little bit of nothing

a tributary river overflowed its banks into the tiber river not too long ago. i didnt catch a picture where the cycling paths were completely underwater but its still pretty high. and very very dirty. its around 25ish feet

after the waters had retreated a little

at its peak lifeinitaly.com

view from our apartment yesterday as the sun was setting

anyways, im going to ireland today! well be staying in dublin and taking a day trip to galway before ending in brussels, belgium for one night. if i cant celebrate thanksgiving with my family at home, might as well spend it in dublin. i heard the food is great. happy thanksgiving!

"to my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel 

is to be able to experience everyday things 

as if for the first time, to be in a position 

in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted."

-bill bryson

london

myself and 6 other girls went to london this previous weekend! since we didnt get to our hostel until after midnight on friday, we obviously didnt do anything until the next morning except crash in our amazingly comfortable beds. none of us slept very well since our room was next to the entryway to the hallway and the door slammed shut anytime someone went through it. plus we were really close to the bathroom that had a loud dryer (and could hear people outside our window strolling through the cobblestone driveway with their suitcases). anyways, we decided to suck it up and wake up semi-early to experience london. saturday was the only nice day forecasted and we wanted to see as much as possible.

we were beyond excited to see abbey road. this photo ended up being perfect (or near to) since we had a 5th person to photograph the 4 of us. thanks jackie!! and even though the crossroad was repainted and the photo is taken at a different angle, you can see the wall to the abbey road studios in the left in each photo (except the title covers it up in the album cover).

after freaking out for a bit, we took the quintessential london red double-decker bus and sat on the top. it went directly to buckingham palace, so we continued there. by the way, london has "look left" and "look right" painted at each crosswalk since they drive on the opposite side of the road. as weird as i thought these were at first, they proved to help us out a lot haha.

buckingham palace was gorgeous and soooo large, but not much was going on so we went out to lunch at a pub called shakespeares. the food was amazing and i got chili nachos with jalepenos. i blame this for the start of my stomach ache that lasted 3 days.

since we had seen the eye of london down the street from buckingham, we decided to walk down towards that way. we walked through a beautiful park, st. james park, in order to get there. the animals were so friendly and we were all more amused than any park animals should make us. and of course the fall colors were brilliantly bright. we also had to pass the horse guards to get to the riverbank where the eye was located. before we even got there, we encountered a cute telephone booth (the ones you see in movies) so we of course tried to see how many we could pack in there. we got the four of us in before heading further down the bank.

he seriously climbed up here as soon as we started taking pictures, so cute

goose having his lunch and getting in my face with it

after walking past the eye, we saw big ben, a cute couple shooting their wedding photos, house of parliament, westminster hall, westminster abbey, and a huge abortion protest. at this point, we wanted to head back where we came from so we could get dinner and back to our hostel. we decided to stay in and watch a movie since we hadnt gotten much sleep the night before.

panorama from the back of the horse guards showing the eye in the distance

since lisa and katie had met up with a friend the previous day, we hit up abbey road again the next morning. we looked closer at the graffiti, found the abbey road studios where the beatles (and many others) recorded, and checked out this tiny beatles coffee shop that sold a bunch of merchandise. we also went to buckingham palace again but everything was blocked off. we asked a police officer what was going on and they were bringing the queen back to the palace, we even saw the car she was coming in on.

abbey road studios
we werent allowed in :(

since we were meeting up with the rest of the group that had gone on a harry potter tour, we went to the kings cross train station to see the 9 and 3/4 platform where part of the movie was filmed. we also found a small restaurant to eat lunch at since it was starting to rain. of course it was pouring by the time we finished eating so we went to harrods, which is a famous department store that princess diana's boyfriend owned. it was like wandering through santa's workshop. we ate delicious chocolate, stared at all the beautiful packaging, designer purses, and of course died when we saw their display windows (being the design nerds we are).

