After many false starts, we finally had a real moment on top of the world (or at least France!) Despite the painstakingly vertical climb to the top, we spent the day hiking with good friends enjoying the most amazing views of the French coast.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Finally, a "King of the World" Moment
After many false starts, we finally had a real moment on top of the world (or at least France!) Despite the painstakingly vertical climb to the top, we spent the day hiking with good friends enjoying the most amazing views of the French coast.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
The Tower Still Leans and the David Still Stands
Friday was our first official excused absence from class (this is cause for excitement as the attendance policy is very strict here) and we departed on our Italian adventure early Friday morning with forty other students from the AIFS program. Typically it takes about six hours by coach to get to Florence from Cannes but we made a stop on our way over in the City of Pisa.
Fortunately the weather was nice and we could finally take pictures that didn’t feature our black pea coats, which we have now grown to despise. We were welcomed to the city right after stepping off the bus by a swarm of Italians selling cheap knock-offs and “bling-bling,” as they referred to it, outside the medieval city walls surrounding the tower and the main part of the City of Pisa. Once inside we saw the old cathedral and its bell tower, or as we know it the leaning town of Pisa standing at only a height of 184 ft.
Pisa was probably the best people watching experience of our trip so far. Scattered across the lawn in front of the tower were countless amounts of people sticking their butts out pretending to be pushing the leaning tower but really only holding their hands in the air…. Truly a sight to see.
A few hours later we had arrived at our hotel in Florence, Hotel Pendini, in a perfect location on Via Strozzi directly off the Plaza della Repubblica and within walking distance to all the sights in the city (once again... lots of walking!). Plaza della Repubblica marks the intersection of two main roads forming a cross in the middle of the city. As soon as we checked into our room and dropped off our backpacks we went out to explore the ancient streets of Florence which we quickly found started and stopped without rhyme or reason making finding our way around difficult at first.
Because of a recommendation from a friend who studied here last year we ate one of our favorite meals of the trip that night at a quaint restaurant called Za-Za’s where we enjoyed a fresh caprese salad, ravioli in walnut sauce, rigatoni, and a glass of rosée surrounded by tables of loud and stereotypical Italian men sprinkled with a few American tourists (Thanks Dominique!).
Saturday started early with a guided tour where we learned a lot of the history of the city from a woman extremely passionate and clearly proud to be from this “home of the Renaissance and birthplace of our modern world.” We enjoyed the grandeur of Santa Maria del Fiore, more commonly known as the Duomo, made of three colors of marble each representing a different ideal: white for hope, green for faith, and rose for charity. The cathedral took approximately 200 years to construct with the dome as the final touch as the technology to create the dome they envisioned was not invented until local architect Brunelleschi did. This was the first Renaissance dome and the model for many domes around Europe. When planning St. Peter’s in Rome, Michelangelo said, “I can build its sister—bigger, but not more beautiful” than the dome of Florence.
As we moved on we walked by Dante’s house (or near where they suspect he may have lived in Florence), enjoyed watching some local artisans create a chalk mural on the street, and perused through Mercato Nuovo aka the Straw Market where we touched the
nose of Porcellino, a statue of a wild boar, which people rub in order to ensure their return to Florence. Our tour continued across the Ponte Vecchio (Florence’s most famous bridge lined with shops selling gold and silver) and through the Piazza della Signoria with city hall where the David once stood until 1873 and where a copy has stood in its place since then.
Our tour ended at Santa Croce Church which houses wonderful art and the tombs of great Florentines including Galileo Galilei, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Dante Alighieri, and Niccolo Machiavelli.
After grabbing a quick Margherita con frites (pizza with French fries on top) and some gelato we met back up with the group at Uffizi Gallery where we spent a couple hours looking at untitled art. Not wanting to see one more piece of Italian art we visited more markets and shops on our way back to our hotel.
Dinner that night was at a local family owned restaurant recommended to us by the receptionist at our hotel… another good meal of homemade pheasant ravioli. After a toast by fellow Chapman student Alex to the wonderful trip we had had so far we made our way to a local bar and then onto a discotecca called Twice. Our goal of buying as few drinks as possible while in Europe was accomplished as we invited ourselves into a VIP lounge where three American guys bought all the girls sparkling buckets of champagne and Grey Goose until 4:00 am… Thank you America!
Our Italian adventure ended on Sunday after we visited the Galleria dell’Accademia, home of Michelangelo’s David—our favorite experience in Florence. The fact that the Accademia was built solely to house the famous statue was no surprise as upon entering the museum and turning the corner around the Rape of the Sabines, the David stands on a pedestal at the end of a long corridor under a dome that allowed natural light to shine down on what is one of the greatest works of art known to man. We cannot explain to you the feelings and emotions that rushed through us when we first caught sight of the David. It is truly magnificent. We have no pictures of the David as photography was not allowed, but really that made that moment even more special to each of us as you can only experience the David by being in its presence.
