Rainy Roma

I'm back from Rome (and finally dry!). Megan and I got up incredibly early Friday morning to catch a taxi to Orly airport, where our Roman adventure began...we arrived in the middle of the pouring rain surrounded by people speaking a language we couldn't understand at all (a new experience for us). After getting a bus to Termini station and walking to our B&B, the owner didn't answer the buzzer to let us in, so we had to call the company and have them call her while we waited outside the building in the rain. She turned out to be a very nice elderly Italian lady named Anna Rosa, who immediately noticed my Italian last name, asked where in Italy I was from, and commented on my "bella capelli" (beautiful hair). The B&B is basically her owning a few apartments in an apartment building near the Colosseum and renting out the bedrooms.

We started out our weekend by going to another country, aka taking the metro to Citta del Vaticano. Since it was so rainy, we decided to start out at the Musei Vaticani and see the Sistine Chapel. We got there with an hour and a half to go before closing. Luckily, the path to the Sistine Chapel takes you through most of the museum, so we got to see a great deal of artwork on our way. A lot of ornate ceilings, paintings, sculptures, frescoes. No wonder the Vatican is so rich. Just as we were starting to doubt the existence of the Sistine Chapel, it finally appeared. It is really incredibly beautiful. It's impossible to believe Michelangelo actually painted that entire ceiling--it's huge!! The sign said no pictures were allowed, but everyone else was taking them, haha. So we spent awhile gaping at the ceiling before we left. Lunch was at a restaurant my guidebook recommended, which was cheap AND delicious. Basically, there was a glass case with three pasta dishes and a meat dish, you chose which one you wanted, and they cooked it fresh. Megan and I chose a pasta that looked like penne cut in half that was in a tomato sauce with spicy peppers, and it was delicious. Next was strawberry gelati, then on to San Pietro! There was a long line for security to get into the basilica, and of course the downpour began again. But once we got inside, it was gorgeous. We saw Michelangelo's Pieta, which was wonderful, and it's just a really huge, ornate, beautiful church. The square in front is pretty big too, which I guess it needs to be with all the people that show up when the Pope is around! After that, we went to the north of Rome to the Villa Borghese park to see the Galeria Borghese, an art museum. First we couldn't find our way out of the Spagna metro for awhile, then once we did, we found out that Villa Borghese is the creepiest park EVER, dark and creepy and full of crows and other ominous birds. The Galeria Borghese is also the museum with the most rules I have ever seen. You not only are not allowed to take pictures, but you have to check all handbags and cameras. Art history IDs are not accepted from non-EU citizens, and entrance tickets are only valid within a certain 2-hour period, which in our case began 40 minutes after we arrived. Fun. Once we did get into the museum, though, it was gorgeous. It is the private Borghese collection, including a lot of Bernini and Caravaggio works, which were beautiful. We finished up the night with pizza near the Spanish Steps before finally getting to bed (after watching some really funny Italian TV).

We woke up the next morning well-rested and ready to start our day of Roman ruins! (Friday was our Roman art and church day) The sun was out at first, so we started off to Palatine Hill, less than a 10-minute walk, and along the way caught our first view of the Colosseum. Palatine Hill is one of Rome's 7 hills, and also the city's birthplace (according to legend it's where Romulus and Remus were nursed by the wolf). It's more or less a gigantic archeological site, where you walk around among the ruins. It was really nice and cool to see. After an hour or so, we wandered over to the Colosseum (where the rain immediately started again). The Colosseum was magnificent, especially once it stopped raining. It was huge, and so close to our hostel. We walked around the whole thing and bought a few souvenirs before having paninis for lunch and proceeding to the Jewish Ghetto--we thought going to the Jewish neighborhood in Rome would be funny, and it definitely was! We saw the synagogue, which has a really strange square dome, and is right by the Tiber River. After that, we headed into the center of Rome, passing the wedding cake along the way (aka the monument to Vittorio Emanuel II), and walking through the streets, stopping at the Pantheon (which was very wet on the inside due to its open roof), the only building from ancient Rome that has survived intact. Then we saw the Trevi fountain, which is really gorgeous. We both threw coins in because legend says if you throw in a coin you're destined to return to Rome. Next was the famous San Crispino's gelati, which lived up to its delicious reputation. After that, the Spanish Steps, home of the MOST OBNOXIOUS souvenir sellers in the world. Then we walked around the center of Rome for awhile and looked at the designer stores. At that point a clown pulled a curl of my hair and said "bella capelli!" again...I really thought my hair would be more normal in Italy, but apparently not! We walked around a little bit more before having dinner (the most delicious penne all'arrabiata) and gelati and heading home, but not before walking right into the middle of an anti-Israel demonstration, or I guess more pro-Palestine demonstration, which was really looooong and loud.