since the tube was under construction, we had to find an alternate way back. conveniently we had to transfer around piccadilly circus, which is the times square of london. we walked from there to the oxford circus and saw the world's prettiest anthropologie store and christmas lights strung across the streets. it made me sad that christmas is immediately after i return from europe. im going to miss that christmas anticipation that im used to. im so excited to come home i cant even think about christmas barely. after we regrouped at our hostel we went to a local pub called angies.

we were leaving the next morning, so we woke up and attempted to see anything possible before we needed to get to the airport. we had breakfast and coffee at shakespeares since their food was so good previously; however this time it was not the same experience. my breakfast food never came and the waitresses were so flustered even though there was approximately 3 other people in the restaurant. it was ridiculous. she got so flustered and mad at us when i requested her to take off the food she charged me on my receipt. i figured i should be the mad one, but i was so confused why she was upset that i just payed for my coffee and we left. since it was raining when we went to buckingham the day before, and needed to stay in the area in order to catch our train, we walked the couple blocks back to to it. instead of returning to the train station the way we came, we went the entire way around buckingham through green park and the palace gardens. we saw a ton of monuments for wwii and pretty fall colors. even though we didnt see london tower and the bridge (it was a bit out of the way), we saw so much of london for the couple days we had. i really want to return here some day so i can see what i missed!

guards through the gate

panorama of the palace and green park

now im in rome for the next week before i head to ireland (dublin, galway), and belgium (brussels) for our very short thanksgiving break. 

today, i kind of felt like i havent seen much of rome since ive done so much traveling. i dont have much time left so i decided to do something each week until i leave. i wanted to choose thigns that rome had to offer without it being on the typical tourist list. so today i researched a lot and found some hidden museums, tombs, parks, monuments, and general places i still havent seen. besides catching up on homework this weekend, im going to explore romaaaaa (its my last weekend here before finals! ahhhhh) until later, lots of love!!
.

*interesting update*

apparently a show or film is being filmed on the terrace outside my bedroom window. kinda makes a little bit for uncomfortable when i catch myself changing and forgetting someone is actually out there now. sometimes they wave at us when they catch us spying and taking pictures haha. oh and the terrace is usually completely empty; when those tiki lights and patio stuff appeared we were wondering what it was for. now i wish we could figure out what they were filming.

ALSOOOO yes the birds are still around. some of us have even been pooped on but not me!! i almost slipped in it though a couple mornings ago. this is what the sidewalks look like around us. grossss.

north field trip to switzerland and germany

ahhh sorry im so behind. we had so much due this week i havent had much free time to spare. anyways heres a little rundown of our class field trip to zurich, basel, and vitra.

on tuesday, the 9th, we left really early to go to the train station to leave for milan. this was where we had to stop to catch a train to zurich, switzerland. after 8 travel hours later, we arrived and went straight to a poster museum that was showcasing a typography exhibition. they had some originals of bayer, hofmann, muller, and more famous typographers/designers. we even got to see some original mucha work!

after checking into our hostel we ventured out to find something to eat. this proved slightly difficult as prices were extremely high. restaurants comparing to redstones or champps had entrees beginning around 30-40 franks, which exchanges at close to the same rate as the dollar. the cheapest place we could find served pizzas for 18-28 franks so we ate there. howeverrrr, swiss money is the prettiest ive ever seen. each is a piece of art.

christmas preparation was in full gear here and it made me miss home. rome hadnt really started setting up window displays or lights or anything christmas related yet and zurich made christmas feel so close. unfortunately this was the only night we had in zurich, and we left for basel, switzerland early the next morning.

leaving our hostel

gorgeous views from the train ride

as soon as we arrived in basel we set out to find our hostel. it ended up being behind a pretty church really close to the river. it was also freshly renovated and extremely modern, which was nice for a change. we were actually going to vitra, germany later so we got some quick lunch, which consisted of cheap street food of french fries and a beer at a carnival. they had carnivals everywhere, like every 4 blocks. most were ending a couple days later so we happened to come at a great time. 

