Roman Holiday

What I Did on My Winter Break...

2007-12-14T20:45:00.000+01:00

Day 1: I made a snow puppy.

Snowed in!

2007-12-13T22:45:00.000+01:00

I didn't quite make it to RI tonight because the northeast got hit by a crazy snow storm . So i'm crashing at my sister's place.

Plečnik galore

2007-12-10T17:38:00.000+01:00

So today I led myself around the city by visiting some Plečnik sites I had not seen yet. I started the day by going to the Roman wall. He reconstructed a roman wall from some ruins found. There is a big entrance under a pyramid, which is one of the distinct parts of the wall. He also put a line of pebbles between what was actual ruins and what he built.

Then it was onto the Church of St. James. It was had some great artwork inside, the church had very modern depictions of the station of the cross and Jesus preaching. They had a lot of feeling to them, and most were just black and white. Then I walked by his old house, but unfortunately couldn`t go in, because it is only open to group tours on mondays.

I looped back towards the marketplace and did a few sketches and finally had a chance to go downstairs. Its a long indoor space along the riverbank, divided into separate stores. At one point it stops and then starts again, apparently Plečnik had planned for a bridge to be built, but it never was.

I headed back to the hostel briefly, mostly to locate one of Plečnik's churches on the map. I took a brief detour and explored the Tivoli Park. It is gorgeous and I wish it had been warmer so I could have spent more time outside. Unbeknown to me there was actually a plečnik exhibit outside in the park, it was a bunch of photographs of his work. So the park fit right into my Plečnik day.

I rounded out the day by making the trek to St Micheal on the Marshes. It was out in farmland, although unfortunately it looked like suburban sprawl was getting closer. The church was beautiful and the inside was very rustic looking. It had large timber beams and felt pretty dark but cozy inside. The outside has an awesome bell tower that you get to by climbing around the outside of it. I couldn't go all the way up because it was blocked off.

I also got a surprise tour of some modern slovenian architecture on the way out there...

Bled

2007-12-09T16:39:00.000+01:00

Today I went to Bled, which is a town in Slovenia known for it`s lake. The bus ride there was beautiful, it was through farmland with mountains in the distance. I arrived around 11ish and started the walk around the lake. It took about an hour and a half because I was also stopping to sketch every now and then. There is an island in the middle with a church on it, which looks quite picturesque from a distance. There is also a castle perched up on a rocky outcropping on the mainland.

There were a ton of ducks all around
the lake, and they were not phased by people at all. I also saw a few swans and a crew team.

After I walked the perimeter I stopped into the large church, it had a huge chandelier hanging in it, which was pretty crazy. The outside was very plain but the inside was heavily decorated.

Afterwards I hiked up to the castle which only took about ten minutes but was straight uphill. After making my way back down I stopped in a cafe for a cappuccino and then caught the bus back to Ljubljana.

Ljubljana Part 2

2007-12-08T20:01:00.000+01:00

Today was my first full day in the city and I walked around from 9 until about 7:30. I started the day by hiking up to the Ljubljana Castle which sits on a hill right beyond the city center. It was a short climb and I sketched the castle surrounds a bit, and then walked around the perimeter. On the way down from the castle I noticed the lift stations at the back, where the funicular train stops. They were clad in what appeared to be copper and the side that faced the city was all glass.

I headed back down to the city and located the famous dragon bridge, so named because you guessed it there are dragons on the four corners. They are pretty fierce looking too.

Next I ended up making the trek out to the Zale Cemetary which was designed by Plećnik, who is basically the architect of ljubljana. It was a pretty long walk but I got to see some cool parts of the city. I didn´t spend too much time there but I did sketch a bit and then headed back to the city.

On the way back I came across St. Joseph`s cathedral which I went into since I was getting cold. Unfortunately it was no warmer than it was outside. But it gave me a place to sit and draw that was out of the driyyle coming down outside.

When I got back to the river I was excited to go to the christmas stalls, but unfortunately they were more just gifts then christmas stuff which was a little disapointing. I bought some mixed chocolates though, unfortunately 2 of the 5 kinds I got were rather nasty.

Afterwards I popped into a few more churches and then sat and sketched the main Piazza. It was pretty crowded with people and the sun had finally come out which was nice. There are a lot of kiosks out selling hot wine and other beverages and one of them was playing a funnz mix of music from the 90s, I heard New Kids on the Block, The Backstreet Boys and one that I recogniyed but don`t remember the name of.

I was getting hungry so I went to one of the food stands across the three bridges (also designed by Plećnik and got this bean dish, which ended up being pretty good. I was a little surprised I liked it since I don`t tend to like baked beans, it also came with a giant roll.

Tomorrow I plan on going to Bled which is a small slightly touristy town in Slovenia. It has what is suppossed to be a beautiful lake, at the foothills of the Julian Alps. The hostel owner told me I should definately go so I`m going to take a short day trip. It is only an hour bus ride away and must be a pretty popular destination because a bus leaves for the town every hour.

Ljubljana

2007-12-07T22:11:00.000+01:00

I made it to Slovenia successfully. I got in tonight and then went and got some mushroom soup in a bread bowl, it was delicious. The town is all lit up for christmas and I would show you a picture but the computer I am using does not have usb ports, so i`ll have to put up pictures later.

Almost Final Day in Rome

2007-12-06T14:06:00.000+01:00

Today is my second to last day in Rome. Tomorrow I will be heading to Ljubljana, Slovenia. I'll be back in Rome right before I leave to fly back to the states. Today I went and wandered the city a bit looking at a few things I hadn't seen yet. The first was Santa Maria della Angeli which is in the former Baths of Diocletian. It was a huge church, and felt a little like an old train station, probably because of the high windows. There was some beautiful stained glass work, and the light coming through the windows was extremely bright.

Then I went over to Saint Paul's Inside the Walls, which is on the Via Nazionale. There was an organist playing the whole time I was there which was pretty cool. The ceiling was pretty amazing, and unlike any other I've seen so far.

And for all you architects I found this on a building the other day:

And I am Done

2007-12-04T16:06:00.000+01:00

Finished up my drawings and model. It feels good to be almost done. Our review is on Wednesday followed by an exhibition of our work on Thursday. Here are some perspectives I did, with the whole set up underneath, the pictures are a bit blurry but i'm planning on taking others.

Its Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

2007-12-03T20:14:00.000+01:00

Rome is gearing up for Christmas. The signs so far include the Christmas Market at the Piazza Navona, the Christmas Tree in the Pantheon and finally the lights on selected streets....

The Belly of the Beatle

2007-11-30T19:05:00.000+01:00

Today we took a day long trip to three pieces of modern architecture. The first was the Parco Della Musica by Renzo Piano. The design consists of three separate auditoriums which each have different acoustical qualities. The three pods are often compared to beatles, due to their shape. The roof is made of lead panels, and the interiors range from wood to brick. The coolest part of the structures could be seen by climbing up the fire escapes. Once you did it felt as if you were in a whale's belly.

The next stop was the Adreatine monument which commemorates a site where 340 Italians were murdered by the Germans during the occupation. Afterwards the Germans bombed the caves in a few spots to make it look like an accident. The monument incorporates the caves themselves and you enter in and see where the bodies were interred. The architects preserved the holes where the bombs came through the caves.

