Northern Italy was AMAZING!!!!

So if you are wondering why you havent heard from me the last few days it is because I have been on a trip through northern Italy and it was amazing. It was a class trip so I traveled with the 9 other people in my program and a professor. We were gone for 5 days and saw 4 cities Venice, Verona, Trento, and Milan.

We spent a day in a half in Venice. It was nice, but the weather was gray and nasty so I would like to go back one day and get a better feel for the place. It was very neat to be in a place that didn't have any cars or streets, just rivers (or canals) and boats. I didn't have time to go to the island of Morano to see the glass blowing as I had hoped, but I did get to buy some beautiful glass while I was there. Because of time and other people on the trips tight budgets we opted for a short cheap gondola ride across the canal instead of a nice, long, expensive ride around the city. It is nice to say I had the gondola experience, but I would have much preferred the nice gondola ride. Ours felt more like an overloaded canoe with a driver in a stripped shirt.

Next we went to Verona. The night we arrived in Verona was by far the most fun night I have had this semester. We were staying in a very nice hotel with a really good festival going on down the street. The festival highlighted the different foods from all the regions of Italy. There was a band playing and a booth that was making really amazing sandwiches. We spent the evening listening to the band and enjoying the atmousphere. The next day we toured Verona and saw all the sights including the house that is said to be Juliet's House from Romeo and Juliet.

The next day we went to Trento. Trento is the city where the Council of Trent was signed and the Counter Reformation began. We spent the morning in Trento visiting one of the largest construction sights in Italy. They took very good care of there by providing us with boots and hard hats to wear on the job site, and they gave us free lunch. The project is by world famous architect Renzo Piano. That afternoon we went and saw a few sights around Trento.

We took the train to Milan where we checked into the hotel, grabbed some dinner, and went to bed after a long day of traveling and sight seeing. On the final day of the trip we toured Milan. It was fun to see another city and to get to go on top of the Duomo, but over all I was not just overly impressed with Milan. It just felt like another big city to me. It didn't even really have the historic charm of Rome, though its public transit was much better!

So here I am at Wednesday just now stating my week thanks to my trip. Lucky for me my week ends tomorrow because we don't have classes on Friday. We do however have a regional field trip. I am looking forward to it. My roommates and the other students however are not looking forward to it because they have a review next Tuesday in there studio class and are very stressed. I am extremely grateful that I am not in studio and do not have to worry about it.

A New Outlook

So yesterday I (well my mom actually did the work, thanks again mom) changed my flight from the 22nd to 16th of Dec., and today I had a really good one on one with my professor. In my one on one with Davide, my professor, we went over my exam, which i did well on(he said I needed to watch my spelling surprise surprise), and discussed both of my projects for the end of the semester. The drawing project I wasn't worried about but the research project on the other hand was totally stressing me out. He was very helped me put more direction on my research project and helped me find more sources. I now feel like I can actually do the project and do it well. I am very excited that my flight was changed. I know 6 days isn't that long but there is something about being able to say I go home in 35 days instead of 41 that just makes it seem like my time here is a lot shorter.

Changing my flight combined with the great meeting I had with my professor has given me a whole new outlook on the semester. I know feel like I can make it, have fun and do well. Before today I wasn't so sure most of the time.

I am also very excited about all the things that lie between here and going home. I have no doubt they are going to make the time fly by. I leave on Friday for 5 days in Northern Italy. Next Friday I have a regional field trip. I am going to Athens for 4 days over Thanksgiving. The First weekend in Dec. I will be in Salzburg on a Sound of Music tour, and the last Friday before finals I am signed up to take an amazing 5 hour Italian cooking class. Needless to say the rest of the semester is going to be pretty awesome!

Florence

I spent this past weekend in Florence and it was a ton of fun! We left by train on Friday morning and arrived in Florence at about 10 o'clock. We got to see all the big sight including the Duomo, Santa Maria Novella, the Laurentian Library by Michael Angelo, and the brother to Drooling Hog Statue on campus.
I also spent ample time in the leather market and bought lots of really cool Christmas Gifts. The purchase I am most excited about did not come from the leather market, but from a very famous leather shop called Misuri. They are famous for their gilded leather and the purse they designed for the queen. When I was here in high school I bought a belt and have loved it ever since. I was hoping to purchase another buckle for my belt, but they were so friendly and gave me such a good deal that I ended up buying a whole new Belt. Special thanks to Dean Maness from St. Agnes for giving me directions before I left this weekend I would have never found it without her help.
This weeks classes should be pretty low key. We are going to spend a lot of time studying St. Peters, and figuring out what needs to be done to prepare for mid-terms. I probably wont be seeing much of my roommates because they have mid-semester review for studio on Thursday. I am extremely gratefull that I do not have to take studio while here. It is allowing me to enjoy my experience 10 times more than I woudld have if I were in studio.

First Day of Class

Today was the first day of real class. It feels like I have been here way to long to just now be starting class. To refresh your memory I arrived 2 weeks ago today. Class went well. I am taking two class. Art and Historic Preservation (AHP) meets on Monday and Wednesday and Architecture of the Roman City meets on Tuesday and Thursday. Class begins each day at 9 and end somewhere between 11:30 and 12:30. They arent to picky when it comes to time over here. AHP is taught by two different profesors. On Monday we focus on Historic Preservation with won of the worlds leading historic preservationist, and on Wednesday we focus on Art Culture. My professor on Wednesday might be one of the smartest people I know. He knows something about every piece of art in every building we walk into. His array of knowledge is truely amazing. Tommarrow I will learn more about my archtecture of city class. I know that it involves a lot of sketching. While I am not a good sketcher now I have been told that I will come back amazing!

Overall I think my classes are going really well. I have afternoons free while everyone else in my program is in studio. I think I am going to really enjoy this time. It will allow me to do what I want with out having to worry about what others want to do or where they might want to go. I plan to use the timeto sketch tour other parts of the city and revisits museums that we saw in class.

I am begining to try and plan the different weekend trips I want to take. There are so many places. It is going to be a great semester but it is going to fly buy!

Rome is My Classroom

I got my first taste of what class will be like this semester. I think that amazing is probibly a good word to use. Now today was still just orientation but we began going on tours of the city and the day was set up much like my class will be. Here is how class goes. Meet the Professor at a random location in Rome (today it was the school Wednesday it is Capitol Hill), walk and look around in amazment, stop and listen to the professor talk, ask questions, sketch, move on and repeat. It is so much fun. If every class in life were like this no one would hate school. It is so amazing how much there is here. The city is almost 30 feet deep with one building on top of another. You are walking down the street and all of the sudden you turn a corner and it is like BAM there is an amazing building and history is just before your eyes.

Apparently the link I posted yesterday didnt work so I am going to try again. Try this link for more pics (if it doesnt work as a link try copy and pasting it into your broweser.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2214991&id=20607137&l=5f78f69d64

PS Spell check isn't working today so if all my smarty pants friends could refrain, posting comments (sending email, facebook messages, etc.) that point out every miss spelled word that would be great. Let just all get the good laugh out now. "haha Megan can't spell"