A Foggy Day in LONDON Town

An Underground Station
Me on the Millenium Bridge (Tower Bridge is behind me)
Highgate Cemetery
Part of the Courtald Institute of Art (and filming location of The Duchess)

Trafalger Square

London, England.

I went there once, during the summer of 2004 when I was sixteen. My mom and I traveled around London and England, staying at my friend Wally's house. It was a wonderful experience. Now, four years later, I am 21 and much has happened since my first Grand Tour. This time in London I ventured out on my own a lot to see sights that I missed on my first trip.

First on the list was The National Gallery. Three paintings we're studying in my 'Hidden Meanings in Renaissance Art' class are there, so I had to see them up close. The Gallery is free and has an extraordinary amount of art from all periods. After studying Italian law for artworks and state museums I am torn because I think that Italian art should be in Italy, its source nation. Not in England or France, market nations.

Second on the list was the Courtald Institute of Art, a graduate school I am very interested in. Unfortunately, when we stopped by the school, which is near the National Gallery, it was after hours. I talked briefly with the woman at the front desk, but nothing too interesting. I found out that only 75 applicants apply every year, only 12 get in. It is a small, prestigious school that focuses on creating good curators in the art world. London is so big. I'm still not sure if it's the ideal place to be for me.

Especially after losing my three roommates for a few hours. We went two separate ways-I went to Highgate Cemetery and they went on the London Eye. The Underground, I found out, is not always a reliable source of transportation. We missed our meeting time, so I wandered Trafalger Square calling my mom in the States for help. Conveniently, my phone would not call my friend's phone while in the UK and it was about to die. So I had to call my mom and give her their numbers to call them in order for them to meet me at a new location at a new time. Complicated, I know. And very stressful.

But, in the midst of that confusion and a bit of panic too, an angel sat down and talked to me. The first words out of his mouth were, "I'm looking for a bus with the words There may not be a God. written on it." He was an older gentleman who had no idea who I was or what I believed in, but he proceeded to tell me the story of how he saw a bus the other day while sitting in the square with those words written on its side. He was on the lookout for any other buses because he was planning on writing a letter to the Queen about it. It made him upset that such a declaration (not even a question, mind you) would be put up as advertisement. He told me that it goes against everything England stands for and will offend many people, even those that are nonbelievers. He offered one of his gummy bears to me. I accepted. Then we chatted about the weather in Florida and England (at first he thought I was from Spain-I took it as a compliment). He may not have been an angel in the literal sense of the word, but to me in that instance, when I was on the verge of histeria, he saved me. He sat down next to me in the exact moment I was about to burst out crying in the middle of a city with no friends around. God sent me a friend and I will always think of him when I think of London.

Among other London experiences I went to a Victorian Cemetery, Highgate, which is the setting of a novel I once read: Tracy Chevalier's Falling Angels. I went on an hour tour of the cemetery that was created during the Victorian period when people were dying left and right and no room was left in the city for their bodies. It was overgrown and eerie. The Victorians really liked being near to their dead. On my way back from the cemetery I got lost (yes, that happens alot) but a girl from Slovakia walked with me to the Underground Station. On our walk she asked me about the elections (as everyone does these days). It's always interesting to me to hear what the rest of the world thinks, especially people my age. They are very opinionated for not being a citizen and overwhelmingly all are for Obama. This one girl actually refered to McCain as a sinister character from a horror film. I'm not sure where the comparison came from? haha

London was a nice change from the passionate world of Italy. No language barriers. Starbucks at every corner. Movies in English without subtitles (I saw The Duchess in England; I thought it only appropriate). Hardy food. And the list goes on.

Next stop, Dublin, Ireland.

What I've been up to...in pictures.

On top of the bell tower in the Umbrian village, Orvieto
Flowers for sale in Nice in the French Riviera
A sunrise in Florence (yes, I woke up before dawn!)
A sunrise in France, by the Meditteranean
Contemplating in Cortona (about buying a villa like Frances Mayes!)

New Zealand. Amsterdam. The States.

