Fall break in Dublin, London, & Sevilla!

4 flights, 8 days, 1 bag = 1 big adventure...


DUBLIN

Upon landing in Dublin, Grace, Rachel and I had to take a bus to the city center in order to get to our hostel. After riding on the bus for forty minutes we figured we had to be getting close to our destination, however, we began to get a little worried when we were almost the only ones left on the bus. After reaching the end of the line our bus driver kindly asked us which stop we were waiting on and then chuckled when we told him Trinity College. Apparently we had missed it by a number of stops, seeing it was the second one. He told us not to worry and that he would get us there after joking that it is a long walk from where we stopped. When we finally got there he told us exactly where to go to get to our hostel so we wouldn't have anymore unwanted tours.

Our first night in Dublin was Halloween so we ended up celebrating by going to a number of pubs and enjoying Guinness and cider. The following day we went to Bad Ass Cafe for a wonderful, big Irish breakfast (a concept Italy lacks entirely) and real drip coffee! With a full stomach we headed off to take a tour of the Guinness factory, which was very interesting and fun to learn about. At the end of the tour we enjoyed a pint of Guinness at the skybar which is a circular room with all glass walls looking out across the city. We then took a tour of Dublin Castle and Christ Church which were also very interesting. At the end of the day we were pretty tired from all the walking and touring but that didn't keep us away from the pubs!

That night we went to the Temple Bar area and ended up taking a seat in St John Gogarthy's Pub. The atmosphere in this place was very lively and upbeat. A traditional Irish band was playing in the second level of the pub so Bridget and I grabbed a seat and sat and listened the whole night into the morning. Being a fan of Irish music I made a few requests and they were happy to dedicate them to the American girls. We soon made friends with the violin player and the bango player (and I have a picture to prove it ;).

The last day we spent looking around St Patrick's Cathedral and getting our last fill of breakfast. I was very sad to be leaving Ireland, it felt the most like home to me.

LONDON

Our next stop was London! London was a whirlwird, I don't believe I have ever seen as much and walked as much in 2 days as I did here. First thing to note was that the tube and a good amount of all public transportation was on strike and second was that our hostel was not exactly close to the major attractions. That being said, it definitely was worth the sore feet.

On the first night in London we took a night tour called The Grim Reaper. Our tour guide was full of spunk and fun to listen to. He took us around the major sites made famous by Jack the Ripper as well as pointing out other spooky sites and stories. Lets just say that I am happy to have not been a female in London during the late 1800s.

The next day we walked through Hyde Park and the Queens gardens which were absolutely beautiful with all the fall colors and peaceful landscapes. After that we joined a walking tour that lead us to all of the major historic attractions that London has to offer. The tour was very informative and well worth it, even though the walking part was not so fun. That night we met Rachel's friend Matt at the Globe Pub and half chatted, half watched a football match.

After only two days in London we were off to the last leg of our journey in Spain.


SEVILLA

We arrived in Spain around 11pm, thanks to Ryannair's knack of not being able to make it anywhere on time, and found a taxi to take us to our hostel. Thankfully the reception had waited for us even though they normally close at 11pm, otherwise we would have been spending the night on the street. However, we had a surprise waiting for us as we walked into a room of three sleeping male strangers. Shocked and starving we dropped off our luggage and headed to the nearest bar to get some tapas at 12:30am.

The saying that everything is better in the morning definitely holds some validity. After getting some semi-interrupted sleep with a chorus of snoring men to thank, we were off to see the city. The weather in Sevilla was wonderful, blue skies and just the right temperature. We decided to go on a walking tour which took us to all the major sites. My favorite thing we saw was the city's main church and the Giralda tower which were situated among rows of lemon trees, horse drawn carriages, and warm colored stucco facades. The tower took 36 floors of ramps to climb but it was a sight to see from the top.

That afternoon we ate a three course meal which included sangria (wine with soda and fruit mmm) as well as a shot of some other type of sweet wine. It was delicious and the wait staph was very friendly. We spent the rest of the day wandering around and shopping which was nice and slow paced. That night Erica and I decided to go on a pub crawl. It was really fun because we got to meet some nice Australians and I ended up running into a friend from DU.

