Gaudi had a life-long fear of tram cars...

The last city on my European adventure was Barcelona. I would say that I loved the city.
On the first day we visited the Picasso Museum, which was great...and the Chocolate Museum, where Alli and I drank liquid chocolate bars.
The one thing that I would have changed would have been the weather...it rained quite a bit and it was colder than I had expected, but the city was vibrant, interesting and diverse. I enjoyed walking around the pedestrian streets and seeing the fabulous and bizarre architecture of Gaudi's city.
One of the first great things that we did was we took a tour of the Palau de Musica Catalina. This concert hall was stunningly beautiful on the inside. The architect designed each of the many sculptures on the walls and the stained glass. I couldn't stop looking at the "sun" of the room which was the stained glass sky light in the center, the orange and yellow glass bent in an upside-down bell shape over the audience and I can just imagine what that must look like on a very sunny day of when they use electricity to light it at night. I liked that tour very much.
We also took cable cars along the coast to view the city from above, which was nice. Once again, the weather could have been better, but the fog over the mountains created cool effects and the pictures came out well.
I loved the Park Guell, which was the park that Gaudi designed for his friend...everything in the park is colorful, vibrant, and interesting to look at. I loved seeing the city from this park. Off in the distance we saw what we thought was a creepy old castle but we later found out that it was an amusement park, which is less cool, so we didn't go to see it.
We were reading about Gaudi and his work while we sat in the park waiting for it to get dark and we found out that Gaudi was killed by a tram car. The next day we took a gothic tour in which we found out that Gaudi had a life-long fear of tram cars...which is horribly ironic.
We took a gothic tour the next day which was alright and the we signed up to take a Spanish cooking class the following day.
We met up with Scott's friend from Budapest, Salma, who lives in Barcelona. She was great and she took us to this wax museum/bar/jungle where we had sangria and talked for a while. It was a really fun night.
The next day, which was our last day, went to various Gaudi projects. We saw three that were particularly impressive. The Sagrada Familia (Gaudi's unfinished temple) which was mesmerizing. It is enormous and so so so unique. It was unlike anything I have ever seen and I love that.
I also loved his Casa Mila and Casa Batlla. After we saw those sights, we went to the outdoor market for some fresh fruit etc and then made our way to the cooking class.
We made sangria and tapas while the instructor explained the technique of cooking paella. It was good and interesting.
So early today I left Barcelona and now I'm here in New York again, more or less unpacked and I am happy that I already got to see Jeanette and her boyfriend Brad, Carly and Laura.
Now I'm going to go to sleep because to me it feels like 6 AM and I have been awake for 24 hours, eek.
It's nice to be home <3
Ciao.

PS...I don't really know what I'm going to write about in this blog now...and it seems to need a new title.

