Friday, May 16, 2008

Rome

Wandering around the Roman Forum.
The Colosseum!
In the Jewish district to get dinner.


St. Peter's.

Gelato!! It's even better when class pays for it!

The Pantheon.

Copying the faces behind us...



Maggie and Robert making a wish to return to Italy again.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Chinati

The view from the Chinati vineyard!


Katie and I in front of the view


Wine


The parents shot. We tasted three different types of wine and ate bread with their olive oil and salami and prochuto.


Robert and I dipping our boscottis in the dessert wine.

Maggie, Caitlyn and I in front of the view once more.

Myself, Caitlyn and Katie in front of the view.

Part of the ACM group that went to the wine tasting that afternoon ready to take the big bus home. It always amazes me that for the size of the streets and the amount of twists there are, how a huge bus is able to drive around on them.

The next night, for class, we went to see the opera. This is Katie and I waiting at the bus stop. We saw Carmen, which was really great, but it was four hours and the set was very modern which felt off.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Cinque Terre

The group that went to Cinque Terre. This was the before we started the hike picture. We all made it to the fourth town, then four of us did the final leg. In all, it took the four who did the whole thing over 6 hours of serious hiking. The last part, between the forth and fifth town was by far the hardest. It went straight up a mountain, and then a long way down.



Maggie and I before starting the hike. We were both really excited!
The color of the water was amazing! So blue. The next day we recovered from the hike by laying on the beach all day.


This was the start of the trail. As far as you can see is where we wanted to go, but the trail didn't just stay flat... up and down all of the mountains.
So many colors. Thankfully, the further we went on the trail, the fewer people there were. All the towns were pretty crowded though because you could take a train from one to the other.

This dog stayed with up for the whole trip. We never really understood who it belonged to, but it was even on the train on the way home!
Looking back at the third town.I forgot Katie was deathly afraid of heights as I ran/jumped across the bridge like I was five... sorry Katie, haha.Coming up to the fourth town!Creeply enough, as we left, we looked down and saw a group of other people from our program hanging out in town.
View leaving the fourth town. The three who stayed ate at a resturant that overlooked the water and town.



Haha.

Very beautiful.

Around the bend was our final destination...There it is! The fifth and final town! Afterward we sat at a bar for a little while before hoping on a train home back to the hostel.
This is the view of the sun setting from our hostel. There were about 200 stairs leading up to the hostel, so basically when we left it, we didn't want to go back to it. We really lucked out because there were 7 of us and we had our own bathroom and a kitchen! So I was finally able to cook for the group like I did back in London. Although, cooking abroad has taught me a lot about being inventive while cooking. The kitchen light didn't work, so I cooked with the light from the patio coming through the window. I made pesto chicken, grilled zuccini and garlic potatos. I'm really looking forward to being home to cook with a full set of kitchen supplies and real knifes!
This was by far one of my favorite places I had ever been. We are planning to go back on our last weekend in Italy!


Beach and more room pics

For a day trip, we took the train to Viareggio. It is a beautiful touristy beach area. Very soft sand, lots of shops to eat at along the bolevard. Allie and I just got back from picking up some lunch to eat on the beach.
Here is my part of the room. I didn't post the close up pictures of the paintings above my bed, but they are sure great to look at before falling asleep. I did however post what is next to Katie's bed below...
Nothing says sweet dreams like being eaten by a shark... haha. The dad is actually very interested in the arts. A couple nights ago, we had a teacher from a different school who is here to review the program to dinner and he told her all about some pieces that are in the living room.
I am standing next to Katie's bed and mine is to the right. We both have a desk and our terrace is outside of those windows. Katie is in her "office..." it's the best place she can bumb internet off the neighbors...
Katie and I walk to school every day. This is a picture of the creek we walk by and cross. Today we thought we heard ducks... but then when we looked down we saw a ton of frogs! Now I like the creek even more...

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Siena and Sun

Walking around Siena... a view of one of the side streets. I think what I enjoyed most about this trip was being able to wander around the city on my own. I like that for class we go to so many different places, but we have to stay together in a group and don't really have time to see things for ourselves, so day trips are a must.
View of the city from a hill we wandered up. The bus was really easy to take, too. It cost about 13 euro for a round trip fare and it has a bus stop with a time table like a inner city bus. I think I like taking the bus a lot more than the train just because we can see so much more countryside as we wind around on the roads.
Myself, Caitlyn and Katie standing in front of their HUGE catherdral. Again, I really enjoyed wandering around it on my own. I may not know all of it's history, but as of now, it stands out in my mind as my favorite catherdral we have been to. It was also very beautiful and sunny for most of the day!
The inside of the cathedral. I loved when someone in a horizontal stripped shirt would walk in front of the columns... there is a man behind Katie who is a good example... also reminded me a little bit of Where's Waldo. Haha. My favorite part was the library. It was a room that displayed many of their books, but the frescos were in amazing condition and it was wonderful to just sit in the room and stare at the walls.
Back in Florence, Katie and I reading art history on our terrace. We really like our terrace...

Venice

This is the whole group sitting on the steps in Venice, learning some art history.
Katie and I on our gondola ride! It was a quick one (just across the canal for 0.50 euro), but hey... now I can say I've been on a gondola in Venice! It was so beautiful there and like how I pictured it. I liked that there weren't any cars and it was really nice to me around water again. Made me really excited for this summer and Seattle!
Katie and I with the pigeon square behind us.
I don't know why every town doesn't paint it's buildings in beautiful colors... so wonderful.
The canal that our hotel was on. Minus the food poisoning, it was a short, but really fun trip.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

More of the first week in Florence

We had a day trip to Perguia and Assisi. A view of Assisi.
To go into the catherdral there, they gave us these weird head sets... needless to say, we were entertained by them for quite awhile.
Florence is so beautiful. After a week, I have a much better feeling of where things are. Katie and I have a very lovely walk to school everyday. We even found a large grocery store that sold peanut butter!
At an amazing resutrant called Aqua Al Due for Katie's 21st birthday. In the picture: Me, Heidi (my roommate in London), and Allie.
Katie and I after dinner. I'm very lucky to have her as a roommate!