tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78841783326244877582024-02-07T10:27:27.891-08:00But no matter, the road is life.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884178332624487758.post-71606561760864982542011-12-15T13:38:00.000-08:002011-12-15T13:38:49.641-08:00The Final Days: Monday-Thursday<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This week has been so filled with exams. Exams and final Christmas shopping! I've been re-visiting my favorite places in between shopping and studying.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Today I FINALLY finished my exams! It was the best feeling ever. I came home and had a dance party to Jump (For My Love). Then I threw ALL My notes away and it was great. This semester's over! I can't believe it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We had the arrivederci dinner for our API program tonight. And now it's packing and hanging out with the roomies before our big Final Day tomorrow.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Sorry I have nothing exciting to say for myself for the past four days!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884178332624487758.post-7452791817574478862011-12-11T08:41:00.001-08:002011-12-11T09:02:44.413-08:00The Final Days: Saturday and Sunday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Saturday I went out with one of my roommates to film her for one of her finals. We walked past Castel Sant'Angelo, along the Tevere there, then over to Piazza del Popolo and up to Villa Borghese. Here, we went to the Chocolate festival and watched the old man rollerblading (he's <i>good</i>!). There are always little cones set up where people rollerblade. This old man (probably late 60s?) drops into the splits to go under a rope probably a foot and a half off the ground. That's impressive.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We saw old people PDA behind some trees (typical) and ate popcorn. Then we went to the Billa to buy dinner for a couple friends we had over.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And studying in between.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Sunday morning I woke up and went to mass in St. Peter's Basilica. When we first entered the square, Pope Benedict was speaking so we watched him for a bit. I've seen the Pope in real life with my own two eyes three times in the past month. How crazy is that?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Then we went inside for mass in THE APSE in St. Peter's. It was a "drive-through mass" as my roommate Taylor put it; there was no homily or gospel reading. Just the basics, communion, and the end. This was fine with me because it was in Italian. Any extra words added in would only have been more I didn't understand.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Regardless, this was one of the most beautiful church services I've ever attended. It's hard to NOT feel God's presence when you're at mass in one of the most beautiful churches in the world. The singing during the offering and communion was so beautiful. I loved it.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And now I'm locked inside, once again, to study.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Thanks to school, my last memories of Rome will largely consist of me sitting in my room surrounded by books and papers. Not fair!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The very next Sunday when I wake up it will be in Cincinnati. And it will be the weirdest feeling ever. Here's something about me: I dread change but I adapt quickly. I'd rather stay here and be happy than go home. But once I get home I'll be glad to be back. Once I'm eating Chipotle I'll never want to leave again. Until the very next opportunity to go overseas arises, in which case I'll be back!</span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884178332624487758.post-49769541552840998232011-12-09T10:10:00.001-08:002011-12-09T10:39:40.015-08:00The Final Days: Thursday and Friday<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">UNFORTUNATELY, my life in Rome is coming to an end. I'm trying not to think about it too much yet because I know it's going to make me sad. If I was ever going to see some of the people I have met again, I think we would be great friends for a long time. But we've come together because of Rome, and soon we'll go back to our <i>normal</i> lives.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I think I like my Roman life more!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's hard to balance seeing the sights I want to see in Rome before I leave and finishing my school work before the end of the quarter. However, I have a checklist for both and I've been working on them daily. The school checklist is really boring, so I'll just keep you informed about the Roman one.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">On Thursday, December 8th, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the Pope gets to go to Piazza di Spagna to help place a wreath of flowers on top of the column there. The entire area was flooded with people--the streets were blocked off with security guards, that metro stop was closed, and hundreds of Italians were crowded all around. The papal helicopter was flying overhead and the news cameras were out. All of a sudden, Pope Benedict XVI came around the corner in some type of carriage. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The previously very quiet, patiently waiting Italians started to get excited. I did too! Like I've said before, I'm not Catholic, which means that the Pope isn't a part of my religious infrastructure. However, I definitely regard him as a holy man that has the difficult and powerful job of seeking after God's will in the name of an entire sect of Christianity. That must mean that that man has a lot of virtue and faith. Therefore, I respect him a good deal.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After he came down the street, her circled around the fountain that you can't see, then went to the left, where he gave a speech from somewhere. Despite our most intense efforts, we couldn't see that part at all.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I do know that the wreath of flowers around her arm was the end product of this ceremony. There was a mess of people, then we made our way to Piazza Navona, which is entirely set up with Christmas markets right now. That was also a mess of people. Even during peak tourist season, I never saw this many people in one place in Rome. These things must be major family events for Romans because EVERYONE was out. We ate dinner in Piazza Navona, then made our way to Trastevere, where there is a Christmas market that donates proceeds to the EMERGENCY foundation. Then I got the biggest gelato cone of my life (when in Rome?) and headed home, away from the hoards of people.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Today, Friday, my roommates and I went to St. Peter's square to see the Christmas tree and manger scene (and to finally mail postcards for my mom..sorry, mommy!) . Unfortunately, the tree wasn't finished being decorated yet and the manger scene (behind the curtain) hasn't yet been revealed.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A trip to Piazza di San Pietro is never a wasted trip, though. I absolutely love being there. Today, there was the longest line I've ever seen to get inside the basilica (maybe the decorate it for Christmas?) We got lunch at a recommended pizza place nearby which was actually really delicious. We did a little bit of Christmas shopping on the way home.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now, unfortunately, it's back to the boring part of my list!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884178332624487758.post-34849720087622763052011-12-06T08:32:00.001-08:002011-12-06T11:17:38.338-08:00Weekend Trip #5: Paris<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCJUaf09jb3XubHFJWZUCdG4MI_PkNeS2Wl6HFOc86dvZawsRZ0sCqCyr4KGUnddVHiYaiAHSBpJPgY33P9z1FVSnuR5bhQi1_3aBZSsZC2eNZK1vIIZ8J7TQYQCJrZyvDDsA8At9lN3Kl/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-12-06+at+5.28.05+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCJUaf09jb3XubHFJWZUCdG4MI_PkNeS2Wl6HFOc86dvZawsRZ0sCqCyr4KGUnddVHiYaiAHSBpJPgY33P9z1FVSnuR5bhQi1_3aBZSsZC2eNZK1vIIZ8J7TQYQCJrZyvDDsA8At9lN3Kl/s400/Screen+shot+2011-12-06+at+5.28.05+PM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This weekend I took my last weekend trip to Paris. While packing, I prepared by watching my favorite movie centered around Paris, <u>Moulin Rouge</u>. I went directly with 4 other people, but there were 10 of us total in the same hostel. The flight was about 2 hours, and it was night time when we first got there. Our hostel wasn't far from the Moulin Rouge itself, so we spent the evening walking around a bit. Call me naive, or biased because of Ewan McGregor's smooth crooning in <u>Moulin Rouge</u>, but I thought the area was going to be way classier than it was. I'm not going to lie, the Moulin Rouge was a little trashier than I was expecting.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvYF3yVhWV_nSFgx5pMydCWT8VJAyxvdIdV97m-rr0N5yQOtiEka22QyKYxAvumCD8n4rxaFxhmqGJ5M-aVoyCiBwZ8tNYPd1bzM_3WnwjhVKSJjh3M79ZvxR4ugruo3_Ugmq5enHd8Rpr/s1600/IMG_0316_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvYF3yVhWV_nSFgx5pMydCWT8VJAyxvdIdV97m-rr0N5yQOtiEka22QyKYxAvumCD8n4rxaFxhmqGJ5M-aVoyCiBwZ8tNYPd1bzM_3WnwjhVKSJjh3M79ZvxR4ugruo3_Ugmq5enHd8Rpr/s200/IMG_0316_2.jpg" width="200" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">However, it was still fun to walk around the neighborhood, which was very lively. The first thing that struck me was how colorful Paris is. There are so many fluorescent lights, which Rome completely lacks. The chairs outside restaurants were all different colors, the metro stops were each brightly colored, and the buildings were painted differently. I made some French friends and some British friends that were making fun of my hiccups. The French people only laughed and hiccuped back at me, but the British man told me my hiccups were "exceptional." Thank you, sir!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We got up early the next morning and first went to the Louvre. The building itself is really beautiful, even more so with a stormy sky behind it. As a fine arts major this may be considered a sin, but I didn't want to stay in the Louvre for very long. The museum is enormous. Someone in our hostel told us they "saw some of it pretty quickly in about 6 hours." Looking at that much art all at once 1) makes you sick and 2) makes you forget everything you saw. I had never been to Paris before, so I wanted to see more things and experience the city rather than staying in one building for an entire day. Some day when I'm particularly interested in certain pieces in the Louvre, I will go back to Paris and study them. Don't think you got rid of me just yet, Paris--I'll be back sometime. So anyway, I basically went to the Louvre just to say I've been there. Sue me. I saw some Renaissance art, some Mantegnas which were interesting to me right now because I've been studying that period in my art history class. I saw the Mona Lisa in person, which really isn't interesting to me right now (not that I don't hold Leonardo in the highest regard, but the Mona Lisa, to me, has more cultural significance than visual significance. Leonardo da Vinci was a genius, and the Mona Lisa helped modernize portraits of women in the time period. But he's done more impressive paintings, drawings, inventions, sketches, etc... which make Mona Lisa overrated to me.) I also saw some awesome statues, such as </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">the Nike statue </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">a beautiful wooden Madonna</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Michelangelo's Slaves and</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">a veiled lady</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It was actually a very powerful building to be in. There's SO much art and history in there, much of which is incredibly monumental. My heart was beating while I was inside. Afterwards we set off for some churches. We saw Place Sainte Germain des Prés, which was a little underwhelming but it was undergoing some renovations. It did have beautiful stained glass though.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Then we saw Notre Dame, which was really beautiful!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It had this lush manger scene inside, as well as this intricate round stained glass window. Rome is mostly dominated by ancient architecture and decorations, and Renaissance architecture and decorations (which is a revival of ancient styles anyway). The Gothic architecture in Paris is so different from what I've become used to in Rome. The stained glass is a welcome improvement, in my opinion. I love the color and delicacy it adds to churches. The fan vaults are exciting, as are the added details in the facades. We saw all this again in Sainte-Chapelle, a chapel I remember seeing in my freshman year art history books. Picture don't do it justice, but it was actually breathtaking. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqH50dyPNy1SSN0YCu8sTjEWcl7n4A-ImhxxWkkTYzlPnMLLxzQIo-IOqNK5tTfv4pldyCcEXmlS8hAaVnEMYo80CyZ6ayXU5zVqa709ac1rD4KTypRENcUCRRnnoJqMayBlQPpoJmxgnR/s1600/IMG_0400_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqH50dyPNy1SSN0YCu8sTjEWcl7n4A-ImhxxWkkTYzlPnMLLxzQIo-IOqNK5tTfv4pldyCcEXmlS8hAaVnEMYo80CyZ6ayXU5zVqa709ac1rD4KTypRENcUCRRnnoJqMayBlQPpoJmxgnR/s200/IMG_0400_2.JPG" width="200" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After this we hiked up the Eiffel Tower. I told everyone I was pretty used to it because we have an Eiffel Tower at King's Island. (Just kidding. But it really does look the same, only a bit bigger and with a way better view). It was 704 steps to the 2nd platform (the smaller one towards the middle), from which we had to take an elevator to the very top. We were in line while the sun was setting, so we got to see the tower transform from day to night. We also got to see a nice sunset from the first platform (the big one near the bottom). From the top we could see all the colors of the city, as well as the Louvre, the river, and lots of other things I probably couldn't identify.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-KJgGFHVUvsCLDCW-o2DNaryjXBgN4H5DnAvL14eypH8zw2olA23KEliy-oEkgBTig5jXwHPTCAtWMPvc_rXXY-yixqa5qSIfsR7xRvgzmotMOR0IAlkolYThabDOl7ZX3atis6nmzYh/s1600/331326_2441511083212_1414860380_32780579_2119542936_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Although it was chillier in Paris than it has been in Rome, we didn't realize how nice the weather had been the first day until it was rainy and really cold the second day. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We saved only the best activities (a ferris wheel ride and shopping around at the outdoor Christmas markets all day) for the day with bad weather. The ferris wheel was pretty fun, and gave us a nice view of the city by day. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-KJgGFHVUvsCLDCW-o2DNaryjXBgN4H5DnAvL14eypH8zw2olA23KEliy-oEkgBTig5jXwHPTCAtWMPvc_rXXY-yixqa5qSIfsR7xRvgzmotMOR0IAlkolYThabDOl7ZX3atis6nmzYh/s1600/331326_2441511083212_1414860380_32780579_2119542936_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-KJgGFHVUvsCLDCW-o2DNaryjXBgN4H5DnAvL14eypH8zw2olA23KEliy-oEkgBTig5jXwHPTCAtWMPvc_rXXY-yixqa5qSIfsR7xRvgzmotMOR0IAlkolYThabDOl7ZX3atis6nmzYh/s200/331326_2441511083212_1414860380_32780579_2119542936_o.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Christmas markets were located all the way down Champs Elyssee, a fancy shopping street. We walked up and down, ate crepes, bought hats and gloves (it was freezing!), sampled cheeses and tea, and bought Christmas presents. We passed the location of a new Banana Republic opening December 8th on Champs Elyssee! I peeked inside and it looked super fancy.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicwR_kFaqI8znSb6jTefYpF2yDCfmEm2A3AAKtVFIhKtN1Fh8ABLssJlNcb0AyN0LNQu9e7pcxWzQ7TdCa6uGyUkYRLS69BYnXh689MRm6Dse-z8lfwd-0VdFAyVVlBNnhRn6OumoULiGh/s1600/328568_2441564764554_1414860380_32780590_403250523_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicwR_kFaqI8znSb6jTefYpF2yDCfmEm2A3AAKtVFIhKtN1Fh8ABLssJlNcb0AyN0LNQu9e7pcxWzQ7TdCa6uGyUkYRLS69BYnXh689MRm6Dse-z8lfwd-0VdFAyVVlBNnhRn6OumoULiGh/s200/328568_2441564764554_1414860380_32780590_403250523_o.jpg" width="199" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">At the end of the street is the Arc de Triomphe, which we walked around to look at. It's big and all, but too modern to be as cool as the arches in Rome. We stumbled upon a little restaurant (that turned out to be giant inside) that looked like a Christmas cabin from the outside. The porch was decorated with wood and spoons and christmas lights. The inside looked like a fancy garden party, also decorated with silver spoons everywhere! I had the most delicious, belly-warming meal of mashed potatoes and carrots, a pork chop, and brussel sprouts. Paris is nice because it gives you free water. Actually, everywhere except Rome seems to give you free water, which is ironic because Rome HAS free water in fountains every 5 minutes on the streets. I'm paying 3 euro for a bottle of water in a Roman restaurant while staring at the free-flowing drinking fountain outside the restaurant window.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEginLszZTQN67QsfuJgRW4yNsQyYBtUHaF7POSLuHPqHBvBoRWRj_OQBlww9iiFdf02Af6rJ3fJUQiEWBC2lVAKSL_u1l7XwVZH6xZKQf-meny5tdOIRTsc6RUbUnTinawSBg7V2VHG3E4_/s1600/341044_2441478002385_1414860380_32780563_932630453_o_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEginLszZTQN67QsfuJgRW4yNsQyYBtUHaF7POSLuHPqHBvBoRWRj_OQBlww9iiFdf02Af6rJ3fJUQiEWBC2lVAKSL_u1l7XwVZH6xZKQf-meny5tdOIRTsc6RUbUnTinawSBg7V2VHG3E4_/s200/341044_2441478002385_1414860380_32780563_932630453_o_2.jpg" width="200" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">That night all 10 of us went out to dinner at a fondue restaurant that got half of us sick. Unfortunately, we had to be out of the hostel early the next day, which made for a pretty bad Sunday. I kind of saw the Pére Lachaise Cemetery, which has the tombs of Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison in it. We didn't quite make it all the way to those tombs before we were too exhausted to keep walking. However, the cemetery was really beautiful and would have been better enjoyed in more ideal circumstances! Then my friends did some souvenir shopping while I sat on the street trying not to let my food poisoning get the best of me.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpnRwobqxsgtrfwKStd23ftEi0CemFe1MdXhGjfEGDcJxMmKxg-PjUrGBMgGbj_smEDI0yM67GtOmvUwm2rsQP1slvH82eys2rXGjgtoU5g64Yv2Ma9fq4HsGVFfIPWAuWsbifsYSw4XQJ/s1600/340227_2441468842156_1414860380_32780557_1552856011_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpnRwobqxsgtrfwKStd23ftEi0CemFe1MdXhGjfEGDcJxMmKxg-PjUrGBMgGbj_smEDI0yM67GtOmvUwm2rsQP1slvH82eys2rXGjgtoU5g64Yv2Ma9fq4HsGVFfIPWAuWsbifsYSw4XQJ/s200/340227_2441468842156_1414860380_32780557_1552856011_o.jpg" width="200" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We hiked up another hundred stairs to Sacré-Coeur (Sacred Heart), another beautiful church on top of a hill. Then I got dropped off at the hostel so I could sleep in a lobby chair until we had to go to the airport (which I ended up being at for hours and hours because they wouldn't let me on the plane. Then I had to fly home by myself and didn't get to bed for another 12 hours. I had to recover from this before I could bring myself to write anything good about Paris.)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What I found about Paris was that it's easier to love than Rome. Paris is fashionable and up-to-date. The metros are convenient and modern; the architecture is absolutely beautiful; the shopping is posh; the products are international. Paris has Starbucks and romantic towers and famous stained glass and five story Louis Vuittons. It's clean and big and colorful and fun. Paris is asking you to love it, and it's easy to say yes. Rome, on the other hand, has architecture that only appeals to certain tastes. It doesn't have international products or restaurants, save a few things. Its metro system is extremely limited. Rome isn't asking you to love it. Rome is just being itself, and accepting whoever happens to fall in love with it anyway. Paris is fun, but Rome is more genuine, which makes me love it so much more.</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884178332624487758.post-87331756723837227652011-11-30T11:48:00.001-08:002011-11-30T12:51:44.850-08:00The Past Weeks<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A week ago today, my family got here!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Two weeks from Saturday I leave Rome!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I haven't had time to say much the past few weeks because I've been so busy!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I saw the Pope! This is Pope Benedict XVI. Every Sunday at noon, he comes out this little window to bless the crowd that has gathered in St. Peter's Square. There was a call and response portion, then he greeted everyone in the square in multiple languages. I'm not Catholic, but it was still an awesome experience to be able to see him and be blessed by him. My favorite part was a group of really hip priests behind us that were waving a banner and singing some really upbeat songs in Italian. I wish I knew what they were so that I could learn them and introduce them to churches in America. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af;">Viva il Papa</span>!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Taylor and I bought a Christmas tree. We named him Leo and took him home via bus and metro. Then we crowned him with a Burger King crown and decorated him with Kinder chocolate and our collection of Kinder toys. Only the classiest of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af;">alberi di natale</span> for this apartment!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> I celebrated <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af;">mio compleanno</span> with my roommates! We went out for Mexican (any ethnic food [American included] is now our top pick for a nice dinner out). It included a delicious burrito, a super strong blue margarita, and some birthday cheesecake!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Then I got to meet up with my family at the airport and take them around Rome!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We saw:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Il colosseo</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af;">Forum Romanum</span>, including Nero's old gym, which is especially beautiful:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af;">e Basilica di San Pietro</span>, finally. I finally got to go in again!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Including Michelangelo's Pietá. Which is just so beautiful.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My dad went to Rome's Comedy Club with me one night. Renee, a friend a work, gave me her friend Marsha's contact information. Marsha helps run this English comedy club and has been inviting me to all her shows. I finally got to go which I was really happy about. They had 9 different comedians doing some standup. Some of them were definitely funny. Some of them were over my head. Marsha definitely had the smartest bit out of all of them.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Oh! And I finally got to see my mom's book in real life!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfjTsMpmvCCHNn1JfAOJxAcGyfw0S2F_CYq-ypRmNitxaoTRthJ8Ok4PFm6FnJ16sDVOjbYV3xWZ8w6ghbqWGUOHE6x_jZAuzhKAXK6fzQoaSJc-hhWLTwGbc8qsMMrh1inNAmfNM9nxhn/s1600/215000_214097378640443_213746525342195_652829_5115604_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfjTsMpmvCCHNn1JfAOJxAcGyfw0S2F_CYq-ypRmNitxaoTRthJ8Ok4PFm6FnJ16sDVOjbYV3xWZ8w6ghbqWGUOHE6x_jZAuzhKAXK6fzQoaSJc-hhWLTwGbc8qsMMrh1inNAmfNM9nxhn/s320/215000_214097378640443_213746525342195_652829_5115604_n.jpg" width="318" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's so beautiful! I made all my roommates read it and they loved it even though they're not from Cincinnati. I told them they would love it even more if they were from Cincinnati. My mouth started watering when I saw those paintings of Skyline Chili (cheddar cheese, miss it). And my eyes teared up when I finished it. I'm so proud of their hard work and I'm excited to be surrounded by all these familiar Christmas things when I return home.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We went out to really nice dinners, which is something I don't always get to do. We also had a relaxing Italian-American thanksgiving dinner with turkey breast, grilled vegetables, bread, mashed potatoes, and of course vino and chocolate.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We saw Campo di Fiori, I showed them around my neighborhood and my school. We tracked down car stores and shopped and ate gelato and pizza and pasta. Even though three days is nowhere near enough time in Rome, I'm glad they got to see a little glimpse of the life I've had the pleasure to be living the past three months.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It was a strange feeling having my family come here. It made it seem more concrete now that my old "real" life has merged with my new "fake" life.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Some mornings I still wake up and say, "Wow, I'm in Rome." Some days I can't believe that I'm casually walking through St. Peter's Square or on top of ruins that are thousands of years old.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I love it here and I'm not ready to leave in two and a half weeks!!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Tonight I have to finish my 15 page Art History paper.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Tomorrow I go to Paris.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Then the next two weeks are crunch time before final exams <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-size: xx-small;">(can't wait for school to be over) </span>PLUS crunch time for absorbing as much of Rome as I can before I get sent home.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #d0e0e3; font-size: large;">Bittersweet</span>.</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884178332624487758.post-1654467339476226032011-11-22T09:28:00.001-08:002011-11-22T09:28:56.079-08:00<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">The best part about a birthday abroad: My birthday started at midnight my time and ends at midnight Ohio time (of course). Which means I have a 30 hour long birthday!