The next morning we took a tour of the Bull Fighting Arena and the Alcazar. Im still not quite sure what the purpose of the Alcazar was but it definitely was a grand maze of buildings and gardens. One thing is for sure, if anyone wanted to attack there they might end up dying before ever finding their way out haha. The bull arena was also fun to see, even though I still feel bad for the bulls.

I was sad to leave Spain and the excitement of the whole trip but after so much traveling and walking and touring, the thought of being back in Rome was a quite welcoming one =)

Eurochocolate Festival in Perugia

Every year the Umbrian hill town of Perugia has a chocolate festival which invites chocolatiers from all over Europe to participate in the celebration. The streets in Perugia's city center were packed with chocolate hungry tourists and booths upon booths represented by various chocolate companies. Hundreds of stands all having to do with chocolate, perfect, right?! There were chocolate covered nuts, fruits, and even pasta, hot chocolate, solid chocolate, chocolate sauces, chocolate liquor, nutella...and the list goes on. My friends and I bought a 5 euro chocolate VIP card that we had to take to different booths and redeem samples, a feat more easily said then done seeing that we had to search through numerous booths to find the ten that coincided with our card. It was definitely worth the effort though!

On our trip we stayed in a hostel that was outside of the city center which would have been a problem if it weren't for the above ground mini-metro (a cross somewhere between the Jetsons and Disneyland) that took us right to the center. On the first night we happened upon a restaurant for dinner that was absolutely amazing. I had chocolate ravioli filled with ricotta cheese and pears dressed in a rich butter sauce mmm! We shared wine and talked for a long time before heading back to our hostel. Before leaving though, our waitress brought us a sampling of their chocolate dessert free of charge.

Needless to say we left Perugia happily full of chocolate. =)

Vatican Night Tour

The culture club at my university arranged a tour of the Vatican last Friday night. We started the tour in the museum in the Renaissance gallery. We saw tapestries created by Raphael and his pupils which were absolutely amazing. My favorite one is a scene of Jesus sitting at a table and either angle that you look at the tapestry the table and Jesus are always facing you straight on (hard to explain but it is similar to those pictures that change as you flip them from side to side).

We walked through Raphael's four apartments, Sala di Costantino (Hall of Constantine), the Stanza di Eliodoro (Room of Heliodorus), the Stanza della Segnatura (Room of the Signatura) and the Stanza dell'incendio del Borgo (The Room of the Fire in the Borgo). Each of the rooms are spectacular but my favorite room was Segnatura. On one of the walls is a painting of the philosophers Plato and Aristotle, among other important figures for the shaping of math and science. Raphael chose to include a self portrait and a portrait of Michelangelo in this scene as well.

After viewing various other statues we made our way to the Sistine Chapel. Pope Sixtus IV commissioned Perugino in 1481 to build the Sistine Chapel. Construction on the chapel was finished in 1483. The great Renaissance artists, Michelangelo, Raphael, Bernini, and Botticelli, all contributed to the frescoes in the church.

Michelangelo was commissioned by Pope Julius II to paint the 12000 square foot ceiling. After 4 years, 1508 to 1512, the project was finished. The ceiling tells the story of creation of life, beginning with the creation of night, day, earth, Adam and Eve, and original sin and ending with the story of Noah. Before seeing Michelangelo's masterpiece in person it was hard to fully comprehend just how extraordinarily gifted he was. His attention to details in the anatomy of his subjects and his creativity is surreal.

My favorite part about the Sistine Chapel is his Last Judgement painting above the altar in the front of the chapel. The painting starts on the left hand side and works its way up and down to the right. It chronicles the passage from earth to either heaven or hell after being judged by Christ. Michelangelo included a self portrait in the skin that Bartholomew is holding. An interesting story that our tour guide shared is that Michelangelo incorporated a cardinal, who he was mad at for criticizing his work, into the section of hell. The cardinal is shown naked with a snake wrapped around his legs and biting his you know what ;). The whole scene is breathtaking especially upon close examination of the emotion behind the faces.

