Day trip to Assisi and Piazza Analysis

Piazza analysis

Found porchetta sandwiches in Assisi!

Basilica of San Francesco

View up the hill from the Basilica

We were assigned a piazza analysis where we had to select one of four given piazzas to analyze many different aspects of the space such as: how people move through the space, the boundaries of existing buildings, auto zones vs. pedestrian zones, regular vs. irregular spaces, surface quality, etc.  We were allowed and encouraged to work in teams, so Laura and I paired up to study Piazza San Lorenzo which is a piazza we walk through almost everyday.  The first image above is of the perspective drawing, diagram and plan I drew.  We studied the paths of movement, details of the facade, how the market impacted the space and how the flow of traffic dispersed into the neighboring streets.

Yesterday we took a day trip to Assisi, which is an awesome town!  The primary reason for the visit was to explore the Basilica of San Francesco.  The facade of the building has a few gothic details, but is very minimal as is the interior of the church. The interior is much more expansive and brightly lit. I wish I could have taken pictures of the interior, but it seems to be a common theme in Italy that no photography is allowed. 

Before going to the church we stopped in a piazza to get lunch and I found porchetta sandwiches!  Made my day :) 

We had to do a drawing analysis of a narrow street and imagine that, it wasn't too difficult to find one.  However, I ventured a few streets away from the main street we took down and found a cool little residential area to sit and draw for a half hour.  When making my way back to the bus station where we were meeting, I naturally had to enjoy a little gelato.  Never gets old....

And why is it that I seem to love every city I visit just as much as the last?  They all have so many unique characteristics... Heading to Venice this weekend for nearly a week then off to Barcelona and Bilbao for our independent travel.  Blog will be updated after that!  Until then, ciao!

Family in Florence! Eeeek!

Grape leaves!

Wine tasting at

View of the vineyard at Fattoria Poggio Alloro

Hanging out in San Gimignano

Leaning tower of Pisa

I can't express how happy I was to see some of my family here in Italy!  My auntie Kay, cousin Julie, and family friend LuAnne came to visit.  We explored Florence and I showed them the Ponte Vecchio, the Duomo, the central market and the Boboli Gardens.  We also took a planned day trip to visit Siena, San Gimignano, a vineyard near San Gimignano, and Pisa.  This was a great trip!  We saw a ton of stuff and drank A LOT of wine!  The vineyard was my favorite part... not just because there was wine, but also because they make their own olive oil, which was delicious. It's also an organic farm which is cool.  We did this tour on Saturday and were exhausted by the end of the day.  We woke up on Sunday and went to mass in the Duomo at noon... the rest of the day consisted of market shopping, eating and drinking.  Couldn't get any better than that :)

I was sad to say goodbye on Monday evening after we had dinner at a restaurant near their apartment, but was incredibly thankful that I was able to make so many memories and explore a little of Italy with them!

True Italian Cooking

Sauteing some red onions

Pasta dough ready for the refrigerator

Pasta makin'

Chicken Cacciatore

Panna Cotta

We were offered the option of signing up for a cooking class for 60€, which includes two classes, recipes and an apron.  I was unsure at first, but I am sure glad I did it!  We have another class tonight, but last week we learned how to make pasta and sauce from scratch, chicken cacciatore, and panna cotta!  It was truly delicious and hopefully I can take these skills back home with me! 

We were all a bit shy and apprehensive at first, but then we all started doing our part with instructions from Chef Walter.  He was super nice, informative, and answered any questions we had.  He's instructing our class again tonight and I think we are all looking forward to having him share his skills again!

Pasta maker.... I think I need one now.  Kneading the dough was a bit of a workout, but the end result was worth the extra work!  Our instructor assured us we didn't need a workout on days when we make our own pasta... I completely understand why now! :)  He also showed us how to use the different attachments for the pasta maker and the different types of pasta we could create.  Cutting the chicken into pieces was disgusting and something I would probably avoid when at home. I am not a fan of cutting through bones, so I did not volunteer to help with that part and I give props to Emily and Zach who took on that responsibility!  Panna cotta is sooooo easy to make and fairly quick, except for the cooling part.  Luckily the culinary institute has flash freezers that sped up the process for us.  I will definitely be making this meal again!  Can't wait to see what we learn tonight...

