Spring Break Pictures!

Here are some of the 700 pictures I took throughout an amazing 10 days I spent with two friends from high school in Positano, Sorrento, Prague and Vienna.

We could look like the Venus de Milo (and other valuable lessons I learned in Paris)

This past weekend was the second long weekend built into my abroad program's schedule for the semester. Two friends and I went to Paris for the weekend, and a friend of mine from Bowdoin (Nicole) joined us. Paris was the first place in Europe I ever went, way back in 4th grade (11 years ago!). I remembered loving it then, but prior to this trip I was really curious to see how my impression of the city would have changed. I couldn't tell whether my lasting memory of the city was that of a naive, idealizing 4th grader's mind or if Paris simply made an impression because it was my experience with Europe in general, or if I in fact did possess some sort of particular inclination toward the Parisian way of life.
What did I discover? Turns out my tastes haven't changed much since 4th grade. The only difference is that now I care a lot more about the art than I did back then. In fact, that first trip made me momentarily averse to any sort of impressionism because I think we saw every single Monet painting in the city.

I enjoyed taking the museum-going at a much more leisurely pace this time. We started out our visit on Friday morning by going to the Louvre. Knowing I'd been there before and gawked at good ol' Mona I didn't feel the need to frantically hit every possible well-known work. We strolled through many of the collections stopping when we felt like it. Highlights included some clay models (bozzettos) by Bernini for sculptures I've seen in Rome, the Nike of Samothrace (beautiful but admittedly would've been more impressive on a sunnier day), Cupid and Psyche (which I could stare at all day) and some mildy illusionistic paintings by someone named Pannino that were made up of multiple paintings of scenes in Rome, most of which I'd been to and recognized.

Lunch was french onion soup (check that off the list!) and then we walked around Le Marais district. We stopped in some interesting little vintage stores, the church of St. Paul and St Louis and eventually ended up at the most amazing chocolate store. They had chocolate everything from chocolate champagne bottles to ruby slippers to mussels.
They also had a self serve which we took full advantage of, looking up all the mysterious french descriptions on Nicole's trusty blackberry. I think the best mistranslation was something that translated to "dirty butter". We later discovered that mean salted butter. Same idea....

We ate dinner just down the stairs from our hostel at a nice place recommended by someone at the hostel. We were staying right near the Lamarck-Caulaincourt Metro stop in Montmartre. It's such a cute area. Of course I liked it because it's typically seen as the more artsy, bohemian district. But anyway it was filled with cute shops, patisseries, restaurants, and sets of stairs up the hill to more of the same.

Saturday the sun came out, as weather.com led us to believe it would. While partly to mostly cloudy kind of works with the Paris aesthetic (much better than in Rome at least) the sun was very exciting.That morning we went to Saint Chapelle. The line was long but moved quickly enough. The chapel was gorgeous. It's practically entirely made of stained glass, known for being like a little jewel box. There was a woman in the chapel who was seemingly caught up in the spirit and singing to herself a little too audibly. My friends found it a little strange and I did too until she was near enough for me to hear what song she was singing. It was Sweet Honey in the Rock's "We Are" that I sang in high school chorus and in the Sydney Opera House, among other places. How crazy to hear someone singing that of all songs in a church in Paris! We also went to Notre Dame that morning. All the stained glass and gothic styling in these churches was a nice change from the baroque, illusionistic, and often overdone decorations I've gotten used to in Roman churches.

For lunch we headed to Rue Cler, which according to the journal from our 4th grade trip (that I wrote in about as religiously as I do this blog) was my favorite place. It's a lovely little pedestrian street lined with bakeries, cheese shops, cafes, and grocery stores. We ended up sort of having a progressive lunch as we walked, picking up baguettes, chocolate croissants, cheese, and strawberries as we walked up and down the street. I could definitely get used to that...

That evening we headed to an area of Montmartre filled with restaurants and ended up sitting outside at a place that had a special deal for one savory crepe and one sweet crepe and a glass of cider. It was perfect and my sweet caramel and salted butter crepe was to die for. Later that night my friend Jenn and I headed back toward the center of the city to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up because I seem to have an affinity for European cities at night. We had a lot of fun, took a zillion pictures and accidentally caught the tower right when they were lighting it up with extra flashing lights at midnight. It's things like that that are touristy on the one hand, but also ground you in a specific city. This whole abroad experience is so surreal some of the time that you need something like that to remind you that you actually are in Paris, for instance, not Rome or DC or NYC or anywhere else.