We could not have chosen a better ending to our trip to Florence.
Ciao! - MoffTar
Fortunately the weather was nice and we could finally take pictures that didn’t feature our black pea coats, which we have now grown to despise. We were welcomed to the city right after stepping off the bus by a swarm of Italians selling cheap knock-offs and “bling-bling,” as they referred to it, outside the medieval city walls surrounding the tower and the main part of the City of Pisa. Once inside we saw the old cathedral and its bell tower, or as we know it the leaning town of Pisa standing at only a height of 184 ft.
Pisa was probably the best people watching experience of our trip so far. Scattered across the lawn in front of the tower were countless amounts of people sticking their butts out pretending to be pushing the leaning tower but really only holding their hands in the air…. Truly a sight to see.
A few hours later we had arrived at our hotel in Florence, Hotel Pendini, in a perfect location on Via Strozzi directly off the Plaza della Repubblica and within walking distance to all the sights in the city (once again... lots of walking!). Plaza della Repubblica marks the intersection of two main roads forming a cross in the middle of the city. As soon as we checked into our room and dropped off our backpacks we went out to explore the ancient streets of Florence which we quickly found started and stopped without rhyme or reason making finding our way around difficult at first.
Because of a recommendation from a friend who studied here last year we ate one of our favorite meals of the trip that night at a quaint restaurant called Za-Za’s where we enjoyed a fresh caprese salad, ravioli in walnut sauce, rigatoni, and a glass of rosée surrounded by tables of loud and stereotypical Italian men sprinkled with a few American tourists (Thanks Dominique!).
Saturday started early with a guided tour where we learned a lot of the history of the city from a woman extremely passionate and clearly proud to be from this “home of the Renaissance and birthplace of our modern world.” We enjoyed the grandeur of Santa Maria del Fiore, more commonly known as the Duomo, made of three colors of marble each representing a different ideal: white for hope, green for faith, and rose for charity. The cathedral took approximately 200 years to construct with the dome as the final touch as the technology to create the dome they envisioned was not invented until local architect Brunelleschi did. This was the first Renaissance dome and the model for many domes around Europe. When planning St. Peter’s in Rome, Michelangelo said, “I can build its sister—bigger, but not more beautiful” than the dome of Florence.As we moved on we walked by Dante’s house (or near where they suspect he may have lived in Florence), enjoyed watching some local artisans create a chalk mural on the street, and perused through Mercato Nuovo aka the Straw Market where we touched the
nose of Porcellino, a statue of a wild boar, which people rub in order to ensure their return to Florence. Our tour continued across the Ponte Vecchio (Florence’s most famous bridge lined with shops selling gold and silver) and through the Piazza della Signoria with city hall where the David once stood until 1873 and where a copy has stood in its place since then.Our tour ended at Santa Croce Church which houses wonderful art and the tombs of great Florentines including Galileo Galilei, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Dante Alighieri, and Niccolo Machiavelli.
After grabbing a quick Margherita con frites (pizza with French fries on top) and some gelato we met back up with the group at Uffizi Gallery where we spent a couple hours looking at untitled art. Not wanting to see one more piece of Italian art we visited more markets and shops on our way back to our hotel.
Dinner that night was at a local family owned restaurant recommended to us by the receptionist at our hotel… another good meal of homemade pheasant ravioli. After a toast by fellow Chapman student Alex to the wonderful trip we had had so far we made our way to a local bar and then onto a discotecca called Twice. Our goal of buying as few drinks as possible while in Europe was accomplished as we invited ourselves into a VIP lounge where three American guys bought all the girls sparkling buckets of champagne and Grey Goose until 4:00 am… Thank you America!
Our Italian adventure ended on Sunday after we visited the Galleria dell’Accademia, home of Michelangelo’s David—our favorite experience in Florence. The fact that the Accademia was built solely to house the famous statue was no surprise as upon entering the museum and turning the corner around the Rape of the Sabines, the David stands on a pedestal at the end of a long corridor under a dome that allowed natural light to shine down on what is one of the greatest works of art known to man. We cannot explain to you the feelings and emotions that rushed through us when we first caught sight of the David. It is truly magnificent. We have no pictures of the David as photography was not allowed, but really that made that moment even more special to each of us as you can only experience the David by being in its presence.
We could not have chosen a better ending to our trip to Florence.
Ciao! - MoffTar
Friday, February 20, 2009
Pictures!