Let the work begin!

Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (aka The Duomo)

View of the Arno River

View of Florence from the top of the Duomo

Boboli Gardens and Piazza Pitti in the background

Ponte Vecchio

After a weekend of getting acclimated to our new home in Florence, we dove into our schedule for school at full force.  We have been seeing so much, so I will do my best to recap some of it!  On our first week here we visited the following:  Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (aka the Duomo), Galleria Dell'Accademia, Santo Spirito, Palazzo Pitti, Giardino di Boboli and more!  The Duomo was quite amazing... 3 different types of marble were used in the composition of the facade and exterior of the building.  Brunelleschi, the architect, designed the dome to be 1.5" larger than the Pantheon.  Also, flying buttresses (which were in many of the gothic cathedrals I saw in France) were not to be used in the design.  This was another issue Brunelleschi had to overcome and he solved it by using iron rods to support the interior structure against lateral forces. 

Boboli Gardens (set behind Piazzo Pitti) were beautiful, encompassing both Renaissance and Mannerist style gardens.  The very top of the gardens (part of the renaissance design was to bring individuals from a lower point to the highest point) gave an excellent view of the city. 

Ponte Vecchio is the famous bridge in Florence.  Built with Roman principles, it was placed at the most narrow part of the Arno River.  It is connected to the Vasari corridor which was built in the 1500's when the Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici began to fear for his safety.  It connected his residence and the government palace so he could avoid contact with the people of the city.  The Ponte Vecchio was at one time a meat market, but when it turned into the Vasari corridor, the meat was removed and replaced with goldsmiths.  There are still jewelers there today.  I think all the little stores sticking out from the bridge are incredibly neat.  The colors make it even more interesting to look at! 

Spending many more hours wandering the streets of Florence won't be a problem at all!

Mediterranean weather brings smiles...

First night settled into our new apartment in Florence, each of us with our own bottle of wine :)

Duomo Bell Tower

View of the Arno River

I think Italy may end up being my favorite country on this trip.  Not only is the weather much warmer than our previous locations, but Florence is a beautiful city and the architecture is pretty incredible!  However, with that said, I could definitely get used to the Mediterranean climate! There are still a few tourists lingering around, but I think we will have a much different experience here than the other cities we visited.  It's really great that we have our own apartment, which is located outside the city center... cheaper to live and trying to get a feel for how the locals do things.  We can do a lot of cooking together and less eating out since we have a full kitchen too, sans an oven...  Of course I am still getting my fill of pizza, pasta, gelato, cannoli and wine!

We haven't done much as far as class goes quite yet.  We had a welcome dinner with our whole group and have been settling into our apartments.  We have gone on a few walking tours of our neighborhood and the city center to get a better grasp on the city and where things are located.  Tomorrow, we climb to the top of the Duomo, which I can't wait to do! I'm sure it will provide another great view of the city and also allow me to see the interior of the church we have been meeting at every morning.

More to come as our experiences get more exciting!

Oh, and my cousin and aunt arrived today! So I am heading out to go visit with them! Soooo incredibly excited to have some family here :)

Bikes and canals.. guess where?!

The most adorable little bakery (wish I wrote down the name though!)