Sunday we tried to pastry shop right across from the hostel (yum!) and then walked up some windy streets and long staircases to the part of Montmartre where Sacre Coeur is situated. The spot offers a gorgeous view of the city and the church itself it pretty spectacular. Mass was going on at the time so that added a little extra ambiance. It started to drizzle so we ducked into a cafe and got brunch. My first version of real breakfast or brunch food since I've been over here! Obviously I was really excited about that. From there we wandered over a beautiful-looking cemetery to the Moulin Rouge for some photos, and then headed to the Musee D'Orsay. It was pretty packed because it's free for everyone on the first Sunday of the month but this visit reaffirmed my interest in some impressionist and post-impressionist art. I loved getting to see Renoir's Bal au Moulin de la Galette, discovering that reproductions do absolutely no justice to that painting. Too bad I couldn't take photos...

After grabbing some pastries and an asiago cheese covered baguette for the road we had to head toward the airport. Several hours and about six different forms of transportation later we made it back safely to Rome. It was quite the whirlwind but I got to do everything I wanted and more. And by about Saturday evening I'd already decided I needed to come back for a more extended period at some point in my life, so that took the pressure off feeling like I had to hit everything possible in one weekend. Now I'm back in Rome and everything's in bloom and absolutely gorgeous and I love it. It's wild and falling apart and full of history and a little frayed at the edges, but could I see myself living here? Probably not. Paris on the other hand...? Let's just say I need to start working on my French....




click link to album below to see more photos.

Paris

"No Cars Go"

Well I'm back to blogging after a few weeks hiatus. That just goes to show that I was spending time out and about exploring the city, rather than in my room writing about it!

Since my last entry I've taken an epic tour through ruins of ancient temples and fora and markets, from Pompei to Paestum, cliffs to caves, and everything in between. That was a weekend long field trip with my Ancient Art of Rome class, and deserves its own post. I've also explored even more churches and streets and piazzas and cafes in Rome, which, too, deserve their own moments in the spotlight. But for now, I will focus on Venice...

I went to Venice (Venezia) this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday on a trip organized by my program for the entire group. For starters, there's something to be said for getting to travel without having to do an ounce of the organizational grunt work. Working to figure out future weekend and spring break travel has taught me to appreciate that.

We took the train to Venice bright and early Friday morning and then took a ferry from the mainland across the lagoon to the island of Venice. Now, I'd always heard that Venice was gross, smelly, humid, touristy and sinking. The sinking part cannot be denied, but otherwise we side-stepped many of those issues by going in February. The weather was absolutely gorgeous throughout Friday and Saturday. Though it was slightly chillier than Rome, with the breeze off the water, we had lots of sun and consequently got the full, magnificent effect.

Basically, Venice is a fairyland. It's hard to imagine until you get there, but it is just this big, fantastical maze of waterways, canals, bridges and narrow alleyways. Venice is famous for its Murano glass products, so to add to the visual effect, almost every single street is lined with glass stores with brilliantly colored window displays of iridescent glass jewelry, vases, platters and figurines. We were also there just before the start of Carnival (like Mardi Gras) which is HUGE in Venice. Vendors that aren't selling glass sell ornately decorated masks for the occasion. People dress up in homemade, highly decorative costumes, pausing often to invite onlookers to photograph them. We soon discovered that at this time of year it is not uncommon to see people donning feathered, glittery masks or large colored wigs or tri-cornered hats or capes or full-out costumes complete with peptobismal colored lipstick (see photograph).

We had a few group walking tours to get us oriented in the city and to give us some historical background. We, of course, went inside the ornately mosaic-ed St. Mark's basilica, made it (after briefly getting separated from the group!) to the historic Rialto Bridge, and a few other churches and sites to see many famous works by Venetian painters Titian, Tintoretto, and Giorgione. In the Accademia, a gallery we went to on Saturday, I met an adorable woman from the island of Malta who was in Venice with her husband for the weekend. They'd decided to tag along on our tour of the museum because clearly Professor Pestilli sounds like he knows what he's talking about!

