. It did not taste inky at all. I don't know how to describe the flavor, but it was savory. And the cuttlefish was fresh! Not chewy at all! Yum.
Afterwards, we made it to Piazza San Marco taking the water bus. The water bus is a pretty cool way of seeing the city from the water. We went to Palazzo Ducale, or Doge's Palace. It's where the ruling families of Venice would live and it was the government center of Venice during it's hay day. The cool part was we got to cross the Bridge of Sighs from the court chambers to the prison! Very extensive prison complex. I was just sad that the bridge of sighs and it's surrounding facades were covered because they are going through restoration. Restoration is good, but I just wanted to see it. I got a small book about Casanova and a small Venetian cook book. The Venice book I wanted was way too heavy to bring back home.
We were going to go inside Basilica San Marco but it closes at 5. We went around the shops looking at Murano glass and Venetian masks and the original, hand crafted ones are beautiful. I'm not leaving until I buy some. Had dinner in some small piazza. I had the grilled giltfish. Again, so fresh! It tasted like tilapia, but it didn't look like tilapia.
After dinner, Chelsea and I went back to Piazza San Marco to feed the birds (and yes, the Mary Poppins song was playing in my head as I did so). It was very frightening because there are sooo many pigeons! One landed on my arm and one landed on my head. It was very scary! They didn't poop on me, so that's good.
We took the water bus back to our hostel. Venice at night is just unreal. Very romantic :3
Got caught is a storm walking back to our hostel. It was very strange because it just came from no where! It felt nice since it had been hot all day, but still. No one wants to look like a wet rat.
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Venice is beautiful. You get out of the train station and you are facing the Grand Canal. And no, it didn't smell. Rumor has it that Venice smells bad in the summer.
You can easily get lost with all the narrow streets and bridges crossing the canal and the streets with no names. We got lost looking for our hostel--the directions the hostel people gave us was confusing.
As I've said before, we were tired, so it was awesome getting to our room and lying down for a bit. AND there was tv. We watched the Italian version of Maury show--hilarious!
We had lunch next to a small canal by our hostel. I had a typical Venetian dish--spaghetti with cuttlefish cooked in its ink. Ok, I was very afraid of this dish but comes highly recommended by Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern. I mean, the sauce is black and made with ink! However, it was very, very delicious. It did not taste inky at all. I don't know how to describe the flavor, but it was savory. And the cuttlefish was fresh! Not chewy at all! Yum.
Afterwards, we made it to Piazza San Marco taking the water bus. The water bus is a pretty cool way of seeing the city from the water. We went to Palazzo Ducale, or Doge's Palace. It's where the ruling families of Venice would live and it was the government center of Venice during it's hay day. The cool part was we got to cross the Bridge of Sighs from the court chambers to the prison! Very extensive prison complex. I was just sad that the bridge of sighs and it's surrounding facades were covered because they are going through restoration. Restoration is good, but I just wanted to see it. I got a small book about Casanova and a small Venetian cook book. The Venice book I wanted was way too heavy to bring back home.
We were going to go inside Basilica San Marco but it closes at 5. We went around the shops looking at Murano glass and Venetian masks and the original, hand crafted ones are beautiful. I'm not leaving until I buy some. Had dinner in some small piazza. I had the grilled giltfish. Again, so fresh! It tasted like tilapia, but it didn't look like tilapia.
After dinner, Chelsea and I went back to Piazza San Marco to feed the birds (and yes, the Mary Poppins song was playing in my head as I did so). It was very frightening because there are sooo many pigeons! One landed on my arm and one landed on my head. It was very scary! They didn't poop on me, so that's good.
We took the water bus back to our hostel. Venice at night is just unreal. Very romantic :3
Got caught is a storm walking back to our hostel. It was very strange because it just came from no where! It felt nice since it had been hot all day, but still. No one wants to look like a wet rat.
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Rome: The Final Week
7:39 AM August 6, 2011 on the train to Venice.
I am delirious and tired. I look like a monster with red eyes and dark circles. I couldn't sleep last night because I kept thinking about how the hell am I going to lug ALL my shit throughout Europe. Anyway, I left my big luggage at Chelsea's apartment because they have until the 11th, when we leave for London.
Anyway, majority of the week was spent working on our project.
As it was our last week and we still had things we wanted to see, we decided to go check them out.
Coliseum: it's smaller on the inside. It's still pretty impressive, but the facade makes it look like it would be bigger.
Palatine Hill and Roman Forum: a lot of ruins. Still pretty cool to see.
Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel: I hate people who use flash photography in museums. It ruins the colors. Oh! And this one mother fucker touched a 500 year old tapestry! WTF! The oils on your hands will ruin it! Anyway, the museum has a great collection of Greek statues and a decent Egypt collection. Rafael frescoes! Sistine Chapel was amazing. Except for the part where people don't know how to keep quiet.
Galleria Borghese: Love love LOVE the Bernini sculptures! They are sexy! Also alot of Caravaggio pieces. The frescoes on the ceilings are amazing!
On our last day of class (presentation night), our profs invited us to their place and they made us dinner. If only every presentation was like that: food and booze and very informal. Drinking with your professors = good times.
Found a bar on the way home (ok direction of home, but we didn't exactly wanted to go home). Got an Italian ice tea...it's just like a long island, but it has disarono instead. A lot more sweeter than a long island.
Found the RANDOMEST bar afterwards. It's this tiny, tiny room (about the same size as a bedroom), completely packed with people dancing, playing popular hip hop songs. Naturally, we had to get in. I was basically squished between everyone. Still got my dance on hahaha!
The second part of class continues in 2 weeks when we get back to San Diego.
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I am delirious and tired. I look like a monster with red eyes and dark circles. I couldn't sleep last night because I kept thinking about how the hell am I going to lug ALL my shit throughout Europe. Anyway, I left my big luggage at Chelsea's apartment because they have until the 11th, when we leave for London.
Anyway, majority of the week was spent working on our project.
As it was our last week and we still had things we wanted to see, we decided to go check them out.
Coliseum: it's smaller on the inside. It's still pretty impressive, but the facade makes it look like it would be bigger.
Palatine Hill and Roman Forum: a lot of ruins. Still pretty cool to see.
Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel: I hate people who use flash photography in museums. It ruins the colors. Oh! And this one mother fucker touched a 500 year old tapestry! WTF! The oils on your hands will ruin it! Anyway, the museum has a great collection of Greek statues and a decent Egypt collection. Rafael frescoes! Sistine Chapel was amazing. Except for the part where people don't know how to keep quiet.
Galleria Borghese: Love love LOVE the Bernini sculptures! They are sexy! Also alot of Caravaggio pieces. The frescoes on the ceilings are amazing!