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884178332624487758.post-4012974233396224342011-11-14T05:25:00.001-08:002011-11-17T14:33:49.300-08:00Weekend Trip #4: Florence<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Last weekend we went on our final API trip to Firenze. We took a bus and it was about 3 or so hours. Here's what we saw:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Arno River. They have beautiful bridges and beautiful buildings lining the banks. One of the bridges has buildings on it, which almost makes it look like Venice. People were playing sports on the banks, and rowing down the river. It was so much more beautiful than the Tiber here in Rome. I think the Tiber has way more potential!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">On a walking tour, I learned that these buildings (and all other buildings with brick at the base) were originally used as tower houses. For safety reasons, there were no entrances from street level. Instead, they used ladders to climb up to the doors, and the buildings were connected to each other with ladders systems across the roofs.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Florence Cathedral, designed by Brunelleschi. The duomo is painted on the inside by Vasari, a late Mannerist/Broque-influencing artist. I love how ornate the cathedral is on the outside. It includes a bell tower and baptistry, but it has elaborate doors, windows, and niches with sculptures in them. It's much more breathtaking than many churches in Rome from the outside, although the inside is underwhelming (in my opinion).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">These are the bronze doors from the cathedral's baptistry from the competition of 1401! This is a big deal, and it's mentioned in every art history course, because the competition is basically what kicked off the Renaissance. Basically, Ghiberti and Brunelleschi (and others, but they were the main men) were asked to design a panel of the sacrifice of Isaac for the baptistry doors. Even though Brunelleschi's panel was more emotional (and preferred by some people..), Ghiberti won, mostly because his panel used less bronze, and was therefore cheaper. Even though Brunelleschi lost, he became one of the first leading Renaissance architects.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is Brunelleschi's on the left and Ghiberti's on the right. I still say Brunelleschi should have won, but I guess he did in the end because he got commissioned for awesome things like the duomo. And who's really heard of Ghiberti anyway? The only thing he won was also getting to design the doors on the other side of the baptistry.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We climbed the stairs of the bell tower. It was about 414 stairs (that's what they advertised, but I counted a few more). There were lots of views of Firenze through little windows on the way up, as well as a great view of the duomo and the city behind from the top. You can see the little people that climbed to the top of the duomo. We waved to them. I love how all the roofs are the exact same in the whole city. Brunelleschi's duomo was kind of a big deal at the time, although Michelangelo came along and did it better later (in my opinion):</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I know you feel really fooled by this optical illusion. It's okay, it happens to everybody. One day this will be a big thing, just like Pisa. Someone had to do that for the first time too!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">p.s.-In case you were wondering, today is the 81st birthday of Gió Pomodoro, according to Google (assuming the Google logo changes the same way in every country). He's the guy who made this sculpture, which is located in the Vatican Museums!:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I get it!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884178332624487758.post-76541001367438295652011-11-08T12:27:00.000-08:002011-11-08T12:27:46.486-08:00A Few of My Favorite Things:<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(apparently) These are a few of my favorite things because I've been missing them the most:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. Chipotle. Don't judge me. Last night I dreamed I left Rome early so that I could go home to Chipotle (but I was nervous because Rachel's package hadn't arrived yet and I didn't know if I should stay and wait for it or if they'd be able to ship it to me in America, even though it had just come from America, or what..).</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. Sookie. I know this is an obvious one. And I know you're not judging me for it.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. A living room atmosphere. This means comfortable couches or chairs filled with familiar friends or family set up on a rug, in a real room, in an arrangement around a working television that encourages social interaction.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4. Driving (or passenger-ing, I really don't care) with the windows down and the music up.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5. The confidence that if I start talking to someone on the street they will understand what I'm saying to them.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If I think of anything else I'll let you know.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884178332624487758.post-12280074234721001062011-11-06T07:25:00.000-08:002011-11-14T05:24:56.905-08:00The Four Major Basilicas of Rome<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have now officially been to all four major basilicas. These four churches, all located in Rome, are considered "major basilicas" because they have a holy door [</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">porta santa, which is sealed shut from the inside except during holy years, or Jubilees. Jubilees occur every 25 years and date at least back to the 1400s; the last was in 2000. Usually the Pope has to knock down the doors (which have been previously loosened of course), but Pope John Paul II changed it so that he only had to push the doors open (because they fell on Pope Paul VI the time before)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">], because they are the main destinations during the Jubilee (as appointed by Popes), and because only the Pope or people he appoints may celebrate mass here. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">They're located at these blue dots:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7xEQpQBsrjE6PmkGyGL0t4FsHOAIPw8qV2O6k3oYqnaGxxq1yBAmvJf8IcnJ2vfYv_gIVINvaPVRpHc5Qe9_N63uxBTblAccYJt9_ats4Pf5q7eS6LThgMw1UTVnebdONgLW67eLFR7Uu/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-11-05+at+8.16.02+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7xEQpQBsrjE6PmkGyGL0t4FsHOAIPw8qV2O6k3oYqnaGxxq1yBAmvJf8IcnJ2vfYv_gIVINvaPVRpHc5Qe9_N63uxBTblAccYJt9_ats4Pf5q7eS6LThgMw1UTVnebdONgLW67eLFR7Uu/s400/Screen+shot+2011-11-05+at+8.16.02+PM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Going clockwise, they are Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano (the Papal Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican), Basilica Papale di Santa Maria Maggiore (the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major), Arcibasilica di San Giovanne in Laterano (the Papal Archbasilica of St. John Lateran), and Basilica Papale di San Paolo Fuori le Mura (the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">First, St. Peter's.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxIN7KskMDUJbRj0geUZ-hPzjHGIYhFRwj6NianitITqhtrW9wILQ02r43orEXcJzR0OTYRoPz_X-gziOJ0Qa2N0oMlunWvKDgxmR2B30kwTwMNdjsEf4ZWeC2CgDOPzSA3iplFuKlOg9_/s1600/Basilica_of_Saint_Peter_view.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxIN7KskMDUJbRj0geUZ-hPzjHGIYhFRwj6NianitITqhtrW9wILQ02r43orEXcJzR0OTYRoPz_X-gziOJ0Qa2N0oMlunWvKDgxmR2B30kwTwMNdjsEf4ZWeC2CgDOPzSA3iplFuKlOg9_/s200/Basilica_of_Saint_Peter_view.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
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St. Peter's has the largest interior of any Christian church (it covers 5.7 acres). It's important because Saint Peter was named the first Pope when Jesus handed him the keys to heaven. This basilica is built over the tomb of Saint Peter. It is built over Old St. Peter's in 1505 (or at least that's when Pope Julius II actually decided to demolish the old basilica. The building wasn't finished for the next 120 years). Bramante, Raphael, and Michelangelo all drew plans for the new basilica, but the majority of the final design is usually attributed to Michelangelo. Inside is an altar by Bernini (kind of seen in the lower picture), the Pietá by Michelangelo, and contributions by Bramante.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I live about a fifteen minute walk from Piazza San Pietro. If you get close enough, you can hear the church bells ringing on the hours. It's a giant square that includes post offices, shops, the steps with the Swiss guards, fountains, an obelisk, and the facade of St. Peter's. Right outside are numerous restaurants and tourist shops. It's an awesome place to be able to walk to regularly or ride by on the bus on a daily basis.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Next, St. Mary Major.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">St. Mary's, located a few metro stops across the river from where I live, is the largest Catholic church dedicated to Mary in Rome. It's also called Our Lady of the Snow because of a legend that snow fell in the middle of the summer on the place that a temple should be built for Mary. It is also the burial site of St. Jerome, who created the Vulgate, the first Latin translation of the Bible.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The church was built by Pope Sixtus III in the 400s right after a council that proclaimed that Mary was the mother of God. It's been expanded and partially rebuilt since then, however, especially after the earthquake in 1348. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This basilica has the highest bell tower in Rome, which you can see in the photo. Inside, the elaborate ceilings are decorated with Inca gold. The apse and nave are completely made of mosaic, which contains some of the earliest depictions of Mary, dating back to the 5th century. The nave mosaics mostly contain images of Moses.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">To the right you can see the porta santa, which is always available from the outside, but is bricked off from the inside. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Third, St. John's.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeFtlZI6Nieqo2khi1CQcEMOh3mRA8SBX9yjudWNdq38sgfajh8wcJdRsJnqlWKPfMNfPmpM_nHDeDD-1Rgp2aFUmDOouVCJH7-H1P0_FhpPzKdo8IBCR_PAiDXQnPlHIvVkPwiTWjaHrH/s1600/San-Giovanni-in-Laterano.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeFtlZI6Nieqo2khi1CQcEMOh3mRA8SBX9yjudWNdq38sgfajh8wcJdRsJnqlWKPfMNfPmpM_nHDeDD-1Rgp2aFUmDOouVCJH7-H1P0_FhpPzKdo8IBCR_PAiDXQnPlHIvVkPwiTWjaHrH/s200/San-Giovanni-in-Laterano.jpeg" width="199" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Saint John Lateran is the oldest (consecrated in 324) and highest ranking of the four major basilicas because it is the official seat of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope (which is why it is an arch-basilica), as well as the ecumenical mother church of the whole world for Catholics. As with St. Mary Major, it is part of the Holy See, which is kind of like an extension of Vatican City.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The basilica has been rededicated to Saint John the Baptist and later Saint John the Evangelist, who are now both co-patrons of the church, although it is understood that it is mainly dedicated to Jesus.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEistTXeNpgxvOv1l_8TTSQRYRslGg74RPzQAa_AEkpiyTxQloq-ecfT9f6c5gvY3MAbbPbnWxcwe3U6HlH9Z1Fo0HAPtkaQfuOPH8MA-NxSMRdIxJv2oZf5liJdxTrVvAdc_t3V8KQTX7W0/s1600/1266390.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEistTXeNpgxvOv1l_8TTSQRYRslGg74RPzQAa_AEkpiyTxQloq-ecfT9f6c5gvY3MAbbPbnWxcwe3U6HlH9Z1Fo0HAPtkaQfuOPH8MA-NxSMRdIxJv2oZf5liJdxTrVvAdc_t3V8KQTX7W0/s200/1266390.jpeg" width="200" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The facade was rebuilt in 1735 by Alessandro Galilei, looks like a palace, and was modeled after Michelangelo's palace on the Capitoline Hill, with colossal order columns creating an oversized entryway.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Across the street from the church is an apse that is still standing, even though the rest of its original building is not. Like St. Mary's and the apse inside St. John's, this apse is made entirely of mosaic, and depicts the handing of the keys.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Inside the church is the Papal Throne as well as several Popes' tombs.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Last, St. Paul's Outside the Walls</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It has to be specified that this is St. Paul's Basilica Outside the Walls (of Rome) because there is another, lesser, St. Paul's inside the walls of Rome.