This morning after a huge hassle of airplanes and airports, and a creepy walk after a huge thunderstorm, we made it home by 2:00 and ate lunch, yay! All in all, I don't love the city of Rome (although I liked it better once the sun came out!). The sights were beautiful and the food was delicious, but the city was really dirty and sketchy. There was graffiti everywhere, even near the historical stuff, and the men were very aggressive, and it just really did not feel safe. Although it was nice to have 60-degree weather! Anyway, time to go readjust to Paris life. I'll put pictures on Picasa tonight!

Thanksgiving in Paris

Today was kind of weird, what with having class on Thanksgiving and all. Megan and I decided to sleep in and skip our French class, because it's useless, so we got a bit of a treat.
After class I went to climb the towers of Notre Dame, because I hadn't done that yet and it was on my list of things to do before I left. 400 steps is a lot, let me tell you. They break it up on the way up, which is kind of cool...the first room you get left in is all about the book, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and then you go outside pretty far up the tower to see the gargoyles and the big bell, and then you go all the way to the top of one of the towers. Obviously Paris from above is a sight I was very familiar with, but the gargoyles were super cool! I got to get very up close and personal, haha. You could even see which ones they modeled the ones in the Disney movie after.
From there, I could see this church my French professor had recommended visiting, Ste-Julien-le-Pauvre, so I went there next. It is in this gorgeous park with a really pretty fountain. The church itself is tiny, 1000 years old, with statues that are 1200 years old. Pretty cool.
After treating myself to a crepe with Nutella and a walk around the Latin Quarter (my favorite part of Paris, definitely going to miss it), I headed home for awhile before Thanksgiving dinner! IES sponsored a Thanksgiving dinner for us, even hiring American caterers and treating us to turkey, green beans, pumpkin pie, etc. It was actually a really good meal! It was great that they did it because otherwise it would have been a pretty lame Thanksgiving. We had a great time, spending Thanksgiving with good friends is almost as good as being with your family. And for dessert we had the most delicious brownies...
Anyway, Megan and I are leaving for Rome REALLY early tomorrow morning, as in leaving the house at 5 am, so I am going to bed. Have a great weekend, everyone, and happy Thanksgiving!

London!