Last night I had a wonderful time hanging out with three other women who are currently living in Florence. It was supposed to be a planned "hang-out" time with some of the people who go to Florence Gospel Fellowship (a small church I found that reminds me of the little church we worked with in Phang Nga, Thailand) But, after waiting in front of the church doors for 45 minutes, we decided we would do something on our own. The reason we waited for so long was the fact that we were all on different times..I was thinking like an American who would only wait about 15 minutes top, while the others were thinking like Italians who would wait much longer because they are usually late anyway! Then we weren't sure who we were waiting on...would they be thinking like Americans or Italians? If they were the former then they would have come and gone already or just stood us up. If they were the later then we should wait as long as we could possibly stand, since there's no telling when they would show up. Do you see our dilemma?

After our wait we meandered over to the famous gelato, Vivoli. I had chocolate mousse, which was heavenly. Then we went up to one of the girl's apartments to chat over tea. (I felt very English in Italy with three people who were neither of those nationalities).

The more I meet people living over here, especially people in their 20s, I realize that it really isn't abnormal to move out of your homeland. Europeans, I think, are more at ease with this concept. Tinika, who is originally from Amsterdam, quit her job to move here to learn the language. She is at least in her late-20s and didn't think twice about the move. Now she speaks exceptional Italian (along with Dutch, German, and English) and is currently looking for a job to stay. Carrie, who is a New Zealander, is possibly in her early-30s and has lived in NYC, England, Germany, and Italy over the past decade (and also speaks multiple languages). She is going for her Doctorate and often lectures in Germany. I think she cycles through Cambridge, Germany, and Florence on a regular basis. And Mary, who is a fellow American, is here for her Master's in Art History. She studied abroad here for her BA and became an Au Pair after she graduated. She kind of has a long history with Italy-often coming back for months a time.

All this to say that I think we over in the "New Land" have the wrong idea about an "ordered" life. I feel that most of us have a phobia of not doing things in order-College, Career, Marriage, possibly another degree, Children, a loonnngggg gap in between, Retirement, then death. Who says it has to be like that? Being over here has really helped me see different lifestyles and attitudes about life. I've said this before, but I am always amazed by Europeans devotion to family and friends. They don't worry about career or money. On the contrary, most Italians are just making it by. Yet they believe in no higher being than themselves. It's a bit backwards really, and yet totally universal. Another proof that God is not "Christian" but Universal. Most Italians may not believe in God, but with their very actions and tendencies towards goodness and truth, they prove his existence without even knowing it.

PS: I got my absentee ballot! I'm voting abroad, yay! I hope all of you are voting as well, wherever you are. ;)

A Rainy Day in Capri

This past weekend three of my roommates and I went on the school's trip to Pompei, Sorrento, and Capri. It was a very rainy weekend. The sun would peep out only for a couple of hours here and there. On Capri, we arrived with the morning waves. A ferry brought us from Sorrento to Capri. It was a forty minute ride on a boat that shifted from right to left, front to back. It took concentration and balance to stand in one spot. Once we arrived we then took another boat around the island to see it for its breath-taking views. This time the boat was private, so we were able to sit and actually enjoy the scenery instead of fearing death from falling overboard. Our group of about fifty students went under the Lover's Arch and saw where Roman Emporers vacationed with their lovers. We also saw the place where they threw them into the sea when they tired of them. We saw villas on steep cliffs and rocks that resembled elephants (for a moment I thought I was in Thailand again) and monasteries that overlooked the Mediterranean.
After our two boat rides, we were given the rest of the day free. So the four of us trekked to the top of Capri and saw the views from above, this time looking down on the sparkling clear blue water, which was now still. Go figure. We probably took too many pictures, but hey, better to have more than less. (In this case, at least)
At lunch we went to Villa Verde, a restaurant our professor/guide-for-the-weekend reccommended. Apparently, Mariah Carey had dined there before too. It was a funny situation because when we asked for directions to Villa Verde, Lucca, our professor (who reminds me of a Roman soldier), was on his way there with his brother (who was another chaperone). So we ended up eating together. Two Italian men and four American girls. It must have been a sight to see. Really. Because the waiters kept glancing over and making eyes with all of us girls. When we went to leave one of them actually came up to Katie, my roommate, and gave her a slip of paper with two mens' names and phone numbers on it....it was one of those nonchalant, long handshakes in which a "secret" note is passed. It was hysterical! They gave the note to the girl who already has a boyfriend!
After lunch we decided that we actually wanted to feel the water instead of just looking at it. So we hiked down the cliffs on this zig-zag path to the shoreline, which was very small. It was a long hike down because Capri is extremely high up. In the middle of our hike it started raining...again. We made it down safely and Katie and I jumped into the water and swam a bit. The other two girls didn't want to get completely wet (little did they know that soon it would be pouring and none of us had umbrellas). The water was beautiful, clear, smooth, warm, everything you would think the Meditarranean would feel like. The bottom was rocky, no sand. Even the shore had pebbles and sea glass instead of sand. It was a magical moment. I thought of all of the legends of Venus coming out of the sea and the stories of Ulysses coming home to Ithica (an island in the Meditarranean). And in that moment I could believe all of the stories and legends and myths that have been told about the Greeks and Romans and their beloved sea. But the hike back up sobered me up and as I looked out over the sea I couldn't get over the fact that this island, something so beautiful, is only a part of earth. Not heaven. My mind can't even imagine such beauty, something more beautiful than where we already live. But it's out there..