we took a bus to germany (which was only about 30 minutes away) to visit the vitra museum. we had time to kill once we got there so we took an autumn wonderland photoshoot. the colors were the brightest ive ever seen, it was crazy. 

after a little fun we were given a tour around the area. vitra is a designer and manufacturer of contemporary furnishings. they didnt want to use the same designer for each of their factories and buildings so each one is very architecturally different. zaha hadid even designed their fire station. after the tour was over, we were free to explore their "museum," which was one giant store basically. each room was decorated differently and i wanted every room in my future house to look like them all. (mom you would have love it.) unfortunately the clocks were around 700 euros and the couches were some 11000 so looks like i wont be able to afford it anytime soon. oh and we definitely took a nap in one of the rooms. we = around 8 of us. vitra should just hire us to convince the customers that their furniture is comfortable.

we returned to our hostel around 7ish and had a free night, so we decided to hit up some of the carnivals. we were all pretty tired though so we didnt last long. the next morning i looked out of our window to find this beautiful view :)

since switzerland is adorable and we couldnt get enough of it (and had a free morning to ourselves), we explored along the river. climbed some trees. and went to the munsterbauhtte basel cathedral, which conveniently was right next to a carnival. explored some murals, window shopped, and returned to our hostel. 

exploring a paper museum/mill was next on our field trip agenda. it was only a 5 minute walk from our hostel which was very nice after walking around all morning. we saw lots of old linotype machines, old typewriters, made our own paper, marbleized paper, and wrote our own calligraphy that someone sealed shut in a little envelope for us. 

after a 3 hour nap, we headed out to find food and explore a little more after we ran into friends at a nearby carnival. we wanted to see the spalentor castle, which was really just the former entry walls and gates to enter basel. "one of the three remaining gateways, it is regarded as one of the most beautiful gates of switzerland."

early the next morning we headed back on a train, stopping in zurich and milan again. we got to see the beautiful alps and tiny villages at the bottom of them. i want to live here someday :) OH and i almost forgot to mention that we found mountain dew!!! it was about a dollar per little can but i got a couple with the extra franks i had leftover. yummm.

the birdssss

i was so grossed out by this, i had to make a video. looks like the birds of rome are preparing for the wet season.

"in rome, which has inexplicably become the starling capital of the world, ten million of them flock together to create the most astonishing aerial display in nature. the mesmeric waves they form in the sky act as a beacon to others entering the city. to create such perfect synchronicity - the flock contract, expand and even split, continuously changing density and structure - the birds must react 13 times faster than humans. and it has recently been proved that each starling maintains perfect formation by keeping exactly seven other birds in its sight at all times - and will stick to its chosen seven wing-mates irrespective of distance. the downside of being able to witness this stunning aerial ballet, is starling droppings on a massive scale throughout central rome."

its is more fully explained at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/magazine/22birds.t.html

here's is video i recorded outside of my apartment tonight.

venice! + a little bone church and hard rock

k lets get the least important stuff out of the way.

our mixed media teacher took us to a bone church which was pretty gross. santa maria della concezione dei cappuccini (our lady of the conception of the capuchins) was commissioned by pope urban viii. we visited the crypt underneath the church. the pope's brother ordered the remains of thousands of capuchin friars in 1631 where people were forced to bury their own dead. the bones were arranged along the wall and contains the remains of 4,000 friars. individual bones are used to create intricate designs.

after that, we enjoyed a big fat cheddar cheeseburger and cheddar mashed potatoes. cheddar is pretty much non existent in rome so i had to order everything that had it in the recipe obviously. it was scrumptious.

thursday we had our typical art history tour. ill skip the rundown except we got to see a couple of borromini and bernini's famous pieces.