Fantastic market along the canal

Same market (night shot from the other side of it)

The famous 'I amsterdam' sign

Two and a half days in Amsterdam was not enough time!  We tried to see as much of the city as we could by renting bikes one of the days... so above are a few of the snapshots we captured on our adventures around the city.  The hostel we stayed in was pretty awesome!  So many fun and friendly people from all over the world... one of the many reasons why hostels are great.  We found a fantastic little bakery that had a soup of the day that I could eat EVERYday. Pumpkin bleu cheese. Simply amazing.  Laura and I each had a cup of the soup and shared a vegetarian bread pudding.  I have never had bread pudding that was served as a meal item, only as a dessert, and it was scrumptious! Maybe I should just write a food and drink blog.  I think this is what it's turning into anyways... ;)

The canals and bikes are probably the best (and worst) part of Amsterdam.  I love the fact that everyone embraces biking and bikers get a lot of respect on the road. Actually, they own the road... it is also probably the easiest and most eco-friendly form of transportation for the city too considering the amount of canals and people.  Everywhere you turn hundreds of bikes are locked to whatever permanent structure is available, often lining the canals and bridges. The only reason why the canals are terrible is that it completely messed with my sense of direction, which is usually pretty good!  I had no idea where I was going half the time. Thankfully maps work wonders, just takes a little extra time to orient yourself.  If only I had wi-fi constantly I could google-map my way through the confusing cities!

We also wandered toward the old Van Gogh museum, but it has been relocated and ended up sketching the exterior of the old museum instead.  Saved money and worked on my sketching skills... score.  After our sketching session, we grabbed Dutch pancakes at a nearby cafe.  This was also delicious. Probably because it had strips of bacon in it.  Both of these sites are located near the I amsterdam photo above.. such a fun area of the city.

I think the architecture in Amsterdam should get more credit than it seems to.  I mean, almost EVERY building has something crooked on it.  Many of the buildings were completely leaning on the building next to them.  I have no idea how these are actually standing, but it was quite comical to see how crooked some of them were.  Even the doors to enter appeared to be crooked on the facade... there must be some custom angles cut for some of the doors (or trimmed to fit as they shift over time.)  According to the post below, it is due to the fact that stilts were used in the foundation (which were probably wood and rotting) causing the buildings to slant as they rot.  I'm not sure how accurate this is, but seems possible given the canals surrounding them.

http://mabuse.aminus3.com/image/2009-09-02.html


Arrived in Florence today after a very or VERY lucky day traveling from Amsterdam. Everything happened to work out perfectly with trains, flights and buses (yes, we actually did use all 3 forms of transportation. It's great!)... and despite the massive downpour we had on the way to dinner (caught in the rain without an umbrella) I think Florence is going to be a beautiful city.  I am sharing a great apartment with 3 lovely ladies, just a short walk to the river.  Looking forward to the next two months!  Maybe I won't need to dig out a map to see where I am by the end!  There will be a lot more walking here as the public transportation isn't as developed as other cities we have visited, but it is also much smaller.  We had our welcome dinner tonight with the whole group re-united and had a 3 course meal of traditional Italian cuisine.  I'm having gelato for breakfast in the morning and then going for a long run through the streets of Florence. Goodnight!

Dublin and the Countryside

Saturday I slept in (nursing the hangover) and and walked around the city taking a few random photos and visiting the James Joyce bridge designed by Calatrava (same architect who designed the Milwaukee Art Museum.) We also visited the Guinness Storehouse brewery this day... one of my favorite parts of the trip. Not only because it was a brewery, but the interior architecture was AMAZING! It was such a cool concept, well developed and made it easy to navigate through the space for the self-guided tour. The best part was the top of the brewery where we enjoyed our free beer with an awesome 360 view of the surrounding city and beyond. After we finished the tour we went to Brazen Head pub again to get some food since the other girls hadn't been to this particular pub yet. I had a beef stew, yorkshire pudding and mash... delicious homecookin'!

