Day 2 of my Venice trip I was off to Piazzo San Marco. This is the most famous spot in Venice, home to Basilica San Marco (aka THE MOST IMPRESSIVE CHURCH I HAVE TOURED THUS FAR! It nearly moved me to tears). As I was walking in with my friend, I literally stopped short and forgot what we were talking about. I wish I had hours more to give to Basilica San Marco. The architecture is exquisite and the walls shine with color and gleam with gold. The church houses the tomb of St. Mark and claims to have a thorn of Jesus' crown. In a little alcove on the right hand side of the church is an absolute treasure trove! Inside a small series of rooms is a small collection of artifacts dating back to the time of the ancient Egyptians! There are also beautiful jewels and several relics. All in all, one of the best spent 20 minutes of my trip were in those 3 small rooms.
Saturday evening was the official kick off of La Carnivale di Venezia 2010! Erected in the middle of Piazzo San Marco is a huge stage where a short skit was performed that evening. The costumes were great...but I will never be able to tell you what skit was about because I don't speak a lick of Italian.
On Sunday, day 3, the sun made its debut! And what a great day it was! Sunday I rode on a gondolla. It was shocking how quiet Venice is once you get only a few short feet away from the Grand Canal. In between conversation, all that you can hear is the gondolier's oar moving the gondola along. It is incredibly peaceful.
On Sunday I spent some more time in Piazzo San Marco, but due to particularly horrendous sea sickness, I did A LOT of walking. My favorite locale of the day was the Rialto Bridge. The bridge offers a great view of the canal and is a great place to shop and people watch.
Because its Carnivale, there is confetti EVERYWHERE! People throw it at eachother just walking down the streets. At night, once most of the foot traffic has cleared out, it looks like the streets are made up of millions of tiny pieces of paper. One of my classmates, Molly, and I had some good old-fashioned fun by scooping up handfuls and having a confetti war in the middle of the piazzo!
Monday, day 4 and sadly the last day, was possibly my favorite day. Back on the water taxi (not much choice about that in Venice) to the very end of the line. This put us at Lido, a gorgeous island known for its beaches. We had lots of fun doing cartwheels on the beach and running around piggyback racing. I felt like a little kid! Monday was really a wandering day. After Lido, I hopped off wherever looked interesting and walked until I ran out of time. I also spent a lot of time just staring across the water to the rest of the islands of Venice. I remember saying how much I loved my life at least 100 times. I must be the luckiest girl alive!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Venezia and La Carnivale!
Bonjourno!
The first weekend of February was my first trip outside of England. Me and several of my classmates traveled to meet Sarah in Venice for the start of La Carnivale. Carnivale is the two week period of celebration leading up to Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent. Everybody dresses up in period costumes with crazy masks and hats. Everywhere you turn there are mask vendors and me and my group jumped right on that bandwagon! I have some really great pictures from that weekend. What a perfect time to visit Venice!
Venice, Carnivale or no, is a magical place. It felt like I stepped straight off of a movie set. It actually took quite some time for it to sink in that I was in a real place! I was thankful that I was there for a 4 day weekend, otherwise I am not sure if I would have been able to truly appreciate where I was.
We arrived late Thursday night, checked into our hotel, and went to bed to rest up for the long days ahead of us! Friday morning we were on a shuttle at 9am sharp headed towards the islands! On the first day we headed down the 'road less traveled' (and by road I mean canal). This meant heading to a series of smaller islands that are a bit away from the main tourist traps but still shouldn't be missed if you have the time.
First up is Murano. This little island is famous for its glassblowing factory. Murano glass is sold all over the world and I feel priveleged to be able to say that I have been there! We went to a glassblowing demonstration which incredibly impressive! I watched a man make a beautiful little figurine of a horse in just a few minutes...something that looks like it should have taken hours! Be careful...the showroom can take your breath away and if you're not careful, your wallet as well! I caved and purchased two figurines of a man and woman in typical venetian dress. They are wating for me back home in the states and I know that it was worth the price because I can't stop thinking about how excited I am to see them again!
After Murano, we grabbed a bite to eat. Italian food in Italy...enough said. Then it was off to Burano! An island famous for its lace. Honestly, the rain kept me from truly appreciating the island, but there were still some moments when I absolutely had to stop and stare (and then whip out my camera).
