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hey all.so, i realize it has been far too long and there are many adventure stories i need to tell. that is why i am pulling myself away from my copious amounts of captivating homework just to write a blog. i know, big sacrifice (don't worry mom and dad, i will return to my homework eventually).
a week and a half ago, paula and i flew to the beautiful city of venice on the northern shores of italy. venice is the city that i wanted to make sure i saw while i was studying abroad. in my mind, it was always a magical city unlike any other; full of water and beautiful houses and gondolas. and let me tell you, it didn't disappoint. as we crossed the only bridge leading onto the island, i was straining to catch my first glimpse through the bus windows. we stepped of the bus and one of the very first things we saw was the grand canal. it was a sight to behold. we decided that the first thing we wanted to do was take a vaporetto (water taxi) up the grand canal all the way to san marco. much to my delight, we were able to sit outside on the boat. as we started up the canal, i felt like i didn't have enough eyes to see everything i wanted to. everywhere i looked, there was something exciting to see. my camera didn't even have a chance. don't get me wrong, i got some great pictures of the city, but i don't think that they can in any way compare to what i was actually seeing with my own eyes.
if it was possible, my excitement doubled when i saw my very first gondola, complete with a gondoleer in a black and white striped shirt, black pants, and straw-like, flat hat. i think the gondolas fascinated me the entire weekend. there is just something very magical about all of these little boats making their way through the waterways of the city.
the only transportation on the island is boats and walking. alleyways are water and there are boats that are parked throughout. there were doorways and staircases that led directly into the water and little bridges connect all of the neighborhoods on the island. the sunlight dancing off of the water made it look like there were thousands of little gems scattered throughout the canals. it brought back memories of summers at the lake. i think my love for the city may in part be due to the fact that i grew up in the land of ten thousand lakes...
we made it up the grand canal and landed at san marco. san marco is a huge piazza enclosed by shops tucked behind a series of colonnades. it was breathtaking. to top it off, there was a little band playing music in the background. very surreal. there were also pigeons everywhere. seriously. it was a little ridiculous. and the thing was was that people were trying to get the pigeons to land on them. there was a kid who just had a pigeon chillin out on the top of his head. apparently he's never had the traumatic experience of a pigeon pooping on his head. fortunately i must have made some sort of peace with the pigeons because i did not get pooped on (thank you very much mary...). either that or the pigeons are just nicer in venice then they are in new york city.
we went inside the san marco basilica next. there were gold mosaics covering every surface of the ceiling. and i mean EVERY surface. it was amazing. and to think that it was all done such a long time ago.
we spent the next day and a half just wandering the city. we got lost many a time, but hey, we were on an island, so we really couldn't get that far. the signage in the city leaves a little to be desired. okay, it leaves a lot to be desired. it's pretty bad. and i'm not even just being a graphic design nerd and complaining about the signage. they even sell t-shirts on the island that make fun of the signage. it became like a game when we were actually trying to find our way back to the buses. we would see who could spot the next sign. it was actually kind of fun, now that i think about it. it was like where's waldo, but without waldo and his red and white shirt.
i also enjoyed all of the little shops we wandered through. murano, a little island off of venice, is known for it's glass, so needless to say, there may have been some glass purchases. as i was flipping through my photos, which actually takes quite a while because i took A LOT of photos, i came across a very familiar picture. in painting class my sophomore year of high school, we were asked to find a picture and paint it. i found a picture of venice in a national geographic and decided to paint that (yes, my obsession with venice goes back that far). so i now have an almost exact photograph of my painting that is hanging on the wall in the den at home. weird. we also celebrated halloween while in venice. well, celebrated may not be the exact right word. but don't worry, i ate candy. there were also some kids running around in halloween outfits. apparently they trick or treat at stores in venice. we noticed that there were a lot of witches. paula also gave me a piece of candy, so i also got some free candy. yay halloween. now, to end this rather long blog, i've decided to sum up venice in a few words. magical. romantic. calming. breathtaking. beautiful.that is all.oh, and here are some pics:
fall in venice.
gondolas!!
waterway.
