When in Roma

Rome was the southernmost city on our trip and was definitely worth the drive. We arrived on Wednesday, March 10th and spent the longest time here(2 nights/1 day). The hotel was very nice, and, if I remember correctly, we even got to sleep in until 8:00! ha. Overall, it was a pretty exhausting stop as we raced around trying to see as much as possible. Here are just a few of the stops in our tour of Rome:


Colosseo
I think this one's been around a while...still standing after 2000 years. Unbelievable.


Pantheon
I caught myself just staring out the hole(oculus) in the roof...clouds passing by...and my class outside getting ready to leave. Oops.
Fun Fact of the Day: Largest dome in the world for 1700 years


Last, but not least...The Vatican

Vatican City was the last place we visited, and even though we ran into a little bad weather(okay, a hailstorm), it was incredible. The entire complex was just so...humbling. I also had no idea that St. Peter's Basilica was that massive. It was amazing to see all of the time, effort, and money put into such a holy place.

It's hard to say whether Rome was my favorite city, but there is just so much history there to forget any of it. The best part was definitely seeing all the famous monuments and buildings. Now, I just really want to watch Gladiator and Angels & Demons...

We're Back!

First things first...Sorry I haven't posted anything new in a couple of weeks. It's taken a while to get back on a regular schedule and organize everything from one of the most incredible/exhausting trips of my life!

We left Friday, March 5th at 10:00 PM and didn't get back until Sunday, March 14th. I was definitely pooped, and it felt great to finally sleep on the ol' "wood frame" bed in the dorms. I know we were all anxious to get back near the end, and even though we've only been in Krakow about a month, it's crazy how quickly a place can become home.

Below is a map of our travels(thank you for making life easy, google). Click on the picture to enlarge it.

2264 miles(or the distance between New Jersey and Nevada. ha)

I would have to say my favorite stop was Cinque Terre. Even though I had never heard of it before this trip, it is a town of five beautiful villages along the Ligurian Sea. We ate lunch at this restaurant right on the water, and had some of the best salad, seafood, and wine. Delicious. I could definitely retire there someday.

Along the coast of Cinque Terre

The most exciting place was probably Rome...I'll have an entire post for this, later.

A public space that exuded architectonic qualities is...just kidding. I am not going to bore you with that much architecture. However, it is surreal to see buildings and places that have been around for centuries. Another thing I thought was neat is that most of the churches we visited still have services every Sunday. I wonder how many hundreds of thousands of people have come through those doors...

All in all, it's so difficult to describe our entire trip in words because there was always so much going on. I was definitely trigger happy on the camera, and ended up with over 1200 pictures. Obviously, I won't post them all, but I will get pictures from both Austria and Italy onto flickr.

You stay classy, America.

Upcoming Trip to Austria + Italy

We're leaving tonight for an "organized" trip to Austria and Italy. Our history professor, Jacek Czubinski, has already planned out the whole thing and will also be going with us.

From what I understand, we'll be taking a 20 passenger van and driving A LOT. The first night will be just driving, as it will take us 10 hours to get to our first stop in Graz. Anywho, here are some of the cities we will be visiting...

Graz. Palmanova. Vicenza. Verona. Cinque Terre. Siena. Rome. Venice. Vienna.

I will definitely take tons of pictures and fill everyone in when I get back on March 14th. Arrivederci!


"Austria?! Well then, g'day mate! Let's put another shrimp on the barbie."
"Let's not"

Just a Few Quickies

If you want to see more pictures, the best way is to add me on Facebook or go to my photos on Flickr(link is on the right side of the page). However, I can only add a limited number of photos on Flickr...it's so hard to choose which ones.

Also, check out my friends' blogs of their current travels abroad. It is the section below "Photos on Flickr"

Dziekuje. Przepraszam. Dzien Dobry.

Even though I've already mentioned the language barrier in the first post, it's probably worth talking about again. Polish is such a difficult language to read, spell, and pronounce. The words in the title of this post, for example, are the only ones I have "mastered" in two weeks. The first means Thank You, second is Excuse Me, and the third is Good Morning/Afternoon. Also, most places and names around here have enough consonants to keep Vanna White happy...did you know she is 53?? Bad jokes aside, it will always be tough to communicate with the people here, but there is one language that I think we all have understood...food.

I have been surprised at how many Italian restaurants there are in Krakow. I guess it makes sense because it is close to Poland, but, anyways, I have absolutely loved the food here! Everything just seems to be "more real" and full of flavor instead of preservatives. The popular foods in Poland seem to be pierogies, soups, and different breads and sausages. We usually eat out around five times a week and have done a good job of going different places and trying new things. For lunch today, we went to a little hut near the architecture building and got 10 pierogies and a coke for around $3.25! Take that, dollar menu.

The currency in Poland is the zloty, and it is worth about 3 times as much as the US Dollar. In addition, just about everything has been much cheaper than back home. A good beer at a restaurant or bar is always 7 or 8 zloty for a 0.5 Liter glass (only about 3 dollars). Also, with all the visits I've made to Real(the grocery store), I have yet to spend more than 50 or 60 zloty. Even though it still looks like Monopoly money, I'm beginning to get used to the little guys...

Funny Story
We were eating at a Polish restaurant one night(which we have now named "Big Mamas") where you go up to order your food and they call your number when it's ready. It was very good, by the way. We had all ordered, and Tyler was the last to sit down. He sits down and has this ceramic dish with a coca cola logo on it or something. When we told him it was the change tray, he took it back, and we all got a good laugh. Perhaps the funniest part was when he said, "I just thought it was for me to take. She saw me grab it and everything!"

One Week of Classes Down...

Hopefully the title doesn't sound bitter, as I actually like all of my classes. It's a fairly undemanding schedule that allows us to take weekend trips and, most of all, enjoy our (free) time here. Next year is definitely going to be tough to adjust back to the workload at UT. Anywho, here is my schedule...

Monday
Urban Design Lecture_11:00-13:00
Studio_13:30-17:00

Tuesday
History of Polish Architecture_13:00-14:30
Freehand Drawing_15:00-18:00

Wednesday
Studio_13:30-17:00

Thursday
NO CLASSES!

Friday
Studio_9:00-13:00

I think the class I am most excited about is History of Polish Architecture with Professor Jacek Czubinski. Instead of having a boring lecture inside, we take walking tours for every class and see and experience the architecture. It's incredible to think that most of the buildings in Poland are older than our country...I am also looking forward to the studio class. I really enjoy our professor(Krzysztof Bojanowski) and the project for the semester. Our assignment is to basically "revitalize a riverfront" in Krakow and design the public spaces on the site.

It was definitely a relief to get the first week of classes out of the way and know where every class is. Also, it seems like they give us vague directions on purpose...finding our way around the architecture building and city has forced us to become big boys and girls. Now, if only we can get Stephen away from his steady diet of candy and coke...

Favorite Quotes
"Instead of saying you had too many drinks last night, just say you were overserved"-Prof. Bojanowski