Parigi

My mom and I left London on my birthday on the train to Paris. The train only took a couple of hours and then we were in Paris. It was so nice to see Josh and to be in Paris again. This time I didn't feel as rushed or stressed because there were only a couple of things that I missed in March that I wanted to accomplish this time.
We did a few things with my mom before Scott and Alli arrived from Brussels. Later that night we went out to dinner at Hippo and then to a fun club where the guys served us drinks in their underwear.
The next night we cooked in Josh's building, which was good, I really missed cooking since leaving Florence. We were so used to cooking for ourselves every night.
We went to Orsay to see impressionist art. I was standing on line while I was waiting for Scott and Alli to get to the museum and I had been waiting for about twenty minutes when they arrived. I told them to come join me on the line and then a French man got all upset saying that everyone had seen us cut the line etc etc etc. It was ridiculous. At one point the man even said, "I am French and I have been waiting for a long time." I was like, really? Then the man continued to bad-talk us to other people in line and he asked Scott, "Do you feel good, in your mind?" Scott responded by saying, "Yes, and in my heart." The man was terrible but we finally got into the museum soon after. I liked the building that held the works- it used to be the main train station in Paris and I loved the high arched ceilings. Normally they would bring the much needed light to illuminate the paintings, but we went on kind of a gray day, so that wasn't so good. I enjoyed the collection very much.
We spent some time sunbathing in the Luxembourg gardens and we took a boat along the Seine. One of the highlights of this trip to Paris was going to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. I didn't know that one could go to the top of it but the view of the city at night was absolutely spectacular and I was so happy that we did that.
We went to the Pompidou Center (cool modern art museum) and the Picasso Museum, which were both very cool.
The last night Alli, Scott, my mom and I went up to Mont Martre to see Sacre Ceour and have fondue. The church was gorgeous and dinner was great. Alli and Scott got some really nice pieces of art up there and then we proceeded to check out the Moulin Rouge.
When we went to the Palais de Tokyo earlier that day, we were told to come back between 6-12 for the opening of a new exhibit. So after dinner we went back and there was this incredible party going on between the two buildings of the museum. The music was cool and funky and all of the Europeans were dancing and flailing around. We could see the Eiffel Tower flickering behind us...This was one of the coolest experiences I have had this semester. I felt like I was part of something cool and genuine, not to mention it was SUPER FUN.
The artist that was opening the exhibit was really great also, I liked most of his collection and even though you could tell he was influenced by Gauguin, he wasn't horribly boring like Gauguin.
On the last day we went to the top of the Pantheon, another terrific view of the city and then we were on our way to Barcelona.
My mom unfortunately decided that it was the most practical for her to cut her trip a bit short and go back to New York from Paris. Scott Alli and I left for Barcelona on the train and got there the next morning.

Circuses and Squares

Cheerio from foggy Londontown!
So we got to London yesterday morning around 10 and we had a full day of sight seeing! We took a tour bus around the city which I usually frown upon but it really is a great way to save money on transportation to major sights, especially when dealing with the pound...so we rode the bus around for a while and got to hear great commentary from this cute old man named Phil- he was a great guide, very funny and smart. We went to Harrod's and to Hyde Park- I found the statue of Peter Pan that I wanted to see- learned about that from Winning London lol.
Our hotel is awesome by the way! It has so many complimentary services- laundry, free spring water and printing! Love it! And the location is great too, right across the street from St. Paul's Cathedral.
Last night we ate Indian food for dinner which is apparently the national dish of England, according to our cab driver. Apparently when India was a colony the British people liked the flavors of the food they made so they later adapted it to their tastes (probably meaning making it more mild). I thought it was great! It tasted light- it wasn't as filling as it is in the states, or perhaps it was because I hadn't eaten all day. To save money (and Cals of course!), I suggested to my mom that we eat one meal a day- so far so good! I pump myself up with Starbucks and I'm good to go! They are everywhere, within a 30 second walk from the hotel lol. It's like New York.
London is actually pretty similar to NYC...except it is much richer in terms of history and I find it to be cleaner and more esthetically pleasing. Not that I don't love New York, I do and I can't wait to go back! But, London is awesome and incredibly gorgeous.
So this morning I walked over the AWESOME Millennium Bridge to the Tate Modern (without Mom because she hates modern art and would have said things along the lines of, "I can make that!" so, she skipped it and went to see the Queen's Gallery, which was apparently quite impressive).
The Tate Modern was UNREAL! I loved it so much that when I finished I asked about possibly interning there next summer- I want to be in there all the time! It was so cool. Apparently to intern there, you don't have to be studying Art or Art History, they choose people based on interest, which is good for me. While I was walking through the halls, a group of kids started walking around in the same pattern, they were doing a performance art routine. It was fun and unexpected.
In terms of quality of works and organization, I would say that Tate is my favorite museum. Alli and Scott- you're going to LOVE IT. Tons of stuff from Aruna's class and there are games and stuff- it's such a cool environment.
Scott, you know how you said that you don't like MoMA as much as you could because you think it feels a little bit cold- this museum is the opposite- it's inviting and great!
One thing that I found particularly cool was DuChamp's glass panels. We studied it in class but I thought it was so cool to see it in person. It looks completely different because you can actually see it as it was meant to be seen, transparently.
Something cute, there was a British woman in the museum with her 4-year -old daughter and she asked the little if she thought DuChamp's ready-made Bicycle Wheel was art and the little girl said, "No! It's a bicycle wheel!" Maybe you had to be there, her voice was cute...
There were a number of awesome installations and videos that were evocative.
Over all, awesome place- definitely up there with my favorite things here in London.
Then I tried to get into Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, but it was closed...Next I headed over to the National Gallery- also impressive, but I didn't spend long there- my mom adored it and she spent much more time. I think she's going to LOVE the Louvre, so I'm excited for her to see that.
Next I headed to Westminster Abbey, which was also closed, then to Parliament, yup, that was closed too- they are on holiday until June 2. Three things I wanted to see were closed today (Royal Court of Justice too). But I was so pleased with Tate that it was alright. I did stop at a cute antique market near Piccadilly Circus- called Piccadilly Market and I got Alli a little something and then just browsed a bit.
I spent most of the day wandering the city, I didn't have a map until I met up with my mom so I had no idea how much walking I had done- I walked all over the city today and it was great.
Tomorrow we are planning to see the Tower of London and then we'll spend the rest of the day relaxing and shopping on Oxford Street (Looks like a lot of fun- Top Shop, Urban, 2 H & M's etc etc!!)- We deserve a break because I think we each saw everything that was important to us.

