I amsterdam/Roma

Hi!

I'm back. I had some more wonderful travels this past week. BUT before I even get there, let me tell you about my fun Halloween evening. Our teachers put on a really fun Halloween party on the 30th of October, leaving the whole weekend open for us to travel wherever we wanted before the Rome trip. Priyanka and I tag teamed as a costume duo... Mario and Luigi from the Super Mario Brothers!!! It was a big hit. Caryl made some delicious chili, and had great desserts afterwards. It was such a satisfying meal...She feeds us well. I've never felt that full my whole trip yet. I am so looking forward to Thanksgiving at their house :)

what a great pair.

haha...that picture still makes me crack up.

The next day Mihee, Priyanka and I set out for a roommate weekend in Amsterdam via train from Paris. What a coooool city! The whole weekend it was raining which prevented us from doing a lot of stuff, but the rain also added to the atmosphere there. The first thing I saw when I stepped out of the train station was a MASSIVE bike rack with bikes just everywhere. I remember someone's 'stereotype' saying Amsterdam is all about their bikes; I guess I underestimated that statement. It's really great though people choose to travel via bike. I think we need to take that example to other cities too...

The red light district was sooo crazy. There were literally women selling themselves in windows with red lights glowing over them. They would just stand behind the window in a bedroom with one bed in it waving at people who walked by, so you could basically shop for women. It was pretty upsetting to know that's the lifestyle of some women.

The streets of Amsterdam just like a lot of other older cities had no basic grid to them, so it was fun to walk around in the rain and just explore. The city center was so incredibly busy and lively. The overall atmosphere as I said was so much fun. People were pretty roudy too though...It is Amsterdam! Aaaaand I'm sure you can guess what the streets smelled like...

Overall it was a pretty relaxing weekend; it was also nice to just hang out in casual clothing and get a break from dressing all nice like we do in Paris. Priyanka and I both bought a hoodie and we would just chill in our sweatshirts jeans and north faces. I haven't felt that comfortable for a while! Always dressing in heels here in Paris...

For those who haven't gone to Amsterdam yet, it's for sure a place to visit in your life time.

Monday morning we took off from Amsterdam to Rome via plane. Of course the day we leave the sun finally comes out... And of course we arrive to Rome where its a torrential downpour. It was a long day of traveling, so the first night in Rome we literally just warmed up under our blankets and read for hours. The rain was kind of a bummer...

The next day Priyanka and I met up with our friend Mariana and we walked (in the rain) through Rome, touring the Colosseum, forum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, and a bunch of Piazzas. Rome is a really pretty, minus the unstable weather. The first day it rained in the morning, but eventually cleared up once we got to the Colosseum (really pretty pictures). It was good to actually see all of this in person, which seems to be the constant theme of this whole trip. To see it all in pictures is nothing compared to being there in person.

The next three days were dedicated to our class tours put on by our Urban Exploration professor, Anne Attalli. Our class got a completely different feel for Rome compared to most tourists. She had themes for our walks; the first day was called A Roman String of Pearls, which was a 'walk about power, urbanism, and 'genius loci'; an attempt to approach the "substance of the city, and experience the feeling of "urban interior" given by its streets and piazzas. We covered a lot of ground, walking from piazza to piazza, stopping for gelato... A lot of it was what Mariana, Priyanka and I saw the previous day, but just walk-bys so I'm glad we had explored the day before.

The second day was called 'a collage city'; Romantic landscapes with ruins, 'useless' spaces, dream views and neighborhoods. This one was probably my favorite tour, mainly because of all the graffiti we came across. We really explored the streets, came across some beautiful gardens and landscapes, I got really into it. These walks were amazing just because we would just walk, and walk. At times even though we were with everyone, you got your thoughts to yourself (with help from a little bit of music). I captured so many building textures, doors, windows, colors, and a LOT of graffiti. The weather was best that day, I don't think it rained at all.

The third and final walk was called "A line from the center to the periphery". "Over 2000 years of architecture, from the mausoleum of August to some contemporary buildings and construction sites, passing through many time periods and styles. An occasion to observe their particularities and their distinctive approach to urban spaces and theatricality." This was the most rotten walk in terms of weather, we got rained on pretty hard to the point where we hung out in Richard Meier's art museum for an hour hoping the rain would pass, but it didn't. It was beautiful in the beginning in terms of buildings; we stepped into many churches whose decor was so beautiful and moving, I had to sit down and sketch a couple times. Not as many photos were taken this day due to the fact I didn't want my camera to get water on it...

Oh something fun; in the beginning of our Rome trip I purchased a cheap rainbow umbrella, and created this photo documentary where all I would do was just place the umbrella in front of a certain scenery, and just take a picture of it. It was a really cool effect and I carried it through the whole trip.

Overall I'd unfortunately have to say Rome was last on my list of places in Italy I've been to so far, but it's competing with Lucca, Piacenza, and Pisa, which are such beautiful parts of Italy by themselves. Rome was a hustle bustle (kind of dirty) city and I experienced it while it was very rainy, but needless to say the architecture and history is timeless, and you can't really compete with the famous historical Roman Empire. The gelato was an added bonus though :)

My trips are now over, and I have 1 month left in Paris, but I know it's going to be an amazing month. I am looking forward to completing my urban exploration project (I will have a blog about that soon) and really explore the city. It's been amazing living here in Paris. I've enjoyed seeing it through its season changing, and I hope to get one snowfall before I leave... I am looking forward to the Christmas lights being hung in the future too.

What's left on my Paris agenda? I get to celebrate my 22nd birthday next week, I get my two best friends visiting the week after that (which I am sooo excited for) then I get the wonderful benefit of finals, a trip to Greece and my journey home to Chicago.

I've been having day/night dreams about coming home, and I miss everyone so much. I'll be updating my blog still though, I have so much more to write down about my trips here, so stay tuned! Sorry for the inconsistency of my writings, but I've obviously been very busy out here I never know when I have time to write. Ciao for now!

-B

picasaweb.google.com/oolretaw

pardon the rotated pictures...there's about a couple hundred I still have to go to to rotate. I will get there eventually.