1:09 AM
Sorry I haven't been able to post more often. I don't have Internet in my room...it's only in the common room. And sometimes I can't connect. Time and date obviously don't reflect time of post.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Bauhaus!!!!! Architecture pilgrimage!!! The Bauhaus is not the start of modernism, but its ideas spread modernism throughout. We took a tour of the school and the buildings. It was was pretty much AWESOME!
It was a really a hot day and we were jonesing for beer so we went to Prater beirgarten, the oldest beer garden in Berlin. It was cool--you go to one booth to order your beer and you go to another booth for food. It was cool.
Showing posts with label architecture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label architecture. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
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.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Saturday, July 16, 2011
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 :)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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 :)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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!!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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!!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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
Monday, August 4, 2008
JE T'AIME PARIS!
I got back from Paris Monday around 1 AM. I am still tired and sore.
Paris was amazing! Too much for one week-end. Definitely must come back.
July 31:
We arrive at Paris at 10:30ish PM. Since didnt know how to get to our hotel via public transportation, we took a taxi from the train station [Gare du Nord]. Our taxi was a MERCEDES-BENZ!!! We all think he ripped us off because it cost 24 EUROS for the ride! WTF!?!?!? First of all, he took the long way because he showed us the Opera House, Arc de Triumphe and Champs-Elysees. He charged extra for having 4 people [all taxis apparantly do that in France] and for luggage. Maybe if I kept talking to him in my VERY BROKEN French, we would have been ok.
Hotel:
is in the suburbs of Paris called Suresnes. It's near the La Defence quarter [La Defense is the major financial district]. Our room is a triple, but tiny as hell! Instead of 3 single beds pushed together, there is a bunk bed. No closet. The bathroom is the size of a walk-in closet. At least it was clean. If we stuck our heads out the window, we could see the Eiffel Tower.
August 1
First Paris meal: Mushroom Quiche, Flan and orange Fanta. 5 Euros. Hahaha
We bought it in a cafe outside of the Louvre. Then we got it to go and we ate outside the Louvre.
BEST QUICHE I HAVE HAD IN ALL MY LIFE. The crust was not hard--it was nice and buttery and flaky [but not too flaky]. French flan is more like a slice of egg-custard pie, but the custard is not a custard consistency [like leche flan] but more pie-like.
Le Louvre:
I knew that the louvre is HUGE and it would take all day to see everything. I was surprised that it took us at the most, 3 hours to see [almost] everything. We saw the Mona Lisa and Venus di Milo [the 2 most famous things inside the louvre].
People have said the Mona Lisa is TINY...it's not. It is very small compared to the rest of the paintings in the louvre, but the painting itself isnt very small. The size of the woman in the painting is a little bigger than life size.
Notre Dame:
is BEAUTIFUL. The line to get in was long, but at least it went by quickly. The nave and the choir were roped off because there was service going on [strange why they would let tourists in during service...]I only found 3 of the 6 rose stained-glass windows. I thought the flying buttresses would be enormous, but they weren't as big as I imagined them to be.
Seine River Cruise:
very relaxing. I liked being able to see a lot of historical buildings without having to walk there! LOL. I like the view of things from the river, especially being able to the see the bridges on the river.
Arc de Triumphe:
we had to walk a 200-step [about] spiral stair case to get to the top. [NO ELEVATOR]. It was worth the climb! the views are great! We got to watch the Eiffel Tower light up :D
August 2:
Champs-Elysees:
I have never felt so poor in my life! They had very posh stores and it was nice to window shop [or pretend you can afford things hahaha]. Louis Vuitton is 3 stories tall... very expensive. A keychain is 100+ euros. I liked walking up and down Champs-Elysees for the purpose of people watching...hahaha
Montmartre:
Is located in the only hill[?] in Paris. It's how I imagined France to be--narrow, cobblestone streets with side-walk cafes and patisseries galore! We didn't really go to the Moulin Rouge area because we were headed to Sacre Couer. I really liked all the street art that were displayed on the side walk. I bought 4! I had really really good
Sacre Couer:
it means "sacred heart" in French. It's really pretty. It's a byzantine-style cathedral. It's all white and it's on top of a hill overlooking Paris. I couldn't take pictures inside because it's not allowed. It was definitely more quiet that Notre Dame and less people going inside. Lots of mosaics.