Dublin

Before discussing Dublin, I wanted to reference some quick notes about Italy. First of all, leaving the apartment last was so hard. I looked onto the table to see our three sets of keys in the empty apartment and I closed the door knowing that I would never walk into that apartment again. It made me cry because I am going to miss my life in Florence so much, my friends, my apartment and everything else that makes Florence special (too many things to possibly name).
As I took my last train I realized that my last train was the same as my first, the Fiumicino Airport shuttle to Rome Termini. This time when I got out the Airport, I recognized the ticket machines and understood the signs, things which made me nervous when I first saw them.
This must be pretty depressing so far, but I am honestly am having a hard time accepting that this experience is nearly over. I have been trying hard not to think about my experience in these negative terms because I should be thinking, wow, look at all of the amazing things I have had the chance to see.
On a lighter note- the Trenitalia Business class section is called "T-Biz"

So anyway, (something I have noticed that I say a lot in this blog of mine...can't help it)
We got to Dublin late at night on May 21 and we ended up having just one day to sight see. This made me nervous because I didn't think that I would be able to do everything. This is something that I have realized, it is better to do a few things and get a feel for the city than it is to run around stressed all day and ruin it.
So I focused on a few things that were important to me and I spent the rest of the time walking around the city and getting a feel for it. I went to Trinity College (1592 Established by Queen Elizabeth I) first and took a tour of the campus. The tour was given by an ADORABLE second year student named Kiernan Gellaher. He was so knowledgeable and well, cute. He told us all about life on the campus and the history of various buildings and notable alumni. I liked the tour a lot and at the end I went to see the Book of Kells, the most interesting thing about that was that the ink comes from all around the world, the red was made from the blood of a pregnant beetle. Interesting. After that I went and saw the old library called the Long Room, that library was fantastic and it smelled like old books, which is a smell that I adore.
Next I went to the Kilmainhem Jail. That was one of the cooler things that I saw in Dublin. The tour of the jail took an hour and the tour guide told us all about the history of the jail and the famous inmates including Eamon de Valera (who opposed Michael Collins when it came to the adoption of a treaty with Britain that would have given Britain the rights to Northern Ireland and the people essentially saw this as half a victory and therefore not good enough due to the amount of people that had died for the cause).
What I found really interesting about the jail was Jeremy Bantham's Panopticon theory at work. The idea was that the prisoners never knew when they were being monitored and they were therefore always on their best behavior. Theoretically, this would continue when they were outside the walls of the prison and they would be truly reformed. It is an interesting idea and it made for a very cool room. The use that wing of the prison to film many movies because the perfect horse shoe makes for great acoustics and the production staff also doesn’t have to worry about moving the prisoners because the prison has been closed to felons for many years and now serves as a center for learning and a social history museum.
Something else that was interesting was a story the tour guide told us about the youngest prisoner- she was an eight-year-old girl who was imprisoned for stealing a coat during the Irish Potato Famine. She and her family were starving and freezing to death and she was arrested for this act. She served for a few years performing manual labor.
My last sight seeing stop was at the National Gallery. I knew that there was a lot to see in Dublin and I didn't want to miss out on it, so I went into the museum thinking that I could take a quick look, but I loved it too much, I couldn't convince myself to leave. The collection was amazing and I was so happy to have chosen the National Gallery as one of my stops!
Then I wanted to meet up with my mom for a pint so I walked from the Gallery to where she was near the big modern needle on O'Connell Street. I liked that I was getting to know the streets and I liked feeling the rain as I walked through the streets of Dublin. I thought it made it feel like authentic Ireland.
My mom and I went to a famous pub on Temple Bar and had some traditional Irish food and Guinness. I learned that I hate Guinness- it was thick and dark and I thought it tasted like crap- but I thought that it was a good thing to try Guinness in Ireland. The food was better than I expected and the live music was really nice.
There were a few things that I wish I had done, but in the end I was happy with the three things that I chose to do and I spent the day strolling and smiling instead of running around unhappy. That would not have been very Irish of me anyway. It was a great day.