This weekend was Megan's and my long-awaited trip to London! (to see one of our sorority sisters, Elizabeth!)
We left early Friday morning and had the fun experience of going through the Chunnel (apparently just missing a fire), and arrived in King's Cross-St. Pancras Station. Sorry Dad, you were wrong, Waterloo Station is only national trains. Of course, since we were in King's Cross, we had to go find Platform 9 3/4 (Harry Potter joke, for those of you who don't get it). They actually not only have made a Platform 9 3/4, but have a luggage cart sticking out from the wall! So of course I tried to get to Hogwarts, but it didn't work.
After the hostel, our first stop was the British Museum! Since it's pretty large, we decided to just go down the list of the "must-sees" on the map. So first stop, Rosetta Stone! It was really cool to see, and right in the center of the Egyptian wing. We also saw a lot of statues from the Parthenon (and read a pamphlet about the debate between the British and Greek governments), a Scottish chess set where every piece is different, lots of mummies, a lot of African masks, and many other archeological interests. Next up was the obligatory red phone booth photo, then fish and chips for lunch!
After lunch we were finally able to call Elizabeth (travelling leads to lots of phone problems) and meet up with her to get tickets for Wicked for that night!!! Then she showed us around to Buckingham Palace (sadly the Queen wasn't home, but we got to see the guards!), Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, and that central area of London. We also passed the palace where Prince Charles lives, St. James's Park, Waterloo Station, and some other lovely landmarks.
To finish off the day, we had tea and biscuits at Elizabeth's flat in the East End, went to a pub for dinner, and then headed to the theater to see Wicked!!! Since I saw it with the original cast and no one can compare to Idina Menzel, it wasn't quite as good as New York, but Wicked is still amazing no matter who is playing the roles. It was weird to hear all the actors (except the Wizard, oddly enough) with British accents. But we had a great time.
The next morning Megan and I woke up and went to Westminster Abbey. It was really interesting. No pictures are allowed, but you get a free audioguide with admission that tells you everything you need to know as you examine the huge church. We saw where Queen Elizabeth I is buried, as well as Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Geoffrey Chaucer, and many other characters. The church is absolutely beautiful, and I really liked having the audioguide. It's still a working church used for coronation ceremonies. (We saw the really old coronation chair too!) It was really cool but I am still sad that I wasn't able to take pictures (although I did get a little book about it that has a lot of pictures in it).
Next, Megan and I decided to walk to Trafalgar Square, and I was excited to see all the lion statues, haha. After lunch we walked to Covent Garden, a giant marketplace and mall. There were street performers and Christmas decorations and all sorts of cool stuff going on.
We then met up with Elizabeth to go to the Tower of London, definitely my favorite thing about the weekend. Aside from all the interesting history about it to begin with, you get these really cool tour guides called Yeoman Warders. To be one, you have to have had 22 years of service in the Royal Army. You also live inside the Tower (where you are locked inside at 10 pm every night). But they are really charismatic and funny and know almost everything there is to know about British history. We heard stories about Anne Boleyn and Sir Walter Raleigh and all the other famous prisoners in the Tower (including seeing where Anne Boleyn was executed, and then her burial place). After our tour, we saw the Crown Jewels, which are impressive to say the least. No pictures allowed of those either, but I got one.
Then we walked over to see the outside of St. Paul's Cathedral and the Globe Theatre (which was really cool!), and after that sat in a Starbucks until it was time for Megan and me to go home, because it was freezing!!! We made it home late last night. Elizabeth was a wonderful tour guide and I am so glad we got to see her!
One of the things that struck me about London was how much like home it felt. It could just be because everyone spoke English, but there was also an abundance of American chain restaurants (example: Megan and I ate in Burger King AND Subway) and stores. We even found American Cosmo for almost the same price as it is at home (in Paris you can find it but it's about 7 or 8 euros, aka twice the price). I also noticed how much cheaper everything is, even with the difference between the euro and the pound (although the pound now is thankfully much lower than it was when we got here). Food in Paris is so much more expensive, particularly when you are eating at a restaurant. It was really strange having everything be in English, too! When the waitress gave me my fish and chips on Friday, I said "Merci" instead of "Thank you."
And now, I'm in Paris and Megan just informed me that it's SNOWING!!!! Just a little flurry but I haven't seen snow yet this year and it apparently almost never snows in Paris!
I'll put my London pictures on Picasa later today, there are a lot of them!

Alpha Chi reunion!

This weekend was a lot of fun! Elizabeth and Kailey came from London and the Netherlands to see us Parisian Alpha Chis!

I picked the two of them up on Friday and we went to see the Louvre, Notre Dame, and the Latin Quarter, as well as stopping in at Breakfast in America, the favorite refuge of expats. Saturday we went to Versailles, then came home and did the Arc de Triomphe/Champs-Elysees and then the traditional letter shirt picture in front of the Eiffel Tower!

Saturday night was really fun. It was our friend Maria's 21st birthday, so we decided to celebrate by going to this restaurant that a lot of people in school had been talking about. It's in Montmartre, and it is famous for serving fondue and giving you wine in baby bottles. It was an experience, to be sure! We arrived and met the very brusque and no-boundaries-barred owner, who proceeded to seat us (but not until Hayley arrived, and he lectured us until she did). The tables were long, along benches on each side of the wall (small restaurant) and he then helped me and three others stand on a chair and climb over the table to get to the other side. We were then served an aperitif that was either kir or Sangria, not really sure, along with some snacks that were kind of like antipaste. Next came the fondue! Cheese with bread and potatoes to dip, along with meat to cook in juices. I skipped the meat because raw red meat really grosses me out, but the bread and cheese was so good! The fondue came with a full-size baby bottle full of red or white wine! This led to everyone being pretty silly by the time we were finished eating. We were sitting next to some Spanish guys who were very friendly (maybe due to the close quarters) and talked to us a lot. Hayley and Elizabeth also got into a good-natured argument about the Kappa Sig email and the repercussions for campus, which was funny to watch because Hayley was sitting closest to the fondue and would just dip people's bread, hand it back to them, and not stop talking the whole time. After the fruit salad dessert, we got the whole restaurant to sing happy birthday to Maria, and then the owner kicked us out, almost without giving us our change, haha. Then we wandered around Montmartre a bit and headed home (but not before taking the funiculaire! Fun way to avoid the hill of Montmartre, I refuse to ever climb it again).