Third stop on the ferry line that we were on is Torcello. This island was the smallest yet. Only 16 people live there! The island is home to Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta founded in 639! If age alone isn't enough to impress you, take a look at the mosaics made of gold!
The first weekend of February was my first trip outside of England. Me and several of my classmates traveled to meet Sarah in Venice for the start of La Carnivale. Carnivale is the two week period of celebration leading up to Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent. Everybody dresses up in period costumes with crazy masks and hats. Everywhere you turn there are mask vendors and me and my group jumped right on that bandwagon! I have some really great pictures from that weekend. What a perfect time to visit Venice!
Venice, Carnivale or no, is a magical place. It felt like I stepped straight off of a movie set. It actually took quite some time for it to sink in that I was in a real place! I was thankful that I was there for a 4 day weekend, otherwise I am not sure if I would have been able to truly appreciate where I was.
We arrived late Thursday night, checked into our hotel, and went to bed to rest up for the long days ahead of us! Friday morning we were on a shuttle at 9am sharp headed towards the islands! On the first day we headed down the 'road less traveled' (and by road I mean canal). This meant heading to a series of smaller islands that are a bit away from the main tourist traps but still shouldn't be missed if you have the time.
First up is Murano. This little island is famous for its glassblowing factory. Murano glass is sold all over the world and I feel priveleged to be able to say that I have been there! We went to a glassblowing demonstration which incredibly impressive! I watched a man make a beautiful little figurine of a horse in just a few minutes...something that looks like it should have taken hours! Be careful...the showroom can take your breath away and if you're not careful, your wallet as well! I caved and purchased two figurines of a man and woman in typical venetian dress. They are wating for me back home in the states and I know that it was worth the price because I can't stop thinking about how excited I am to see them again!
After Murano, we grabbed a bite to eat. Italian food in Italy...enough said. Then it was off to Burano! An island famous for its lace. Honestly, the rain kept me from truly appreciating the island, but there were still some moments when I absolutely had to stop and stare (and then whip out my camera).
Third stop on the ferry line that we were on is Torcello. This island was the smallest yet. Only 16 people live there! The island is home to Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta founded in 639! If age alone isn't enough to impress you, take a look at the mosaics made of gold!
Ok so here's the deal...
I am the WORST at updating this thing. The problem is, I get so intimidated at the thought of having to write everything down that I put it off. Then more and more time passes and I do so much, that the thought of trying to update my blog actually gives me a stomach ache! Solution: brief synopsis of what has passed since the last update and then getting my roommate, Katherine, to yell at me if I don't update in a timely manner.
List of some more of my adventures, explorations, and experiences:
List of some more of my adventures, explorations, and experiences:
- Baker St. for the Sherlock Holmes Museum
- Saw the Sherlock Holmes movie in London! At the Empire Theater in Leicester Square (where they often have movie premieres!)
- Regent's Park
- Primrose Hill (the BEST view of the city skyline I have seen yet! Go here after the sun sets...its a must!)
- Camden Lock and Markets
- Toured the Inns of Court (and I thought our legal system was complicated! We've got nothing on the Brits)
- Went to the Museum at the Docklands
- Whitechapel Art Gallery
- Cambridge! Toured around Clare's college, some of the town, and went into Fitzwilliam Museum. The Fitzwilliam Museum is full of amazing art work and the building is a work of art itself. When you walk in the front door, look up! You won't be able to stop staring at the beautiful dome ceiling for at least 5 minutes!
- The Tower of London
- Several fish and chips lunches!
- 3 hour long walk throughout London, just wandering around. I have decided that often the unplanned days end up being some of the most memorable. I covered so much ground on the 31st of January and just soaked it all up. I love this place!
It makes me sad that I had to update this way, but that is the period of time between my last post and my Italy trip, which was the first weekend in February. There are countless memories from the above list that I need not write down to remember. I can't wait to share my stories with y'all back home! I miss you all very much.
Cheers! Next updates include my Italy trip and Oxford!