Finally we ended with Richard Meir's Jubilee Church, which is way on the outskirts of the city. The building was okay, but looked terrible in the context of what was around it. In Meir fashion the building was all white, and felt completely separate from the surroundings. As you can see from the photos below the idea behind the building was a boat...

Rome Does Gothic

2007-11-29T11:29:00.000+01:00

Today I visited the only Gothic looking church in Rome, it was a nice change from all the Baroque churches we've been seeing.

I also thought I'd throw in a picture of the only gas station I've seen here, which happens to be right near the church above.

and finally on the way home, I stumbled upon a movie set. Everyone was in period dress, and they had a bunch of old cars and buses.

Faking It

2007-11-28T16:13:00.001+01:00

Today I stopped into Saint Ignatius. It was a very strange church in terms of the ceiling. The main ceiling was a great example of perspective, and made the space feel as if it went a lot higher than it did. The window at the bottom of the picture is where the ceiling ends.

Then there was the dome over the center space. Most churches have a giant dome with a cupola at the top which lets in light. This church at first glance appeared no different, that is while you were standing towards the back in the center of the aisle. As you approached the front, however, it turns out that the dome doesn't exist. It is painted on in false perspective, so it looks really twisted from any other angle.

In the front of the church there is a giant model. It is not of any one particular church, but was apparently supposed to represent all the Jesuit churches around the world uniting into one giant Jesuit church. I'm not entirely sure about the details because it was all in Italian. There is a large circular church in the center surrounded by a bunch of small miniature churches. Each miniature church corresponds to a different country.

Fascism In Rome

2007-11-27T19:47:00.000+01:00

Today we took a trip to Citta Universita, which is a university complex designed by the fascist government. It was planned by Marcello Piacentini, he designed the main administration building/library and then selected young italian architects to do the others. Most of the buildings were nothing to write home about but there were some gorgeous fire escapes. Here are some of the highlights:

Thanksgiving Rome Style

2007-11-23T16:52:00.000+01:00

Yesterday we had a huge thanksgiving meal, it was quite the spread. There was tons of turkey, stuffing, yams, mashed potatoes, all kinds of salad and lots and lots of pie. I started the morning with a trip to Saint Peter's since I had missed the Pietra the first time I went. Its a sculpture by Michelangelo which depicts Mary holding the body of Jesus. The details are supposed to be incredible, but they don't let you close enough to really examine it.

Afterwards I helped make a couple apple pies for dinner that night. I had never made an apple pie before, but I think they turned out well. Both were gone by the end of dinner. I also made some creamed corn for the occasion, since its not thanksgiving without creamed corn. During dinner they played a slide-show complied from all of our pictures. By the end of the night everyone was in a food coma.

Due to the massive amounts of food eaten, a few of us decided to go on an evening walking tour of Rome. The first stop was the pantheon, although we got distracted by San Ivo along the way.

Eventually we made it to the Pantheon, but it had closed about 1/2 hour before, so we hung out in the portico for a bit before making our way to the Trevi fountain.

We accidentally overshot the Trevi and ended up at the Spanish Steps, so we had to backtrack a bit. I have to say the Trevi is much better at night, because during the day there are tons of people. It was still crowded at night but you could actually move around and get to the front of the fountain. We all threw coins in behind our backs like good tourists so technically we should all return to Rome now.

Sprechen Sie Englisch?

2007-11-19T09:52:00.000+01:00

Vienna may have been my favorite European city so far. Although the weather could have colored my opinion somewhat. Thursday night Brianne and I took an overnight train from Rome. Its a 13 hour ride but went by pretty quickly. When we crossed the border though, things got a little interesting. A guy who was in our compartment got taken by the boarder policemen, they weren't speaking english so we couldn't really tell what was going on. They had scanned his passport and looked at some other form he had, then took him and his bag with them. To make it weirder one of the officers then took a flashlight and looked under the seats for who knows what. It was a little crazy.

The next morning around 9:00 we got into Vienna and this is what we saw:

there was about 4-6 inches on the ground already and it was still snowing. I was super excited because I was hoping it would snow. We were a little cold though, since Rome is about 60 degrees right now and Vienna was probably 30. Our trip basically consisted of us walking around for an hour or so until we got too cold and then going inside a building.

Our first build was the Stephansdom which is a gothic cathedral. Its the first European Gothic church I've seen (Rome really doesn't have any). The stained glass was beautiful. Even though it was dark and snowy outside the inside of the church was full of light (and it wasn't electrically lit).

Next we strolled a bit more and got somewhat lost looking for an Adolf Loos building. Throughout the trip we ended up going the wrong way down this same street on about 3 separate occasions. Eventually we ended up where we needed to go and ran into the Hapsburg palace along the way. It was a rather large complex and is known as the labyrinth, because all the different pieces were built up over time.

We walked through the grounds towards the museum quartier, to look at some Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele works, and we were getting cold. As you can see in the picture below I have 2 hats on.

After the museum we got a room for the night in a hostel. We ended up with the last open room. We then hiked over to the other side of the city to see the Schoenbrunn Palace. There was a giant tree in front when we got there.

We went particularly to see the greenhouses,which are the largest in Europe. It was breathtaking in person. I think the combination of the snow and the time of day also added to the beauty of the building.

Afterwards we headed back to the city and into a nice warm pub. Turns out they brew their own beer and we had a hearty Viennese meal. I hadn't realize how much I missed eating potatoes. We took a stroll after dinner and walked towards the town hall. We had seen it in the distance earlier and wanted to check it out. Waiting for us was the best surprise ever, a christmas market! It was closed for the night, but we decided to come back the next day. The building was set up as a giant advent calender, the windows all had numbers in them.

The next morning we woke up and headed towards the Secession Building, it was slightly warmer since it was sunny out, but still very cold. We went inside to see Beethoven's Frieze by Klimt, and to check out the spaces, like good architecture students.

Then it was off to the Christmas Market. We ended up spending a good two hours there. We had hot Viennesse beverages (the cappuccino was classic, it was a latte with some whipped cream on it, but so good). And we ate and ate and ate. There were a bunch of pastry stands and we got a cinnamon pastry and some toffee peanuts, which were incredible.

Then Brianne and I walked down to the Danube...or so we thought. We knew there was a river and just kind of assumed it was the Danube, since it was murky and brown. Well we realized when we were on the train that in fact we only made it to the Danube Canal...oops. So here is a picture of a murky brown canal in Vienna.

Vienna Waits for You

2007-11-15T15:43:00.000+01:00

off to Vienna until Sunday morning!

Third Times a Charm

2007-11-13T20:33:00.000+01:00

Today we went to the Tempietto for class, which is the third time I've been. Its just a small little temple, so there isn't too much to see. But I tried to get a few new sketches in. It is up on the Gianicolo, which has a great view of the city. It was beautiful up there today, so I didn't mind seeing the Tempietto again.

Before the Tempietto we went to Santa Maria della Pace. It was my first time there. It is a small church which is notable because legend has it someone threw a rock at a painting of the Virgin Mary, and the painting bled. Since then it considered a pilgrimage site. There is also a cloister, designed by Bramante (who also did the Tempietto). It was partially covered by a temporary exhibit, which was basically a glass-like tent in the center of the space.