gondolas and the rialto bridge.
my first view of the grand canal.
please don't eat that.
boats.
oh venice.
look closely at this one parents. look familiar?
san marco.
hey all.so this is a video of where i live. it is done in true cribs fashion. credit goes to paula, who edited all of the footage. she did an amazing job. ying and i helped with the filming. let's just say i struggled a bit when the camera was in my hands, but because of paula's fabulous editing job, it's barely noticeable. ying, on the other hand, was much better when she was filming. here's the video. i hope you enjoy.
hey all.
so this past weekend we went on a field trip with a short vacation tacked on the end. it's pretty crazy to be able to say that we weekended in sorrento and capri. let me start at the beginning though. so, through school we go on two field trips: the north field trip and the south field trip. this past weekend we went on our south field trip. we started by heading to naples, dubbed "nasty naples" by one of my professors. we didn't really explore the city much. we basically jumped on the metro, went to a museum, ate lunch at a pizzeria across the street from the museum, and then we were on our way again. even though this was such a short stay in naples, among the 60 of us that went, there was a story about someone getting pick-pocketed on the metro, another story about seeing an attempted mugging, and a story about someone getting extremely harrassed by a person on the metro. needless to say, i feel like i spent enough time in "nasty naples." next on the itinerary was sorrento. sorrento is a beautiful italian coastal town. it is full of cute little shops and lemons and lemon products are absolutely everywhere. for dinner that night we went to a restaurant called The Lemon Tree. and by we, i mean almost all 60 of us plus our 4 professors. it was an absolutely amazing meal. i can't even describe how amazing it was. this is a tradition that occurs every year during the south field trip and it was an experience i will never forget. we had a four course meal that was absolutely delicious and the staff was very friendly and fun. just remembering the lemon dessert we were given makes my mouth water. after such an amazing meal, it was naturally time to dance. one of our professors got one of the local discotecas to open just for us and a group of us proceeded to head over and show off our dance skills.
we awakened the next morning to rain, which proceeded to cause our trip to pompeii to be canceled for the day. we were released by our professors to go and enjoy the rest of weekend. since we had decided to stay in sorrento for the remainder of the weekend, we decided to make the trek to our hostel. now, a few words about our hostel. it is considered a camping hostel that came highly recommended by my lovely roommate. and it did not disappoint. ying, paula, and i were given our own little cabin. though the term cabin probably isn't the best word to describe our housing arrangement for the next two nights. it was more of a green box that had three beds and a bathroom. it was definitely cozy. really. only one person could move about the cabin at a time. i loved it though. it was the closest thing to camping i have done in months. what was also awesome was that there were many of our classmates who also stayed at the same hostel. every night we met up and drank wine and just hung out... though we went to their cabin, which was slightly bigger than ours...on saturday we took the ferry over to wonderful island of capri. it was breathtaking and well, it was an island, so really, you can't go wrong. the original plan was to go cliff diving, but the water was too high, so the tour was canceled for the day. instead we decided to take a chairlift to the top of the island. yes, you read correctly. we took a CHAIRLIFT to the top of the island. okay, i realize that i've been on chairlifts many a time before for downhill skiing, but this was still absolutely thrilling to me. the chairlift consisted of single chairs that went up to the top of the island and overlooked everything. once at the top, you could see for miles. the ocean was so blue and extended forever. the view was so beautiful i don't think i can put into words just how amazing it was. we took the chairlift back down and then, after some wandering, made our way to the beach where we relaxed and swam and soaked up some rays.
sunday was our trip to pompeii. pompeii fascinates me. the city was covered by lava when mt. vesuvius erupted almost 2000 years ago. the site was accidently discovered and has been getting excavated ever since. walking through and just trying to imagine how these people lived was unbelievable. one of the saddest parts was when we found this little vineyard and garden. it was planted exactly as it had been 2000 years ago. mt. vesuvius was visible in the distance, not blocked by any modern buildings. the sad part was that, tucked back in the corner, there was a glass case that contained 13 bodies of people who lived in pompeii. they were men and women and children. some of them were curled up on the ground. others had draped their bodies over some of the children in an attempt to protect them. others were propped up, looking as if they were trying to get just one more breath of air. it definitely made a huge impression.
after we finished our explorations of the rediscovered city, we hopped on a train and made our way back to roma. here are some pictures of the weekend. thanks for reading.
ciao ciao.
at dinner in The Lemon Tree.
dessert.
our cabin.
capri.
capri.
the chairlift.
the group at capri.
pompeii.
pompeii with mt. vesuvius.