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This basilica was founded by the Emperor Constantine in the 4th century, and is built over the burial site of Saint Paul (relatively recently, they did testing on a tomb found beneath the church and found that the body dated back to the 1st or 2nd century). Other emperors worked to improve it, and by the 5th century it was monumental because it was larger than Old St. Peter's Basilica at the time, and is still the second largest of the four great basilicas in Rome.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It has been rebuilt after the earthquake in 1348 and a fire in 1823, and was reopened in the 1800s. During the second rebuilding, all different countries contributed--Egypt sent alabaster, Russia sent lapis lazuli. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This basilica is unique, surrounded by a large colonnade and eclectic, with pieces from all different countries and time periods. The interior is unique because of the simple rectangular layout with no chairs or decorations, which gives it a very open and clean feel. It contains ancient mosaics, a Medieval tabernacle, and even some 20th century additions.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It's interesting to note the similarities and differences between the four basilicas. St. John's, St. Mary's, and St. Peter's all have similar facades with statues across the top. St. John's and St. Paul's both have statues of all the disciples along the walls. St. Peter's and St. Paul's have similar uses of ornamental gold in the ceilings and mosaics. However, they also all have their unique meanings and stories which makes them each fascinating and beautiful.</span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884178332624487758.post-52867175355790818422011-11-03T11:21:00.000-07:002011-11-14T05:25:12.227-08:00Sometimes Italians Listen to Their Own Music!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">I have some excellent Italian music videos for you:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Nel Blu Di Pinto Di Blu (Volare)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">"In the blue painted blue,</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Happy to be up there"</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">by Domenico Modugno</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">24000 Baci</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">"24000 Kisses"</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">by Adriano Celentano</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Insieme a Te Non Ci Sto Piú"</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">"With you there is more"</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">by Caterina Caselli</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Bella"</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">"Like a beautiful morning</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Crystal clear water</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Like a window that illuminates the pillow.."</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">by Jovanotti</span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884178332624487758.post-18476012199266505132011-10-30T10:51:00.000-07:002011-10-30T10:51:58.436-07:00Italians use strollers for children up to the age of about seven.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Today I stumbled upon the Ikea, where I ate meatballs and mashed potatoes and cheesecake (a regular Thanksgiving meal), and bought space slippers which are pretty awesome.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Then I walked past a little park where everyone was locked inside (?) and dancing (but not like professionally..just circles of people casually dancing to music). And everyone else was sitting outside eating peanuts and drinking beers watching them. I hope you're confused because I was too. I spend a lot of time here being confused as to what's going on. But that makes it fun, right?</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884178332624487758.post-65368197827765537622011-10-28T04:53:00.001-07:002011-10-28T04:54:01.464-07:00Introduction to Italian Driving<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">There must be some rules Italian drivers follow, but they're certainly not the same as American driving rules. Another difference is that driving rules are enforced in America. It seems that in Germany, the rules aren't enforced because Germans like to obey. In Italy, rules aren't enforced because the responsibility is left to the individual, and it seems to work okay for them.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">For the rest of us, it's terrifying. Here are a few rules I've picked up on through real-life observation.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">For vespa drivers:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">If the street is too crowded, you have a few options. You can weave in and out of cars, stopping dangerously close to the sides of busses and humans. You can ignore lights and other driving signs in order to pass everyone you can, especially if your small child is seated on the back and you're eating a panino. You can travel in packs that terrorize the streets. Or, if the streets are just too crowded, you can certainly drive on the sidewalk. Just honk at the pedestrians until they move.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">For bus drivers:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Busses can fit through car-sized spaces, so don't be afraid to squeeze in between cars. You don't always have to stop at stops, and you may arrive according to whatever schedule you want to follow (or no schedule at all). You can mess with riders by opening all doors except the one they're standing at, or by shutting doors on their feet. Slamming on your breaks suddenly is usually a crowd pleaser. Also, feel free to stop for smoke breaks at random intervals and stop only inches away from the cars in front of you.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">For car drivers:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">As long as no cars are coming from the opposite direction, any lane is free game to drive in. If no lanes are available, feel free to create an additional lane in between cars. If pedestrians are crossing, you can still drive even when your light is red. You should probably honk all the time. The Italians have perfected the "friendly honk" (a beep beep for: "hey, you're in my way," "your car's still sticking into my lane a little bit," "I see you're about to back into me, please don't," "will you wait right there for a second so I can pass you?") but they've also perfected the rude honk. And the honking for no apparent reason at all.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">When parking:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Even though your car is the smallest car on the market, you can take up a giant space if you want. You can park in the middle of the street (literally the middle. Don't worry, just leave it there over night. It's okay.) You can double park whenever you'd like. You can park the opposite direction on a one-way street, or drive the wrong way on a one-way in order to back up into a parking spot.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">For pedestrians:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #323232; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Consider that you are never safe. If you're on the sidewalk, you could still get hit. If you're crossing when you have a green light, you could still get run over. If you're just walking and minding your own business you'll probably still get honked at. If you're sitting eating at a restaurant, you might have to pick your table up off the street for a minute so that cars can pass. The metro might be the safest route for you.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884178332624487758.post-84660894553633565372011-10-27T13:49:00.000-07:002011-10-27T13:49:10.473-07:00Weekend Trip #3: Barcelona<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikHMvaGhbVl8y344pkoXSktcN-pWXbvMocJAQGDJgpV8cyaXFwwbEy3FaDLaj5jPKKmYvDm9R9cFD3Tdab4wrTnUUDU6G1q-_SZjHKk93ttE60FDxw1rQBaLYgsynJz4jR0Smddv6JPOI0/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-10-26+at+10.45.00+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikHMvaGhbVl8y344pkoXSktcN-pWXbvMocJAQGDJgpV8cyaXFwwbEy3FaDLaj5jPKKmYvDm9R9cFD3Tdab4wrTnUUDU6G1q-_SZjHKk93ttE60FDxw1rQBaLYgsynJz4jR0Smddv6JPOI0/s400/Screen+shot+2011-10-26+at+10.45.00+PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This weekend I went to Barcelona with two of my roommates (Caitlin and Kaitlyn) and three other girls.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Caitlin's friend from home (Izzy) is studying in Barcelona, so she was our tour guide most of the time, which was convenient because we didn't have to plan everything out on our own and we didn't get lost at all.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I was surprised at how different Barcelona feels than Rome. Overall, the city is much more <i>with it</i> than Rome. The typically stubborn Romans are happy in their old habits and don't feel the need to modernize themselves or their city. Barcelona has more convenient stores (instead of separate stores--tabacchi shops, farmacias, bancomats, small grocery stores) with more "American" brands like Lays, Pringles, Orbit and Trident gum (I stocked up on normal gum before I left). They have multiple subway lines, which makes it much easier to get around. Of course the architecture is much more modern, which means that stores have larger floor plans and it's not as cramped. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The people were also very polite. They weren't overly friendly like in Palermo, just more <i>polite</i>. They certainly waited for everyone to get off the subway before they got on, which is much different than the Roman battle to make it inside, or out of, the metro car. They also have a sense of personal space, and will actually walk around you instead of into you, or give you a little room to breathe on the subway.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The streets were much cleaner than Rome's, even though you can see street cleaners all the time here. The women dressed much more fashionably than in Rome. There was a certain energy that carried over into the nightlife that was way more upbeat and seemed to attract a younger crowd. Lot of bars served popcorn, and I liked that. We drank lots of Sangria, and went to a "shots bar," which had a wall filled with the names of shots, but not their ingredients. Basically, you were blindly ordering drinks based on their names. Lots were served on fire. There were also nice clubs and bars all along the beach that were packed every night. It was a much more glamorous nightlife than in Rome!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7qcIhyphenhyphentdQ-sFsiWujraNIWUZ5rylpyEYBERrBZB8TlD2T9iaZ7wRSY5-mYGDCIl46YvFcybta_WtUc56KgOKgtB85EPVhb-gm8r0cs42fEW2NMi4zNS9E87kFgwlc-j1IIn7YNcxWebq_/s1600/IMG_5154_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7qcIhyphenhyphentdQ-sFsiWujraNIWUZ5rylpyEYBERrBZB8TlD2T9iaZ7wRSY5-mYGDCIl46YvFcybta_WtUc56KgOKgtB85EPVhb-gm8r0cs42fEW2NMi4zNS9E87kFgwlc-j1IIn7YNcxWebq_/s200/IMG_5154_2.JPG" width="199" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fancy popsicles!</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The first day we had lunch at Bo de B's, a super famous and delicious sandwich place [</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">they had seasoned and grilled chicken on a baguette, topped with fresh peppers, olives, lettuce, tomatoes, and some special sauces</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">]. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In the afternoon we got popsicles at a little place that had fresh fruit popsicles that they could dip in whatever you wanted--milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and different kinds of nuts. I had kiwi dipped in milk chocolate, which was interestingly tart and sweet. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For dinner we went to a </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">tex-mex place (interesting choice of meal in Barcelona, I know, but we're starved for good mexican food in Rome). I had the most delicious burrito of my recent life (I'm craving Chipotle so much right now). The next day we got some Starbucks! (which we're also lacking in Rome). That night we went out for a typical tapas dinner (kind of like a lot of plates of appetizers you share with the group). We had some seafood, some fried potato balls, some fried potatoes with fancysauce on them.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Here are some of the sights we saw:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSAMbvODjdL5IwTDsIG_QzPoC0gxHdg-Db9FHFnZKPu0BFo5D_2BaK_gU32xtVa7iye-fFpC9P1UO6Leq_q5xCanymJojC6ID6YIGebvWSVIZT_tt6rlJ82vYaNsdD3meyuITdrDGonays/s1600/IMG_5132_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSAMbvODjdL5IwTDsIG_QzPoC0gxHdg-Db9FHFnZKPu0BFo5D_2BaK_gU32xtVa7iye-fFpC9P1UO6Leq_q5xCanymJojC6ID6YIGebvWSVIZT_tt6rlJ82vYaNsdD3meyuITdrDGonays/s200/IMG_5132_2.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The square where they apparently<br />welcomed Christopher Columbus back<br />from discovering America<br />(questionable).<br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA9x307VbFkqo7Bp9WuXdeFohASOdfLgMl-vlc8P3dUsX2DOx4QTb8clUt4E9tVkfUTKN9Xr4bS8ha5b5umb7pUNL2SO3vnbuejRk-7jsNqUKxhPtTU5rfq3Z_Jff1OOpteWqQNa8EobXv/s1600/IMG_5135_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA9x307VbFkqo7Bp9WuXdeFohASOdfLgMl-vlc8P3dUsX2DOx4QTb8clUt4E9tVkfUTKN9Xr4bS8ha5b5umb7pUNL2SO3vnbuejRk-7jsNqUKxhPtTU5rfq3Z_Jff1OOpteWqQNa8EobXv/s200/IMG_5135_2.