The sunset walking home the other night was incredible....

Why David, What Big Feet You Have!

2007-11-11T20:12:00.000+01:00

After Vicenza, Bridget and I headed to Venice. We woke up early and hopped an 8:30 train. We got into the city around 9:00 and made our way across the Rialto Bridge towards San Marco Square. Half of the roads in Venice dead end, so even though we were trying to take the route not marked by signs, it was pretty hard. We ended up on the street below, which was incredibly thin.

We made it to San Marco and did a quick sketch. There were a bunch of tourists standing among the hoards of pidgeons and taking pictures of the pidgeons landing on their arms and heads. It was gross. And at some point during the day I got pooped on, luckily it was on the leg, and I figured chances are it was sometime when we were around the birds. We then walked a little behind the square and went to a museum which was partially designed by Carlo Scarpa. He designed the exhibit rooms so that if the canals flooded you could still walk in the spaces. We weren't technically allowed to take photos, but Bridget and I snuck our cameras in and were able to take a few shots.

After about 2 hours of sketching (we had to make the 6 euro entry fee worth it) we headed to find a mask, Bridget wanted to get one for her godmother. We looked in several incredible mask stores, I couldn't believe how intricate some of the masks were. My favorite ones were scroll cut metal, but they were over 100 euro which was not worth it to me.

After Bridget found a mask, we went and looked for Cannoli. A few days ago I realized I hadn't had one since I had been in Italy. The ones we found in Venice were delicious. After the dessert, we wandered town a bit more, somewhat successfully getting lost, and then we hopped a train to Florence.

Oh and for all you 24 fans, Venice has a Hotel Bauer.

We got into Florence around 9:30 at night and settled into our Hostel around 10. The next morning we got up early, got some cappuccino and made our way to the David (which for some reason I kept calling micheal). We waited in line for about 20 minutes but then didn't end up going in the museum because it was too expensive and there was no student discount. He is right in the beginning of the museum though, so we could see him through the lobby. And man is he huge. We walked over to the Duomo and there was surprisingly no line to get in, so we began our ascent right away.

It was remarkable to be inside the Duomo and once we got to the top Bridget and I hung out for about an hour and a half sketching. And then we ate some potato chips and they were delicious.

On the way down Bridget noticed this beauty of a mural on the inside of the Dome, which yes is a church.

We wandered around Florence for the rest of the afternoon and sketched a bit on a bridge. In the main Piazza they have a replica of David which stands were the original used to be.

We walked a bit more and then headed back to Rome. The only tickets on the next train were first class and so we went back in style. We even got free coffee and peanuts and very nice cushy seats.

Once we were back in Rome we ended up going to get sushi which was delicious. We were both so tired we just lazed around all night.

nuns:223 priests:111

Northern Italy anyone?

2007-11-10T21:58:00.000+01:00

The northern trip started the same as the southern trip at 8:00 in the morning. We drove about 3 1/2 hours before hitting our first stop, the Chiesa del Autostrada. It was a church constructed in the 60s to commemorate the workers who died building Rome's autostrada. We were only there about and hour and a half, and the time went fast. The inside was really hard to draw, so sketching took up a lot of my time. As you can see from the picture below, the church is literally right off the highway.

After the autostrada we headed 2 hours or so to Modena to see Aldo Rossi's cemetary. We spent some time sketching there, it is a very modern cemetary, and was designed to be a city. The graves are actually like the catacombs in that they are open squares that are then filled and sealed with a stone. It was freezing there though, and by the time we left it was nice to be back on the warm bus.

That night around 6, we got to Mantua which is where we were staying for the night. Our hotel was in the center of town, and our room looked out over the main piazza. Strangely Mantua is slightly a dead town at night which is unusual for italy. A group of us went to dinner and I got some pumpkin ravioli, it was regular ravioli with a spicy pumpkin filling, yum!

The next morning we went to two Palazzo's in Mantua. The first was the Ducale Palace, it had a hall of mirrors, and a bunch of painted cielings. There was also an art exhibit going on in another part of the palace, and there was one room called an ambient space, and you walked in and it was completely black. I dragged two other people from the class in with me because i was afraid to go alone, and we ended up finding a slightly secret space. There were all of these interlocking basement rooms with low vaulted cielings, at one point we ended up in some kind of mechanical room. The spaces more interesting then the art exhibit, so I'm glad I found them.

The next palazzo was the Palazzo del Te, which was a pleasure palace of the same family who built the Palazzo Ducale. It has a lot of famously painted cielings, one of which is the Hall of Giants. The room was painted to look like an earthquake was occuring. I wandered upstairs to an art gallery space, and then ended up stumbling upon an exhibit space that was built over the front entrance. The floor was built up because the vaulting below is exposed.

After the Palazzo del Te I wandered back towards the hotel, stopping in San Sebastiano, which is a church by Alberti. It was designed in the round, and has a WWII memorial underneath (which is not original to the church). One of my favorite things was the chairs, which had small crosses on the back.

The next morning we headed to Verona to see the Castelvecchio. The Castelvecchio was an old palace which was turned into an art museum by Carlo Scarpa. It is extremely well know amoung architects because of Scarpa's attention to detail. I tried to spend most of my time sketching, although I couldn't resist taking a few pictures.

Then a few of us wandered Verona to look at the outside of another Scarpa building, which was slightly underwhelming. Then we had to get back to the bus for the next leg of our trip.

The next stop was the Villa Rotunda, a country Villa for a former Priest. It was designed by Palladio, who is well known for his Villas. It was designed to be symmetrical on all four sides, with a dome in the center. We couldn't go inside because the inside closes after October 15th. The outside is still amazing though.

Then we settled into our hotel in Vicenza, which is about 1/2 hour away from Venice. A group of us went to dinner, and I had some pumpkin risotto. The next morning we came down for breakfast and it was a huge spread. In Mantua we had only gotten rolls and coffee. In Vicenza though there was fruit, cereal, croissants, cappucino, fruit juice, pastries, it was incredible. It was a good start for the next day which involved an 1.5 hour ride out to the Brion Cemetary, another Scarpa work. It was done for the Brion family, although more for the mother and father of the family. There are only two graves in the complex, which also includes a chapel and a variety of structures and water features. It was a beautiful place, Scarpa liked it so much he asked to be buried there.

That afternoon we went to the Teatro Olimpico which was a theater designed in perspective. There are seven streets that converge onto the center of the stage. From the seats you can see down the streets, which were built as a temporary set but have never been removed.

That night we got dinner in Vicenza, it was one of the best meals I've had. I started with pumpkin soup (a common theme in my norhtern meals) and then pasta with scallops and mussels. It was so delicious and it was only about 11 euro. Brianne, Bridget and I went back to the hotel and ended up watching some strange italian music videos, which are really one of a kind. We went to bed a little early because Bridget and I had to get up early to leave for Venice the next morning.

Weekend Rome-ings

2007-11-04T19:46:00.000+01:00

Saturday was a pretty easy day for me, I had some group work to do in the morning and then in the afternoon I walked over to the Piazza del Popolo. I went specifically to check out Santa Maria del Popolo, which has 3 Caravaggio paintings. 2 of them are about Saint Paul, one is his crucifixion and the one below is called "The Conversion on the Way to Damascus."