Agostino Chigi's Villa

Today my Renaissance and Baroque Art class went to see a villa that was built in 1509 near Campo di Fiori. The building was designed by a young Sienese architect and artist. The home was originally built for a wealthy Sienese banker named Agostino Chigi and then later it was sold to the Fernesina family. The groundfloor features a room that combines the artwork of Piombo, Raphael and Peruzzi. Peruzzi painted a horoscope around the ceiling walls because of the fascination that Chigi had with astronomy. Piombo painted Polyphemus, a cyclops who loved Galatea in vain. Next to Polyphemus is Galatea, painted by Raphael. Galatea is shown riding on a shell that is being pulled by two dolphins. Surrounding Galatea is a cloudy sky instead of a clear sky. This is because Raphael chose to paint the sky over a couple days, making the color of the blue different from day to day. Raphael painted over this imperfection with clouds.

The adjacent room on the groundfloor is also painted by Raphael and depicts the story of Psyche and Cupid. The story is a love story that involves the jealous nature of Venus. The room takes us through the main chapters of a book written by Apuleius from the Antonine period. This room was my favorite; the paintings of the people were so realistic and preserved and I loved the story behind the room.

The second level has a room that is called the Hall of Perspective, painted by Peruzzi. The room is one of the highest forms of spatial representation of the time. One of the views that is scene on the wall closest the bedroom is of Trastevere and I have actually walked in the exact area that is shown!

The second room in the second level is Chigi's bedroom. This room features Alexander the Great and his wife Roxanne on their wedding night. The other paintings in the room are of Alexander as a boy on a rearing, "un-tamable" horse and then of a battle. The room was painted by Giovanni Antonio Bazzi, aka Sodoma (nicknamed because of his sexual inclinations).

Fun facts about Rome

Driving in Italy is crazy.
Crosswalk signs and traffic lights are only suggestions.
I take a leap of faith every time I cross the street.
Water is not free, although there are fresh water spigot-style fountains everywhere.
Water is often the same price as wine...tough choice.
I have started to like mineral water (also called water with gas hehe).
Italian women are intimidating, yes, even the old ladies.
Pigeons freak me out and they are everywhere.
Cobblestone roads are super difficult to walk on.
Laundry takes an average of 3 to 6 hours just to wash.
Italian men do not understand that "no" in Italian means the same thing as no in English.
Road signs are very cryptic.

I still have no sense of direction (Rachel, my roommate, and I should not be left alone to find our way home).
Gelato is amazing and I have it almost everyday!

Sorrento, Capri & Pompeii

Sorrento just might be my favorite town in Italy (besides Rome of course). The town is so quaint and charming with cobblestone roads and streets laden with vendors selling scarfs, limoncello (which Sorrento is famous for), and a variety of other trinkets and keepsakes. My favorite store featured ties made with silk from Napoli and scarfs made with cashmere and silk. On our first night spent in Sorrento we went to a pizzeria located in the main square. I had a pizza with mozzarella, salami, and tomatoes, accompanied by pinot grigio, it was wonderful.

On Saturday we took a ferry to Capri for the day. While there we hiked all the way up to the main center of the town, which was quite a hike! I can see why most people take a bus up the center, however, I am glad we decided to walk because we had the opportunity to see the less touristy areas and enjoy the beautiful views of the sea. My favorite store on Capri would have to be this perfume shop, Carthusia,  that features specialty scents made with ingredients from the island by monks. I may have just bought myself a bottle of the Mediterranean blend...

Saturday night we came back to Sorrento and went out to a karaoke club. No, I did not have enough to drink to make me sing ;) but I did own the dance floor.

On Sunday we took a tour of Pompeii. I was surprised by the size of the city, it was a great deal larger than I had envisioned. It was incredible and eerie to see the ruins of the city and especially the preserved bodies of families who tried escaping the eruption.

Beach Day!

On Sunday, a group of students from AUR went to the beach. The trip started out as quite an ordeal with transportation issues correlating with such a large number of people showing up. It took around 3 hours to get to the actual beach; first we waited for a bus and then we took the bus to the train station, where we did some more waiting for the train, and then a final bus ride to the beach after the train. Even though it was a long ride to get to the beach, it was worth the wait. The sand was really fine & silky and the water was cold but refreshing in the heat of the afternoon. We spent four or so hours just sunning and swimming (I got a nice suntan :). Sunday night me and a group of six friends cooked a meal in our apartment. The feast included white wine, salad, fresh tortellini with pesto, and a gelato, wafer cake for dessert.