However, today is a homework day so it will not be nearly as much fun...oh well!

Computer problems in France=no fun

So the rest of Kara's visit went well! We spent Sunday wandering around Montmartre admiring painters and street performers, then learning about history and window-shopping in the Marais (and enjoying some of the best Nutella crepes I have tasted while in Paris). Then Monday we decided to be total girls. After a trip to the Orangerie, a smaller museum of Impressionism that includes panoramic water lily paintings by Monet, we went shopping Paris style...Galeries Lafayette, Le Printemps, the Rue Saint-Honore, everything. Kara was shopping for a Longchamps bag, and even though designer bags aren't normally my thing, I ended up being convinced. They're very simple and classic, much cheaper in France, will last forever, don't have the designer label all over them, and mine is RED! hehe. it's awesome. We finished off the day with an aperitif at Harry's New York Bar, which is where F. Scott Fitzgerald and Hemingway hung out. The mahogany countertop was brought over from Manhattan, and there are pennants of American colleges hanging all around. Then Thai food and bed!

Kara left Tuesday morning :-(, and I went to the Musee de Quai Branly to make Paul-Henri happy, haha. It's a museum of non-European cultures, including Africa, Oceania, America, and Asia. I wasn't crazy about the organization, it was hard to see everything without backtracking, but it was really interesting. There was even an exhibit on the way dye is used in different cultures. On the walk there, I also got to see the Flame of Liberty Memorial. It's a replica of the Statue of Liberty's torch that the US gave to France in 1989, the 200th anniversary of the revolution. But since it is right above the bridge where Princess Diana was killed, it's become a sort of memorial for her...people put letters and flowers all over it. It was cool to see, and it has a great view of the Eiffel Tower!!

So then the stressful part of the week started...on Monday the AC adaptor to my computer broke, so I called IBM France and ordered a new one, and Megan has the same computer so I was able to charge it at night and at least use it a few hours a day. Well, IBM sent me the French AC adaptor but not the part that plugs into the wall. Which was useless because the two parts wouldn't connect. When I called back, they told me that it was not their business, they only sold French parts because they were the French office, and they had no idea where I could get the connecting part. They gave me a website where I could have it by Monday for 90 euros (which sucks because I have warranty on my comp so everything is free). This resulted in much frustration because I have an incredible amount of homework to do. So after a few frustrated phone calls to Robi, I decided to try out the French version of Best Buy, Fnac, even though the woman at IBM had said she had no idea where I could get the cord. I showed the guy what I had and what I needed, and he immediately brought me the correct part...for 7 euros...in the most well-known store in France...so yeah. French customer service people are imbeciles but at least now I have a working computer!!! Which is good cause I need to watch last week's Grey's...and oh yeah, do my homework...

This weekend two Alpha Chis are coming to visit! Elizabeth and Kailey get here tomorrow, and this weekend should be lots of fun!!

Lots of visitors

So the family left on Friday, after I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in class. Thursday we went to the Musee d'Orsay and the Cite d'Architecture and Patrimoine (museum of French architecture), and then Kara, one of my sorority sisters, arrived from Spain! We took her out for some nice snails for her first night in France.

In the morning, Kara and I went to say goodbye to the family, and then started out exploring Paris with visiting the graves of Sartre and de Beauvoir (yay for Core), and then the catacombs. So, it may or may not have been raining and I may or may not have slid for about a foot and almost fallen in the catacombs...I'm a klutz, what else is new? Then we spent the rest of the afternoon in the Louvre just wandering, which is a good Louvre strategy, haha.

Yesterday we accomplished a lot! We spent most of the day in the Latin Quarter, and saw Notre Dame, the Ile Ste-Louis, Ste-Chapelle, and the Musee de Cluny. After dinner, we finished the day at the Eiffel Tower, where it was so cold and windy we almost froze/flew off the tower, haha. But we survived. We saw several interesting characters at Notre Dame--and by characters I mean characters, as in dressed up in funny suits. One guy was dressed as the rabbit in the advertisements on the metro and was yelling "Je t'aime, Caroline!" Another was dressed as the Abominable Snowman, and accompanied by a husky, was advertising a ski resort, I think? Oh, and we've also been taking pictures with every Obama ad in Paris.

Today, once we're all ready, we're going to head out to Montmartre and the Marais. Yay for fall break!!

OBAMA!!!