Then I went to the Villa Borghese to sit and read, it was a beautiful day out, very fall like. There were a bunch of families at the park and a bunch of italian couples doing the only thing they do, which is makeout.

This morning I slept in a bit, and then headed over to a building in Trastevere which has just started to give a series of lectures on Dante's Inferno. Today's was just an introduction to the work, and so I just sat and listened to the Italian. I sketched the lecture room and then made a list of all the words I recognized. It was an interesting way to spend an hour. Next week someone will be reading Canto I, so I'm planning on going back and checking it out. The building itself is medieval looking and when you walk in the front door you end up in a courtyard.

After the lecture I went over to the Campidoglio, which is a plaza designed by Michelangelo, it is right beyond Vittorio Emmanuel and the Roman Forum. The plaza pavement is designed in the shape of an oval star. It was very crowded as usual, but I sat and sketched for about an hour. It was warm today and felt good to be in the sun.

I then walked out to my final Pilgrammage church, San Lorenzo outside the Walls. San Lorenzo from what I read is basically the patron saint of Rome and considered to be a very important early Christian Martyr. The church was constructed over his buriel site. The church has a school and a convent attached to it and is a rather large compound.

Next door is the Verano Cemetary, which may be one of the most beautiful places I've been too. I spent about an hour just walking around and sketching all the monuments. The majority of the grave markers I saw looked like miniature buildings. However I probably only covered about 1/4 of the cemetary at most.

nuns:218 priests:107

Skull and Bones

2007-11-03T11:03:00.000+01:00

Friday before class I walked over to Santa Maria del Concezione. It has a crypt below the church that is decorated with skulls and various other bones. There was one portion that was all hip bones. It was slightly strange to see, but surprisingly didn't seem to gross. Even though I got there right before it closed, there were a lot of people there. I found it slightly more claustrophobic then the Catacombs because the crypt only had one was in and out, so people were pretty crammed. I didn't spend too much time in there for that reason.

The other night there was a crazy thunderstorm in Rome. Lightning, Thunder, the whole works. Below is a picture someone took of the storm. The plaza is the Campo de Fiori, our school is right off the Campo.

nuns: 204 priests: 99

studio, studio, studio

2007-11-01T18:43:00.000+01:00

nuns:201 priests: 97

Now that we have our project I've been a bit busier than usual with school-stuff, so I haven't been able to see much. We had a paper due today and we have a concept review tomorrow for our building idea.

We only had one history/sketching class this week, we went to Saint Agnese and the Mausoleum of Constantina. The Mausoleum was in the round, and the outer circle had some of the oldest surviving glass mosaics.

After the mausoleum we went into the Catacombs under Saint Agnese, they were slightly claustrophobic, being that we were underground in a cave. The ceiling was pretty close to my head, which gives you an idea of how closed in the space actually was. It was interesting to see how they used to bury people though and the differences between the wealthy and poor. The grave-slots of the wealthy were closed off with marble, which the poor folk were closed with brick. There were 3 floors of catacombs, but only the top was open for the tour, and we couldn't take pictures so I can't show you what they look like. But below is a close up of a cool door.

Early Sunday Morning....

2007-10-29T10:33:00.000+01:00

I was waiting in line to get into the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican Museum was free instead of 13 euro. Well the line was super long, and after an hour and a half I was finally in. I even got there an hour before it opened (sort of accidentally since I wasn't sure if the time had switched back. Luckily I did get there early or else I could have been in line for hours, in which case I would have left. Vatican Museum is basically a giant maze, I was walking through with the goal of getting to the Sistine Chapel. I took in the museum rooms as I walked through them, not stopping much to look around and it still took a good 1/2 hour to finally get to the Sistine Chapel. You have to weave through all these hallways and rooms, then go upstairs, then downstairs then back up and around some more. There were some cool things along the way, they had a bunch of modern art interpreting bible scenes which was interesting to see.

I found the Sistine Chapel slightly underwhelming, maybe because before you get there you walk through about 15 rooms with painted ceilings and walls. The quality in the Sistine Chapel was definitely better than in the other rooms and all the men in the paintings were freakishly muscular.

Afterwards I picked up Brianne and we set off for the Via Appia Antica. They close the road on Sundays for pedestrian and Bike traffic. We were going to rent bikes but unfortunately the place was all out when we got there. So we got some icecream,and walked along, taking in the countryside. It took about 45 minutes to get there from the center of Rome. Parts of the Via Appia are actually a large park which is why it still feels like the country. We saw a ton of sheep and there were little lambs running all over the place. I really wanted to pick one up but I figured the shepard would yell at me if I did.

We happened upon the Catacombs of San Sebastiano which come hand in hand with the church of San Sebastiano. I realized that in fact the San Sebastiano I went to on the Palatine Hill on Saturday was not a pilgrimage church, oops. But I found the real one accidentally, so I still have only one to go. It made more sense that this was the pilgrimage site since it was a larger church, and had catacombs underneath.

Brianne and I then found a big open field with some cool ruins on it, so we decided to take a nap. Falling asleep was easy, but at one point I woke up when my body jolted and realized if I moved much during my nap I'd fall off our perch...so I decided going back to sleep wasn't a good idea. So we sat and sketched and chatted and then the sun was starting to get low in the sky so we started the trek back to Roma.

nuns:188 priests:87
(I saw two huge groups of nuns, one group on the via appia and one waiting for the train near the Corso Vittorio Emannuel) Oh and I don't count nuns and priests at the Vatican because there are just too many.

A Saturday in Rome

2007-10-27T18:45:00.000+02:00

Today I visited 2 more of the pilgrimmage churches so now I only have one to go. First I went to San Giovanni in Laterno. I ascended the sacred stairs at the Lateran Palace. They are believed to be the stairs Jesus walked down after being condemned by Pontius Pilate. They are covered in wood and you can only go up on your knees. There are 28 stairs and I have to say by 12 I could feel the pain. I made it to the top and then walked across the street to the church. San Giovanni is the cathedral of Rome and used to be the seat of the Papacy before they moved to the Vatican.

I sketched the front of the church and about halfway through a tour group decided to stand right in front of me and block my view, so I had to take a brief pause since I couldn't see.

Afterwards I headed to San Sebastiano which is on the Palantine Hill. It is up a rather picturesque street but when I got there the gate was closed. I decided to walk to the end of the street, which was another church and on the way back went up to the gate of San Sebastiano and realized you had to buzz inside to get in. So I figured why not, and I buzzed the lady. I was able to speak some basic Italian so she knew I wanted to see the church. Then she said a bunch of Italian to me which I think was pretty much "be quiet while you are in there and don't take photos" but that was my interpretation. When I got in to the church it was very small and very simple, it was a nice change from the other pilgrammage churches. There were about 6 priests studying, and I just sort of hung to the back and looked at the church. Afterwards I sat outside and sketched the facade. It was a beautiful day and the grounds were very quiet, I could have stayed there all day but I felt a little like I was intruding so I only stayed about 1/2 hour.

