Week 15: Berlin and the week of catastrophe

Well, as promised this weekend I was whisked away to Berlin for a weekend of sightseeing. As frequently seems to happen, I managed to be at the right place at the right time and caught an annual unidentified diversity festival happening all weekend, complete with parade, live music, and blocks of vendors. All of this really means lots of drunk Germans. But lets not get ahead of ourselves.

We arrived bright and early... 5 AM to be exact. But it was worth it for the price... round trip bus ticket to Berlin for 40 USD. Can't beat that! Heather, Jared, and I hit the hostel to drop off our stuff before making our way to the zooliogisher garten metro stop and walking over to the old post office where our bike tour began. Randomly, Dave Armstrong SMS class '02 is giving the tour. How strange. Anyways, the tour was really informative, and involved a beer garden so I was all about it. Plus everyone loves riding bikes... especially members of the Buhler Bike Gang (Brandon and Laura if you are reading this, go us.) Later we headed back to the hostel and had a little nap before heading back out in search of dinner and other delights. The sights that night:

Sunday consisted of going to the top of Reichstag, or the House of Parliament, a famous work of sustainable architecture by Sir Norman Foster. Cheers, mate. I pretty much loved it, not going to lie.

We had lunch in front of the Bradenburg Gate where a massive stage was set up and bad covers of 80's American music were being performed. Not only did I hear Pretty Woman, but also Summer of 69. It was pretty strange. There were a lot of vendors selling international food... or so it seemed. Then we walked over to Checkpoint Charlie and got a better look at the remaining piece of wall.

From there we hit the Jewish Museum, another famous work of architecture by Daniel Libeskind (Denverites- think the Modern Art Museum that is all pointy... its the same architect). Anyways, the museum had excellent content and the architecture had moments that I found to be very well developed, but overall lacked clarity and justification. Do another draft next time Daniel.

By this time we were very tired and went off in search of dinner. This landed us amongst the festival. If we saw a lot of vendors before, they were nothing compared to what we entered into. Foods, beers, and goods from all the world could be found in the 4 city block area the festival was taking up. In addition, there was a parade going on that people seemed to jump in and out of whenever they felt like it. Live music was everywhere. It was a really good time but I got sooo tired....

Before we went home that night we stopped off at a pub our bike tour guide leader showed us. It was at the top of an old bombed out building near the TV tower and shared the space with an art house. There was a lightning storm going on and it was really cool to watch from up there while drinking a beer and shooting the shit. Here I am on the way out...

On the third day we headed first thing to the Checkpoint Charlie Museum. Wow. At first when we saw Checkpoint Charlie I was like ok, that was a little underwhelming. But the museum was so cool. The history behind that place is amazing and the museum tells you so many personal stories of how people crossed the wall with tunnels, zipcords, flying and diving contraptions... I really enjoyed seeing it all. It made me wish I had paid more attention in history class.

A quick walk took us to the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe, a controversial creation by Peter Eisenman. I found it very successful in accomplishing its goals in a straightforward manner. We lunched there before moving on to the northside of town for further exploration. Here I am on the first day riding my bike in front of it.

Basically after the we just wandered around for a while, drank beer and then ate dinner. That nipple is rather polished...

The famous TV tower...

And then we went to see the opera Salome. I really enjoyed it, despite not speaking any German. Following the performance we headed back to the hostel to gather our stuff and then hit the bus station to return to Prague. Another successful trip for the books.

Tuesday morning found me knee deep in credit card fraud. Apparently somewhere in the last week someone started making online purchases with my card at the most amusing places including family savers club, esssleep.com, and the south beach diet... Yes, funny choices of spending, but not such a funny situation. I officially have no credit card to fall back on for possibly the rest of the summer... not a good situation! So I had that turned off and then worked like crazy on studio all day (except for a run) before heading off to see a ballet performance of Cinderella! I LOVED it. Ballet is my favorite fine art I think. You get the music and the dance with acting too.

And then I came home and worked my little fingers to the bone in vectorworks (autoCAD for MAC). My project was due Thursday morning. Or so I thought. I have to do more work on it for tomorrow.

So to sum up the catastrophe: my cell phone is broken, credit card out of order, 2 broken cameras, 2 packages lost in the mail, one barely working spacebar, studio not done, 1 camera at the shop still.... and all of this is supposed to be resolved by Monday... its going to be a long day... and I said goodbye to Tomas today and almost cried... I'm going to miss Prague and the people I love here!

Week 14: Barcelona! (sang to the tune of My Shirona)

Shortly after posting last week, we departed for Barcelona. Our flight left Prague at 1:30 on Thursday. All things went as planned and we arrived safe and sound to our hostel located just north of Las Ramblas. Here is a picture of the crew that went on the trip... not a bad looking bunch I'd say. :)

Our first order of business was getting some tapas and sangria and then heading for a stroll down Las Ramblas. We ate dinner at a completely random, non touristy restaurant where I attempted to translate the entire menu for my friends (which was actually in Catalan so the waiter had to tell me in Spanish first lol) and then strolled down the beach. Excellent first evening.

