Study Travel... Napoli, Roma, e Firenze

Let me begin by apologizing for the delay in updates, but I’ll just say that I haven’t stopped long enough to have time to sit down and write. My life has been a constant sequence of wonderful experiences so I have a lot to fill you all in on. I’ll begin by filling you in on our first nine day group study travels which seems like was just yesterday, but in actuality was about two weeks ago. We headed out early Saturday morning, spending 2 days in Naples, 4 days in Rome, and 3 days in Florence.
Naples (Napoli) was the first of these three cities that we visited. We left from the villa super early Saturday morning and boarded a train heading south. After a long train ride, which consisted of a lot of sleeping, we arrived in Naples, one of the sketchiest cities I’ve probably ever been in, but still an incredible experience. We arrived and checked into our wonderful four star hotel with a huge bathroom and one of the most comfortable beds I think I’ve ever slept in. The hotel was a palace that had been recently renovated and just opened as a hotel. We had a view of the city from our balcony to the Renaissance church of San Giovanni a Carbonara which we chose to visit on this first night. After our visit to the church, we had dinner at L’ Antica Pizzaria “da Michele,” one of the most famous pizzarias of Naples, meaning probably some of the best pizza in the world.

(Look at that pizza! Pizza at home just isn't going to be the same anymore.)

Our second day in Naples consisted of a visit to Pompeii as well as a walking tour of the entire city. Upon our arrival to Pompeii, we had a strange experience as a hail storm approached while we were standing in line waiting for tickets. Pompeii was really a unique experience to be able to finally see the things that we’ve been studying about since elementary school history.

(Pompeii)

Then, it was off on a train to Rome (Roma). When we arrived in Rome and walked out of the metro station to get to our hotel, I think all of our mouths dropped as we were greeted by the giant Colosseum directly across the street. It was so surreal, finally seeing that in person. That first day, we were also able to see the Roman Forum as well as the Pantheon, another one of those architectural wonders that books just cannot do justice for. It was really neat too, because while in Rome, we were able to meet up with several friends from Clemson who are studying there and see some familiar faces other than the ones that we live with every day.

(the Colosseum)

On day two in Rome, Giuditta arrived. Giuditta is our awesome tour guide who takes us on most of our field study visits. Let’s just say we all love her, but are exhausted after a Giuditta day. So, on Tuesday, we took a walking tour of the city and were able to see some really incredible things. We started out in Piazza Novana with the Fountain of Four Rivers (Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi) by Bernini, which was beautiful, but unfortunately being renovated, so we couldn’t really see the whole thing. We saw the famous chapels by Bernini and Boromini, the Trevi Fountains, and the Spanish Steps.

(our group on the spanish steps)

On day three, we visited the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel with was absolutely incredible, I think I sat in the Sistine Chapel room for about forty minutes just staring at the ceiling. Then, we went to Saint Peters Square and into the Basilica which absolutely blew me away!

(St. Peter's Square)

It’s hard to say of course, but I think one of my favorite days in Rome was the last. I absolutely loved seeing the historic parts of Rome that the city is so known for, but on Thursday, we got to see some of the more recent projects of the city that were extremely interesting to see how they fit into the historic fabric. Thursday consisted of seeing two of my favorite projects of the entire trip so far. The first was Renzo Piano’s auditorium in Rome and the second was Richard Meier’s Ara Pacis. Both were incredible!

Then, we headed to Florence (Firenze) on Thursday night. I must say, Florence is one of my favorite cities that we’ve been to. It is absolutely beautiful. I think one reason that I enjoyed it so much was because we were given a large amount of free time to just spend exploring the city on our own. We had a guided tour for a short portion of the day where we got to see some of the most important architecture of the city, then we had tons of free time to shop and explore. Florence was just full of wonderful experiences. From our hotel window, we had a clear view of the duomo which was right outside of our doorstep. We were able to climb to the top of the duomo and get views overlooking the entire city. We spent hours wondering around the Boboli Gardens, just enjoying a pretty day. We walked up to a look out point to enjoy the sunset over the city. We went on a group shopping trip to pick out leather jackets after wondering through one of the huge leather markets of Florence. We frequented the chocolate expo that was going on the entire time we were in the city (deliciousness!). And, We got to see the giant Michelangelo statue of David.

(view of Florence from the top of the duomo)

Over all, it was an INCREDIBLE trip, but we all came back absolutely exhausted and thoroughly enjoyed our Monday with no classes. More to come on last weekend’s trip to Dublin soon, I promise.