Then I met up with Bridget and Brianne for some cappucino and pizza. We walked to the Piazza Navona and then to this cool toy store. Afterwards we split up and I headed to the Via Giulia to do some research for my project, it ended up taking a couple of hours, but I guess I am here to do work...

I then went to another church, whose name I haven't looked up yet but it has relics of San Valentino, basically his skull. It was just chilling out in a glass container.

nuns:154 priests:81

Southern Italy

2007-10-27T17:57:00.000+02:00

I got back Friday night from a whirlwind tour of southern Italy. Above is the sunrise at 7:30 in the morning in Rome the day we left.First we stopped in a fascist town, Sabaudia. It was fairly small, but the modernist quality of the buildings was a nice change from classical Rome. We only had an hour, but I was able to get in a few sketches of the church, and then wander a bit towards the lake/bay and then it was back on the bus.

Our next stop was Cuma, which is basically a giant hill with a lot of old ruined temples on it. We ate lunch, while being looked at longingly by some wild dogs, and then made our way into the site. There were some awesome caves, and a lot of incomplete ruins, but the view from the top was beautiful. Down on the beach we were able to see people practicing chariot racing. Then it was back on the bus and onward to Pompeii. Below I took a picture of my favorite sign, its hilarious.

We got to Pompeii at night, and stayed in a funky hotel. The hotel provided us with a big dinner, which was decent. The next day we walked over to Pompeii. The site was rather stunning, there were so many complete buildings. We saw an old amphitheatre and tons of old houses. Bridget, Brianne and I searched out the old brothel which had some dirty frescoes. Supposedly you would come in and point to the fresco you wanted and it would be done. Also I thought I'd throw in a view of Vesuvius.

After Pompeii in the morning we headed to Amalfi, it was a harrowing ride down the coast, the roads were really small and we were in a big bus. I was getting some motion sickness from all the turns, so I just tried to sleep. We got to Amalfi and checked into the hotel, we had the most awesome room. Mostly it was the view that was awesome.

The first night we went out to a nice dinner, I decided to eat Italian style and got two courses, I started with gnocchi and ended with some calamari, it was delicious. Then we got some gelato, and then it was back to the hotel to change into my swimsuit. We went down to the water and did a night swim, the water was so nice and it was calm so I was able to float for a while and look at the sky. The next morning we were served breakfast in our room and we ate out on our balcony.

After breakfast we walked up to Ravello, it was about 1000 steps. Which may not sound like much but we scaled a mountain and then had to climb down it a little and then climb another mountain. Man there were tons of steps. The views were incredible though.

In Ravello we checked out the Duomo and then two villas. The Villa Cimbroni is known for its view over the water, and the property goes right to the edge of the cliff. That's Sicily in the background, you can kind of see it.

We sketched there for a few hours and then made our way back down to Amalfi, the walk down was much easier. We went back to the same restaurant for dinner and I had the best clams I've ever tasted they were soooo good.
The next day we were supposed to go to Paestum, which has some complete Greek temples, unfortunately there was a museum workers strike so we couldn't go. So we hung out in Amalfi for the morning and left at 12 for Rome.

nuns: 134 priest: 69

Off In Italy

2007-10-22T12:06:00.000+02:00

I'll be gone this week to Pompeii, Amalfi, Ravello....

AHA! We found Zaha.

2007-10-21T16:09:00.000+02:00

Yeah the caption is cheesy, but I had to. Bridget, Brianne, Katie and I walked to the new Zaha Hadid building today. It was pretty far away, well by foot anyway, but was well worth it. Today felt like the first day of fall, and on the walk over we went by the river, and it was gorgeous. Walking in Rome is one of my favorite things to do. The building is still under construction but the concrete work so far is gorgeous. We walked to the front of the building first and then made our way around to the back. We toyed with the idea of scaling the fence to get a closer look, but decided being arrested probably wasn't worth it. So instead we all climbed up on the fence to get a better look inside. Which was worth it because we got to see some parts of the building that were out of sight.

In the morning before we went I headed up to San Pietro in Montorio, which is the church that also has the tempietto. There was a wedding ending when I fist got there, so I sat outside and watched everyone throw rice and explode confetti everywhere. When they had cleared out I went in, it was pretty nice, although I think having it set up for a wedding made the church more beautiful.

4 down 3 to go

2007-10-20T18:09:00.001+02:00

This morning I decided to take a short (approx. 2.5 miles one way) walk to San Paulo Fuori le Mure. Which translates to St. Paul's Outside of the Walls. It is one of the 7 Christian Pilgrimage churches. It was built on top of the burial site of St. Paul. It was the 3rd one I've seen, The first was St.Peter's and the other day during class we stopped into Santa Croce. It was about a 45 minute walk there and Brianne was brave enough to take the trek with me. It is always interesting to walk outside of the Roman walls, because its where the modern city begins, there are less historic buildings and artifacts and everything is a little grittier. When we got there, it wasn't crowded yet because it was about 9:45. We walked around the cloister which has these crazy twisty mosaic columns.

Then we were good architecture students and drew a few sketches. While we were in the cloister we could hear a choir practicing, it was beautiful to listen to the hymns. We made our way inside the Cathedral and wow was it huge. There were no chairs or pews in the majority of the church and it felt like a giant open hall. One cool thing was that around the upper walls of the church were portraits of all the popes. The current pope's picture was lit up. I only counted 12 more blank circles though, I'm not sure what they'll do when they run out of space.

On the walk home we stopped into a bar and got cappuccinos and pastries. They tasted really delicious. The bar was really swanky inside and looks like it turns into a hip place at night. We walked back inside the walls of Rome and then stopped at the Protestant Cemetery. A lot of tourists go there because Shelley and Keats are buried there. It was a gorgeous cemetery, there were plants everywhere and it was on a slight slope, so the graves all stepped up on the hill. At the top of the hill was one of the most beautiful sculptures I have ever seen. It was the last sculpture done by W.W.Story, and marks the grave of his wife. The photo below doesn't do it justice, it was very moving to see.

Afterwards I went home to do some laundry since we are going on a field trip next week and I'll need clean clothes. After the laundry was done I set off for my 4th of 7 pilgrimage churches. This one is Sta. Maria Maggiore. I didn't take any pictures of it because the inside was rather gaudy and overdone, and I sketched the outside. It was an interesting church however and I'm glad I went.

A fun little surprise was that right in front of the church a labor strike was going on. There were so many people marching I couldn't believe it. While I was sketching the outside of the church the march was going on close by and I could hear all the noise and action. It was really interesting to witness. This picture is only a small portion of the number of people. From what I saw the crowd stretched for at least 15 blocks if not more, it was hard to tell because they wrapped around a
corner.

nuns:132 priests:68

Toto I don't Think We're in Rome Anymore

2007-10-20T17:40:00.000+02:00

If you think you are looking at a Pyramid, you are. A pyramid in Rome? I know its crazy but its true, this is the piramede, its in Testaccio (a region of the city) at a former gate through the Aurelian Walls. Friday we finished walking the walls of Rome and the first group had an awesome section which encompassed most of Testaccio. First we went into this old slaughterhouse which was slowly being re-used, there was a museum going in and some community buildings. We were on the outskirts of the industrial district and the surroundings stood in contrast to what exists in the historic center.