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The carrer del Bisbe, the Bishop's street,<br />a famous skywalk linking the<br />President's house to the Catalan<br />Government seat in the Gothic district.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">La Seu Cathedral, also in the Gothic<br />district of the city.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">La Seu Cathedral from the inside.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">La Boqueria, a large market filled with<br />all kinds of fresh fruit juices, chocolates,<br />fruits, and meats.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY9EWSmsjyJQrkwUjbys-lUEZLnLleTz9iVdo6lMSv2kbv-Hz8w_STevgzjpgAnfMxzrPyrvmsI9rerVe9PXjWPiJ66NaMnzhkDns_8ohTNqAevVMZEUgOKb8fCHeQhyphenhyphen-c2vNYv9s7wAma/s1600/IMG_5139_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY9EWSmsjyJQrkwUjbys-lUEZLnLleTz9iVdo6lMSv2kbv-Hz8w_STevgzjpgAnfMxzrPyrvmsI9rerVe9PXjWPiJ66NaMnzhkDns_8ohTNqAevVMZEUgOKb8fCHeQhyphenhyphen-c2vNYv9s7wAma/s200/IMG_5139_2.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The beach! Probably a little bit more<br />fun while it was still warm out.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from way high up in<br />Park Guell.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A beautiful fountain in Ciutadella Park.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Arc de Triomphe</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQW_lXYb3tPplKDpTcncOdRCspUGaSbmbwe7QD-Bw88DPr0iuBSaT-6VMvXuIjP6pip8CZFuES7kFK7sC6ueAcI_ljcm31j0I_3gOC1tusDYz2CVeEJfLKsrd3k2QNG9sNQpTnnFQaBlk/s1600/IMG_5153_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQW_lXYb3tPplKDpTcncOdRCspUGaSbmbwe7QD-Bw88DPr0iuBSaT-6VMvXuIjP6pip8CZFuES7kFK7sC6ueAcI_ljcm31j0I_3gOC1tusDYz2CVeEJfLKsrd3k2QNG9sNQpTnnFQaBlk/s200/IMG_5153_2.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The square where they do the castell,<br />the human towers.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFMilhmTX73geBUExr3Ism4H4u2sVWe7TXzCxqA6rMAnEpr8kjIFm5EMycTT6CacyVBn_k70HmkTAuHk1z5JY07OUGf4G_eUXdhKLutPHUuRO81syNu141aECqzw7aF1TUMrN4gNPpF3XZ/s1600/297814_2249116621483_1055231576_32149629_1129998651_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFMilhmTX73geBUExr3Ism4H4u2sVWe7TXzCxqA6rMAnEpr8kjIFm5EMycTT6CacyVBn_k70HmkTAuHk1z5JY07OUGf4G_eUXdhKLutPHUuRO81syNu141aECqzw7aF1TUMrN4gNPpF3XZ/s200/297814_2249116621483_1055231576_32149629_1129998651_n.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Arenas Shopping Center</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7vCWbJoHbRIuZ7lOv2HPCeuUrLUnqqhP-JY-fSRCG_YVG3zKrolRlZVMB8ZJXZSfpjk-D-zXXq2CoMT_tdtg_iCgnp_tCdLFttO3wC7hHdD1ChL5xfEn8fCUE0GRQs9mvrdCoD4ttfBKm/s1600/302361_2249119381552_1055231576_32149637_1910529687_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7vCWbJoHbRIuZ7lOv2HPCeuUrLUnqqhP-JY-fSRCG_YVG3zKrolRlZVMB8ZJXZSfpjk-D-zXXq2CoMT_tdtg_iCgnp_tCdLFttO3wC7hHdD1ChL5xfEn8fCUE0GRQs9mvrdCoD4ttfBKm/s200/302361_2249119381552_1055231576_32149637_1910529687_n.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "Magic Fountain," which dances<br />to pop music and changes color. I love<br />the silhouettes in front of it.<br /></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The second day I fell in love with Gaudi. I had no idea how many of the important buildings in Barcelona he designed. [</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Gaudi loved architecture, religion, nature, and Catalonia. He led the Modernism movement around Barcelona, and nature as an inspiration is very obvious in his architecture. He was interested in all kinds of crafts including ironwork, ceramics, carpentry, and stained glass, all of which are evident in his designs. He was influenced by the Gothic Revival and died in 1926, during the Arts and Crafts Movement.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">] Here are some that we saw:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">These are from <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af;">Park Guell</span>. The entrance has two gingerbread looking buildings that you can see in the first picture. The roof line is very organic which is typical of Gaudi. All three pictures have the broken ceramic or mosaic look. The mosaic lizard is probably one of the most famous icons of Barcelona.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN9GEXAP4ghRwVS3yIabhofAanpPU_SlQ8T7MBsqvLK6lT9n_O81GdV3_MJay0fELgw8MTepoKSJCPB5yjSVMD8E22lgeh9D9XP-s1xvRZXOSVfk4d4g3LVKNGAxLHHgga4GmhKtPeloR-/s1600/IMG_5167.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN9GEXAP4ghRwVS3yIabhofAanpPU_SlQ8T7MBsqvLK6lT9n_O81GdV3_MJay0fELgw8MTepoKSJCPB5yjSVMD8E22lgeh9D9XP-s1xvRZXOSVfk4d4g3LVKNGAxLHHgga4GmhKtPeloR-/s200/IMG_5167.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af;">Casa Batllo</span> (hiding behind a tree), originally built as a house that's now rented out as apartment buildings. It's supposed to look like a bone structure on the bottom with skull-esque balconies, but you can't really see those in the picture.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMajdizgo_ZkSIwOa9rZqYV8HkyeX-lVEDO4ZzzLsa6TbgaoeOuhk-8PPCMe00eYrKVON0WFH39rgme1YMmt6OBA0fY-92rZaqDTwMbNe1vXDIaJI7OdNqKnqAEil2tCtyWep_lPQug5P1/s1600/312890_2249086260724_1055231576_32149553_98238471_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMajdizgo_ZkSIwOa9rZqYV8HkyeX-lVEDO4ZzzLsa6TbgaoeOuhk-8PPCMe00eYrKVON0WFH39rgme1YMmt6OBA0fY-92rZaqDTwMbNe1vXDIaJI7OdNqKnqAEil2tCtyWep_lPQug5P1/s200/312890_2249086260724_1055231576_32149553_98238471_n.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfkFs001WX2bKx6J_B1d_nh5vNq5M7_ZDNwOA-rtNblzv0LWK9bwgJPtmhuv9xGABtVe0G0TMnoTjACI9IDkUuor8xGDGsiiyDdquAs69F7R9P39lQOXALDt5VXjM47BMEWeehrtFLKzvt/s1600/296690_2249091620858_1055231576_32149568_1035848215_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfkFs001WX2bKx6J_B1d_nh5vNq5M7_ZDNwOA-rtNblzv0LWK9bwgJPtmhuv9xGABtVe0G0TMnoTjACI9IDkUuor8xGDGsiiyDdquAs69F7R9P39lQOXALDt5VXjM47BMEWeehrtFLKzvt/s200/296690_2249091620858_1055231576_32149568_1035848215_n.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijPU00JQoUV9EElZGRXCq-7mLd03IvW_gXBHfLBR-z3XgwMWSNMa5FGpNE9tr7z-UiGTXJjimSimVB9SBqLi-5gUT4mj2Ir9n7Ve2jx0QUCutu26t_J2xCzik-oLMetn-fgmiQ5wESMLgY/s1600/300951_2249094940941_1055231576_32149578_2139712500_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijPU00JQoUV9EElZGRXCq-7mLd03IvW_gXBHfLBR-z3XgwMWSNMa5FGpNE9tr7z-UiGTXJjimSimVB9SBqLi-5gUT4mj2Ir9n7Ve2jx0QUCutu26t_J2xCzik-oLMetn-fgmiQ5wESMLgY/s200/300951_2249094940941_1055231576_32149578_2139712500_n.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Across the street from Casa Batllo is <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af;">La Pedrera</span>, another Gaudi apartment building. Here you can see the building, again with it's organic, nature-inspired waves, the structures on the roof below that, the view from the roof on the right, and the view out a window of one of the apartments. The roof is like a double-figure-eight, with stairs going up and down and all around the pathways. There are arches inside these spiral structures, which are covered in mosaic decorations. Inside the apartment there are Gaudi-designed wooden chairs, iron floral balconies, and Art Nouveau furniture and decorations.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And, of course, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af;">Sagrada Familia</span>:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi3gX3TpqZ1t8tMCEBiMI0mKW5w5ep5cOZx5lZn4YbVpL_pfnowBR0YKI11EgBpjmsdOusivBLKrPlphyphenhyphentVZPxsubOm1fYOUd8smwQWHBb8NRjKmL2A0_zYJQxBKPRq2uRJ-6SknvX5QrR/s1600/303930_2249105541206_1055231576_32149606_1199523896_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi3gX3TpqZ1t8tMCEBiMI0mKW5w5ep5cOZx5lZn4YbVpL_pfnowBR0YKI11EgBpjmsdOusivBLKrPlphyphenhyphentVZPxsubOm1fYOUd8smwQWHBb8NRjKmL2A0_zYJQxBKPRq2uRJ-6SknvX5QrR/s200/303930_2249105541206_1055231576_32149606_1199523896_n.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXBfleCRZX7kjQL2By47v258spCZU1jyK-U9m0LRc2aMkXfU4O2ZnKK2iXaPUoc7w34Jq3zjhhEY0fHaQ83V_uUMP7PCvl47Jft932qg6Du5LlOhNFj9rdib4XcrXyf_3Z55CyEd8mxdjV/s1600/319564_2249092260874_1055231576_32149570_179304851_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXBfleCRZX7kjQL2By47v258spCZU1jyK-U9m0LRc2aMkXfU4O2ZnKK2iXaPUoc7w34Jq3zjhhEY0fHaQ83V_uUMP7PCvl47Jft932qg6Du5LlOhNFj9rdib4XcrXyf_3Z55CyEd8mxdjV/s200/319564_2249092260874_1055231576_32149570_179304851_n.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkGqLPIMuXsDtbXh1iUs6ttSpg_8E7vs2yRveSzLLaNQSuUh7Pqfo1o8rIevaNL2gXtE78hFjR6qRpicuqEAUKflEyoyYqHMzKOgvjbhoa0UTnCabn5v9exrCetGmNhwVpEqWRrz5CrKXZ/s1600/299862_2249099101045_1055231576_32149589_454185108_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkGqLPIMuXsDtbXh1iUs6ttSpg_8E7vs2yRveSzLLaNQSuUh7Pqfo1o8rIevaNL2gXtE78hFjR6qRpicuqEAUKflEyoyYqHMzKOgvjbhoa0UTnCabn5v9exrCetGmNhwVpEqWRrz5CrKXZ/s200/299862_2249099101045_1055231576_32149589_454185108_n.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The top left photo shows the BEST view of the whole thing, as seen from the roof of La Pedrera. Next to that is an inside wall and ceiling. What an optical illusion, right? To the left is a stained glass window, which Gaudi loved.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtyPouzPOUOJCbvYBYzjll39whNSo7y2adGO9_5o56BjlT-ODR79_wVbIqA9WR_YFl76Z3uFvU53dEB8Lh1-1ArGGA32kRWAkVQj89KOxPQRPO7tkWX6xXUk32r1HTBZ8RyJT-nqa9pB-A/s1600/318605_2249097220998_1055231576_32149585_1983971179_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtyPouzPOUOJCbvYBYzjll39whNSo7y2adGO9_5o56BjlT-ODR79_wVbIqA9WR_YFl76Z3uFvU53dEB8Lh1-1ArGGA32kRWAkVQj89KOxPQRPO7tkWX6xXUk32r1HTBZ8RyJT-nqa9pB-A/s200/318605_2249097220998_1055231576_32149585_1983971179_n.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Below on the left is part of the facade, which has geometric, stylized sculptures on it. And next to that is the ceiling, which feels like a canopy.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have to give some photo credits to Caitlin because my camera died.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizX7BQODMGNfYdsC-k9Uit8avzjgXXyUhHZyOEhHvp4gDpQfFVGarfjgiZPckcYeZCVdesVqpKzWy1wg2uGr4r5_yN2qxSlDwg65JLGh7YbZZgcQyA3cxJg-DvjjdFeetFJSb3XuplpCf7/s1600/309784_2249098581032_1055231576_32149588_1722371324_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizX7BQODMGNfYdsC-k9Uit8avzjgXXyUhHZyOEhHvp4gDpQfFVGarfjgiZPckcYeZCVdesVqpKzWy1wg2uGr4r5_yN2qxSlDwg65JLGh7YbZZgcQyA3cxJg-DvjjdFeetFJSb3XuplpCf7/s200/309784_2249098581032_1055231576_32149588_1722371324_n.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884178332624487758.post-62770483297107961682011-10-20T07:03:00.000-07:002011-10-20T07:03:48.624-07:00Oh, Mamma Mia!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Last night I went to see <i>Mamma Mia! </i>(in Italian!) The theater was much more modern than I was expecting. The show was really fun, even if I didn't know what they were saying most of the time. Apparently "money money money" and "dancing queen" don't translate to Italian, because they kept those phrases in English.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It was the best when they turned it into an ABBA dance party after the final bows. Does this always happen at Italian musicals? Sign me up for more.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Today the city flooded. The metros were closed for a period of time, and not all the busses were running. I got to walk to school in this. And then I got to take a really hard mid-term in soaking wet jeans. Wet like I just jumped in a pool. Wet like my chair had a puddle on it when I got up after two hours. Also, the exam was terrible. I'm the only person in the class. Thanks, prof.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But now I have ten days off school, and I think they'll be the best ten days of my Roman life! Tonight I'm off to Barcelona.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884178332624487758.post-14785665684553333642011-10-16T10:43:00.000-07:002011-10-16T10:43:55.089-07:00The Best Sunday Ever<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Today is an excellent day. Here's why:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The weather is gorgeous. The air is cool and crisp, but there's lots of sun. It's finally fall in Rome and it feels great!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I just made chocolate chip cookies. Easier said than done in Rome. My roommates' first batch was a disaster, and they were impressed I could make cookies from scratch. (I don't think that should be that surprising. They're my favorite food and they're super easy.)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I also just made bagels! Everyone is allowed to be impressed at this one. They don't really have bagels here, and I've been dying for them. These were the best bagels ever. It was an entire day's work that we ate in ten minutes.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now it's time to skype my parents then have a roommate family dinner.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Yay, Sundays!</span></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884178332624487758.post-34778473473227341642011-10-13T03:18:00.000-07:002011-10-13T03:18:10.575-07:00<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After almost a month and a half in this apartment, we're finally cracking the Italian repairmen. 