On our last day of class (presentation night), our profs invited us to their place and they made us dinner. If only every presentation was like that: food and booze and very informal. Drinking with your professors = good times.
Found a bar on the way home (ok direction of home, but we didn't exactly wanted to go home). Got an Italian ice tea...it's just like a long island, but it has disarono instead. A lot more sweeter than a long island.
Found the RANDOMEST bar afterwards. It's this tiny, tiny room (about the same size as a bedroom), completely packed with people dancing, playing popular hip hop songs. Naturally, we had to get in. I was basically squished between everyone. Still got my dance on hahaha!
The second part of class continues in 2 weeks when we get back to San Diego.
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Sunday, July 31, 2011
Pompeii and Vesuvius
9:39 AM July 31, 2011 on the train back to Rome
Pompeii is huge. You need the entire day. Too bad by past noon, we got tired and hungry and left.
Ok, Pompeii. We met up with Yolanda and Sebastian. Spent about half the day there getting lost. Even with the map, the place is confusing. Obviously, I didn't get to see everything, but I did get to see majority of the things I wanted to see: the theater, the forum, dead bodies and the brothel. Seeing the dead bodies was just part of my morbidness...it was interesting and I felt indifferent because I've read up and seen these bodies so many times prior to going that they didn't feel like people, just museum pieces. It also doesn't help that they are not in their original location, but on a pedestal behind a glass box.
The brothel. That place small! Hahaha Ancient erotic images are fascinating. Also, it's funny to see these things that are taboo now that were not (we think) in ancient times. Also, that shit is kinky! Hahahaha
At lunch, I told them about the round trip bus trip to Vesuvius for €10. I mean, why not, we've never gone up a volcano before and it's there and it's round trip! And that's how I convinced them to go :) I thought they would drive us up almost to the crater. Nope, that did not happen. We got dropped off NEAR the crater, but had to hike up the rest. Not expected. So we hike up, in flip flops and sandals. No joke, my calves were on FIRE. Made it up...slowly. It was pretty awesome.
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Pompeii is huge. You need the entire day. Too bad by past noon, we got tired and hungry and left.
Ok, Pompeii. We met up with Yolanda and Sebastian. Spent about half the day there getting lost. Even with the map, the place is confusing. Obviously, I didn't get to see everything, but I did get to see majority of the things I wanted to see: the theater, the forum, dead bodies and the brothel. Seeing the dead bodies was just part of my morbidness...it was interesting and I felt indifferent because I've read up and seen these bodies so many times prior to going that they didn't feel like people, just museum pieces. It also doesn't help that they are not in their original location, but on a pedestal behind a glass box.
The brothel. That place small! Hahaha Ancient erotic images are fascinating. Also, it's funny to see these things that are taboo now that were not (we think) in ancient times. Also, that shit is kinky! Hahahaha
At lunch, I told them about the round trip bus trip to Vesuvius for €10. I mean, why not, we've never gone up a volcano before and it's there and it's round trip! And that's how I convinced them to go :) I thought they would drive us up almost to the crater. Nope, that did not happen. We got dropped off NEAR the crater, but had to hike up the rest. Not expected. So we hike up, in flip flops and sandals. No joke, my calves were on FIRE. Made it up...slowly. It was pretty awesome.
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Saturday, July 30, 2011
Capri
12:17 AM July 31, 2011
Pronunciation: Caa-pri not Cap-rih
Anyway, Capri was beautiful--crystal blue water, high cliffs, houses built on the hillside, pebbly beach. Pebbly beach? Yes, no sand here. It hurt to walk o the pebbles because some of them were a little big.
We took the hydrofoil to and from Capri from Naples. It was the faster option, taking 45 minutes. The water was pretty choppy but I thought that was part of the fun.
We spent a few hours on their pebbly beach. The water was a little cold but it felt nice because it was hot.
We had the most amazing lunch at the this restaurant recommended by my guide book. It's this little place, hidden in a little street. I had sea bass acqua pazza. I'm not sure how it was cooked...it looked like it was steamed and served in its juices. Sooo goood! So fresh!
We wandered Capri's streets before catching the last hydrofoil back to Naples. It's just so pretty!
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Pronunciation: Caa-pri not Cap-rih
Anyway, Capri was beautiful--crystal blue water, high cliffs, houses built on the hillside, pebbly beach. Pebbly beach? Yes, no sand here. It hurt to walk o the pebbles because some of them were a little big.
We took the hydrofoil to and from Capri from Naples. It was the faster option, taking 45 minutes. The water was pretty choppy but I thought that was part of the fun.
We spent a few hours on their pebbly beach. The water was a little cold but it felt nice because it was hot.
We had the most amazing lunch at the this restaurant recommended by my guide book. It's this little place, hidden in a little street. I had sea bass acqua pazza. I'm not sure how it was cooked...it looked like it was steamed and served in its juices. Sooo goood! So fresh!
We wandered Capri's streets before catching the last hydrofoil back to Naples. It's just so pretty!
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Friday, July 29, 2011
Naples Day 1
12:08 PM July 29, 2011 lying on the beach in Capri.
I would have blogged yesterday but I was just really tired.
Naples is a rough city--there are gypsies and pickpockets and the you-know-what. HOWEVER, it does have great things, if you know where to look. Or a good guide book.
Anyway, we walked around Naples with our class and I am convinced that Naples is the city of historical architectural stairs. We saw a bunch of stairs. The interesting thing about Naples and it's historic buildings is that people actually live in them and make them their own. Basically, these buildings were reclaimed by the people.
Naples is the birthplace of pizza. Naturally, i had a local favorite, the Buffalina d.o.c. It's got mozzarella made of water buffalo milk, fresh tomatoes and basil. YUM!
It started to pour after lunch and we continued our journey around Naples and got SOAKED. I looked like a wet rat.
Naples reminds me of a cleaner (much cleaner) Manila, like Divisoria or something with the narrow streets and street vendors. Naples still has pretty dirty streets though.
Naples is my first real hostel experience complete with the sharing of the bathroom and bunk beds with random strangers (ok I'm sharing a bunk bed with Chelsea).
The hostel and the hostel owner make me feel like I'm staying with an old Italian relative. He's really nice and gave us a little lecture on what to see in Naples.
When we got there late, he scolded me and I should have called. I felt like I got in trouble by my grandparents hahaha
He is a staunch Napolian(?). He is all about Naples and gave us statistics from the Italian government showing Naples as a safer city than Rome, Milan or Florence. He also told us that Almafi and Sorrento are over rated. They are expensive and have very little to offer you for the amount you pay. He compared the coastlines of these cities to Australia and parts of California and they look the same. It pretty much looks like Big Sur.