"Hey, let's go to France this weekend"

Ciao everyone

I just got back from a wonderful weekend spent in Nice, France and just wanted to share with everyone, a few highlights of my trip.

After practically running to the train station from the villa in order to catch our train we made it to Nice in time for dinner and perused the streets for quite some time to find some authentic French cuisine. We had a delicious meal of Coq au vin with mashed potatoes. If I had known then how this chicken was cooked, I most likely would not have eaten it, but I must admit, it was absolutely delicious.



Saturday, we woke up early and spent the day exploring the city. We got to see some interesting architectural buildings like this office building that’s shaped like a blockhead.












Then, we made it to the old city, where we walked through the beautiful market and gathered materials for lunch on the beach. We sat on the ledge of the promenade overlooking the beach to eat our tasty lunch with interesting picturesque views including a homeless man with no pants on, multiple couples making out on the beach, and a nude beach on one end. After lunch we hiked up a mountain where we were able to see some gorgeous panorama views of the city, Roman ruins, and a beautiful cemetery. After dinner Saturday night, we went out to get crepes because when in France, one must eat at least one crepe. But, it was also one of my friend’s birthdays so we went to celebrate! The creperie that we went to was incredible. The owner was hilarious and helped to make in an awesome evening.

Sunday morning, we left Nice by train headed back toward Genova and made a stop in Monaco on the way. Let me just say, Monaco was pretty much everything that I imagined. The entire city, including the marble covered passageways leading to the large amount of public elevators gave off a constant aroma of Pinesol. We hiked up backpacks, shopping bags and all to the top of the hill where the palace of Monaco is located. We were able to spend some time there sketching and saw the changing of the guards. Then, we ventured over to the other side of Monaco, the side where the casino is located. Yep, we showed our Clemson pride in front of the Monte Carlo.
Overall, it was a wonderful weekend. This week is requiring a fair amount of work and then we’re off to Naples, Rome, and Florence for nine days next week.
Arrivederci

Hello all, just thought I would give everyone an update on a few of my wonderful experiences thus far.
Yesterday we went and got phones so we can finally get into contact with each other when we get separated while exploring the city. While waiting for our phones to get ready for pick up, a small group of us girls walked around to do a little shopping and just happened to bump into an open air antique and artist market that we really enjoyed. This market apparently happens every Saturday. We were able to take our time, look through some unique little treasures and learn a lot about the city and culture in this way. We met one artist who I think almost all of us bought a small painting from. He specialized in paintings of Genova scenes. Our conversation with him and the painting that I purchased are things that will really help me to remember my time here.
Today, though I am not Catholic, I was able to attend a traditional Catholic mass in San Lorenzo Cathedral (pictured below). This is the main cathedral of Genova and is absolutely beautiful. Mass was a very new experience for me, but I enjoyed attempting to understand the Italian language used and being able to experience the culture.

Tonight, we went out to an extremely nice restaurant on the port as a large group in order to practice our use of Italian. The food was absolutely amazing! We were served with delicious Italian dishes one course after another.

And the classes have begun...

(top photo is the view from the villa balcony during sunset and the bottom is the view from my bedroom window)

It's been 2 days, so I guess I will start with day number one, which was Tuesday. With a fairly free morning, we headed out of the villa around 9:30 to go exploring, taking the scenic route down to the port. We walked through some wonderful alleyways full of meat markets, bakeries, and interesting little shops. The aroma was incredible with all of the fresh bread and food being prepared for the day. After taking this lovely walk through the city we arrive at Porto Antico, the old harbor area of the city which has been redeveloped fairly recently by a very well known architect, Renzo Piano, who is actually a native of Genoa. There's an interesting iconinc tensile structure used for all types of events. It currently houses an ice skating rink which is a definite for sometime soon, potentially this weekend. There's also and aquarium, and and glass biosphere. Wow, I love this city, especially after having my first gelato in a cafe by the port, yum! Then walking a little farther down the port, we encountered the pirate ship. So, so much walking back to the villa, but we finally made it back walked a little farther to explore the area around the castle that on our street. Italian class also started on Tuesday, which was actually extremely fun. I'm so glad to finally be learning the language! And then there was gelato number two of the day, an after dinner snack. Oh my, this is getting bad already. It's an addiction!