Monday, February 1, 2010
Weekend of Friday 22 January
Friday: First encounter with Harrod's! Incredibly intimidating and overwhelming. I could only do a brief look around, but now I know what to expect when I go back. One thing that Katherine, Doug, and I did get to see was the Egyptian Escalators and also the memorial for Dido and Princess Diana. The owner of the Harrod's building is Dido's father, who spent a considerable amount of money accusing the royal family after his son's death. At the bottom of the Egyptian escalators is a wine glass from the pair's last dinner together and large portraits of each of them. The foodhalls are also impressive...complete with life size chocolate high heels! It made me think of Ginna ;)
Friday evening a group of us hung out at ULU (the University of London's Student Union). There I met tons of people, including some Australians whom I beat at billiards...which was a surprise to everybody (myself included)!
Saturday: I went to Chinatown for dinner with my roommates and Doug. I had some AMAZING sweet and sour chicken. While London does not really have its own cuisine (fish and chips is about as good as it gets), they say that you can get the best food from around the world because it is such an international city. I believe it! After dinner, I went and saw Sherlock Holmes at the Empire Theater in Leicester Square. It was great to watch the movie and know all of the sites! The movie thater was fantastic! Absolutely enormous and grand with red carpets, glittery ceilings, and hundreds of seats per theater. They often use that movie theater for film premieres. Another great experience! I have lost count of how many of those I have had!
Sunday: My legs are stronger and my feet are tougher! Walked around for about 6 hours today and felt great! Today I headed over to Baker St. with Hannah and Doug. We went straight to the Sherlock Holmes Museum created at Sherlock's fictional address at 221b Baker St. The museum was great...because its not historical are allowed to pose with props and goof around. I took full advantage of the great photo opportunity! I was like a giddy school girl because I was so excited to be there!
After Baker St. we decided to wanter around...and what a wandering it was! We went through Regent's Park and walked through it for quite some time. We walked around a pond, through royal gardens, past about a BILLION football players, past the zoo...I mean this park is awesome.; I can tell it is going to be a regular spot of mine and a great place to go to de-stress.
Next stop was Camden Market and Camden Lock. We wandered into a fresh international foods market and I had a crepe with nutella, nuts, and strawberries. Did I mention how much I love my life right now??? Eventually as the sun went down we decided to head back to the flats. Since my navigation skills are still adjusting to this monstrously large city, we took the scenic route home. I ended up walking through Primrose Hill. Honestly, the MOST breathtaking view of the city I've seen yet. From the top of the hill you can see all the way to the London Eye. Past all of the green directly in front of my was the lit up city. I could have stayed there for hours. My random ramblings about turn out to be some of the best days. Its funny where you end up when you aren't trying to go anywhere.
Friday evening a group of us hung out at ULU (the University of London's Student Union). There I met tons of people, including some Australians whom I beat at billiards...which was a surprise to everybody (myself included)!
Saturday: I went to Chinatown for dinner with my roommates and Doug. I had some AMAZING sweet and sour chicken. While London does not really have its own cuisine (fish and chips is about as good as it gets), they say that you can get the best food from around the world because it is such an international city. I believe it! After dinner, I went and saw Sherlock Holmes at the Empire Theater in Leicester Square. It was great to watch the movie and know all of the sites! The movie thater was fantastic! Absolutely enormous and grand with red carpets, glittery ceilings, and hundreds of seats per theater. They often use that movie theater for film premieres. Another great experience! I have lost count of how many of those I have had!
Sunday: My legs are stronger and my feet are tougher! Walked around for about 6 hours today and felt great! Today I headed over to Baker St. with Hannah and Doug. We went straight to the Sherlock Holmes Museum created at Sherlock's fictional address at 221b Baker St. The museum was great...because its not historical are allowed to pose with props and goof around. I took full advantage of the great photo opportunity! I was like a giddy school girl because I was so excited to be there!
After Baker St. we decided to wanter around...and what a wandering it was! We went through Regent's Park and walked through it for quite some time. We walked around a pond, through royal gardens, past about a BILLION football players, past the zoo...I mean this park is awesome.; I can tell it is going to be a regular spot of mine and a great place to go to de-stress.
Next stop was Camden Market and Camden Lock. We wandered into a fresh international foods market and I had a crepe with nutella, nuts, and strawberries. Did I mention how much I love my life right now??? Eventually as the sun went down we decided to head back to the flats. Since my navigation skills are still adjusting to this monstrously large city, we took the scenic route home. I ended up walking through Primrose Hill. Honestly, the MOST breathtaking view of the city I've seen yet. From the top of the hill you can see all the way to the London Eye. Past all of the green directly in front of my was the lit up city. I could have stayed there for hours. My random ramblings about turn out to be some of the best days. Its funny where you end up when you aren't trying to go anywhere.