I don't think Naples is horrible. Just get away from the train station and you'll be fine. It's got cool things to offer (you just have to look) and you can get to cool places from here (like Capri).
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I would have blogged yesterday but I was just really tired.
Naples is a rough city--there are gypsies and pickpockets and the you-know-what. HOWEVER, it does have great things, if you know where to look. Or a good guide book.
Anyway, we walked around Naples with our class and I am convinced that Naples is the city of historical architectural stairs. We saw a bunch of stairs. The interesting thing about Naples and it's historic buildings is that people actually live in them and make them their own. Basically, these buildings were reclaimed by the people.
Naples is the birthplace of pizza. Naturally, i had a local favorite, the Buffalina d.o.c. It's got mozzarella made of water buffalo milk, fresh tomatoes and basil. YUM!
It started to pour after lunch and we continued our journey around Naples and got SOAKED. I looked like a wet rat.
Naples reminds me of a cleaner (much cleaner) Manila, like Divisoria or something with the narrow streets and street vendors. Naples still has pretty dirty streets though.
Naples is my first real hostel experience complete with the sharing of the bathroom and bunk beds with random strangers (ok I'm sharing a bunk bed with Chelsea).
The hostel and the hostel owner make me feel like I'm staying with an old Italian relative. He's really nice and gave us a little lecture on what to see in Naples.
When we got there late, he scolded me and I should have called. I felt like I got in trouble by my grandparents hahaha
He is a staunch Napolian(?). He is all about Naples and gave us statistics from the Italian government showing Naples as a safer city than Rome, Milan or Florence. He also told us that Almafi and Sorrento are over rated. They are expensive and have very little to offer you for the amount you pay. He compared the coastlines of these cities to Australia and parts of California and they look the same. It pretty much looks like Big Sur.
I don't think Naples is horrible. Just get away from the train station and you'll be fine. It's got cool things to offer (you just have to look) and you can get to cool places from here (like Capri).
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Rome Day 20
11:23 AM July 29, 2011
Sorry I haven't blogged.
Anyway, last wednesday we got to sleep in :) Best part? I got to hang out with Yolanda and Sebastian for lunch. We had Chinese food and it was amazing and CHEAP!
Also, it started to rain. No, not rain, pour. And we were sitting outside. Good thing the patio umbrella kept us dry. Barely.
However, the city looks so pretty when it rains. The streets are empty and the colors change.
Later in the afternoon, the class took a field trip to the architecture office of IAN+. It's a prominent architecture office in Italy but they are also struggling to get major projects. According to italian law, civic/government funded buildings have to go through competitions. Even if you win the competition it could still take a while before the project actually starts. I guess no practicing in Italy then hahaha.
Sorry I haven't blogged.
Anyway, last wednesday we got to sleep in :) Best part? I got to hang out with Yolanda and Sebastian for lunch. We had Chinese food and it was amazing and CHEAP!
Also, it started to rain. No, not rain, pour. And we were sitting outside. Good thing the patio umbrella kept us dry. Barely.
However, the city looks so pretty when it rains. The streets are empty and the colors change.
Later in the afternoon, the class took a field trip to the architecture office of IAN+. It's a prominent architecture office in Italy but they are also struggling to get major projects. According to italian law, civic/government funded buildings have to go through competitions. Even if you win the competition it could still take a while before the project actually starts. I guess no practicing in Italy then hahaha.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Rome Day 19
1:55 AM July 27, 2011
Today was the last day of the class walking around Rome and seeing our sites. We had a breakfast, which is basically a pastry and coffee (from what I've noticed, it's the typical italian breakfast). I had some sort of brioche with nutella inside (YUM) and a manachella (espresso with chocolate and cream)[super YUM].
After class, decided to hit the stores to check out the sales going on ending at the end of the month. I went to Zara and got 2 dresses...in sale! SCORE!
After dinner, we went to watch a symphony perform at the courtyard of Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza. Amazing!
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Today was the last day of the class walking around Rome and seeing our sites. We had a breakfast, which is basically a pastry and coffee (from what I've noticed, it's the typical italian breakfast). I had some sort of brioche with nutella inside (YUM) and a manachella (espresso with chocolate and cream)[super YUM].
After class, decided to hit the stores to check out the sales going on ending at the end of the month. I went to Zara and got 2 dresses...in sale! SCORE!
After dinner, we went to watch a symphony perform at the courtyard of Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza. Amazing!
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Monday, July 25, 2011
Rome Day 18
12:30 AM July 26, 2011
Got back from Milan yesterday. Flight was at 7 and airport was 1 hour away so I was up starting 3 AM
For those who think I'm just running around Italy and not studying, let me say that that is not true.
What school work am I exactly doing in Rome? It's rather difficult to explain exactly what I'm studying. We are studying the baroque and it affects the urban fabric and how it affects the contemporary urban fabric. Specifically, I am studying Chiesa Sant'Andrea al Quirinale by Bernini and how the void becomes a voluminous space that is carved out from the poché. Can I explain that to you? Not really, not yet anyway.
Basically, we are analyzing and diagramming our assigned buildings. From this analysis, we create a 3D object that is a representation of the diagram.
See! School work!
Anyway, yesterday I spent all day working on my project, not knowing exactly what I was doing (happens all the time). I finally got to present my building. Got feedback from our professors and they guided me to the direction I wanted to take for my project. Now that I know what it's about, I just need to figure out how to do it. I need to redo some stuff but I think I'll be ok.
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Got back from Milan yesterday. Flight was at 7 and airport was 1 hour away so I was up starting 3 AM
For those who think I'm just running around Italy and not studying, let me say that that is not true.
What school work am I exactly doing in Rome? It's rather difficult to explain exactly what I'm studying. We are studying the baroque and it affects the urban fabric and how it affects the contemporary urban fabric. Specifically, I am studying Chiesa Sant'Andrea al Quirinale by Bernini and how the void becomes a voluminous space that is carved out from the poché. Can I explain that to you? Not really, not yet anyway.
Basically, we are analyzing and diagramming our assigned buildings. From this analysis, we create a 3D object that is a representation of the diagram.
See! School work!
Anyway, yesterday I spent all day working on my project, not knowing exactly what I was doing (happens all the time). I finally got to present my building. Got feedback from our professors and they guided me to the direction I wanted to take for my project. Now that I know what it's about, I just need to figure out how to do it. I need to redo some stuff but I think I'll be ok.
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Sunday, July 24, 2011
Lake Como
9:21 AM July 24, 2011 on the train from the airport going back to Rome
Left Milan this morning.
So yesterday Chelsea and I took a daytrip to Lake Como. It's an hour north of Milan by train. Very, very pretty and picturesque. Now I see why George Clooney has a house here (also, I believe I saw his house).