4 appointments later, we got our hot water mostly fixed so that (most of the time) we can take (fairly) hot showers. They just cleaned out our shower head so that more than a drip of water comes out (water pressure is a gift). They're coming today to clean out the shower drain so that it actually drains the water. Yesterday they cleaned out the sink drain so that <i>that</i> can drain the water. We got our dishwasher fixed so that it is able to clean dishes. I think we have the maintenance number memorized.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We got a roommate trash schedule down so that the trash is actually being taken out, as well as a sign up sheet to buy essentials like toilet paper, soap, and napkins so that they're always in stock.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We also learned to be quiet all the time so that our neighbors stop complaining about us.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now we just need to buy a few more pots so that there's not a line of 8 people waiting to cook pasta for dinner. And maybe a few more bowls since we seem to be down to 2..</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We might be a little slow, but we'll get this Italian living perfected eventually!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884178332624487758.post-26217230201761571182011-10-11T04:33:00.000-07:002011-10-11T04:33:39.292-07:00Weekend Trip #2: Soriano and Sicily<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKxpoOtzy1mLho4n05CVVtoHVasH92XKTNjZ-56vXDfKiK_f1-gQpHzVhzIupgxT0VKevCn7wb3Uy-ev9N3amLmn0iZ9b12ulH9TLg5RKBYnOR6JkBbNa1b3jjp96JIRWhlUQQEjvy6cMw/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-10-11+at+12.06.02+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKxpoOtzy1mLho4n05CVVtoHVasH92XKTNjZ-56vXDfKiK_f1-gQpHzVhzIupgxT0VKevCn7wb3Uy-ev9N3amLmn0iZ9b12ulH9TLg5RKBYnOR6JkBbNa1b3jjp96JIRWhlUQQEjvy6cMw/s400/Screen+shot+2011-10-11+at+12.06.02+PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soriano nel Cimino, about an hour and a half<br />bus ride from Rome</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This weekend we took our second longer trip. First, half the API group went to Soriano nel Cimino, a small medieval town </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> for the day on Friday.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> There was a sword fighting troupe whose "performances" (synchronized sword fighting, fights, towers of people, and marching band) are based on the town's ancient traditions.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The town was located up a mountain, and it was the chilliest I've been since I got to Italy. It was a overcast all day, although it only actually rained for a few minutes. (Actually, it began raining right when a prisoner was killed in a reenactment. The timing couldn't have been better-it was just like a movie.)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH-M3Oz1ajyegboBubXSnUI-EF2S-CdkK9aMvPCnfT1arulNT3LvEAG5UfIInudRS06uQHDj_4OvopoiYZZIeXQgNJ9lXEPUd83w8wB3Lp4AEK8Kyua489-SFcwe97lSFG7w1C265fHfYc/s1600/IMG_4967_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH-M3Oz1ajyegboBubXSnUI-EF2S-CdkK9aMvPCnfT1arulNT3LvEAG5UfIInudRS06uQHDj_4OvopoiYZZIeXQgNJ9lXEPUd83w8wB3Lp4AEK8Kyua489-SFcwe97lSFG7w1C265fHfYc/s320/IMG_4967_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The human tower the swordsmen made</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">First we walked up the mountain to see the area that they originally had to survey and pretended we were searching for a place to set up camp. While we were looking at our leader, Davide's, new campsite, he got attacked by another swordsman! They killed the intruder, but still thought it was best that we all learn how to sword fight just in case.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We began with wooden sticks and learned a few moves to attack people, block attacks, and slit peoples' throats. Then we were quizzed on our moves by the swordsmen. When we passed, a few of us were handed real swords (slightly scarier) and practiced our coordinated moves with those. Once we had earned our certificates in sword fighting (literal pieces of paper), we had a four course lunch in a little restaurant in the town, complete with bread, pasta, meat appetizers, red wine and sparkling white wine, and a delicious kind of shortbread dessert.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQfRpA0IsvZ_u9ndiyMxY9p2iEWzgyDQcf7n271n0rALT0dBFn0Et_KEslG1SMw-zR-rwyQhXLATFwg-5mf9OiTx2ORwJYswSffd-RR9C8pbK5ak5fSyo2ZkX8SWdMBa9JuHkgnTDMn7BK/s1600/IMG_4941_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQfRpA0IsvZ_u9ndiyMxY9p2iEWzgyDQcf7n271n0rALT0dBFn0Et_KEslG1SMw-zR-rwyQhXLATFwg-5mf9OiTx2ORwJYswSffd-RR9C8pbK5ak5fSyo2ZkX8SWdMBa9JuHkgnTDMn7BK/s200/IMG_4941_2.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A view through a little alley of the town</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Then we took the bus back to the actual town, which was located on a steep hill, allowing for lots of vertical staircases, hills, windy streets, and little alleys. We walked up to a castle, which was partially renovated; still not much of it was able to be seen. Here, we were greeted by a jester, who revealed that she was a ghost that haunted the castle and then gave us a little tour. We saw a prisoner get killed (that's when it rained), as well as some other slightly confusing skits. Then the swordsmen came back and performed for us. It was fun to watch the synchronized fighting in their matching outfits. They also did series of rolls and jumps over each other, and formed a human tower. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[They seemed a little out of practice--it's their off season. They usually perform during the chestnut festival time, but they did this one just for us. Consequently, they kept injuring themselves. One littler boy accidentally slammed his head on the stone ground. One guy had a welt near his eye from getting hit with a sword. Needless to say, by the time the human tower came around I was pretty nervous for their lives.] </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">They were accompanied by a marching band, who greeted us right when we got out of the bus and then continued to follow us around to get us in the medieval mood.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Palermo, Sicily, about a 45 minute flight from Rome</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We took the bus back to Rome, then Taylor, Kaitlyn, Meg and I jumped right in a taxi to go to the airport to fly to Sicilia. This was my first flight within the EU. And it was crazy. It was a small plane and there were no assigned seats. That means it was a complete free-for-all getting on. Then, while we were flying, the other passengers had no problems leaning completely on to me in order to look out the window (I was in the middle). The turbulence was terrible because of the rain and lightening, and people were literally screaming and gasping every time we hit a rough patch. It was probably the choppiest flight I've ever been on. Once we landed, everyone exhaled like they had just personally flown across the ocean. Once they announced that we had arrived, everyone clapped and cheered. It was kind of fun to be so encouraging of the pilot, but kind of scary that everyone was so glad we had landed..maybe I take landing alive from a flight for granted!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvQ2HnM1nG3WjbGYbKgDaHZofY8f269uVPuk4963YuEj1cy5IF04Oo50ZNtn1OC8Ugvq6kCQHyKlLFRUD_iEaGVTgtVzVTub3Vw9yhyiqZFOvlPchRl64qKq9HTCiqFvuI9u7asqcNFPaJ/s1600/IMG_5046_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvQ2HnM1nG3WjbGYbKgDaHZofY8f269uVPuk4963YuEj1cy5IF04Oo50ZNtn1OC8Ugvq6kCQHyKlLFRUD_iEaGVTgtVzVTub3Vw9yhyiqZFOvlPchRl64qKq9HTCiqFvuI9u7asqcNFPaJ/s200/IMG_5046_2.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Storm clouds</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvQ2HnM1nG3WjbGYbKgDaHZofY8f269uVPuk4963YuEj1cy5IF04Oo50ZNtn1OC8Ugvq6kCQHyKlLFRUD_iEaGVTgtVzVTub3Vw9yhyiqZFOvlPchRl64qKq9HTCiqFvuI9u7asqcNFPaJ/s1600/IMG_5046_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It was pouring rain when we left the airport and waited for a taxi and arrived at our "hotel" (I use the word lightly). Before we arrived, the "hotel owner" had been texting me, asking me when I thought we would arrive because there wasn't always someone there to check us in. We were late because we hadn't anticipated waiting for a taxi for so long, and he reprimanded us for that (I will give him a break though..he was waiting in the rain for us in the middle of the night). When we got inside, it looked nice enough. He told us we had to be out by 11 on Sunday ("What time?" "Eleven."), that we had to take our trash out. Then he handed us our bedsheets, snapped a picture of Taylor's passport with his camera phone, and left us. We asked him where our breakfast was, because we had paid extra for it already, and he said, "Oh, you wanted breakfast? I'll bring you something in the morning, but remember that this is a budget hotel so it won't be much." We opened our cabinets and saw the cockroaches then went to bed.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAktcez2XQF9lG3TVV6_ku8hnWnHS_evXwge1v6-rNUYiXD3INjjo75WhLwTMLVxYu4nnbTHGCZUuDuilAqVyTv3WqUxSfY2mrne0d2d46XygeJt2xAHO2Ny_i_ALZUA8lc30RIkFNGLHV/s1600/IMG_4984_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAktcez2XQF9lG3TVV6_ku8hnWnHS_evXwge1v6-rNUYiXD3INjjo75WhLwTMLVxYu4nnbTHGCZUuDuilAqVyTv3WqUxSfY2mrne0d2d46XygeJt2xAHO2Ny_i_ALZUA8lc30RIkFNGLHV/s320/IMG_4984_2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Santa Rosalia church. The chapel walls<br />literally came out of the cave walls. It<br />was really pretty!</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The next morning we got up, killed a few more roaches, and left before our breakfast arrived. Due to lack of planning, it took us basically all morning and part of the afternoon to go up to Santa Rosalia's cave on the top of a mountain. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[We had to wait at the bus stop for a few hours..we ended up being there so long and asking the men at the information desk so many questions that they ended up literally walking us onto the bus. It seems there were only four drivers in the whole city because they all knew where we were going, and continually pushed us off busses and onto other busses. We literally had no choice in where we were going. This being said, the men here were all SO friendly. Everywhere we went old guys were passing each other on the streets and waving. They all knew each other and they were all so excited to help us. I heard we would have to be super wary of pick-pocketers and the mafia, but we didn't encounter this at all.] </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It was part chapel and part cave which was really beautiful. She's Taylor's adopted saint, so it meant a lot to her to get to see it. Due to more lack of planning, we had to wait forever for a bus back down the mountain.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYCQqdHissCUB5-jabnex8S2PxBbePxLvH-yors6k4PbqUQQ2rYN9c9PCAcj9j7QKXRWUK1uFMPK-JImrWgo1PBbx3emZIHLKjU1oBY3KDUls7uyaaTjQb52uu7y2m_w3c_a57K2Zc_ZTs/s1600/IMG_5009_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYCQqdHissCUB5-jabnex8S2PxBbePxLvH-yors6k4PbqUQQ2rYN9c9PCAcj9j7QKXRWUK1uFMPK-JImrWgo1PBbx3emZIHLKjU1oBY3KDUls7uyaaTjQb52uu7y2m_w3c_a57K2Zc_ZTs/s320/IMG_5009_2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Capuchin Catacombs</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Then we began our poorly planned trip to the Capuchin Catacombs. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #45818e; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[At first, only the Capuchin friars were buried in these catacombs. It was an experiment to see how well they could preserve bodies. Eventually, other people began paying to be buried there. There were a few different preservation methods. The most preserved body was a little girl who was injected with certain chemicals. The method died when that scientist died, however, and nobody's sure how he did it. Other were dehydrated on racks then cleaned with vinegar, dressed in clothes of the time period, then placed up against the walls of the catacombs. There's a section of monks, a section of women, a section of children, and a section of professionals.]</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Some were really well preserved with skin and hair still. Others were mostly just bones and clothing. Either way, they were all really creepy. We finally made it back to the "hotel," then went out to dinner. I tried some seafood pasta, and ate my first muscles and clams. I strongly disliked them, but what better place to try them than in Sicilia? We got some dessert, walked around a little bit, then went to bed.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The group I went with near<br />the ocean</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">On Sunday, we got up early to find the market, but it appeared to be closed. So we got some spremuta d'arance (freshly squeezed orange juice) and headed back to check out of our hotel. We were literally kicked out at 11:07, so good thing we were ready to go.