18 January - 22 January
On Monday morning, we received a tour of BBC's Bush House. This building is home to the internation radio portion of BBC. Quite impressive! It's not open to the public, so it was special to be able to go inside. It was neat to get to see how the radio station works from an insider's perspective. We saw a live studio, a work room, and recorded a but from a cell phone to see how they broadcast. On Monday evening my roommates and I cooked dinner together. We made a delicious chicken and pasta dish. Everything tastes that much better when you know that you cooked it yourself!
On Tuesday I went to a piano concert at Bishop Gates Hall on Liverpool Street for our music class and on Thursday I visited the Tate Modern. I could probably write a book on the Tate it is so large and impressive (actually, several people have already). The first thing that we did was go up to the very top floor and look at the view of the City of London. From the window we looked straight onto St. Paul's just across the Thames. Afterwards, we headed downstairs to the "Poetry and Dream - Surrealism and Beyond" exhibition. Modern art is not my favorite, but it was cool to get to see Picasso's "The Three Dancers" and later we got to see Andy Warhol's "Marilyn Diptych." We also saw a special temporary piece by Miroslaw Balka titled "How It Is." It is a GIANT industrial looking box that is totally black on the inside and when you walk in, it feels like it goes on forever! It is incredibly creepy. I told Prof Adler that it reminded me of the Holocaust Museaum and she said that Balka is Polish and this work was inspired by that bleak period of Poland's history. It was nice to get a question right! Coming from an entirely different education system, me and my classmates don't always have the information that would be common knowledge over here. We are all quickly getting into the swing of things though. Learned so much already!
On Tuesday I went to a piano concert at Bishop Gates Hall on Liverpool Street for our music class and on Thursday I visited the Tate Modern. I could probably write a book on the Tate it is so large and impressive (actually, several people have already). The first thing that we did was go up to the very top floor and look at the view of the City of London. From the window we looked straight onto St. Paul's just across the Thames. Afterwards, we headed downstairs to the "Poetry and Dream - Surrealism and Beyond" exhibition. Modern art is not my favorite, but it was cool to get to see Picasso's "The Three Dancers" and later we got to see Andy Warhol's "Marilyn Diptych." We also saw a special temporary piece by Miroslaw Balka titled "How It Is." It is a GIANT industrial looking box that is totally black on the inside and when you walk in, it feels like it goes on forever! It is incredibly creepy. I told Prof Adler that it reminded me of the Holocaust Museaum and she said that Balka is Polish and this work was inspired by that bleak period of Poland's history. It was nice to get a question right! Coming from an entirely different education system, me and my classmates don't always have the information that would be common knowledge over here. We are all quickly getting into the swing of things though. Learned so much already!
17 January
What a great day! The sun came out for the first time since we arrived and I actually got to wear sunglasses! I took full advantage of it! I hopped back on the bus and rode around different parts of London and got a feel for where things are and what I want to do. (Hyde Park and Harrod's are on that list...) This time all of us stayed inside the bust but we got to sit on the open air deck at the top of the bus. It was absolutely gorgeous!
Our bus fare includes a ticket for a cruise down the River Thames and there couldn't have been a more perfect day to use it! I got to see a different view point of Parliament, Big Ben, London Bridge, London Tower, the London Eye and much more! It's a short cruise but definitely worth it.
Our bus fare includes a ticket for a cruise down the River Thames and there couldn't have been a more perfect day to use it! I got to see a different view point of Parliament, Big Ben, London Bridge, London Tower, the London Eye and much more! It's a short cruise but definitely worth it.
16 January
This weekend I went on a bus tour of London called "The Original London Tour." It is on a double decker bus (like the ones that you see in the movies! Except that every bus is like that here..). It is kind of terrifying from the top!
On Saturday we definitely did a lot more walking than riding. It was a particularly rotten day with tons of rain, but that did not stop me and my friends from exploring as much as possible. The bus stops at pretty uch every major London attraction and you can hop off and on at which ever stop you choose. We first got off at Covent Gardens and saw the market there and some street performers. One man juggled knives while riding on a unicycle and I there were some majorly impressive opera singers. It is definitely worth going back several times.