I didn't want to pay for a boat tour so Chelsea took the slow ferry going to Bellagio (it's a real place people, not just a Vegas hotel). Anyway, so Lake Como is a y-shaped lake at the base of the Italian Alps. Little towns are spread apart and dot the shoreline and the surrounding mountains. Like I said, very pretty.
Bellagio is a quaint little town with lots of fancy hotels on the shore and going up a hill. Cobblestone streets and little shops everywhere. I'm guessing Lake Como is famous for it's silk because there are silk shops EVERYWHERE and they are not cheap (€30 was the cheapest I saw).
It started to rain...not just rain, pour, on the way back to Como (the town). It didn't let up either. Once we were back on land, Chelsea and I booked it across the street to buy an umbrella.
The rain was very cold. I was wearing a maxi dress and Chelsea was wearing shorts. Thank goodness that there are sales everywhere and we found a store with reasonably priced clothes. I got a denim jacket and Chelsea got pants. Ate some soup and we were warm again :) Yay for emergency shopping!
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Left Milan this morning.
So yesterday Chelsea and I took a daytrip to Lake Como. It's an hour north of Milan by train. Very, very pretty and picturesque. Now I see why George Clooney has a house here (also, I believe I saw his house).
I didn't want to pay for a boat tour so Chelsea took the slow ferry going to Bellagio (it's a real place people, not just a Vegas hotel). Anyway, so Lake Como is a y-shaped lake at the base of the Italian Alps. Little towns are spread apart and dot the shoreline and the surrounding mountains. Like I said, very pretty.
Bellagio is a quaint little town with lots of fancy hotels on the shore and going up a hill. Cobblestone streets and little shops everywhere. I'm guessing Lake Como is famous for it's silk because there are silk shops EVERYWHERE and they are not cheap (€30 was the cheapest I saw).
It started to rain...not just rain, pour, on the way back to Como (the town). It didn't let up either. Once we were back on land, Chelsea and I booked it across the street to buy an umbrella.
The rain was very cold. I was wearing a maxi dress and Chelsea was wearing shorts. Thank goodness that there are sales everywhere and we found a store with reasonably priced clothes. I got a denim jacket and Chelsea got pants. Ate some soup and we were warm again :) Yay for emergency shopping!
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Friday, July 22, 2011
Milan Day 2
9:03 AM July 23, 2011 on the train to Lake Como
I will say this about Milan, there are A LOT of good looking guys out here.
And a lot of Filipinos, mostly older women. There's these group of Filipinos talking about pasalubong and inihaw.
Yesterday went a lot better than the day before. We slept in :) then we spent time in the Duomo and Teatro Spada (the Carnegie Hall of Milan). We had panzotti (?) for lunch. It's Italian street food--deep fried bread with filling(YUM).
We went to Castella Sforenza (?), a for reals castle with moats and draw bridges and turrets! Very Italian in it's architecture despite being a medieval castle.
We had dinner at a trattoria near our hostel and it was the best dinner ever.
Bruschetta pomodoro
Mixed Salad
Home made gnocchi with gorgonzola and walnuts
Cotolone alla Milanese
Eggplant Parmesan
Tiramisu and bread pudding
Beer
All for €20 a person.
Amazing.
Got back to the hostel, to 2 bottles of wine and a movie.
Good times.
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I will say this about Milan, there are A LOT of good looking guys out here.
And a lot of Filipinos, mostly older women. There's these group of Filipinos talking about pasalubong and inihaw.
Yesterday went a lot better than the day before. We slept in :) then we spent time in the Duomo and Teatro Spada (the Carnegie Hall of Milan). We had panzotti (?) for lunch. It's Italian street food--deep fried bread with filling(YUM).
We went to Castella Sforenza (?), a for reals castle with moats and draw bridges and turrets! Very Italian in it's architecture despite being a medieval castle.
We had dinner at a trattoria near our hostel and it was the best dinner ever.
Bruschetta pomodoro
Mixed Salad
Home made gnocchi with gorgonzola and walnuts
Cotolone alla Milanese
Eggplant Parmesan
Tiramisu and bread pudding
Beer
All for €20 a person.
Amazing.
Got back to the hostel, to 2 bottles of wine and a movie.
Good times.
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Thursday, July 21, 2011
Milano Day 1
1:39 AM July 22, 2011
I'm upset at how this trip is turning out. We got to Milan last night (cheapest flight out of Rome because trains are expensive). The airport is far from Milan--it's the old airport so it's outside the city. Our flight was 40 minutes...the bus that took us to Milan was 1 hour. That should have been a sign for things to come.
Today we visited the architecture firm of Steffano Boeri. They gave us a presentation on their new project the 2015 World Exhibition in Milan. I was really interested because it was a landscape master plan using sustainability as a driver.
It went downhill after that. We were on our way to visit our sister school here in Milan called NABA (it's an art school) but got lost because we got confused when we got off the metro station. What should have taken 10 minutes took an hour. The school was supposed to show us around Milan, they sent us an exchange student who was a fashion major who knew nothing about architecture. She was a sweet girl but she just showed us where their students hang out. What she was telling us had no relevance to architecture whatsoever. We walked from the school go the city center and that took a while.
Once we hot back to the city center, I found my friends who broke away from the group earlier on and I just went with them. I was (still am) really upset that we pretty much wasted our day. I got so upset I had a break down in front of Prada Louis Vuitton. That's the classiest breakdown I've ever had.
We were invited to go to a museum for cocktails and food, but when we got there it was almost over and there were tons of Mosquitos. Since we were out, we decided to go have drinks and dinner. Got the drinks, tried to look for a place to eat, but many of the places area we were in were closed. I don't know how, but someone in the group asked a street vendor where to eat, he walked us in circles to a bar/pub that served shitty food. So far, Milan is pissing me off. Everyone is disappointed.
Also, there is a transportation strike tomorrow.
I just want to enjoy Milan.
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I'm upset at how this trip is turning out. We got to Milan last night (cheapest flight out of Rome because trains are expensive). The airport is far from Milan--it's the old airport so it's outside the city. Our flight was 40 minutes...the bus that took us to Milan was 1 hour. That should have been a sign for things to come.
Today we visited the architecture firm of Steffano Boeri. They gave us a presentation on their new project the 2015 World Exhibition in Milan. I was really interested because it was a landscape master plan using sustainability as a driver.
It went downhill after that. We were on our way to visit our sister school here in Milan called NABA (it's an art school) but got lost because we got confused when we got off the metro station. What should have taken 10 minutes took an hour. The school was supposed to show us around Milan, they sent us an exchange student who was a fashion major who knew nothing about architecture. She was a sweet girl but she just showed us where their students hang out. What she was telling us had no relevance to architecture whatsoever. We walked from the school go the city center and that took a while.