Then, there is today, Wednesday, we had class this morning starting with a lecture on European architecture, then learning some more Italian. Speaking of Italian, I was so pround of myself when I went to order gelato this afternoon, I had the entire conversation in Italian. It was quite and accomplishment! Studio started today also. We got a brief introduction of our project which I'm really excited about. It's located in the historic area of Genoa. We then got to take the long walk through extremely cold temperatures to do a site visit, fantastic!, no really, it was fun. We got to see lots of interesting things along the way including many shops that must be revisited for a little spending. We were able to go in the main cathedral of Genoa as well as visiting a more modern museum located in the cathedral that was designed by a local architecture school. And best of all, on the way back, we stopped in an adorable little linen store and bought blankets, this should solve the not being able to sleep problem since our bedroom is incredibly cold. Brrr, yes, i'm wrapped up in a coat a blanket and wearing socks as I sit in my bed typing this at 2am.

The day has finally come... I made it to Genoa!

I'm still trying to figure out what time zone I'm in, what day of the week it is, and how to communicate with someone who has absolutely no idea what i'm trying to say, but i have finally reached the long anticipated arrival to Genoa. I think these problems will be solved within a couple of days though, since I plan to get in bed at a reasonable hour (Genoa time) tonight and get up and enjoy my day tomorrow, hopefully avoiding any jet lag. Our Italian class also starts tomorrow, so I should begin to be able to communicate with the locals.
After a fairly long flight considering that I wasn't feeling my best and the two passengers next to me were being extremely immature and constantly kicking the seats in front of them, we finally arrived in Munich. I can't tell you how happy I was to finally get there. The hard part was over. And to make matters even better, it was 25 degrees and snowing in Munich. So, what did we do, being crazy college students from South Carolina who barely ever see snow? We had to make an escape from the airport before we went through security to get our hands on some of that beautiful white stuff.
Then, it was off to Genoa on a tiny little plane (mom, i'm glad you didn't know this before i left).
But regardless of the size of the plane, that was a very enjoyable trip, knowing that you've almost arrived to your destination and then being able to take in many beautiful scenes throughout the trip. We flew right over the Alps which was absolutely gorgeous. The few pictures that I have don't even begin to describe how beautiful they were. Then as we got closer and closer to the airport, the view was absolutely amazing! On one side was the Mediterranean Sea and on the other was the city of Genoa with a picturesque mountain view in the backgroud.
The drive through the villa, I'm not going to lie, was slightly terrifying. Italian driving is CRAZY. There are cars going every direction with barely any room to pass each other. And let me just say, from experience later in the day, they have absolutely no regard for pedestrians.
Arriving at the villa was a strange feeling, knowing that this is your home for the next four months. We were recieved with a warm welcome. And took our crazy heavy luggage up four flights of stairs to our rooms. The room is now all moved in with our own personal touch. Pictures will be coming soon I promise.
But honestly, we didn't spend too much time in the villa today. We set out to explore right away, of course hitting up the area with some of Genoa's best shopping. Wow, i know i mentioned the talk of stairs in my earlier post, but this is for real. The walk down to the main part of the city seemed like no problem, but we basically hiked up a mountain using nothing but stairs on the way back. It was intense to say the least. I guess we'll get conditioned to that soon.
Now, it's off to bed. I need to get some sleep to get up bright and early to set out exploring again tomorrow before Italian lessons.
Arrivederci

One week until the journey begins ...

So, one week from today, at about this time, I will be boarding a plane on my way to Genoa, Italy for an experience of a lifetime. I'll be living in a villa built in 1899 with around 20 of my classmates and closest friends. This villa will be where we live, work, and eat. It is our central hub for exploring as much of the world or Europe as we can possibly see within the 4 months that we will be living there. The Villa, purchased by the Clemson Architecture program in 1972 features living quarters on the top floor, studio space on the middle floor, and a kitchen and library on the lower floor. And if this life doesn't sound fabulous enough already, we have our own cook in the villa to feed us some of the most incredible Italian dishes.
Of course, I haven't seen it with my own two eyes quite yet, but from everything I understand, Genoa is a beautiful city filled with an incredible amount of art and architecture. It is a port city located on the coast of northern Italy. It is known, however to be incredibly hilly with lots and lots of stairs. This is probably a good thing though, considering the amound of pasta and bread we'll be consuming. A little excercise is not all bad.
Now back to packing. For a girl who loves her clothes, shoes, and accessories, 2 suitcases is quite a challenge to live out of for 4 months.
Please keep me and my family in your prayers as I embark on this incredible journey.