The next morning at 4 AM we left for London and that's where I am now...but I want to make that a second entry!

Ciao Italia!

I'm here in the Hotel Bellevue in Amalfi, in the south of Italy. Tonight is my last night in Italy and it's definitely bittersweet. 

I met my mom in Rome on Saturday and then we come here to Amalfi for 3 days. We went to Capri yesterday and that was really beautiful. I was excited to see the Blue Grotto after hearing so many amazing things about it, but it was closed due to high waters, which was sad. But we did take an amazing 2 hour boat ride around the whole island and the captain took us into a few other grottos. It was a really gorgeous island with tall cliffs covered in moss. 

We went to Anacapri to take a chair lift to the top of a mountain. It was really cool to see the island from above.

The only thing that I will complain about briefly is that things in the south take about 8 hours longer than they should. The boat that took us to the island only came back once, and it was much later than we wanted to leave. I guess I should just accept it and go with the flow, but I'm sort of not a go with the flow person :(

Anyway, Amalfi is incredibly beautiful. I don't know how people drive here. The roads are so narrow and the cars just speed past each other. For the girls who were in Sicily with me, it's like Erice lol.

So today we went to Vesuvio and Pompeii. We took a 2.5 hour bus to Vesuvio which put me right to sleep. Something about buses really puts me out. We got there and we climbed to the top. It was windy and foggy up there. Apparently is is snowy in top of the mountain until about May. It took 20 minutes to reach the top. It was very cool to be on top of Mt. Vesuvius but I honestly couldn't see inside the crater because of the fog situation. 

We had lunch and met a really nice couple and then we went to the ancient city. The ticket booth didn't take credit and my mom and I were both completely out of money, so we wasted about 30 minutes trying to find a Bancomat, which made me upset, because we were only allowed 2 hours to begin with. I was worried that we wouldn't be able to see everything, but I think that we ended up seeing quite a bit. I learned some cool facts while I was there so that made me happy.

Just a side note, there are tons of wild dogs in the ancient city. I thought they were cute and friendly and one of them looked like Maggie :)

So I guess that's about it for now. I am heading to Dublin tomorrow and then London and Paris. I think Josh and I are going to take a day trip to Brussels- which would be so fun. Also, I think that my mom and I have decided to do Barcelona for the last four days, which will be terrific! The city of the future!

Wow, I can't believe I am leaving Italy...strange.

Okay, Ciao! <3

Quick Post

So, as of about 4 PM today I am a certified expert of Tuscan wine!! :)

Also, I shipped stuff home today, gifts etc and it was 7.5 kilos, which is about 16 lbs- it cost 116 Euros- wow! I was okay with it because my mom said it was okay but then Josh called and said that a package that size would cost about 35 Euros to ship from Paris, so that sucks. But, whatever, I think that it was money well spent, now I don't have to worry about those items while I travel around with my mom-

Have a safe flight, Mom, I will see you in Roma on Saturday at around 2:45!!