Once we hot back to the city center, I found my friends who broke away from the group earlier on and I just went with them. I was (still am) really upset that we pretty much wasted our day. I got so upset I had a break down in front of Prada Louis Vuitton. That's the classiest breakdown I've ever had.
We were invited to go to a museum for cocktails and food, but when we got there it was almost over and there were tons of Mosquitos. Since we were out, we decided to go have drinks and dinner. Got the drinks, tried to look for a place to eat, but many of the places area we were in were closed. I don't know how, but someone in the group asked a street vendor where to eat, he walked us in circles to a bar/pub that served shitty food. So far, Milan is pissing me off. Everyone is disappointed.
Also, there is a transportation strike tomorrow.
I just want to enjoy Milan.
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Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Rome Day 11
I finally saw Harry Potter 7.2!!! Took us an entire week to find it in English! Ahhh!!! Sooo goood!!! I laughed, I cried (lots), I sighed, I LOLed.
What am I going to do now?!! (wait for it to come out on blu-ray and have a marathon, I guess)
I mean, the next book series I'm waiting for won't come out until end of 2012 and there are only 2 movies!!!
We got out of the movie theaters and it started raining complete with lighting (no thunder). It wasn't raining hard, which was good because I didn't have an umbrella. It felt nice while it was raining because it cooled down the city...now it just feels humid.
Also, dried lavender works to keep the bugs away! Hooray!!! Now, to get rid of mosquitos....
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What am I going to do now?!! (wait for it to come out on blu-ray and have a marathon, I guess)
I mean, the next book series I'm waiting for won't come out until end of 2012 and there are only 2 movies!!!
We got out of the movie theaters and it started raining complete with lighting (no thunder). It wasn't raining hard, which was good because I didn't have an umbrella. It felt nice while it was raining because it cooled down the city...now it just feels humid.
Also, dried lavender works to keep the bugs away! Hooray!!! Now, to get rid of mosquitos....
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Monday, July 18, 2011
Rome: Day 10
12:08 AM July 19,2011
No blog yesterday...I was just tired. I made coq au vin for dinner last night. I was just really craving chicken and potatoes and carrots hahahaha
I'm presenting my research building tomorrow: Chiesa di Sant'Andrea al Quirinale
I've been trying to get inside for 2 days and everytime I go it's closed :/ good thing I found that virtual tour online and I wrote about this building in undergrad hahaha yay art history major!
It's an informal presentation, but I just wanted to have everything I need to say organized.
Oh! I did go to the Trevi Fountain yesterday and did the obligatory over-the-shoulder-coin-toss wish. Let's hope it comes true :) I only threw €0.50 though...maybe I should go back and spend more on my wish ;) then maybe it'll come true faster!
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No blog yesterday...I was just tired. I made coq au vin for dinner last night. I was just really craving chicken and potatoes and carrots hahahaha
I'm presenting my research building tomorrow: Chiesa di Sant'Andrea al Quirinale
I've been trying to get inside for 2 days and everytime I go it's closed :/ good thing I found that virtual tour online and I wrote about this building in undergrad hahaha yay art history major!
It's an informal presentation, but I just wanted to have everything I need to say organized.
Oh! I did go to the Trevi Fountain yesterday and did the obligatory over-the-shoulder-coin-toss wish. Let's hope it comes true :) I only threw €0.50 though...maybe I should go back and spend more on my wish ;) then maybe it'll come true faster!
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Saturday, July 16, 2011
Rome: Day 8
1:38 AM July 17,2011
Good news everyone! We moved to our new place in Rome. By new, I mean upstairs. It's definitely much nicer--CROSS VENTILATION, open kitchen/living/dining, more bathrooms, better views, INTERNET. It's still noisy from the traffic downstairs but, whatever.
Downside: since Italy (from what I've seen) does not use mesh around their windows, bugs can just get in. Because the ventilation is great in our room, we wanted to keep the windows open. BIG MISTAKE. Moths were draw to the light in the room, then to the light of our laptops. I'm still a little paranoid right now that there are moths all over me.
But no matter, I refuse for bugs to ruin this upgrade haha! Tomorrow I will be hanging lavender and mint and rosemary all over the windows, attaching lavender to the fans and making a little lavender spray to deter all these bugs. If that doesn't work, I will bug spray the shit out of those moths.
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Good news everyone! We moved to our new place in Rome. By new, I mean upstairs. It's definitely much nicer--CROSS VENTILATION, open kitchen/living/dining, more bathrooms, better views, INTERNET. It's still noisy from the traffic downstairs but, whatever.
Downside: since Italy (from what I've seen) does not use mesh around their windows, bugs can just get in. Because the ventilation is great in our room, we wanted to keep the windows open. BIG MISTAKE. Moths were draw to the light in the room, then to the light of our laptops. I'm still a little paranoid right now that there are moths all over me.
But no matter, I refuse for bugs to ruin this upgrade haha! Tomorrow I will be hanging lavender and mint and rosemary all over the windows, attaching lavender to the fans and making a little lavender spray to deter all these bugs. If that doesn't work, I will bug spray the shit out of those moths.
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Daytrip: Pisa
6:26 PM July 16,2011 on the train back to Rome.
According to my travel book, Pisa only has 2 things: the leaning tower and 3 universities. From what I saw today, that seems very true.
Pisa is an hour by train from Florence (very busy train line because Pisa has the airport). Might as well go, it's only €6, right? Right.
It's an easy wall from the train station to the piazza (about 1 mile). Pisa seems like a quiet town with a bunch of tourists in 1 place.
We didn't go inside the baptistry, basilica or the tower because it costs too much (ok, €15, but you're just really paying for the tower).
Ok, so the tower was built to be the basilica's bell tower. Construction stopped when it started to lean due to the poor soil.
History done. As all the other tourists, we, too did our share of silly and (somewhat) inappropriate poses in front of the tower. What are you gonna do, it's leaning and the poses (are) funny!
You can see the tilt very clearly at the base. When you look straight up the tower from the base, it looks like it's spiraling.
The weather was very nice--probably started out at 65 then got up to 70 with a nice breeze :)
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According to my travel book, Pisa only has 2 things: the leaning tower and 3 universities. From what I saw today, that seems very true.
Pisa is an hour by train from Florence (very busy train line because Pisa has the airport). Might as well go, it's only €6, right? Right.
It's an easy wall from the train station to the piazza (about 1 mile). Pisa seems like a quiet town with a bunch of tourists in 1 place.
We didn't go inside the baptistry, basilica or the tower because it costs too much (ok, €15, but you're just really paying for the tower).