After walking their wall we moved on to my groups part of the wall which is around the Vatican. When we hit the Colonnade at St.Peter's it was about 6:00 at night and the lighting was incredible. The sun sets right behind the basilica. I couldn't stop taking pictures.

Our section continued on down to the Castel Sant'Angelo which used to be a fortress but is now a museum. I haven't been in yet, but I've seen it a lot from the outside. On the way back Bridget Brianne and I crossed by way of the Ponte Sant'Angelo. All of the statues looked gorgeous against the evening sky.

nuns: 128 priests:65

Outside the Walls

2007-10-18T18:16:00.000+02:00

Today we set out for the baths of Diocletian. Unfortunately 3 police officers recently died in Rome, and there was a huge funeral going on in Sta. Maria of Angels and Martyrs, which was were we were going to go. So we ended up going to the Aula Ottagona instead (or at least for longer than planned). It was a cool octagonal building, with an oculus on the top. There was some strange geodesic dome on the inside which created an interesting contrast to the old building.

After that I went back to San Carlo Quattro Fontana with Bridget and Brianne, I had been on Monday night on a walk i took around the city, but it was very interesting to see how different it looks during the day. It felt much more open, and obviously light. The first picture is at night and the second is during the day.

We had to meet up with our group to start the studio part of our day which consisted of walking around 2 more sections of the old Roman wall. The two portions we walked around today were very interesting. The first took us by Santa Croce (which houses splinters from the cross) and San Giovanni Lateranno which is the official Cathedral of Rome. Santa Croce also has an organic monk garden which wasn't open but I plan on going back to. It is really interesting to see the difference between the inside of the Roman walls and what lies on the outside.

The second portion of the wall took us through a beautiful park (as well as some dumpy parts of the city) and we ended up on the Via Appia, which was the old road that connected to the south of Italy. Now it is a one way street. We walked up it to an old gate, and then headed back to Rome. Brianne, Bridget and I decided to hoof it back and ended up walking by the Baths of Caracalla, but we didn't go in. We did take a little rest in front of the ruins though and ate some delicious almonds. My feet are really tired though, it was nice to get off of them finally.

nuns: 116 priests 58

To Make a Long Story Short

2007-10-18T10:22:00.001+02:00

less blurry picture to come...

Ara Pacis

2007-10-16T18:40:00.000+02:00

Nuns: 106 Priests: 52

Today our history/sketching class went to the pantheon, which was really crowded so I was glad I had been before. I sat outside and sketched part of the portico, but it wasn't too detailed because we only had about 1/2 hour. On the way to our next stop (Ara Pacis) there was some kind of small riot going on. There were a bunch of police on scooters.

Afterwards we went to the Ara Pacis museum which was built by Richard Meir. It was designed to house the Ara Pacis which was an old sacrifical altar.

The museum was having an exhibit on Valentino's dresses, it was incredible. The first part of the exhibit was a little creepy because there were a bunch of bald manikins wearing fancy gowns.

But downstairs there was an exhibit with a ton of his famous Academy Awards dresses (worn by the likes of Halle Berry, Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz, Reese Witherspoon). Below is a shot of a dress Halle Berry wore.

Behind the dresses were gorgeous sketches that Valentino did. I can not describe the detail with which he drew, it was incredible.

My favorite detail was the veil on a wedding gown. The gown itself was a little ugly, it was a bit too much for my taste. But the veil was very delicate.

Ascoli Piceno

2007-10-14T10:49:00.000+02:00

On Friday Bridget and I set off for Ascoli Piceno, where some of the Italian side of my family is from. It was a 3 1/2 hour bus ride from Rome. It was surprising riding through the countryside of Italy to get there, it looked a lot like Northern California, we were surrounded by mountains. It was breathtaking.

When we got to Ascoli it was nearing nightfall and so we went to locate our hostel. On the way however we got a bit distracted by all of the churches. A lot of them were open and we got to peak inside. We even stumbled upon an old baptistery that the town had reconstructed.

We found our hostel easily, the historic center of town is not very large. When we signed in with the woman at the desk, she recognized my last name. She spoke only Italian though, so we couldn't talk in depth about my family. Bridget and I ended up being the only people there and so we got the place to ourselves. We decided to regress to childhood and both grabbed top bunks. Below is a picture of the tower on the hostel building.

We then set off to the main square Piazza del Popolo. We spent about an hour or two drinking coffee and watching people go by, there was a lot going on around us. The next morning we returned to do some sketching and there were tons of families walking around the square with their children and lots of dogs.

When we woke up Saturday we decided to wander around a bit. We ended up at a few more churches and then found an old convent which had been turned into a library and gallery. We met some very nice people there, who gave us a lot of background on the building and the area. One of them spoke French so Bridget could easily converse with him, and the others spoke a little English. We found out there was an architecture school on top of one of the hills and so we climbed up to see it. Unfortunately it was closed but we sat and sketched the view.

On the way down we found and architecture/art bookstore and were able to converse a little with the owner. Afterwards we ate some lunch and then wandered around town some more. Around 4:00 we walked back to the bus station and started the trek back to Rome.

nuns: 94 priests: 39

we did all we could, but in the end we had to amputate your head

2007-10-12T09:50:00.001+02:00

Yesterday for history/sketching we went to Trajan's Forum, which has Trajan's column and the very cool markets of Trajan. There was an exhibit going on by Ken Yasuda called "Touching Time." All around the markets Yasuda inserted sculptures, which were typically smooth marble. This texture contrasted greatly to the rough texture of the remaining markets. Ironically you were allowed to sit on, climb in, and whatever else you could think of to all the modern sculptures, but they were much more particular about the old fragments/ruins. The markets were surprisingly intact, and there were tons of small rooms/stalls that you could wander into. You could also get to the top of the markets, which offered a spectacular view. Its surprising how many buildings in Rome you can actually get to the top of, it allows you to see a semi-bird's eye view the city from many different vantage points.

Thursday was also my 4th drawing session with Frank Ching, architectural drawing expert. The class spreads itself around the area we are visiting, and then in the course of an hour or two Frank comes around and critiques each students drawings. Its rather amazing how he can add one or two lines to your drawing and they suddenly look 10 times better. Below is a shot of everyone taking notes and sketching during a brief history lesson.

Nuns: 86 Priests: 34

Lions and Tigers and Bears Oh My!

2007-10-10T10:15:00.000+02:00

Yesterday we went to the Palantine Hill (lots of ruins) and the Colosseum. I have to say the Colosseum was awesome. There were tons of people there, but it didn't really seem like it, since the space is so huge. We had to sketch once we were there so after walking around a bit, I parked myself on some ruins and drew for about an hour.

Afterwards it was right back to studio, we are pretty busy right now, we have the first part of our project due Tuesday.

Oh and I finally got a picture of the glass block in my apartment bathroom:

Nuns: 79 and Priests: 30

The End of the First Week

2007-10-07T17:04:00.000+02:00

Hard to believe that tomorrow I will have lived in Rome for a week, it actually feels like much longer. Bridget and I have been counting nuns and priests, so far we've seen 75 nuns and 20 priests. So the nuns definitely have the upper-hand. Its really interesting to see all of their different habits, the priests are less distinguishable from each other.