bernini's st. teresa in ecstasy

borromini church

OK NOW FOR VENICE

i had a splendid time with my grandma. she arrived wednesday night so i skipped my afternoon class on thursday to take her around rome. even though she's been here a couple times, we went to throw coins into the trevi fountain and shopped around a little. we later went out to dinner to have pizza and wine. after class the next morning we left for venice!

isnt she cute!?

since the fast train was sold out (and the rest for the afternoon were), we were forced to take the slow train and not arrive in venice until really late. we checked in to our hotel around 10:15 pm and quickly found a place to eat before everything closed. we ended up at this ridiculously expensive restaurant that had some ridiculous meals also. grandma even had trouble finding something she liked. we decided never to go back there again. 

the next day was the last of the nicely forecasted weather so we took advantage and hit up venice. we walked through san marco square in the morning, took pictures with pigeons and in front of the gondola stand, and did some shopping.

she bought me this beautiful mask you see in the picture. since my specific one was being wrapped up carefully, we took a picture with this one instead. grandma bought her own mask to hang up and also a little boot, which she collects.

we eventually made our way to the rialto bridge and ate lunch on the canal. 

we walked back through san marco square to take more pictures, but turned around before dinner so i could get a coat i had spotted earlier. it was getting chilly and i still didnt have a winter coat for my time here! 

dinner was later that night at something something rafaele. i had the most wonderful roasted chicken i've had in my entire life. it was delicious. and it came with french fries. we finished with wine and tiramisu, which we had the first night in rome also. yummmm. we went back to san marco square to listen to some music and have another glass of wine, grandma had cognac. 

the next morning was rainy so we kind of just wandered to see what there was to do that wasn't outside. we came across a music museum which was advertising a concert later that night that we had seen signs for previously. we bought some tickets and a cd and checked out the museum. there were lots of old violins and and harp from like 700 ad or something crazy. 

we continued to shop for souvenirs for people, saw some really pretty architecture, took lots of pictures, had lunch and wine, ate some chocolate, then went back to the hotel because the weather was crappyyyy. i took a nap (wine makes me sooo tired) while watching some of the latest news on the yemen/uk/chicago bombs and turkey suicide bomber. i didnt like hearing that, especially because im going to london in 2 weeks. 

after waking up, we went to dinner at this little cafe. we were a little on the early side and not much was open, but we enjoyed ham/cheese "toast" with some wine (of course) and attempted to kill some time before the concert started. we tried to find a little bar to have some limoncello at, but everywhere we went to was a restaurant and wouldnt just serve us drinks. we went back to the place we had dinner at (since they actually did just serve drinks) and had some limoncello and water. then we went to the orchestra concert, which was amazing. here is a photo of the inside of the church we sat in.

the grand piano was gorgeous and i wanted to take it home with me. the concert was very enjoyable and the orchestra was extremely talented. i took video of it that ill probably put up sometime soon. 

on the walk home, i took some pretty night shots and we called it a night after seeing if anything was updated on the 2 english news channels we had. 

we woke up to a not so nice ruckus outside of our window and had the hardest time figuring out what it was. before looking out the window, i thought people were being dumb and moving around chairs on the cobblestone. the metal was making a horrid noise thru the quiet streets of venice. it was about 5:30 in the morning when i finally decided to look out the window. we weren't positive at the time, but people in construction gear were placing planks on tope of metal risers. we later found out that those planks were in case of flooding, which venice expects in the next couple days. needless to say, it was a rude awakening and the planks were gone when we woke up. i guess flooding wasn't really a problem yet, but our hotel dude at the front told us san marco square was flooding that morning. 

after a nice hotel breakfast and hitting the train home for the day, grandma and i skyped my mom, uploaded our pictures, and had paninis and wine at a local gelateria by my apartment. it was time to say our goodbyes since i have to wake up at 4am to go to switzerland with my class. it was difficult since i didnt want to see her leave, but we had such a lovely time in rome and venice. thank you very much for treating me to a wonderful venice trip!! it was molto bene :) now off to switzerland (and a little part of germany) for the week!