Ok, so the tower was built to be the basilica's bell tower. Construction stopped when it started to lean due to the poor soil.
History done. As all the other tourists, we, too did our share of silly and (somewhat) inappropriate poses in front of the tower. What are you gonna do, it's leaning and the poses (are) funny!
You can see the tilt very clearly at the base. When you look straight up the tower from the base, it looks like it's spiraling.
The weather was very nice--probably started out at 65 then got up to 70 with a nice breeze :)
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Friday, July 15, 2011
Florence: Day 2
12:26 AM July 16,2011
Soooooo tired. Today was another good day. I didn't have to wake up early and the room was cold :)
Had cappuccino and a croissant. So European haha :)
Climbed up the Duomo of Santa Maria del Fiure (umm, I'm sure I spelled something wrong there hahaha). The climb was scary, especially getting to the top where the stairs got narrower and steeper. But the climb is worth it. The view is gorgeous! 360 view of Firenze and it's surroundings. I didn't want to leave! The climb back down wasn't that bad, except for the spiral staircase part...that freaked me out and I got dizzy afterwards.
After the Duomo, we went to the Accademia Gallery. It was a lot of medieval paintings and some renaissance paintings, marble statues...and of course, Michelangelo's David. That statue was beautiful...he can be my boyfriend hahahaha!!! I was underwhelmed with everything else. It was cool, but the main thing here was David. I wish we had time to go to the Ufizzi Gallery...many of the famous renaissance paintings are there, including Bottocello's Birth of Venus. Oh well :/
I need to get a Florence plate!!!
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Soooooo tired. Today was another good day. I didn't have to wake up early and the room was cold :)
Had cappuccino and a croissant. So European haha :)
Climbed up the Duomo of Santa Maria del Fiure (umm, I'm sure I spelled something wrong there hahaha). The climb was scary, especially getting to the top where the stairs got narrower and steeper. But the climb is worth it. The view is gorgeous! 360 view of Firenze and it's surroundings. I didn't want to leave! The climb back down wasn't that bad, except for the spiral staircase part...that freaked me out and I got dizzy afterwards.
After the Duomo, we went to the Accademia Gallery. It was a lot of medieval paintings and some renaissance paintings, marble statues...and of course, Michelangelo's David. That statue was beautiful...he can be my boyfriend hahahaha!!! I was underwhelmed with everything else. It was cool, but the main thing here was David. I wish we had time to go to the Ufizzi Gallery...many of the famous renaissance paintings are there, including Bottocello's Birth of Venus. Oh well :/
I need to get a Florence plate!!!
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Florence Day 1
9:18 AM July 15,2011
Paying extra for air conditioner is totally worth it. The hostel we are staying at gave us the option to have AC for extra charge. It's worth it.
We got to Florence yesterday around 10:00 AM by train (our train left Rome at 8:30). Tickets cost €45 for 2nd class one way. It's a little more expensive but the train is faster (it's a eurostar train). The scenery on the way here was really pretty--idyllic Italian countryside with vineyards, and hills, and little hamlets.
Florence itself is very, very pretty. Very renaissance. It is packed with tourists, but in my head, it's completely crammed with them--it's not, only at the very popular places (the duomo, ufizzi gallery, Medici palace, the academy gallery)...haha ok that's the reason people come here. Ok, what I'm trying to say is that you can still walk around with personal space.
We walked EVERYWHERE...starting from the train station to Ponte Veccho, to the piazzale di Michelangelo, which is on a hill looking over Florence, and all the Albertis, Brunallescis, Michelangelos (architecturally speaking) in between.
Ponte Vecchio: I've never seen so many jewelers in one place. Dear God I wanted every shiny piece of gold, pearl, silver,etc. Very very distracting.
Churches in Florence: you need to pay an entrance fee to get it. Very strange.
Panino for lunch with soda: €5
Speck, olive pate and cheese. I miss speck (shpeck)! Reminds me of Yolanda and her giant stash of it that she'd bring from Tahoe.
Dinner: had dinner at this little trattoria--very mom-and-pop. Cheap good food (had beef with rosemary, which was good. Should have gone with the pork, which was to die for). Got dessert. I forgot what they were called but we got some sort custard pie/cake and biscotti with prunes (in fruit form) which you dip in brandy...YUUUM!
In case we weren't full enough (let's not forget 5 of us splitting a big bottle of wine), we also had gelato :)
Now, off to climb the duomo, see Botticelli and David in all his naked glory.
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Paying extra for air conditioner is totally worth it. The hostel we are staying at gave us the option to have AC for extra charge. It's worth it.
We got to Florence yesterday around 10:00 AM by train (our train left Rome at 8:30). Tickets cost €45 for 2nd class one way. It's a little more expensive but the train is faster (it's a eurostar train). The scenery on the way here was really pretty--idyllic Italian countryside with vineyards, and hills, and little hamlets.
Florence itself is very, very pretty. Very renaissance. It is packed with tourists, but in my head, it's completely crammed with them--it's not, only at the very popular places (the duomo, ufizzi gallery, Medici palace, the academy gallery)...haha ok that's the reason people come here. Ok, what I'm trying to say is that you can still walk around with personal space.
We walked EVERYWHERE...starting from the train station to Ponte Veccho, to the piazzale di Michelangelo, which is on a hill looking over Florence, and all the Albertis, Brunallescis, Michelangelos (architecturally speaking) in between.
Ponte Vecchio: I've never seen so many jewelers in one place. Dear God I wanted every shiny piece of gold, pearl, silver,etc. Very very distracting.
Churches in Florence: you need to pay an entrance fee to get it. Very strange.
Panino for lunch with soda: €5
Speck, olive pate and cheese. I miss speck (shpeck)! Reminds me of Yolanda and her giant stash of it that she'd bring from Tahoe.
Dinner: had dinner at this little trattoria--very mom-and-pop. Cheap good food (had beef with rosemary, which was good. Should have gone with the pork, which was to die for). Got dessert. I forgot what they were called but we got some sort custard pie/cake and biscotti with prunes (in fruit form) which you dip in brandy...YUUUM!
In case we weren't full enough (let's not forget 5 of us splitting a big bottle of wine), we also had gelato :)
Now, off to climb the duomo, see Botticelli and David in all his naked glory.
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Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Rome: Day 5
12:33 AM July 14, 2011
Sorry I didn't get to post yesterday, internet was down in the entire building the entire day :/ We currently have internet but is only available in the common area and it's super weak. I've got 2 bars on my wi-fi.
I'm slightly confused, my last post was Day 4, so this should be Day 6 but I counted and I've only been here for 5 days.