So since Saturday the family and I have done lots of touristy stuff. Sunday we went to the Basilique of Ste-Denis, which is where all the kings and queens of France are buried. Megan and I have been wanting to go there for awhile, but since it's in kind of a sketchy suburb, we didn't want to go alone. It was an amazing trip, the area was not nearly as sketchy as I expected. The basilica was beautiful and it was so cool to see the tombs and monuments to all the French monarchs I've learned about for years! And I survived my trip to the French "banlieues"! One of the cool things we saw there--the preserved heart of Louis XVII, the son of Louis XVI who died at age ten for the crime of being the king's heir after the king was guillotined. After that we ate lunch and went to the Eiffel Tower! The line was incredibly long and it was cold, but it was cool because we got to see the view during both day and night, since it was dusk when we went up!

Monday we went to L'Arc de Triomphe (and climbed 284 steps to the top--cool view though!) then walked down the entirety of the Champs-Elysees, to the tune of Alexa's complaining, and then to the Opera Garnier, which made Alexa happy because I told her it was where the phantom lived. Next, the Galeries Lafayette, already decorated for Christmas, then Notre Dame and the Ile-Ste-Louis. We finished off the day with dessert in my host family's apartment! Everyone got along really well, which was fun.

Yesterday and today I had class, so I just met up with the family for dinner, but yesterday was SO EXCITING! Unfortunately, we don't have a TV and I did have to go to class today, so I didn't stay up all night, but Megan and I did set alarms for 3 am and 5 am to get up and check our computers. When we woke up at 3:15 it was 177-63 Obama, so we woke up again at 5:15 to find out that McCain had just conceded and the race was being called for Obama. I was SO happy. I wore my T-shirt today and was so proud. I felt really, really patriotic for the first time ever. Being in a foreign country, we can sometimes get anti-American sentiment, but today all of France loves America. I am so excited for the next four years!

Halloween in Paris

It's been a busy few days!
On Wednesday and Thursday I had four midterms, three of which went really well! The good part was that I got to leave Art History super early when I finished my midterm, and go wander around Paris for hours! I started at Ste-Germain-l'Auxerrois, the church where Eva Longoria and Tony Parker got married. It's really old, right across from the Louvre, and absolutely gorgeous. I was going to head straight to the Louvre but then I saw a sign saying Ste-Eustache was in walking distance, which I hadn't known, so I went there too. It's gigantic and gorgeous, about 500 years old. Louis XIV received his first communion there, Mozart's mother's funeral was held there, and Richelieu, Madame Pompadour, and Moliere were baptized there. Next to Ste-Eustache was Les Halles (or under it, I suppose). It used to be a big aboveground covered market, and now it's a huuuuge underground mall. I walked around in it a little bit, and got ice cream and took in just how huge it is. It's pretty huge, just for clarification. Next up, I went to the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, which my host dad has been recommending for the last two months. It's basically all about interior design and furniture and art from the Middle Ages til now. It was pretty cool to see. Finally, since I'd wanted all along to spend a rainy afternoon in the Louvre, I made visiting the Code of Hammurabi my last stop of the afternoon.

Friday was Halloween, obviously, and Megan, Maria, Hayley, and I went to celebrate! We went to Disneyland Paris, which was having a special Halloween celebration, and basically had the time of our lives running around, acting like little kids, going on rides, eating junk food, and taking pictures with pumpkins and Disney characters. It was so much fun!!!! When we got back to Paris, we tried to go get rush tickets to Edward Scissorhands: the ballet (for real, yes) but it had already started, so we got a Pariscope (a little magazine with all the shows and movies in the city that week) and checked out the movies. We found a showing of the Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D!!! (and in French, which was just amusing) We finished off our Halloween with an amazing movie...after some guy tried to pickpocket me on the metro, but he was unsuccessful.

Today Mom and Dad and Andrew and Alexa arrived! I went to pick them up from the airport, and then we checked in at their hotel and ate lunch. Since it was raining, we decided to go to the Louvre instead of the Eiffel Tower. Poor Alexa was so tired it was hard to keep her focusing on the stuff in the museum, they were all jet-lagged and hadn't slept at all on the plane. So eventually we put her out of her misery and went to dinner and then I sent them to their hotel to go to bed. Then I met up with Megan and Maria and we succeeded in getting rush tickets to Edward Scissorhands this time! It was sooo good. The ballet was choreographed by the creators of Swan Lake, and we paid 15 euro for 3rd-row seats! Gotta love student rush.

Anyway, I'll upload the Disneyland pics soon, so check them out!