On Saturday, the city began to fill with visitors coming for Carnival and more and more things related to the event began cropping up all over the place. In addition to masks, fancy face-painting was a big attraction. My friends and I came across a couple who had some face-painting options based on famous 19th century artists. Apparently the theme of Carnival this year is the 19th century (though they were the only people we heard that from). Jen got a starry-night themed design and Ophelia got one based on Klimpt's "Tree of Life." Had we had time I would've gone with either Mondrian or Miro, but sadly we had to rush back to make it to our walking tour on time. The people doing the face-painting were great, though, and seemed to enjoy sharing their knowledge about the city with us and were excited that we liked the artist-based designs instead of just swirly, glittery ones!

Saturday afternoon we finally tracked down a cafe that served the real, thick, syrupy hot chocolate we'd heard they served in Venice. I, of course, opted for a version that included espresso, and whipped cream. Delicious! It came with a sugared rim and chocolate shavings: A+ for presentation. We were initially drawn to the place because of all the fruit they had in view. Turns out they also offered many "centrifuges" which we're assuming is the Italian way of saying smoothie, something I still find pretty amusing. Unfortunately there wasn't time to try one of those! Within a few hours, though, we sampled a few more Venetian specialties: Prosecco and Bellini, a special form of prosecco combined with peach juice. Yum! That night we happened upon a huge concert in S. Mark's square which was a fastastic and festive end to the day.

Sunday was windy and cold but after two perfect days we could hardly complain....

In the morning we took a short water taxi to a small island off the main(is)land of Venice to see the Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore. This church houses Tintoretto's famous Last Supper painting which was exciting to see in person!
Also, we got to take the elevator up to the top of the bell tower which offered an awesome view of all of Venice. We stayed up there until they rang the bells just for the amazing, though somewhat deafening, experience. That would've been enough excitement for the day...but little did we know what was to come next. We had to go back to in shifts on the water taxi because by that point they were all packed. My friend Ophelia and I ended up on the first one back with two other girls. We waited and waited out in the cold to the background music of Simon & Garfunkle: Peruvian Flute Band style. About 45 minutes later we finally discovered that the director had rethought his plan and sent everyone else on different water taxis that dropped them closer to the hotel. At that point it was noon and surprise! It was time for the grand opening of Carnival in S. Mark's Square with the flight of the angel--when one person "flies" from the top of the belltower. All those people crowding the square who had looked like little dots from the top of the bell tower at the other church now were a reality--a vast mob, in fact. And we only had an hour before we had to be back at the hotel, lunched and ready to leave. In terms of capacity to handle crowds, Venice would probably be ranked one of the worst cities in the world and the narrow alleyways became our enemies. It was INSANE. After what seems like endless pushing and shoving and squeezing and shifting we made our way out, though only had a few minutes to spare. It was very frustrating at the time, but will definitely be a memorable, if comical even, experience.

Needless to say, I slept quite soundly on the train ride back to Rome! And now, a few hundred of photos later and a significantly lighter wallet, here we are! (More of those hundreds of photos will be up soon...)

Just Your Average Saturday in Tivoli...

Took a day trip on Saturday to Tivoli with two friends. It's a small town about 40 minutes outside of Rome, by bus. We hit up Villa d'Este (an old renaissance villa designed and built by Ippolito d'Este and known for its impressive gardens and waterworks) and, after some struggles with the bus systems of Tivoli, made it to Villa Adriana (ancient Roman ruins of Hadrian's villa, a short bus ride away from Villa d'Este) as well. As most people are aware, I'm pretty obsessed with fountains and water and that sort of landscaping, so of course I was pretty impressed. However, as a picture is worth a thousand words, here's a slideshow...




Other highlights of the week:
Sunday: Randomly took a stroll down Via del Corso and happened upon a Chinese New Year's celebration. Talk about Rome being a cosmopolitan city...

Monday: Planned the trip to Tivoli for Saturday.

Tuesday: Got to go to the restoration labs at the Vatican Museums in my art conservation class. Later, that night we walked down to the Trevi Fountain. It's sooo beautiful the way it's lit up at night.

Wednesday: Went "church-hopping" and saw some pretty interesting places including Il Gesu which has got to be one of the most decorative, most lavish churches in existence. Also went to Gioletti's, famed for being one of the best gelato places in the city. It definitely lived up to its reputation, though I think the whipped cream there was even better than the gelato itself!