Yesterday's theme for the class was "Cultural Periphery." We visited the northern part of Rome where we visited famous modern structures: Nervi's Palazzetto dello Sport (little basketball stadium), Renzo Piano's Parco della Musica and Zaha Hadid's MAXXI museum. Later on that night, we went back to the MAXXI to watch an architecture presentation [though we weren't really paying attention because it was in Italian].
Had a GREAT time at a local bar next to the MAXXI--just some hole-in-the-wall that is frequented by locals. We met 2 older gentlemen at the bar while drinking Bush beer...strong shit! 10.8% alcohol level...but is a really good beer. Had fun with the puns on George Bush with the locals. Had 2 and I was gone! Good times :]
Today class theme was based on the southern part of the city that is called EUR (Universal Exhibition in Rome) which was started by the Fascist period with Mussolini and ended around the 1970s. I guess the theme was how to re-image Rome (especially after WWII) in which old Roman symbols of power was reclaimed and rebranded into a different meaning.
Housing news: we are going to be moved to the top floor, I guess. I just hope that that is better than this.
Sorry I didn't get to post yesterday, internet was down in the entire building the entire day :/ We currently have internet but is only available in the common area and it's super weak. I've got 2 bars on my wi-fi.
I'm slightly confused, my last post was Day 4, so this should be Day 6 but I counted and I've only been here for 5 days.
Yesterday's theme for the class was "Cultural Periphery." We visited the northern part of Rome where we visited famous modern structures: Nervi's Palazzetto dello Sport (little basketball stadium), Renzo Piano's Parco della Musica and Zaha Hadid's MAXXI museum. Later on that night, we went back to the MAXXI to watch an architecture presentation [though we weren't really paying attention because it was in Italian].
Had a GREAT time at a local bar next to the MAXXI--just some hole-in-the-wall that is frequented by locals. We met 2 older gentlemen at the bar while drinking Bush beer...strong shit! 10.8% alcohol level...but is a really good beer. Had fun with the puns on George Bush with the locals. Had 2 and I was gone! Good times :]
Today class theme was based on the southern part of the city that is called EUR (Universal Exhibition in Rome) which was started by the Fascist period with Mussolini and ended around the 1970s. I guess the theme was how to re-image Rome (especially after WWII) in which old Roman symbols of power was reclaimed and rebranded into a different meaning.
Housing news: we are going to be moved to the top floor, I guess. I just hope that that is better than this.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Rome: Day 4
First day of class! Walked EVERYWHERE. Today's topic: Ancient Edges. We started at the Vatican, then made our way to San Pietro in Montero (part of the Spanish Royal Acadamy) and saw Bramante's Tempietto, Santa Maria in Trastevere, Santa Maria in Cosmodin, walked UP the Aventine Hill and saw Basilica di Santa Sabina and Piranesi's peep hole (sounds dirty hahahaha) that frames the dome of the Vatican.
In the middle of this craziness, we had lunch at this small place in Trastevere [something or another Clood]. I had spaghetti vongole (clam spaghetti ...and no, not clam sauce, actual clams in my spaghetti). It was AMAZING. It's not heavy at all. It's basically clams [still in the shell], sauteed with garlic in olive oil and spaghetti noodles. Funny story about how I found about this dish...I learned of this dish from watching "Pasta," a Korean drama about a Chef and this girl who wants to be a chef working in an Italian restaurant in Seoul.
Housing news: the management have seemed to have fixed the broken shower, given us more fans and changed the router for the internet. Internet works a little bit better.
In the middle of this craziness, we had lunch at this small place in Trastevere [something or another Clood]. I had spaghetti vongole (clam spaghetti ...and no, not clam sauce, actual clams in my spaghetti). It was AMAZING. It's not heavy at all. It's basically clams [still in the shell], sauteed with garlic in olive oil and spaghetti noodles. Funny story about how I found about this dish...I learned of this dish from watching "Pasta," a Korean drama about a Chef and this girl who wants to be a chef working in an Italian restaurant in Seoul.
Housing news: the management have seemed to have fixed the broken shower, given us more fans and changed the router for the internet. Internet works a little bit better.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Rome: Day 3
My poor feet. My feet hurt soo bad. Walking on cobblestone streets is a killer.
Went to church at the Vatican today--St Peter's Basilica to be exact. I don't even know how to begin to describe the grandeur of St Peter's Square, let alone the basilica itself. It's really overwhelming; I didn't know in which direction to look (obviously it's designed focus is on the altar, but you know what I mean :)).
The mass was in Latin with the readings in French and Spanish and the homily in Italian. That was pretty cool, I've never gone to a Latin mass before.
It was pretty hot in there (no fans hahaha) then it got really hot when we left. Everyone was hot and tired because we all woke up early for mass.
Anyway, I had the brilliant idea (LOL) to hose ourselves with water like children. It was hot enough and Ely, Chelsea and I got in bathing suits, turned on the hose and cooled off. Successfully made myself even darker :/ hahaha
Too much sun = nap time! Passed out before our professors came to visit.
Housing update: profs agree that we are paying way too much for this place. They said this the first time the housing company placed their students here and they will talk to them to negotiate a solution.
Around sunset we decided to embark on an adventure. We got on the first public transportation we saw and see where it would take us. One tram, one bus,one confusing metro ride later, we ended up at Piazza di Spagna. A lot of people around the lower steps, not alot of people brave up the top of the steps. We did :)
Walked to San Carlo Quattre Fontane and San Andrea al Quirinale, famous baroque churches by Borromini and Bernini. We ended up at Piazza Quirinale and we were desperate to go home...even contemplated getting a cab, but you can't hail a cab in Rome, you need to go to a taxi stop. Finally got onto a bus and a tram and that got us home :)
School tomorrow.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Went to church at the Vatican today--St Peter's Basilica to be exact. I don't even know how to begin to describe the grandeur of St Peter's Square, let alone the basilica itself. It's really overwhelming; I didn't know in which direction to look (obviously it's designed focus is on the altar, but you know what I mean :)).
The mass was in Latin with the readings in French and Spanish and the homily in Italian. That was pretty cool, I've never gone to a Latin mass before.
It was pretty hot in there (no fans hahaha) then it got really hot when we left. Everyone was hot and tired because we all woke up early for mass.
Anyway, I had the brilliant idea (LOL) to hose ourselves with water like children. It was hot enough and Ely, Chelsea and I got in bathing suits, turned on the hose and cooled off. Successfully made myself even darker :/ hahaha
Too much sun = nap time! Passed out before our professors came to visit.
Housing update: profs agree that we are paying way too much for this place. They said this the first time the housing company placed their students here and they will talk to them to negotiate a solution.