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Il Cattedrale di Palermo</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Even though it was overcast and windy, it made for a beautifully dramatic day near the beach. After spending some time there, we made our way to the duomo, Il cattedrale di Palermo. Then we wandered for a while with our luggage before accepting a taxi tour in a little tour guide rickshaw. The tour guide was really fun because he played us fun Italian music and blared it for us and danced with us. He forced us to get out at all the monuments to take pictures and drove us past some of his friends. He also let us stop at our favorite cafe to get some snacks. Eventually, we ran out of things to do in Palermo, so we went to the airport a little early and waited for our flight.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Although we got to know Palermo pretty well, I'd love to go back to Sicily sometime to see the rest of the island!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884178332624487758.post-12538336492407480012011-10-10T11:45:00.000-07:002011-10-10T11:45:47.663-07:00<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">I'd like to let one Mr. Dave Hartman know that I'm working on a new blog post! Sorry it's been so long..I'll try to be more regular.</span><div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">I love my second parents.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884178332624487758.post-24741047610139441742011-09-22T05:29:00.000-07:002011-09-22T05:29:14.167-07:00Europe's Largest Flea Market<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZfpSanNzKgf3sRlC0md56TZr1dEPEVKoxSecuFEL6EN2iGjPjmvfuVq41fCtuPIRpkcMmBC0YtbT7aVOUJdicjq5ydC-wiiOuP6d88B75xfD7tT3QGPKlmSBIRJMRiJ1CA2DiADijVQLe/s1600/IMG_4745.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZfpSanNzKgf3sRlC0md56TZr1dEPEVKoxSecuFEL6EN2iGjPjmvfuVq41fCtuPIRpkcMmBC0YtbT7aVOUJdicjq5ydC-wiiOuP6d88B75xfD7tT3QGPKlmSBIRJMRiJ1CA2DiADijVQLe/s320/IMG_4745.JPG" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Every Sunday, Rome has the pleasure of hosting Europe's largest flea market. Last Sunday, I went to check it out. It was, indeed, rather large. We started in the middle of the tents, and only stopped every few minutes..it still took a few hours to get to one end!<br /><br />It was a little different than I was expecting. I thought it would have more hand-made items and fresh food stands, but most tents had clothes--some normal, some hippie, some american-esque (with the Italian version of Engrish), some vintage; shoes, socks, underwear, dresses, pants, shirts, winter coats..everything. There was a section with pets: hamsters, birds, turtles, and fish. There were tents with rummage-sale type items (however, I did find a killer harmonica that I bought!)<br />There were only a few with hand-made items. One tent had African masks that I got yelled at for taking a picture of. There were a few stands selling "burgers" (they use the term loosely here), hot dogs, pizza, and sandwiches. Some stands selling artwork.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg214gP92dsJ3DayIWERauHEn9AuMtsAnLTaueere7_Ee7F_Tx4XSmCKjlRX0SfAOhKBFAIbKTJYtELvXuG_wj1SWlyWoqoGiZBS-PWIRT5CGRmcJvyxZns569oN9mHtpMO2uESQfRKv2ww/s1600/IMG_4748_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg214gP92dsJ3DayIWERauHEn9AuMtsAnLTaueere7_Ee7F_Tx4XSmCKjlRX0SfAOhKBFAIbKTJYtELvXuG_wj1SWlyWoqoGiZBS-PWIRT5CGRmcJvyxZns569oN9mHtpMO2uESQfRKv2ww/s320/IMG_4748_2.jpg" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The salespeople are a big turn off for me. They're very pushy and demanding and in your face and yell at you if you walk away from them. I personally enjoy shopping in peace.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">However, it was a fun Sunday afternoon activity. And now we know where to get absolutely anything we could possibly need!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884178332624487758.post-67432585191824045292011-09-20T04:45:00.000-07:002011-09-20T04:45:55.174-07:00A Brief Word on Roman Showers<div style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Showering in Rome has been the coldest experience of my life, hands down. If you know me at all, you know that being cold is my least favorite activity. The shower in my apartment stays warm for about five seconds, if it warms up at all; the rest of the time is ice water.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Lucky for my shower, it's still really hot outside. But I hope it knows this won't fly in the winter time.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884178332624487758.post-49333566539108802512011-09-12T16:00:00.000-07:002011-10-16T10:52:00.264-07:00Weekend Trip #1-The Amalfi Coast: Sorrento, Capri, and Pompeii<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN_AMXk0P126evm8BwLGrxYf2eon6mie_p4fH4ggS-v5Gj_r5OXpiPIQ5PleI5iTxetr1GjlTSqBvrKqQg2ivEY76qz-7cdmS2aiwR2RC03P5gLaF9CR0w1bZLUTlGsCl10mU6_WYO-ZG-/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-09-13+at+12.38.11+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN_AMXk0P126evm8BwLGrxYf2eon6mie_p4fH4ggS-v5Gj_r5OXpiPIQ5PleI5iTxetr1GjlTSqBvrKqQg2ivEY76qz-7cdmS2aiwR2RC03P5gLaF9CR0w1bZLUTlGsCl10mU6_WYO-ZG-/s400/Screen+shot+2011-09-13+at+12.38.11+AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This map shows Vesuvius, Pompeii at the base,<br />
and Sorrento, where our hotel was located.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This was our first weekend adventure with API, the study abroad program I'm here with. We met on Friday morning and took a bus partially up Mt. Vesuvius. [</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">One word on the roads in Italy: they weren't built for cars. This means they definitely weren't built for busses, which makes for some interestingly tight squeezes and terrifying moments. The road winding up Vesuvius was no different.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">]</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> The bus dropped us off at a trail, which lead to the top of Mt. Vesuvius. The hike was about 45 minutes. I don't think it was actually a difficult hike, but between just getting of a bus for a few hours and the altitude change we were getting pretty tired on the way up. However, the view was worth it. We could see part of the way down the middle of the volcano, the clouds, and the surrounding cities.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After the hike, we took the bus down to our hotel in Sorrento. We stayed at Hotel Klein Wien, [</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">One word on this hotel: the lobby is on the 5th floor. And there is only one key per room. This means that you have to drop your key off on the 5th floor upon leaving, and pick your key up on the 5th floor upon entering. Why this seems to make sense to anyone is beyond me.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">] which was a ten or fifteen minute drive from the "downtown" of Sorrento. After quick showers, we were driven downtown, where we had a group dinner complete with giant plate of appetizers, gnocchi, and cake for dessert. After dinner we were free to walk around the city. There were lots of little shops that were open fairly late, as well as karaoke bars, limoncello factories, and benches near the water. I bought a Sorrento apron, which I'm super excited to use in my ceramics and painting studios once I return to UC!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Saturday morning we had an early wake up call so that we could take the boat to Capri! When I took a short trip to Italy and Greece in high school, we also went to Capri and I was so excited to go back. It was the most beautiful day for it! First we had a two hour boat tour completely around the island. Then we were free to explore. There are three basic levels of cities on Capri: Marina Grande at the bottom, Capri, and Anacapri towards the top. The first task was getting up to Anacapri. We decided to take a convertible taxi. The roads on the island were no wider or less treacherous. Once we made it to the top alive, my roommates and I went to lunch, then took a chair lift to the very top of the mountain. Here was another beautiful view. Much like on top of Vesuvius, I felt like I could see the entire world stretching out in front of me. I love seeing boats the size of ants and enormous cliffs the size of my pinky finger.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I kept my eyes open for the famous celebs that live in Capri, but I didn't see any. After a lovely day, we went back to town in Sorrento.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We got to Pompeii Sunday morning, and had a tour around the ruins. It's amazing to see how big the excavated area is (although only a third of the entire city has even been excavated). We saw streets that were once full of shops, buildings that were once home to families, and plaster casts that were once real people, suffocated in the thirty feet of ash that covered the city when Vesuvius erupted. We also saw the penises in the streets and the brothels (Pompeii was one of the most openly sexual ancient cities), as well as the forum and the stray dogs that were everywhere!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">These trips, and any time we're with our entire API group (about 80 students I believe), it is stressful and a little bit crazy. Sometimes it feels like I've known these people forever, sometimes it seems like I've never met half of them; sometimes it feels like high school, sometimes people don't know how to control themselves. Sometimes it's not fun traveling in packs of American students.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So it was nice to be home<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-size: x-small;"><u>*</u></span>.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">*That's the strange phenomenon that this trip brought about: this "weekend away from my Italian vacation," as Peter put it, made me feel relieved to be back in Rome, as if I'm returning home. While I was away from this new place for a few days, it was becoming more like home to me.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884178332624487758.post-52255537545457356302011-09-11T11:40:00.000-07:002011-09-12T15:10:52.586-07:00Capri<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As Capri is the most beautiful place I have ever imagined, I would love to just post some photos. I'd like to say that I haven't edited them one bit (that means the colors are real). Wait till you see the water. I've been dreaming about coming back to this place since I was first here five years ago.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ps-you can click on the photos to see them bigger. Also, I'm trying to get an online album up and working but I'm confused. But once I have one I'll post the link!</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884178332624487758.post-84496283511501763762011-09-03T16:31:00.000-07:002011-09-11T10:47:02.597-07:00First Impressions<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit6hs6yBAHCjmjYE8t3KKJEqnv17ijOdweIKyzIxNUNSivQrXNLertxKQ7Vo8d_YoM6wgfLdoeiPAIouEox5u0YxTFga5cME5nAJca07sVAJ-co_a6pAr5ZXcVKGyW4o3yBqdZhLTJVT3b/s1600/IMG_4486.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit6hs6yBAHCjmjYE8t3KKJEqnv17ijOdweIKyzIxNUNSivQrXNLertxKQ7Vo8d_YoM6wgfLdoeiPAIouEox5u0YxTFga5cME5nAJca07sVAJ-co_a6pAr5ZXcVKGyW4o3yBqdZhLTJVT3b/s200/IMG_4486.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from the patio of<br />the Hotel Tiziano, where we spent<br />our first few nights.</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So let's see. I survived the plane ride over between two Italian men. I almost lost my carry on bag in the airport, but I retrieved it. I made it through customs (they didn't even open our passports), and I found my group!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The first two nights we were in a hotel. We kept busy with group orientation, walking tours, and exploring the city. The third day we moved into our apartment. It is rather large, has nice wood floors, and is completely furnished by Ikea. It is way nicer than what I expected!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view down my beautiful<br />street, Giulio Cesare in the<br />Prati neighborhood.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The first few days of my trip, I was just getting information thrown at me: places, squares, piazzas that I'm constantly getting lost in and discovering and walking in circles around and recognizing landmarks and trying to remember where I live; people that I'm trying to keep track of and remember their names and their schools and if we have much in common; new words and phrases that I'm trying to translate and decipher and remember and pronounce.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now that it's been almost a week, I feel like I'm starting to settle down.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'm starting to recognize street names and important buildings, and sometimes I even know where I am. I've been successful enough to get kicked out of St. Peter's Square by the polizia late at night. I've stumbled upon crazy buildings like Castel Sant'Angelo while trying to find my school. I've found the nearest ATM (bancomat) to my apartment, as well as the supermercato, gelateria, and some friendly restaurants in my neighborhood. I've also successfully ridden the metro to a few places.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMwyQ-BaQPQB0cDNMBC8zPGznF1MMIwBqDI5qwp_UtA_vzb-efHKaFPKeF02wKP91MWSnXtutH2eBxa0qck_lyssheHq0hV4fBz5mx8PSvT5PuKPUTDX-LK2uQbHXEzRKQjTfDha8umBsi/s1600/IMG_4487.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMwyQ-BaQPQB0cDNMBC8zPGznF1MMIwBqDI5qwp_UtA_vzb-efHKaFPKeF02wKP91MWSnXtutH2eBxa0qck_lyssheHq0hV4fBz5mx8PSvT5PuKPUTDX-LK2uQbHXEzRKQjTfDha8umBsi/s200/IMG_4487.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These are things I now have the<br />pleasure of seeing every day.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I've fallen into groups of people that I find myself hanging out with more often than not. I know them and already feel comfortable around them. There are other people that I'm still talking to and enjoying getting to know. And then there are a few people that it is harder to get to know for whatever reason.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I've tried, and sometimes failed, to have conversations with the locals. If they know some English, it can go pretty well. If they only speak Italian, I have to rely on their hand gestures. I've learned a few key words and phrases, like "canino" (puppy!), "vorrei..." (I would like..), and "no parlo Italiano," (I don't speak Italian). However, I've found most of the people incredibly friendly and willing to work with us Americans. HOWEVER, I'm still very excited to start taking my most helpful Italian class!<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZIGxyuakQ-6BZ3kPzq5ZQZoSZNZ-FVRcGMTBlwgoYUBYM-BQrAMnAeLmiWio4ZC4S58uFD7VUPluwJfmb_1daXuM_XtpAePuZZ7xvt-6N_6dA-hrqYhe5XQ2tfk21gl6GxsxHJ2R7t2i9/s1600/IMG_4530_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZIGxyuakQ-6BZ3kPzq5ZQZoSZNZ-FVRcGMTBlwgoYUBYM-BQrAMnAeLmiWio4ZC4S58uFD7VUPluwJfmb_1daXuM_XtpAePuZZ7xvt-6N_6dA-hrqYhe5XQ2tfk21gl6GxsxHJ2R7t2i9/s200/IMG_4530_2.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from our free portion<br />