Dinner at Chez Clement:
a restaurant at Champs-Elysees...apparantly it's the cheapest on Champs-Elysees. I got duck magret with grilled peach and french mac and cheese [they seasoned it with fennel, which made it taste like licorice] and creme brulee for desert.
Duck magret is the duck breast of a duck that has produced foie gras. [SAAAD I DIDNT GET FOIE GRAS...IT WAS EXPENSIVE!]
Anyway, it was very, very goood and tender. YUUUUUM. Best non-asian duck i have had!
The restaurant's portion of creme brulee is HUUUUGGGEEEE. The ones I make are little babies compared to theirs. It was good...better than mine.
August 3:
We checked out early to get to the Eiffel tower, but our train didn't leave until later on that evening so we were walking around Paris with our luggage.
My shoulders still hurt.
Tour Eiffel:
I was pretty miserable with all my stuff, so I wasn't exactly very happy. However, it was still a nice experience being at the very top of the Eiffel Tower...I didnt realize how high we were until it got cloudy and cold [it was nice and sunny at the lower levels]. There was a lot of people and children [very loud children]...didn't like the children.
La Madeleine:
It's a church that looks like a grecian temple. Behind the altar, there is the sculpture of Mary Magdelene Ascending into Heaven. The church was very quiet and empty. I guess it's not as much of a tourist spot as Sacre Couer or Notre Dame.
I'm looking over my pocket guide book and we didn't look hard enough for the market!
[JEANY THE MARKET DOES EXIST BUT IT'S BEHIND THE CHURCH]
The rest of the day was spend people watching/eating crepes.
Jeany and I had a chorizo crepe at this cafe called Evangelista. SOO GOOOD.
French Eclaires are sooo much better that any other eclairs. The inside isn't pure chocolate, but chocolate mousse!
I think studying Paris architecture changed the way I experienced Paris. I think it's because I know a little bit of history with particular buildings, so to me, it's more than a pretty building...I know how it was built, or why it was built and it's purpose[or original purpose]. It also made me want to see more of Paris.
I definitely want to go back to Paris and spend more time there. There's still so much I want to see and do.
Paris was amazing! Too much for one week-end. Definitely must come back.
July 31:
We arrive at Paris at 10:30ish PM. Since didnt know how to get to our hotel via public transportation, we took a taxi from the train station [Gare du Nord]. Our taxi was a MERCEDES-BENZ!!! We all think he ripped us off because it cost 24 EUROS for the ride! WTF!?!?!? First of all, he took the long way because he showed us the Opera House, Arc de Triumphe and Champs-Elysees. He charged extra for having 4 people [all taxis apparantly do that in France] and for luggage. Maybe if I kept talking to him in my VERY BROKEN French, we would have been ok.
Hotel:
is in the suburbs of Paris called Suresnes. It's near the La Defence quarter [La Defense is the major financial district]. Our room is a triple, but tiny as hell! Instead of 3 single beds pushed together, there is a bunk bed. No closet. The bathroom is the size of a walk-in closet. At least it was clean. If we stuck our heads out the window, we could see the Eiffel Tower.
August 1
First Paris meal: Mushroom Quiche, Flan and orange Fanta. 5 Euros. Hahaha
We bought it in a cafe outside of the Louvre. Then we got it to go and we ate outside the Louvre.
BEST QUICHE I HAVE HAD IN ALL MY LIFE. The crust was not hard--it was nice and buttery and flaky [but not too flaky]. French flan is more like a slice of egg-custard pie, but the custard is not a custard consistency [like leche flan] but more pie-like.
Le Louvre:
I knew that the louvre is HUGE and it would take all day to see everything. I was surprised that it took us at the most, 3 hours to see [almost] everything. We saw the Mona Lisa and Venus di Milo [the 2 most famous things inside the louvre].