Our next stop was St. Paul's Cathedral. One thing that I find quite odd is that most museums are free, but the biggest churches charge tourists. Worship is free, but it still seems a little funny. However, St. Paul's is definitely worth going back to and paying the admission price. It is Christopher Wren's masterpiece and even from the entranceway I could tell why. That place is SERIOUSLY impressive. I'm excited to go back! I can't even begin to imagine how long it took to build that Church. Somebody told me how many years it took, but I guess I was so shocked that I couldn't remember the number! Princess Di and Prince Charles were married there, and that is just a small sampling of all of the significant events and people that have been in St. Paul's.
From St. Paul's we crossed the Thames via the Millenium Bridge and walked around the outside of Shakespeare's Globe Theater. On my search for the bus stop, I got a bit lost with my friend because we kept getting distracted by the historical markers. It kind of reminded me of my dad...You can't walk very far here without running into something historically significant. I am still amazed (after being here for 3 weeks) about the amount of history that I consistantly walk on, around, through. I mean, it is EVERYWHERE. On one side of the road will be a sky scraper and on the other will be a 600 year old building. It never ceases to amaze me and I don't think I will ever get used to it.
When I finally made it to the bus, I was completely exhausted but very satisfied with the amount of ground that I covered that day. I got a lot of great pictures that I promise to post soon, including several of the whole group (me, Molly, Samantha, Katherine, Mary Katherine, Doug, Nick, and Michael).
Later that day we went to Sports Cafe to watch the Tar Heel ball game. We lost (which is a common theme this season), but it was fun for all of us to get dressed in our game gear and watch the game together. If you are ever in London, Sports Cafe is a great place to watch American sports (as long as a major British football match isn't on).
On Saturday we definitely did a lot more walking than riding. It was a particularly rotten day with tons of rain, but that did not stop me and my friends from exploring as much as possible. The bus stops at pretty uch every major London attraction and you can hop off and on at which ever stop you choose. We first got off at Covent Gardens and saw the market there and some street performers. One man juggled knives while riding on a unicycle and I there were some majorly impressive opera singers. It is definitely worth going back several times.
Our next stop was St. Paul's Cathedral. One thing that I find quite odd is that most museums are free, but the biggest churches charge tourists. Worship is free, but it still seems a little funny. However, St. Paul's is definitely worth going back to and paying the admission price. It is Christopher Wren's masterpiece and even from the entranceway I could tell why. That place is SERIOUSLY impressive. I'm excited to go back! I can't even begin to imagine how long it took to build that Church. Somebody told me how many years it took, but I guess I was so shocked that I couldn't remember the number! Princess Di and Prince Charles were married there, and that is just a small sampling of all of the significant events and people that have been in St. Paul's.
From St. Paul's we crossed the Thames via the Millenium Bridge and walked around the outside of Shakespeare's Globe Theater. On my search for the bus stop, I got a bit lost with my friend because we kept getting distracted by the historical markers. It kind of reminded me of my dad...You can't walk very far here without running into something historically significant. I am still amazed (after being here for 3 weeks) about the amount of history that I consistantly walk on, around, through. I mean, it is EVERYWHERE. On one side of the road will be a sky scraper and on the other will be a 600 year old building. It never ceases to amaze me and I don't think I will ever get used to it.
When I finally made it to the bus, I was completely exhausted but very satisfied with the amount of ground that I covered that day. I got a lot of great pictures that I promise to post soon, including several of the whole group (me, Molly, Samantha, Katherine, Mary Katherine, Doug, Nick, and Michael).
Later that day we went to Sports Cafe to watch the Tar Heel ball game. We lost (which is a common theme this season), but it was fun for all of us to get dressed in our game gear and watch the game together. If you are ever in London, Sports Cafe is a great place to watch American sports (as long as a major British football match isn't on).
Back in action
My apologies for the lack of information over the last 2 weeks...my computer is now, sadly, dead. BUT I have a netbook that is up and running so I am back in the swing of things! In order to not overload you on information, I will break up my posts by day to avoid a post that is 1239489237 pages long. I have done so much that to write it all in one go would be impossible. So...here goes!
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