of the beach in Sperlonga</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When we aren't taking care of paperwork or school documents or permits of stay, we've mostly been walking around and exploring. It's awesome, but it's tiring! Therefore, we rewarded ourselves with the beach. Today we went to Sperlonga, which we heard was the cleanest beach around Rome. It was about a 20 minute metro ride, then an hour long train ride, then a 20 minute bus ride. It was a really nice beach! The water was so clear and a great temperature. We sat in the free part so we didn’t have to pay, but it was a nice way to relax.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Tomorrow is a day of rest and birthday cake for one of my roommates before classes start Monday. I’m excited to get into the groove of a schedule. So far, this trip still feels like a short vacation.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884178332624487758.post-48542468669897409102011-08-25T11:44:00.000-07:002011-09-12T15:15:41.412-07:00<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #f4f4f4; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></span><br />
<div style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 5px; text-align: center;">
<blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Set your sights straight</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">now, don't forget pain.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Think of the shorelines</b></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>you have yet to see</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">,</span></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and men who will hold</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">you with eyes you believe.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">On the way I will go</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">where the days left to</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">breathe are not gone, are</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">still long.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">I am traveling on.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">-Rio, Hey Marsailles</span></span></blockquote>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884178332624487758.post-59988520245586717162011-08-15T10:07:00.000-07:002012-09-02T21:23:11.043-07:00<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Now that my departure is coming up <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">incredibly</span> quickly, a few questions have been running through my mind...</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">*I'd like to fill in the answers as I'm discovering them.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Is it a major problem that I know virtually no Italian?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Only sometimes. Between taking an Italian class and being fully immersed in the language, it is not difficult to be able to recognize a few words here and there. I feel a large improvement already, and it has only been a few weeks.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">However, learning an entirely new language is complicated. If people know virtually no English, communication is not an easy thing. This has been one of the most difficult barriers to overcome sometimes. When you're lost and worn out and frustrated, you just want someone to tell you where to go in a perfectly crafted English sentence.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Do Italians use notecards, notebooks, and highlighters as much as I do?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">At home, it's quite easy to find virtually everything you need at any store: CVS, Kroger, Walmart, the store on the corner by my apartment. Here, there are shops strictly for specific things. Us spoiled Americans may find this inconvenient. I have been able to find highlighters. The notebooks and folders are legal size (larger than what I'm used to/too big to fit in my bag if I don't use my big backpack). And notecards are nowhere to be found.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What clothes should I bring?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The answer to this question is that I should have brought more summer clothes. I brought only a few very light t-shirts, dresses, and nice tanktops because I expected it to cool down soon enough for me to be able to wear the light sweaters and jeans without sweating to death. It's stayed much hotter for much longer than I expected. (Today, October 6th, is one of the coolest days, but it's still 82 degrees and strong sunshine). Once I had literally worn every summer outfit combination I brought about twenty times, I got to go shopping :)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Am I going to have any friends when I come back?</span><br />
<span style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Of course! Your friends will be very excited to see you come back at first, and will soon make it very clear that they are tired of hearing about your Roman life!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Will I get fat off Italian food?</span><br />
<span style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Probably only a little bit, but it will be worth every bite.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What happens if I get lost in the airport?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Here, I have learned the more accurate question: what if my luggage gets lost in the airport?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">And I have the answer to this question:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">1. Even though you are at an airport in the United States, it is still a cultural hub (I was in D.C.). Therefore, the first step will be to find an employee that speaks enough English to figure out what you're trying to say.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">2. Once the first employee is located, she will be of absolutely no help. She'll tell you to go to the gate you exited in order to ask for your luggage. However, since you simply walked out of some random gate, you'll have no idea what gate number it was.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">3. Find the general vicinity from which you entered the airport. Even if you don't know the exact gate, find the nicest looking employee around there and ask them for help.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">4. Even though you thought the employee you chose will be able to speak English well, he doesn't. You explain your problem to him, and he does not respond.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">5. The other employee standing there will stare at you. You'll wonder if the first employee ignored you, or is currently looking for your bags.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">6. You'll stand there awkwardly for a few minutes until you hear your name being thrown about back and forth over the employee's radios. You can then assume that the first employee did indeed understand you, and is looking for your bag or simply talking about you.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">7. The second employee will tell you that you have to go to baggage claim. This means exiting the airport then going through security again. You're not thrilled about this idea, so you stand there for another second.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">8. After a moment, a third employee will carry your bag through the gate entrance, and you'll be really relieved and thank them a lot. They won't really respond.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Is my broken foot going to be healed before I go? Should I even bring any left shoes?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Without jinxing myself, I haven't had any major foot problems so far! I've been able to keep away from the boot I had to wear before. Hopefully it stays this way all through the fall!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Can I bring my dog?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I wish.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How many clothes are too many?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">There are never enough clothes. Although one of my roommates brought 3 suitcases and I think that might be a little extreme.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Are my roommates going to be cool? Why can't I find any of them on Facebook?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">It turns out the roommate I'm closest with doesn't even have a Facebook. My physical <u>room</u>mate has the same name as about a thousand other people, so she was difficult to find online. However, my roommates are all really cool! Somehow we all get along. Really well. We have very civil meetings, cook each other dinner, pile on to the couch for movie nights, talk each other out of crying, and hang out together! </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Should I pack my own oil paints or try to buy them there?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I ended up bringing my own paints and brushes, but buying thinner, canvasses, and brush cleaner here. I haven't actually begun anything yet, but I know I need to make myself because I bought things here for painting!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Are my classes going to be hard?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Classes are definitely the worst part of my pretend Roman life! They're not easy, and it's really hard to make yourself sit down and do homework when there are a thousand more exciting things you could be doing.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Will I get lost in Rome every day?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Easy. Yes, definitely.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Can I get everything done before I leave?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">There are very few loose ends I've had to tie abroad, which is good. I'm glad I got everything out of the way before I left so I don't have to worry about things at home on top of things here.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Should I bring some novels or will they weigh my suitcase down?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Why can't I just rent books from the library for 4 months?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The library should definitely consider this option.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Will my jeans shrink okay without a dryer?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">They shrink okay, but they're as stiff as boards. So are my sheets and shirts and underwear and sweatshirts and sweaters and towels.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Is it going to be weird living in a dorm again?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Joke's on me. My apartment is nicer than I could have even imagined.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Is Irene going to make me miss my orientation?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #76a5af; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Irene did an excellent job of splitting up our group. About a fourth of the students, including myself, made it on time. I have yet to meet some of the others that were delayed.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15154022673645922065noreply@blogger.com2