Around sunset we decided to embark on an adventure. We got on the first public transportation we saw and see where it would take us. One tram, one bus,one confusing metro ride later, we ended up at Piazza di Spagna. A lot of people around the lower steps, not alot of people brave up the top of the steps. We did :)
Walked to San Carlo Quattre Fontane and San Andrea al Quirinale, famous baroque churches by Borromini and Bernini. We ended up at Piazza Quirinale and we were desperate to go home...even contemplated getting a cab, but you can't hail a cab in Rome, you need to go to a taxi stop. Finally got onto a bus and a tram and that got us home :)
School tomorrow.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Rome: Day 2
Friday, 1:07 AM
Good news everyone! The kitchens stoves work!!! A few of us stayed home, made dinner and now having a movie night. I refuse to eat out ALL the time...that's way to expensive to do so for 4 weeks.
Finally got to go to the supermarket. It's called Oviesse (I think). It's just a short from our place. The place reminded me of Marks and Spencers...sells clothes on the ground floor and groceries down stairs. I like grocery shopping in Europe--you don't buy too much (no preservatives) and I feel like I'm a local (sort of).
Walked around Trastevere today. Got to see Santa Maria in Trastevere. I don't know how I would describe it... Walked around the narrow streets and I really felt like I'm in Rome.
GELATO. Crema Catalana flavor. I die. That's all I have to say about that.
We were going to the coliseum, but we started getting hungry so we stopped at this place called Bar Bella next to the river. €10 for 3 courses (bruschetta, pizza, dessert and a drink). I got the olive pate bruschetta, mushroom pizza and panna cotta for dessert. The pizza was bigger 2x the size of my face! Panna cotta was yuumm! It was raspberry :D
Too much sun. Past out while watching Torchwood (finished it when I woke up).
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Good news everyone! The kitchens stoves work!!! A few of us stayed home, made dinner and now having a movie night. I refuse to eat out ALL the time...that's way to expensive to do so for 4 weeks.
Finally got to go to the supermarket. It's called Oviesse (I think). It's just a short from our place. The place reminded me of Marks and Spencers...sells clothes on the ground floor and groceries down stairs. I like grocery shopping in Europe--you don't buy too much (no preservatives) and I feel like I'm a local (sort of).
Walked around Trastevere today. Got to see Santa Maria in Trastevere. I don't know how I would describe it... Walked around the narrow streets and I really felt like I'm in Rome.
GELATO. Crema Catalana flavor. I die. That's all I have to say about that.
We were going to the coliseum, but we started getting hungry so we stopped at this place called Bar Bella next to the river. €10 for 3 courses (bruschetta, pizza, dessert and a drink). I got the olive pate bruschetta, mushroom pizza and panna cotta for dessert. The pizza was bigger 2x the size of my face! Panna cotta was yuumm! It was raspberry :D
Too much sun. Past out while watching Torchwood (finished it when I woke up).
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Friday, July 8, 2011
Rome Day 1
Rome, 2:42 AM
Arrived in Rome today ( I guess, yesterday at noon).
Flew Alitalia from San Diego to LAX, LAX to Rome non-stop. Never doing that again. Although flying non-stop is more convenient, I did not know what to do for 13 hours. Service wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great. Food was pretty bad, but I ate it because I was starving.
I'm staying at Trastevere. It's one of Rome's oldest neighborhoods, dating from the Etruscan times. It's a pretty quiet neighborhood, especially away from the main streets. It's pretty and charming: cobblestone streets, narrow lanes, vines growing on sides of buildings...it's not heavily trafficked by tourists.
The place we are staying at is an old medieval building that was owned by the Pamphiljs. Many of the people studying abroad with me don't like it because it's old and "falling apart." I like it because it's old. I've never stayed in a place like this before. It's an old residence with medieval walls and a cloister/garden in the middle. We have a large common room, kitchen, 2.5 baths, and the rooms are pretty large.
Our room opens up to the upper part of the garden next to the walls and terrace. Our room open up to the street and to the Tiber River.
HOWEVER, there are problems. The main entrance, next to the church is only open from 8am-9pm and the back entrance is a little scary. It's a little dark and narrow. We are supposed to share our rooms between 3-4 people (Ely and I are not sharing). 2.5 bathrooms for 12 people is not enough. And the shower head fell off (thank goodness for bucket and dipper method--I'm good). And the internet kinda sucks. So, for the price we paid for, this SUCKS! We thought we were saving money by staying at the dorms and not getting a short-term apartment. Were we wrong, very wrong. For the same price or a little bit more, we could have much nicer accommodations.
Meh. It's like an adventure!
We went out by the Tiber River banks. There is some summer event going on where people placed restaurants, bars, stores on the river banks for night time fun. Had Spaghetti carbonara. Sooo goood!!! Could never get my carbonara to be like that: coats pasta perfectly without being too heavy. It was love.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Arrived in Rome today ( I guess, yesterday at noon).
Flew Alitalia from San Diego to LAX, LAX to Rome non-stop. Never doing that again. Although flying non-stop is more convenient, I did not know what to do for 13 hours. Service wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great. Food was pretty bad, but I ate it because I was starving.
I'm staying at Trastevere. It's one of Rome's oldest neighborhoods, dating from the Etruscan times. It's a pretty quiet neighborhood, especially away from the main streets. It's pretty and charming: cobblestone streets, narrow lanes, vines growing on sides of buildings...it's not heavily trafficked by tourists.
The place we are staying at is an old medieval building that was owned by the Pamphiljs. Many of the people studying abroad with me don't like it because it's old and "falling apart." I like it because it's old. I've never stayed in a place like this before. It's an old residence with medieval walls and a cloister/garden in the middle. We have a large common room, kitchen, 2.5 baths, and the rooms are pretty large.
Our room opens up to the upper part of the garden next to the walls and terrace. Our room open up to the street and to the Tiber River.
HOWEVER, there are problems. The main entrance, next to the church is only open from 8am-9pm and the back entrance is a little scary. It's a little dark and narrow. We are supposed to share our rooms between 3-4 people (Ely and I are not sharing). 2.5 bathrooms for 12 people is not enough. And the shower head fell off (thank goodness for bucket and dipper method--I'm good). And the internet kinda sucks. So, for the price we paid for, this SUCKS! We thought we were saving money by staying at the dorms and not getting a short-term apartment. Were we wrong, very wrong. For the same price or a little bit more, we could have much nicer accommodations.
Meh. It's like an adventure!
We went out by the Tiber River banks. There is some summer event going on where people placed restaurants, bars, stores on the river banks for night time fun. Had Spaghetti carbonara. Sooo goood!!! Could never get my carbonara to be like that: coats pasta perfectly without being too heavy. It was love.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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