And that was my lovely, rainy day in Capri.
(I did leave out a few details, but I'm running out of internet time)

CIAO!

Roommates make good Friends

In Siena.

On the Island of Capri.
The roommates-me, Maddie, Katie, Tara, Kristen, and Marci.
Our first dinner together. Katie cooked!
Stormy in Siena.
Check out the electrcity in my hair!

Busy in Slow Motion

Well, I've been here for a little over a week and already it seems like I've been here forever. As most of you already know, I arrived here on my 21st birthday and without any luggage. Thankfully, it was only about 24 hours that I had to live without any other clothes or shampoo!

Last weekend my new roommates and I ventured up the hill and into Fiesole. The view from above was wonderful! I keep thinking back to the book I read this summer, A Room With A View by E.M. Forster. The subject of having a view seems to come up quite often in Florence. Everywhere I look visual pleasures distract my eyes. If I wasn't scared of being run over by a speeding Vespa I would have my head cocked at an angle looking up continuously. But, the streets are packed with people and the sidewalks are only about two feet wide. The other day I actually got splashed by a dumped bucket! The Indian-Italian man apologized, but I couldn't help thinking about how Florence probably hasn't much changed since Medieval times.

I have now gone to all of my classes at least once. It is going to be a very comical semester because all of my Professors have limited English--some more than others. They are very enthusiastic about the subject they teach, waving their hands in a frenzy. But I still don't feel like I'm at school though. I suppose it's because I'm in a different country and I'll be traveling every weekend and all but one of my classes will be visiting museums on a regular basis! For instance, my World of Museums class meets once a week and all but three of the lessons will be in a museum in Florence!

I have done so much in the past eight or nine days that I have trouble remembering all that I've done. Last night we went out to dinner ON OUR SCHOOL! It was a little restaurant down by the Arno River. They had tables set outside along the bank. Under a terrace a long table was set with meats and cheeses and wines and figs and bread and other unique foods (that I have no idea what it was). It was wonderful! The other evening we all went to the Piazza Santa Croce to celebrate the birth of the Virgin Mary with the Italians. They had a great brass band and lots of paper lanterns. We danced our way through the streets, past the Duomo, and into another piazza across town. It was so much fun! Some of the band were really cute too! My roommate, Kristen, and I picked out our favorites...and of course mine had long hair! haha

Tomorrow we go to Siena, then Saturday and Sunday we go to Pompeii, Capri, and Sorrento!
And next weekend we're going to the Florence vs. Bologna soccer game!

Some more fun shots of Florence!

A gorgeous view of Florence from Fiesole. This is a candid shot, I had no idea Kristen took this, but I love it!
The Duomo in b&w.
The Duomo at night.
Belltower in Fiesole.
The Disney Store in Florence! The closest thing to home!