Sunday was an adventurous day... we took a tour bus outside of the city to the Wicklow Mountains. Our first stop was at the Powerscourt Estate which was gorgeous. We paid to go into the gardens and that was definitely worth 5euro. The views were awesome and it helped that we had incredible weather. This is what I imaged Ireland to look like... vast rolling hills and tons of greenery! I even saw some fall colors beginning to take over and that made my day. After the gardens we were taken into a cute little city that many people might recognize from the movie P.S. I Love You, Enniskerry. We had lunch at a little sandwich shop called Kennedy's of Ennisberry, where one of the staff members dog was actually featured in the film. After lunch, we were guided through more scenic sites. We visited the bridge that was also a great scene in the movie. I will have to re-watch it as soon as I get back and recall all of the landmarks that I visited :) We went to two other cool sites. One was an old monastery that was in state of ruins, but is well preserved (at least what is left of it.) There was a really cool bell tower that was incredibly tall and the interesting thing about this tower is that it only has 3 feet of foundation beneath it. They had to place the door about 15 feet above the ground with stairs leading to it so it wouldn't affect the stability. The other site we went to was Guinness Lake. It has a deep brown color that makes it look like the color of Guinness from sediment that runs off the local land and dyes it that color. They also brought sand in from the coast to make it look like the lake had frothy 'head' on one side of the lake. It actually looked like a giant source of Guinness... Wouldn't that be everyone's dream?

When the tour finished, Meaghan, Sarah and I went to a bar where they played American football. Sadly I had to watch the Packers lose. I won't let that ruin my fantastic Sunday though! Overall a great day and I have nothing bad to say about Ireland. Friendly people, beautiful scenery, lots of history... and of course great beer. I didn't make it to the Jameson tour, but I'll do that next time ;) Time for bed to rest up for Amsterdam! 

Interior View of Guinness Storehouse

Exploring the gardens at the Powerscourt Estate

Guinness Lake

For more photos... check Facebook! Internet is being slow to upload. 

Dublin!

Courtyard at Trinity College

Christchurch

Guinness Tour time!

Dublin was everything I'd hoped it would be and more. Ireland is sooo beautiful! I was excited from the moment I caught glimpse of it on the plane! Thursday night I traveled from London to Dublin and met up with Alexa (another friend from my program at SARUP) and we found our hostel along River Liffey. Once settled into our room, we decided we needed a Guinness on our first night in Dublin so we had to check out a local pub. We ventured to Brazen Head which is the oldest pub in the city. It was adorable, as expected. A bit touristy with the items on the wall belonging to visitors who traveled there over the years (mainly signed money), but the beer was great and the people were incredibly friendly. Ran into some Americans who bought Alexa her second beer (damn me for drinking to fast and already purchased my second one!) Lucky for us, this seemed to be a common theme throughout the rest of our stay in this awesome city.

Friday we woke up at a reasonably early time and met up with our friend Meaghan (another friend in our program) and we visited Trinity College, which is the oldest college in Ireland. It had a beautiful campus and I completely understand why students would want to study here. We walked along neighboring streets in and out of tourist shops. Eventually we met up with Meaghan's friend from her undergraduate studies, Sarah. We all had lunch together and then walked around to see a few other sites, such as Christ Church, St. Stephen's Green (one of the larges planned parks in the city), Powerscourt House and other various sites. After an eventful afternoon, we parted ways and went back to the hostel to freshen up for dinner. We ended up going to Farrington's for dinner where I had to try the fish & chips... I don't think I can ever get sick of this meal. We dined upstairs and when we finished we went downstairs where we met this awesome girl and her husband who both happened to be from Grand Rapids. I wish I remembered her name, but she started up conversation with the guys next to us and the next thing I know my drinks are taken care of for the rest of the night. Needless to say, I was nursing a hangover the next day. I suppose this had to happen ONCE in Dublin. I blame the Guinness. :)

London Time (5 days of craziness)

London Eye

London City Hall as seen through the London Bridge

Tower Bridge

Typical

British Museum (Millennium Project)

Signing the wall at Abbey Road Studios!

London was a whirlwind of a week! I was dreadfully sick for the first few days and our itinerary was packed full so we could see as much as possible in our limited time there. We arrived in London on Saturday afternoon after taking the Eurostar from Paris. We checked into the hotel and ventured to the London Eye to get a better view of the city. After the Eye, a few of us went to a local pub and had fish & chips! So delicious.