For our history/sketching class Thursday we went to the Roman Forum. The forum was interesting to see, although I have to admit a lot of the ruins start to look the same after a while. While at the Forum we went to the Mamertine Prison which is where St. Peter and St. Paul were held during their imprisonment in Rome. The prison cell was a lot smaller than I was expecting and was very cave like. There was a marker where legend has it Paul's head was smashed against the wall, which killed him. On the ceiling above was a hole where they would lower the prisoners into the cell, they wouldn't even allow them to go down the stairs.

On Friday we explored modern facist Rome when we went to EUR which was going to be the site of Italy's World Fair, it never happened though because of WWII. There were a couple of famous buildings there as well as a museum which had a giant 1:250 scale model of the city of Rome, as well as plaster casts of Trajan's column. Trajan's column depicts Trajan's battle with another people (i forget who), and the scenes wind up to the top of the column, and are thus not readily acceptable. My favorite cast was a scene where the warriors are fighting each other and one of the Roman's has an opponents head in his teeth as he continues to fight.

Saturday I spent the day mostly wandering Rome on my own. I had to go to the Via Guilia in the morning. It is the subject of my research paper and so I went to make some initial observations, we have a one page proposal due thursday so I thought I would get the site visit out of the way while I had a big chunk of time. I am mainly focusing on the churches of the street and how the interact with it, and two were open so I was able to wander in. The first was rather small and there were two nuns there cleaning up after mass. A few people came in and out but for the most part I was alone. One of the nuns was singing while she cleaned and had a beautiful voice. The second church was a lot bigger, but one of the coolest features was the automatic glass doors. They weren't like department store automatic doors, they were just a sheet of glass with minimal hardware, I wish I had a picture of it. Below is a shot of the second church San Giovanni.

After the Via Guilia I got some Pizza Bianca which is my new favorite food. Its basically cooked pizza dough with some olive oil and salt..mmm its so good. After eating I headed to the Piazza Navona which has 3 huge fountains. I didn't take any pictures, because I figured I should practice my sketching skills, which need some help. I went back to my apartment to drop off a few things and then took a better shot out my window, I figured it would be a little easier to see during the day.

After stopping home I headed to Santa Maria in Trastevere, which has some gorgeous and incredibly intricate mosaics. It was stunning to see, everything seemed to be gold, and just glowed in the light. I then walked up to the Tempietto which supposedly marks the spot where St.Peter was martyred. I went to sketch but once I got there realized I didn't have my pen, so I just walked around it a bit and resolved to go back.

On my way out it started raining, so I stopped at home and grabbed my raincoat and then head to the Pantheon. Rain does in fact come into the building, but they rope off the spot so you can't get close, there are two little drains on the floor under the oculus. I was hoping you could see a column of rain coming through but you could just see droplets hitting the puddle in the floor. I left after taking a picture because it was packed with people.

This morning (Sunday) Bridget and I went to mass at the Vatican. St. Peter's Basilica is beautiful and hearing mass there was rather breath taking. We plan to go back sometime to see the Sistine Chapel which is closed Sundays, so we'll have to hop back into the Basilica to look at all the statues in more detail. On our way out we realized St.Peter's square was packed with people and then heard tons of cheering. Turns out the Pope was just about to address the crowd. We tried to make our way out, but it was really packed tight with people. It probably took us a good 10 minutes to get through the crowd. We did get to see the Pope though, which was unexpected. He doesn't do the Sunday masses in St. Peter's but apparently addresses the crowds periodically. He's in the second picture at the window with the banner.

Then we walked up to the Gianicolo which is a hill in Trastevere, it has a great panorama of Rome. We sat on a bench for a while and enjoyed the breeze and the scenery. Then we made our way down to the Tempietto for some sketching, this time I had my pen. Ironically we ended up seeing two Australian guys that we had seen at St.Peters. We talked to them for a few minutes, apparently their friend had just been ordained a few days ago in St. Peters. They also tried to speak to us in Italian, so Bridget and I were happy that we don't seem blatantly American. We then ate a late lunch in Trastevere, and then made our way back to school.

Roma

2007-10-03T12:53:00.000+02:00

Today is my third day in Rome. Its been very fun so far, minus the fact that the airline lost my luggage, and I still haven't received it. But since I only have one pair of clothes it makes it easier to pick out what i'm wearing in the morning. Bridget lent me a shirt too, so hopefully I'll get my stuff today, but so far its not looking like it.

My apartment is really funky, and has one of those long skeleton keys. I'm still having a bit of trouble with the door, but I can usually open it 1 out of 4 times. The floors are all a pinkish/tan marble and there is a lot of glass block. I'll have to take some pictures of it, because the stuff in the bathroom is priceless. Below is a view out my window.

Yesterday in class we went and sketched at the Vittorio Emmanuel Monument, mostly because it has good panoramas of the city. After that we had studio, and got our first assignment. They divided up sections of the aurelian wall around the city and each group has to document their part and talk about how it relates to the city today. After walking around our section, my feet were so sore, we must have done about 8 miles or so that day.

I had my first Italian Cappuccino this morning and it was only 90 euro cents and delicious! Then I head to italian class after which Bridget, Brianne and I walked over the the Pantheon and the Trevi fountain. We went to the Trevi Fountain because there is a great gelato place closeby. The Pantheon was stunning, I didn't expect it to feel so grand. I'm planning to go back sometime when its raining to see what happens inside.

Traditional Dutch

2007-09-30T15:56:00.000+02:00

Today we went to Zaanse Schans, which is where a lot of old dutch buildings were moved to perserve them. The first building we went in to had a wooden clog display, showing how they changed over the years.Then we saw a demonstration on how they make clogs, they use really wet wood when they are carving and after it dries out the shoes become very light. They can now make the clogs in about 5 minutes with a machine, whereas handmade clogs used to take 2-3 hours. After the clog building we moved on to the cheese building, where there were some delicious samples of dutch cheese.

Then it was on to the old windmill. It was cool to see the mechanisms inside and you could go almost to the top. It was a bit harrowing at first because the stairs were basically a ladder. But I got used to them, and made it up as far as we were allowed to go.

After that we drove to some older dutch towns, one of which was Edam, known for its cheese. We went to a museum there, which was an old dutch home. The basement was made so that it floated on the water, so when you stepped down into it, you felt as if you were on a boat. Apparently it was made that way to accommodate rising and falling water levels. Because the cellar could move up and down, minimal damage would be down to the home. We also went to Volendam where I tried some Poffertjes, which are like mini-pancakes drenched in butter and coated with powdered sugar...mmmm.

Caisson 1

2007-09-30T00:35:00.000+02:00

Nathan and I partook in the Amsterdam Underground Festival tonight. We got to put on big waterproof boots and hardhats and go down about 40 meters into what will be part of the new subway tunnel in Amsterdam. Once we were below ground there was a light installation as well as a video that was played. The video took pictures from 101 days of news, and was rather interesting to watch. There were no words, just music and the pictures. The light installation was pretty cool too, when the lights were the brightest, the reflection on the concrete made it almost look like there was a fire.

Dutch Design

2007-09-29T14:01:00.000+02:00

This morning Nathan and I rode to downtown to check out some design stores. But we first made a stop in Rembrandplein, where the picture above was taken. Although the area is named for Rembrandt, his house is not there.