Hey all.
So last Saturday was our day trip to Assisi. I was excited to get out and see more of Italy and even better was the fact that someone else was organizing and planning the trip. We arrived at studio early in the morning and proceeded to get on a double decker coach bus. Needless to say, I was thrilled. After a two hour trip, we found ourselves at the base of a mountain looking up at a tiny town tucked into the mountainside. The bus drove about halfway up the mountain and parked in the parking lot. We all piled off the bus and made our way to the escalators (yes, there were escalators and they were awesome) to take us up to Assisi. As we walked through the entrance, I became instantly enchanted by the tiny town. It was like something out of a fairy tale. You could see for miles and there were flowers and vines snaking all over the pale colored stone that made up the buildings. It was so quaint and peaceful and calming and I immediately decided that I could definitely live here. I proceeded to repeat this sentiment throughout the rest of the time we were wandering around the town, which I'm sure thrilled Paula and Ying. Sometimes I wonder how they still put up with me, but no matter what the reason is, I'm happy about it. Anway, back to Assisi. We decided the best course of action would be to wander and explore and that is exactly what we did. We would just pick right or left, up the hill or down the hill (90% of the time the choice was down the hill...). We found gorgeous overlooks and little houses and stores. After a little time wandering, we found ourselves at the Church of San Francesco. It was a gorgeous church so full of history. Outside one of the entrances of the church there was a grassy green hill with the word Pax (aka peace) spelled out in greenary. I thought that was absolutely beautiful because it was set in front of the buildings of Assisi and it just seemed so peaceful and beautiful. After this we continued our explorations. We found this really neat archway leading to a side street and decided that it was a great place to get a picture. We got some nice photos and then it was apparently decided that we should get pictures of us jumping. Let's just say that this kind of picture is not my strong suit, as certain people know and Paula and Ying learned. It was fun all the same though and we definitely attracted some onlookers who seemed very amused by our antics. After that little venture, it was decided gelato was necessary. Though I have to say, it always seems like gelato is necessary. We finished up our little trip and piled back onto our awesome double decker bus to head home.Here are some pictures from Assisi.Miss you all.
prettiness.
overlook.
more prettiness.
collanade by church of San Francesco.
these are my friends. that's all i can say about this.
peace.
hey all.never before in my life have i ever seriously contemplated chopping off all of my hair. until now. i just spent the past 45 minutes cleaning up the small flood caused by a clogged shower drain. now anyone who knows me and has spent some time with me knows i shed. my hair will be found on your clothing days after you hang out with me whether or not i wore the clothing or even had any contact with the clothing. hair will be found on clothing that you weren't even wearing when you saw me. seriously. that's just how it goes. i have a lot of hair. i've always had a lot of hair. and as far back as i remember, it's been long. as i stepped out of my refreshing shower this afternoon, imagine my not-so-pleasant surprise at being greeted by the great flood of 2009 in our rome apartment. i am not exaggerating. water was actually seeping under the door into the hallway. and no, i did not take an overly long shower. i may not be the fastest showerer around, but this was by no means a long shower. this meant i not only had the great pleasure of trying to contain the floodwaters, but i also got a chance to battle with the clogged drain. after numerous towels that i was able to round up, as well as my sheets (i've been meaning to wash them anyway...), i am proud to announce you no longer have to wade through our bathroom. that meant i could no longer avoid the inevitable. the drain and all its pleasant surprises awaited me. with what i am sure was a very pained expression on my face, i confronted the clogged hole that is meant to serve as a means to get water out of our shower. i found hair. though i'm pretty sure that the hair had mutated into something from another world. it was almost like i discovered some kind of new species, though i felt no sense of pride. no worries though, i still have all of my fingers. i think i may have won the battle, but by no means have i won the war. we may need to call in back-up, most likely