The week was a bit of a blur, but I will give an overview of some of my favorite moments, sites and food!  We went to Olympic Park and initially I was super excited about this, but unfortunately we weren't able to get in because they are in the process of converting it from the Olympic site to a community space.  I will be anxious to see how it turns out for the community in a few years and hope it is still thriving.  We spent a lot of time in the mall that the built for the Olympics (it is the largest mall in Europe!)  We had two intense days of site visits where we went to the following:  The Tate Modern Museum (loved this as I didn't venture inside on my last visit to London), One New Change, Lloyds of London, The Swiss Re, The London City Hall (one of my favorites! The interior was incredible), John Soane House, British Museum, Goldfinger House... and probably a few more!  I was terribly sick on our free day, so while I rested, others ventured out and saw some things that weren't on our itinerary.  Thankfully that day of rest really helped my health.. finally starting to feel like myself again :)  On my last day, I went to a few sites for my independent study and looked at some LEED and BREEAM rated buildings.  I also had a photoshoot with Minnie!  

Fooood!  I love it... no matter where I am.  Laura and I had an incredible Indian meal on our 2nd or 3rd night in London.  It was perfect and probably my favorite meal while I was there. We also had Persian cuisine one night and I went with a vegetarian dish and hot tea.  Perfect for my sick little self.  Of course I tried another meat pie and a local brew.  People complain about English food not being that great, but I find it to be perfect comfort food.  Fish & chips, meat pies and pudding could keep this girl happy for awhile!

I don't know how I almost forgot this.... Laura and I went to Abbey Road to see where the Beatles recorded their albums and took their famous album cover photo. It was comical trying to get a photo walking across the street.  We weren't the only people doing it either.  I kind of feel bad for the residents of this area having to deal with us silly tourists running out into the road all the time! haha It was a really great neighborhood though, beautiful houses and vehicles! 

Thursday I boarded a plane and I am currently sitting in our hostel in Dublin.  So I need to run and explore this cool city... I'll update you all soon now that we have decent internet!

Last Week in Paris!

Dinner at Chez Paul!

Pantheon, Paris!

Laura and I inside Zaha's temporary piece at the Arab Institute

Photo op on my last night in Paris

Cake and champagne in front of the Eiffel!

Due to the lack of internet being available and my poor health, this is going to be a blog post compiling my last week of adventures in Paris! The architectural highlights include visiting the Cartier Foundation, the Pantheon, and the Institute du Monde Arab. My favorite of these was the Institute du Monde Arab. Incredibly interesting facade, custom made to incorporate symbols that are important to the Arabic culture. At one point, this facade actually acted as a moving screen with geometric motifs that were photo-sensitive, motor-controlled apertures. Unfortunately, they were only operable for about two months, but they are still beautiful. Also, in the courtyard of the Arab Institute was a temporary building by Zaha Hadid. I was very excited to see one of her works, even though it was only a temporary piece.

Laura and I went out for an amazing meal on our last Saturday at a quaint little restaurant called Chez Paul. I had a steak and dauphinoise potatoes which were prepared perfectly... well the steak was a little rarer than I would typically order, but I don't think they actually have a MR option here.. So I am fairly certain it was rare. Oh well, it was delicious and I didn't die. :) Oh, and the bottle of wine we shared and the crème brulee we had for dessert were to die for. After dinner, we went back to the first bar we came across, Clair de Lune, and said goodbye to some of our friends.

Thomas had to see us one last time on Sunday and introduced us to basque cuisine. He took Laura and I out to lunch to another great restaurant and I tried a unique salad that was served in a giant bowl with all the ingredients tossed in it. Sooo good!

Throughout the week, we said goodbye to our friends that we made, squeezing in last architectural stops, and enjoyed any remaining time indulging in the sweets that I don't know how I lived my entire life without. Yes, I may be 10lbs heavier when I return to the states...

I started to come down with a cold in the midst of all this fun and by the end of the week I was quite miserable. However, we had one last night in Paris and I was determined to enjoy it and we made it as cliché as possible. Couldn't get much better (or cliché) than champagne, cake and friends in the grass in front of the Eiffel Tower. :)

Perfect ending to a perfect adventure in a perfect city. Love.