We're cooking dinner here tonight- girls night and then we're going out to a club or two.

Doing Florence things tomorrow obviously because it's our last day, :(

This has been the best semester ever. 

:)

La Ultima Fine Settimana a Firenze

So, as the probably incorrect blog title above states- This past weekend was the last weekend in Florence. It was pretty sad to think about it all ending but it was really nice to spend it with the people I really care about here. Kel missed her flight to Sardinia so she got to stay in Florence for the weekend. I know that she was disappointed to miss out on Sardinia but we were all glad that she was in Florence for the last weekend. 

So we had productive days this weekend- I was finishing up my list of sights etc that has been looming for a while. We went to the Pitti Palace and saw the costume gallery (very very impressive) It had all of the trends throughout the past few centuries which we found very interesting. Then I went and checked out the Modern Art Museum in the Pitti Palace which was actually really disappointing. It wasn't what we would consider modern art- it was a lot of war depictions and portraiture. 

Next we went to Hemingway's, a gelateria from Let's Go Europe! I had been wanting to go there for a while but it's really far away. It was absolutely incredible. I ordered a chocolate, banana and strawberry shake and a piece of carrot cake (necessary...) and then when I saw Alli's banana/chocolate crepe and Kel's strawberry/chocolate crepe come out I simply had to get one. I got one with banana/strawberry/chocolate- so amazing. We took pictures of them haha, they're on Fb.

So that night we wanted to go to a pub called Michael Collins (also the title of a film that we watched in Venice Film Festival with Liam Neeson and Julia Roberts about the Irish Independence movement and its leader, Michael Collins). But we ended up going to the wrong piazza so we went to Central Park instead. Central Park is a club that is kind of far away so we took a taxi- they recently re-did the outside and it's quite nice. The drinks were super expensive though- 10 euros! That's about $16. Nuts. So anyway we got home around 4 and ate McDonald's (shameful...).

The next day we did more Florence things, such as eating falafels. We also went to this caffe called, "Chiara Scurro" which is an art term from Aruna's class...that's meaning escapes me. But anyway, they make this amazing cappuccino freddo which was awesome. 

If, at this point, you think it sounds like all we do is eat here in Italy, you're right.

However, the highlight of the day for me was that I finally got to go into the Badia (a church where monks in white robes chant...and it was believed to be where Dante first gazed upon Beatrice. I love stuff that involves Dante.) Their voices were incredible and so relaxing. I loved that I didn't understand what they were saying and I just got to hear their perfect voices.

Saturday night was the LdM fashion show- all of the fashion students showed off their work on the runway outside San Lorenzo church. It was so impressive- there were tons of people there. The models had their hair and makeup done and there was a runway and a spotlight. Betty's outfit was awesome and Alessandra did a great job modeling it. I was really impressed by the quality of work that everyone turned out. There were some really cool things that I would totally wear.

Yesterday I went to visit Santa Maria Novella church during mass (to avoid paying 3 euros). It was really beautiful- I particularly liked the stained glass behind the alter, it was in one-point perspective, which is something you don't see very often. 

This morning finals week began with Italian at 9AM...Betty helped me out big-time by giving me her review sheet, which made the final go pretty smoothly. Thank goodness.

So this is the last week here in Florence. Kel started packing last night, a big orange bag is almost full and it's really getting weird. We have been cleaning the apartment and taking down pictures. We have our inspection tomorrow and we all really want our $300 deposit back.

I got my train ticket to Rome yesterday. I'll be meeting my mom there and then we will head to the Amalfi Coast, Dublin, London, Paris, Brussels, and hopefully Munich.

I am obviously excited for all of the experiences to come but I will be very sad to leave the life I have made for myself here in Florence. 

That's all for now, 

Love you all so much and see you soon!

Ciao <3

Meg