a professional. but today, i can be labeled the victor. the floodwaters have been contained and at least part of the beast has been destroyed. and i have also learned a very valuable lesson... on a more positive note, i have discovered many new favorites in food. my favorite pizza is mozzarella and gorgonzola pizza from pizza florida. other tasty and interesting pizza toppings that i have eaten include eggplant... i know, very healthy. i accidently tried anchioves on my pizza... not my favorite, but not all bad. i have my favorite juice in grapefruit-orange. sounds interesting, but it's amazing. and i am happy to report i have successfully found candy. chocolate and these frizzy fruit candies are on the top of my favorites list.i'm loving rome and i am very much enjoying my classes. especially art history. honestly i don't know how i couldn't love art history when i get to go learn about the pantheon while i am physically standing in the pantheon. or learn about the gladiators while standing in the colosseum. and my teacher is an amazing and animated storyteller. i can actually visualize the historic tales he tells us. i am learning so much. we just finished with a two and a half day workshop with primo angeli, who is a great and famous packaging designer. i learned a lot and my group created a pretty awesome product. everything's going great and rome is such a beautiful city.i'll try to post pictures soon.thanks for reading.until next time...
hey.
so we've made it safely to rome. we have our apartment keys. we have our studio keys. we've gone through orientations. we are ready to live in rome. i think.
we arrived in rome on september 1 and went to check in at the housing office. lugging a 45 lb. rolling suitcase and a 40 lb. backpack up millions of stairs in 90 degree weather is pure torture. trust me, i know. but we are in rome at last, so i really have nothing to complain about. knowing only a little italian is a bit hard, but people are nice. between broken italian, english, and hand gestures, the point usually gets across. most italians just laugh and are happy to help as much as they can. all the same, i am working on my italian. i was very proud today when the cashier told me how much i owed him in italian and i completely understood. without looking at the screen. slowly but surely i will learn the italian language. we also made our first successful grocery store trip. most things are the same except with the fruit. with the fruit, you wear a plastic glove to pick out your fruit. very sanitary, i like it. you also have to weigh your fruit and print out your own label. it's kind of fun. reading labels and figuring out exactly what everything is a little difficult. pictures are awesome. well, at least the ones where you can tell what they are. ying and i picked out fresh bread, but we honestly just randomly pointed at a loaf. it was tasty, but the crust was very hard. hard as in it felt like i was sawing down a christmas tree with a hand saw when i cut the bread. but the middle was soft, so i was happy. also, candy seems like it is very expensive and limited. it could make for a long 4 months for my sweet tooth. i'm still holding out hope that i will find some kind of candy store somewhere. there is gelato though. gelato is the most amazing thing ever. it will just about make your day. seriously. my current favorite is anguria (watermelon) and frutta de bacche (berry). so refreshing.we have also discovered the best coffee in the entire world. caffe freddo from bar del cappucino. fortunately, this little cafe is located right off the tram stop by studio. it is well worth the one euro. it immediately wakes me up. love it. it doesn't look especially appetizing at first because it has some chunks in it, but that is just coffee ice slush stuff and it's amazing. honestly.
today i also successfully bought my first piece of clothing. a tank top. and it is completely a necessity. it's a bit warm here, but i'm not complaining. we also had our first class this morning. it's gonna be a fabulous semester.
here are pictures of our apartment. our apartment is awesome. it's a really old building in an older section of rome. it's huge and fun and fully furnished. i live with 6 other girls. there are two bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, an entryway, and three bedrooms (2 two person, 1 three person). ying and paula and i share the three person room. good times.
the living room.
the entryway.
the kitchen, complete with a washing machine.
bathroom 1.
bathroom 2.
our room.
caffe freddo.
fall in venice.
gondolas!!
waterway.
gondolas and the rialto bridge.
my first view of the grand canal.
please don't eat that.
boats.
oh venice.
look closely at this one parents. look familiar?
san marco.