Thursday: There was a transit strike meaning we had to walk all the way from the Aventine to Villa Borghese for my Bernini class. If you look at a map you'll discover that that means we basically walked all the way across the city. We went to the gallery at Villa Borghese and saw some of Bernini's most famous sculptures (Pluto and Persephone, Apollo and Daphne, and David), among other works. I definitely need to go back to see more of the art and to explore the grounds of the park. It's one of my favorite places I've been so far, as is the coffee bar we stopped at on the long walk.

Friday: Observed a ballet class at the National Academy of Dance that's right across from the convent where we live. If everything works out I'll start going to dance classes there this coming week. Should be fun!

Views from Rome

Rose Colored Glasses

I decided earlier this week that I needed to buy some sunglasses in order to a). fit in with the Italians at least a little bit more and b). hide my eyes so I'm free to gawk or stare in awe or look around as much as I want without having to worry about how out of place it makes me look. I picked up a pair in town today and turns out they give everything a reddish/pink tint like photographs from the 60s (as my friend pointed out). So I guess I'll be seeing Rome in funky colors for the next three months.
Anyway, the first week has continued to be great. I get to walk around the city a lot between my three classes that have walking tour components and the general exploring we do on our own everyday in search of restaurants or gelato. On Tuesday I had the morning free and managed to get myself into one of the two closest shopping areas via some random, residential backstreets without getting lost. I was pretty proud of that. By now, though, that's old news. In that same adventure I went over to the Santa Sabina Basilica (mentioned below) and started working on a watercolor. While I was painting an elderly Italian woman started trying to tell me something about the church. I was simultaneously ecstatic that she was actually speaking in Italian (most people here automatically jump to english without even giving us a chance) and struck by how ridiculous it was that I didn't even remember how to tell her I didn't understand. Hopefully that will change...

Yesterday I had a walking tour for my Ancient Arts of Rome class, which seems like it will be fabulous. The professor is pretty quirky but awesome and has a very dry sense of humor. We went to the Centrale Montemartini, part of the Musei Capitolini. This museum used to be an old industrial building and the old machinery now serves as a backdrop to the classical busts and sculptures that are on display. It's a really bizarre combination but I thought it was really cool. I would love to go back there with a camera before I leave.

Today's walking tour was for my seminar on Bernini, taught by one of the heads of the program who we affectionately refer to in conversation (not to his face) as Dad. It was a gorgeous day and a fabulous way to spend 4 hours of class time. We went to the Palazzo Farnese, a Renaissance palace that currently houses the French Embassy. No cameras allowed. (Blame the French). There's a famous fresco cycle by Carracci that we saw among other things. I also bought a cute little guide to nice caffes and views in Rome with water color illustrations. It was too perfect to pass up, aside from the fact that it's all in Italian! Stopped for a coffee break as a class at an eclectic little bar and then went to another buidling to see what's referred to as the "Sistine Chapel of Mannerism." All-in-all a really good morning.

Other highlights so far have included going to this popular deli/grocery store called Volpetti's where they love the students here adn spoil us with lots of samples, hitting up the closest gelato place a few too many times, adn an Italian barista singing along to U2's "Still Haven't Found What I"m Looking For" while my friend and I sat drinking our cappuccinos (this time it was before lunch...totally kosher.)

Who knew getting coffee could be so stressful??

Not me. You think Starbucks is stressful? Way too many options just so each person can have exactly what they want from the proportion of milk to foam to cream to pumps of chocolate syrup (that is assuming the barrista actually makes it right). Yeah it's obnoxious, and I hate it too, and can happily say I haven't seen a Starbucks since setting foot in this country. BUT try sitting down in one of the ever-romanticized streetside cafes in a neighborhood in Rome only to have the waiter respond to your order with, "Are you sure?"

"Si." I nod confidently.

"Freddo. It's with ice," he responds, questioning my knowledge and judgement.

"Si, si."

He's still frowning at me, looking doubtful, as I mumble something in English about it being warm outside.

Thanks a lot Brunswick Maine for making me think 60 degrees qualified as warm and was acceptable iced coffee weather. Yes, it was the last day of January, but in those conditions I would've been wearing a sundress and sandals in good ol' Brunswick.

Alas, I'm still learning...

Classes started yesterday and seem like they'll be great. I have my first walking tour this afternoon for Art Conservation which should be exciting. It will also be my first encounter with Rome's public transportation system....wish me luck!