We went to Droog design first, which has a mixture of pieces for sale, as well as an exhibition space for Delft students. The student work was very interesting, a lot of them using materials such as rope and fabric to make chairs, walls and other furniture. A lot of the pieces used resin as a hardener. One of my favorite things was the bench below. You sit on the plates and they roll around on top of the beads.

After Droog we went to WonderWood, which had a lot of bent plywood furniture. Everything was way out of my price range, but the best thing in the store was the Vitra. Its an elephant chair for children designed by Charles Eames. Apparently this store is the only one displaying it. There were two versions, one in a natural wood tone and the other red. The man in the store said 1000 of each were made to commemorate Eames 100th birthday, and all 2000 have already been sold. I can see why, they are very cute, but at 1350 Euro, they are a bit expensive.

On the way back to the apartment we found a hidden courtyard. All the houses opened up to the inside which had a park area and an English Reformed Church.

Biking Amsterdam

2007-09-28T20:24:00.001+02:00

After grabbing my sweater I headed back down to the center of town to see the bike parking garage at the Central Station. I heard it was big, but man I've never seen so many bikes in my life, I'm not sure how there are any cars in Amsterdam. The picture below doesn't even begin to show how many there were.

After gawking at the bikes for a little bit I rode out to a dock to check out and MVRDV building. It was a big housing complex, not quite in my taste. It was cool to see though and the location couldn't be better. It's right at the end of the dock and you can walk through part of the building to get to a large deck.

I then made my way back to the apartment which was pretty easy, I felt like after riding for a day I got more used to the street layout. I find some cool old houses on a side street along the way. I recommend biking around to anyone that may come to the city.

Finding NEMO

2007-09-28T14:13:00.000+02:00

Today I set off on my borrowed bike to go see NEMO, which is a science center by Renzo Piano. About 5 minutes into my ride I took a wrong turn, not realizing it of course. So I ended up winding around the outskirts of Eastern Amsterdam for about an hour. Along the way I stumbled upon this cool apartment building:

I was about to call Nathan, but somehow I ended up finding my way back to a road into the center of Amsterdam. I saw some awesome house boats along the way back into the city. There were a lot of very modern looking ones.

Once in the city I found ARCAM, which is the architecture center. It wasn't opening for a half an hour, so I wandered around it and there was NEMO! So I wandered over and climbed up the roof deck. It has a great view of the city and I sat there and drank a coffee.

I went back to ARCAM and looked at their exhibt on young Amsterdam Architects. After that I decided to come back to the apartmentto get my sweater, since it was getting chilly. It took me about 20 minutes to get back which was much shorter than the hour and a half it took to find NEMO.

Amsterdam

2007-09-28T00:13:00.000+02:00

I am now in Amsterdam for about 3 days. Taking the train to London's Gatwick airport was a little confusing because you can't take the underground to get there so I had to go to a different area and make sure I was on the right platform. Gatwick was a little strange because they don't post the gate number until about 45 minutes before the flight, so you have to sit in a big communal waiting area. I read the Grazia I got at Fashion Weekend, and then on the plane I fell asleep for most of the trip.

After dinner Nathan and I took a walk around Amsterdam which is beautiful at night, I can't wait to see it tomorrow. I get to use Nadirah's bike tomorrow, and I'm excited to bike around the city. I've never seen so many bikes in one place. Apparently the central train station has a three story bike parking garage, so I may check that out tomorrow. No pictures today, but I'll put some up with my next post.

Things I Will Miss About London

2007-09-27T12:32:00.000+02:00

the hobbit doors

street signs on the sides of buildings

the fire exit signs, because if there is a fire in London you WILL be running and not walking to that exit

London Fashion Weekend

2007-09-27T02:39:00.000+02:00

Tonight Kat and I lived the high life at London Fashion Weekend at the Natural History Museum. Basically its all the up and coming designers collections at super low prices. I'm wearing a scarf in the picture because it was rather chilly out. We got a goody bag with some free stuff, including Grazie which is London's semi-trashy celeb magazine, so that's what i'll be reading on the plane to Amsterdam tomorrow. There was also shampoo, lotion and other free stuff in the bag. I got a fancy red hat and Dad you will be happy to hear that i now have 3 pairs of jeans with me. I bought a pair, they were a steal because they were one-off jeans that can't sell in a store. Below is me in my new hat and some free champagne we got. The hat is slighty crooked in the picture, it looks better when its on straight.

And I would walk 500 Miles....

2007-09-26T16:32:00.000+02:00

Today I spent the day wandering around london, mostly in the Kensington area. I started by visitng Christ Church which is a little chapel right near the flat. After winding through a bunch of neighborhood streets I ended up in front of the Royal Hospital, which according to Kat has a spectacular sunday service, and apparently its where Margaret Thatcher goes for church. I then made my way over to Herrod's which was huge. My favorite display was the backgammon boards, the most expensive one I saw was 1599 pounds! They already had a christmas section up, which appropriately was playing christmas songs. Each section of the store played its own music, I even heard hootie and the blowfish in one part of the store.

After Herrods I wandered over to the Serpentine Pavilion. It was pretty full inside even though nothing in paticular was going on. There was a ramp around the pavilion which led to an overlook over the main room. Somehow I managed to wedge my foot between the pathway and the building. There must have been only one spot that was big enought for a foot and mine found it. So now I have a nice souvenir right below my ankle.

After the Serpentine injured me I decided to walk around kensington gardens. There were so many dogs running all around, and I couldn't believe how all of them always eventually ran back to or after their owner. I passed the Peter Pan statue and then it began to sleet! But only for about 2 or 3 minutes. It got pretty cold out and so I made my way back to the flat. Once I got back to Kat's street all the kids were getting out of school, their uniforms were very cute and a bunch of them were skipping down the road.

The Tate Modern & Food For Thought

2007-09-26T11:12:00.000+02:00

Last night Kat and I took the tube towards the Tate Modern. We got off near St. Paul's Cathedral and crossed the Millenium Bridge to get to the Tate. When we were about halfway across the bridge it started to rain. The weather here shifts pretty fast, one minute its warm enough for a t-shirt and the next you need a sweater. As you can tell from the picture of Kat and I it was also a bit windy out.

After the Tate we made our way to Food for Thought in Covent Gardens. The food was delicious, we got a huge mixed salad with pasta, lettuce, beets and cous cous and for dinenr had eggplant, tomatoes, rice and yellow curry. The bread was delicious and I left feeling very full.

We went back to Kat's flat and watched This is England which follows a young boy as he encounters skinheads. It was excellent.

1st Day-London

2007-09-25T15:18:00.000+02:00

I finally got to London this morning, after waiting to get through customs for about an hour. The flight over was decent, they even feed us dinner. So far the city has been awesome, Kat's flat is very english, complete with artwork of british men on horseback. So far today we went to the Royal Academy of Art and then I headed off to Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey. The Royal Academy had a lot of crazy stuff, including a cast of a dead criminal from the 1800s or so (they apparently skinned him before making the cast so they could get a better idea of how a body looks on a cross). They had a bunch of other stuff lying around, including a case full of skeletons.