Paris & Amalfi Coast

Hi everyone, I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been so busy with traveling and midterms.

Last weekend I went to Paris with two of my friends, Nicole and Tessa. We stayed for 3 nights. The hostel that we had booked was really gross, but we stayed there the first night because it was just us we didn't have a roommate or anything so we figured it would be fine. The next day, we ended up leaving and staying in a nearby cheap hotel because we got a very creepy homeless man roommate. Anyways, our first real day there we saw the Eiffel Tower which was just as incredible as I had imagined. We climbed to about halfway because the top was closed, but it was still a great view of Paris and the river. Then we met up with one of Tessa's friends from camp who lives in Paris, and she took us around the city to a bakery and a hookah bar. It was really nice to have someone who knew the city and spoke French. Then on Saturday we decided to spend the day shopping because we were staying in a good (not too expensive) shopping area. We all bought a few nice things but mostly just loved walking around. Then we met up with another one of Tessa's friends who took us out for the night. On Sunday, before our flight, we went to the Louvre but didn't have nearly enough time to spend there. We saw the Mona Lisa, but the other pieces in the Louvre were much more impressive. I wish we had more time to spend there, it's huge. Then it was time to go back to Florence for midterms week. Here are some pictures from Paris:

Tessa and I outside the Eiffel Tower -

From inside the Eiffel Tower -

Nicole and I inside the Eiffel Tower -

Tessa and I outside the Louvre -

Arc di Triomph

Midterms went pretty well. I had a 3 day italian midterm, which turned out to be pretty easy. Then I had two midterm critiques for my studio classes, which I was most nervous about. Those both went well too though, and now it's time to start working on my projects for the final exhibition in April. Here is a picture from one of my painting critiques -

This past weekend I went to the Amalfi Coast with Isaac and Tessa. We stayed in Sorrento and took day trips to Capri and Pompeii. Capri was the most beautiful place I have ever been. We took a taxi to the top of the mountain for lunch then just walked around all day and eventually hiked down the mountain, which took a while because of course every 10 steps we had to stop and look at the scenery. Then the next day we went to Pompeii, which was less beautiful. We accidentally got on a bus to the top of Mount Vesuvius, which we thought would just be a shuttle to the ancient ruins of Pompeii. It was something very different. The bus took us for an hour long ride up to the very top of the mountain, which was actually for hikers and campers. We got to the top and it was anything but scenic. It was very foggy and cold, and we couldn't see anything but the little gift shop/cafe that was up there. So we waited for the next bus down, but it was really disappointing because we didn't get to see much of anything. On the bus ride down, we stopped about halfway though and there was kind of a good view, but it was still very cloudy. Not as successful of a day as Capri was. But when we got back to Sorrento, we sat on the roof of our hostel (which was beautiful) and watched the sunset, which was really nice. Here are some pictures from the coast -

Tessa and me in Sorrento -

The three of us at the dock on Capri -

Isaac and me on the top of the mountain on Capri -

The beach on Capri at sunset -

Capri at night -

Our bus (trolley) at the top of Mount Vesuvius -

Isaac and me about halfway down Mount Vesuvius (we thought these shirts would be funny...) -

Sunset on the roof of our hostel in Sorrento -

Barcelona

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. This past weekend I went to Barcelona with my two friends Maggie and Isaac. The city was so beautiful, I wish we could have spent more time there.

We got there on Friday around 11am and decided to just wander around for the day. We walked around the Gothic district (which is where our hostel was) and then walked down to the beach and hung out there for a little while. It was pretty chilly, but a few degrees warmer than Florence (which is freezing) so it was nice. Then we went to dinner at a nice restaurant nearby that my friend Nat had recommended, and then went to a couple bars and back to the hostel.

Saturday we went to the Picasso museum in the morning, which was really cool even though I'm not a huge fan of Picasso's. The museum was set up as a timeline of his life, so each room was a different age, beginning around 14 years old. It was really interesting to see the progression of his talent and his style. We spent a couple hours there. Then we went on a bus tour around the city, where we could get off and on as much as we wanted for the whole day. We went to La Sagrada Familia, which is a famous gothic church designed (mostly) by Gaudi. It was so unbelievable, and so different than any other building I had ever seen. Pictures can't really do it justice, but I'll post some anyways. Then we went to Guell Park, where Gaudi's house is and many of his other designs. The park is at the top of a hill so there is a really nice view from there. We spent some time at the park, admiring the Mosaics and architecture, then went back to the hostel. After dinner at a local pub, we drank some wine in the hostel lounge and played blackjack with some guys from Cuba. It was so fun to meet people in the hostel because everyone came from all over. Sunday we just found a place for breakfast then headed home.

It was nice to come back to Florence and be in my own apartment again. Even though Barcelona was gorgeous, Florence is still my favorite.

Here are some pictures from the trip.

The three of us on the beach on Friday -

Maggie and me on the tour bus -

Outside of the Sagrada Familia -

Interior ceiling of the Sagrada Familia -

Top of Guell Park -

Getting back on the plane to Florence -

London

Hi everyone. This past weekend I went to visit my friends in London. I had never been to London before, and I loved the city. It was similar to New York, which was a nice change of pace from Florence. During the day we mostly just walked around and shopped a little, but everything was so expensive. It was my friend Meg's birthday on Saturday so we went to dinner at an American diner and then went to some clubs. were lots of things we wanted to do (like go to a play, go on the London Eye) but we ran out of time. The weekend went by so fast, I wish I could have stayed longer and seen more of London.

Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Assisi

Two days ago I went on a school-sponsored trip to Assisi, which is a small town about 2 hours northeast of Florence. When we first got there we went to San Francesco's Basilica which was really cool and there were some amazing frescos inside the church. we learned about the history of St. Francesco and the meaning behind each painting/sculpture. After that, we all had time to explore Assisi on our own. The whole town is on a cliff so

my friends Maggie, Isaac and I decided to try to climb to the top of the town. It's easy to navigate because you just keep going uphill until you reach the top of the city, which is an old abandoned castle where you can look out on all of Assisi and other surrounding towns/farms.

This is a picture of San Francesco's Basilica as we started to climb up the city.

this is a picture of me that my roommate Maggie took as we were climbing up to the castle at the top of the city. this was about half-way up.

this is the castle at the top of the city. we didn't have time to go inside, but we sat outside for a while to enjoy the view.

This is the view from the castle. It was so beautiful, this picture doesn't even begin to capture it.

We saw this view as we were hiking down back to the base of the city, as the sun was beginning to set. I think the dome in the landscape is il duomo di Perugia.

first week

I've been in Florence almost a full week now, and it's starting to feel like home. Classes just started today, so until now I've mostly just been walking around and exploring the city. Here are some photos of what i've done/seen so far.

This was an amazing view of the alps from the plane when we were flying from Germany to Florence at sunrise.

This is a small street by campus with lots of shops and bakeries.

I took this yesterday when I walked along the Arno river at sunset. This was taken from the Ponte Vecchio, about a 15 minute walk from my apartment.

I took this picture of the Duomo at dusk because it looked like it was glowing.

I also moved into my apartment a few days ago. There are 4 of us in a 2 bedroom apartment. It's absolutely beautiful, and much bigger than I expected. We have a ton of space and a backyard (giardino) just to ourselves. We have a nice tuscan kitchen and really high ceilings. It's about a five minute walk from the studios and about 10-15 minutes to downtown (il centro). Here are some pictures of the apartment:

I'll try to post more pictures soon.

Hope everything is well back in the US - love you all