Sorry it took so long to get these up.... Photobucket takes a really long time to upload. Not to mention our internet connection here is slow as molasses!
Enjoy! - MoffTar
Enjoy! - MoffTar
Thursday, February 19, 2009
People All Over the World
Today was the last day with the Japanese students. They will return to Tokyo on Saturday when we are in Florence. It was so much fun getting to know them, and Marissa's fan club will truly be missed.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Bar-TH-elona
The second largest city in Spain is like a mosaic. A plethora of colors, shapes and sounds provide the background for a place that is truly bursting with life. As this past weekend was the first trip we organized independently of school, we were fortunate to find ourselves in a location with as much excitement as Barcelona (pronounced Bar-TH-elona by locals...and those in the know!)
Friday after class we hastily grabbed our backpacks and booked it to city hall to catch our bus to the Nice airport. (Disclaimer - in this post "we" means a group of 4-8 girls as we went with some of our fellow AIFS students) To our surprise, the plane to Barcelona was slightly larger than a greyhound bus. We joked that it was our own private jet but that was just to cover up the trepidation we felt. Relieved - we landed in Barcelona at 4:30 in the afternoon. From the city center, Plaza de Catalunya, we navigated the unfamiliar streets to find our hostel - Gothic Point. GP is known for being a "backpacker friendly" hostel. This means that A) They have covered the walls with graffiti art to appeal to a younger generation & B) Taking a shower is at each individuals discretion. Despite the odd and unfamiliar smells, we absolutely loved hosteling and can't wait to do it again.
The first night in Barcelona was spend exploring the many shops on La Rambla. We found ourselves at an amazing market, La Boqueria, that had endless stalls of fruits, meats, veggies and candy. It was a colorful and beautiful site. After a few more hours of navigating the architecturally beautiful side streets of Spain, we returned to our hostel to get ready for dinner. Now, in Spain, locals don't eat dinner until really late at night. By this time it was 10:30 and we thought it would be safe to appear at a restaurant, fashionably on time. Even though we had one of the BEST meals ever (tapas and Sangria), we learned that it was still pretty early to be eating dinner. The remainder of Friday was spent finding a hot night club to go to; after all, that's what one does in Spain. Our hot night club ending up being a bar, located in a wax museum, decorated to look like a forest. The wax figures surrounding the bar were a bit creepy, but we just laughed it off and ended up having a good time.
Saturday, we joined a tour group sponsored by our hostel. Our guide led us to some of Gaudi's most famous architectural sites. We saw a house he constructed for a wealthy Spanish family and one of the most expensive apartment complexes in Europe. The highlight of the tour was La Sagrada Familia. A massive church that has been under construction for over 100 years and is still not near completion. The complicated design and sheer size of this structure is completely breathtaking. Having walked for two and a half hours, we were relived to take a bus to Parc Guell. This park was intended to act as a gated community for Barcelona's elite. Instead, tourists come to enjoy some of Gaudi's most outrageous/fabulous designs. The park also houses the longest bench in Europe!
Starving and exhausted we enjoyed another meal of tapas near our hostel. Here we learned that in Spain you ARE NOT supposed to wait for everyone to get their food to start and eating & you HAVE TO ask for the bill at the end of the meal or your waiter will leave you hanging for a very long time. Lesson learned. After lunch we shopped. And shopped. And shopped. Barcelona is famous for having some of the funkiest style at the best prices. It was definitely a relief [from Cannes] to walk into a store that wasn't Chanel or Louis Vuitton. After shopping we siesta'd from 8-9:30. Being Valentine's day we wanted to do something fun for dinner and found ourselves on the candlelit terrace of the Dali museum. Despite the meal being super Americanized, the ambiance was quite enjoyable. Saturday night was spent attempting to dance the night away in a Spanish club. The atmosphere was really fun, but we learned that we are not true locals. As most Spaniards party all night long, we gave up around 4AM and retired to our hostel.
Getting up early the next day to check out, we carried our luggage around the city before it was time to go to the airport. After our excruciating initiation into the backpacker's lifestyle in London, Barcelona was a breeze. Even though we spent 45 minutes in the airport trying to locate our terminal, our newly developed spines of steel, didn't let us down. Our flight home was at 2:30 in the afternoon and to our horror, this plane was even smaller than the first.
Safely back on solid ground we gave thanks for the fun-filled and pick-pocket-free, 43 hours spent in Barcelona. We also took a second to marvel in the idea that we had just left Spain to return home to Cannes, France. It's a crazy concept that we are still getting used to, and the second that we do - we probably don't deserve to be here.
Hope you're all well!
-MoffTar
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