People have said the Mona Lisa is TINY...it's not. It is very small compared to the rest of the paintings in the louvre, but the painting itself isnt very small. The size of the woman in the painting is a little bigger than life size.
Notre Dame:
is BEAUTIFUL. The line to get in was long, but at least it went by quickly. The nave and the choir were roped off because there was service going on [strange why they would let tourists in during service...]I only found 3 of the 6 rose stained-glass windows. I thought the flying buttresses would be enormous, but they weren't as big as I imagined them to be.
Seine River Cruise:
very relaxing. I liked being able to see a lot of historical buildings without having to walk there! LOL. I like the view of things from the river, especially being able to the see the bridges on the river.
Arc de Triumphe:
we had to walk a 200-step [about] spiral stair case to get to the top. [NO ELEVATOR]. It was worth the climb! the views are great! We got to watch the Eiffel Tower light up :D
August 2:
Champs-Elysees:
I have never felt so poor in my life! They had very posh stores and it was nice to window shop [or pretend you can afford things hahaha]. Louis Vuitton is 3 stories tall... very expensive. A keychain is 100+ euros. I liked walking up and down Champs-Elysees for the purpose of people watching...hahaha
Montmartre:
Is located in the only hill[?] in Paris. It's how I imagined France to be--narrow, cobblestone streets with side-walk cafes and patisseries galore! We didn't really go to the Moulin Rouge area because we were headed to Sacre Couer. I really liked all the street art that were displayed on the side walk. I bought 4! I had really really good
Sacre Couer:
it means "sacred heart" in French. It's really pretty. It's a byzantine-style cathedral. It's all white and it's on top of a hill overlooking Paris. I couldn't take pictures inside because it's not allowed. It was definitely more quiet that Notre Dame and less people going inside. Lots of mosaics.
Dinner at Chez Clement:
a restaurant at Champs-Elysees...apparantly it's the cheapest on Champs-Elysees. I got duck magret with grilled peach and french mac and cheese [they seasoned it with fennel, which made it taste like licorice] and creme brulee for desert.
Duck magret is the duck breast of a duck that has produced foie gras. [SAAAD I DIDNT GET FOIE GRAS...IT WAS EXPENSIVE!]
Anyway, it was very, very goood and tender. YUUUUUM. Best non-asian duck i have had!
The restaurant's portion of creme brulee is HUUUUGGGEEEE. The ones I make are little babies compared to theirs. It was good...better than mine.
August 3:
We checked out early to get to the Eiffel tower, but our train didn't leave until later on that evening so we were walking around Paris with our luggage.
My shoulders still hurt.
Tour Eiffel:
I was pretty miserable with all my stuff, so I wasn't exactly very happy. However, it was still a nice experience being at the very top of the Eiffel Tower...I didnt realize how high we were until it got cloudy and cold [it was nice and sunny at the lower levels]. There was a lot of people and children [very loud children]...didn't like the children.
La Madeleine:
It's a church that looks like a grecian temple. Behind the altar, there is the sculpture of Mary Magdelene Ascending into Heaven. The church was very quiet and empty. I guess it's not as much of a tourist spot as Sacre Couer or Notre Dame.
I'm looking over my pocket guide book and we didn't look hard enough for the market!
[JEANY THE MARKET DOES EXIST BUT IT'S BEHIND THE CHURCH]
The rest of the day was spend people watching/eating crepes.
Jeany and I had a chorizo crepe at this cafe called Evangelista. SOO GOOOD.
French Eclaires are sooo much better that any other eclairs. The inside isn't pure chocolate, but chocolate mousse!
I think studying Paris architecture changed the way I experienced Paris. I think it's because I know a little bit of history with particular buildings, so to me, it's more than a pretty building...I know how it was built, or why it was built and it's purpose[or original purpose]. It also made me want to see more of Paris.
I definitely want to go back to Paris and spend more time there. There's still so much I want to see and do.
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