Friday we went to the beach and built an incredible sand castle. Of course, the engineering boys were more concerned with making a working moat, drawbridge, and defense wall than a castle. Ha can you tell which part I made?

After the beach we went back to the hostel and showered before getting some lunch and heading to the Sagrada Familia Cathedral by Gaudi (among others). Pretty impressive stuff my friends, let me tell you!


That night we did a lot of walking around on Mont Juic and watched the magic fountain go off. The next day we got up early and headed to Parc Guell, another Gaudi creation. I pretty much loved it.

"Czech" me out on the bench!

Later that day the weather took a turn so we hit the Picasso museum for a few hours and then did some sightseeing in that area. Jon got in a strong man competition accidentally and did pretty well... lol. That night we went out and experienced a little Barcelona nightlife...

Then next day I got up bright and early and saw the Casa Mila (yet another Gaudi project... my favorite one too!)

And the roof terrace!

After that we hit the Barcelona Pavillion by Mies van der Rohe- a must see for architects... then the boys and I headed back to the beach while the Heathers did more sightseeing on Mont Juic. After the ocean we walked by the Torre Agbar just for fun.

And then I had the most delicious dinner ever at La Fonda and probably ate the best dessert of my life... not even kidding. A quick midnight dip in the ocean and we headed back to the hostel for bed so we could get up early and catch our flight back.

We arrived back in Prague around noon Monday and I began another busy week. I had to get a new transportation card, study and take my Czech final, get a lot done in studio, turn in my urbanism final project, finish figure drawing for the semester, go running every day, do laundry, gather everyones photos, organize an office visit to Studio VM, and find a pirate costume to wear to the final ISC party of the year... a boat party on the Vltava River that was on Tuesday night (and also was incredible). Oh, and somewhere in there I found time to go to the premier of Pirates of the Carribean 3. Maybe that is why I only got three hours of sleep last night!

Currently I am really ridiculously excited about watching the two hour season finale of LOST, so Im going to call this post done so I can go to Delvita with Brittany and Jeff to get champagne and cake to have while watching it. Tomorrow I am having dinner with Larry, Katerina, and Daniel before they leave for the US. I am leaving for Berlin on a bus at midnight and will be there through Monday! Ahh... the crazy life I lead! Miss you/love you. Sally

Week 13: Prague (strange isn't it?)

Ahh a nice weekend in. Friday night we hit the much hyped Cross Club... it was very cool. There were all these motorized engine parts all over the walls and ceiling with neon lights so it was crazy looking inside. But alas I have no pictures because one camera is out of commision, one camera is in the shop and won't be ready for 2-3 weeks, and the third, oldest camera of them all is currently in possesion of the US or Czech postal service... I don't know which is worse.

Saturday morning bright and early I went to the dress rehearsal for one of the orchestras playing in the Prague Spring music festival. Normally tickets are 2000 kc, but since a friend of a friends uncle plays in the symphony, we got in for free. I spent the rest of the weekend being the biggest vegetable ever because I was so worn out from all the travelling. That and I started running again. Sometimes it seems like that is the only way to spend time alone. Take tram 20 to the end, get off at the park and go for a jog down by the creek, through the rocks, past the houses, up the biggest hill God ever made (in Prague at least), around the lake and back on the tram. PS this is pretty much socially unacceptable because when people work out in Prague they always shower before getting on the public transit... Oh well. Its only a few stops and I don't care. Also, I think I am the only jogger out there. People either bike or walk. None of this breaking a sweat and running business.

Its funny, being in Prague is like normal life now. Everyone has pretty much settled into their routines of classes, grocery shopping, working out, homework and doing laundry. We have our Wednesday night ISC parties thursday night LOST viewings and our clubbing and thats about it. Nobody eats out because its expensive so we all make food in our little dorm kitchens.

On Tuesday Laura (my roommate from last semester) and LA (Lauren Anderson, college friend) came to visit during their end of semester travel bonanza. They were studying in Santa Chiara, Italy but their semester ended the first week of May. We had a fun time at the clubs on Tuesday night, doing a little sight-seeing, and then a blast at the last country presentation of the year.

So, Thursday, after I have another chat with my studio prof I leave for Barcelona for the weekend! There are six of us going... a nice, even number of people. Any more and finding places to eat is tough, but less than 4 is less fun as far as going out and stuff goes... I can't wait!

Week 12: Italia, the full version

Ahhhh Italia. Buongiorno! Bella, bella, bella. Vabene. Alora. No bene. Gelati? Tiramisu? Pomodoro. Arrivederci. Ciao!

Yep, that was me for the last week and a half. What a fun time, minus the chaos that embodied the first 24 hours of our trip, starting in the train station at Prague. The genius behind the counter one day before gave us a ticket from Prague to Venice, not Venice to Prague. Hence, I spent a good 45 minutes arguing with a night manager before swapping phone numbers and agreeing to figure it out later (we had to buy ANOTHER ticket). That has turned into a one to three month process whereby we MIGHT get a 100 percent refund. Great.

So that cut deeply into the time that I should have been sleeping to wake up at 4:30 AM to make our 7 AM flight to Rome. Oh, the 7 AM flight that was delayed until 9:50 I mean. So we arrive in Rome 3 hours late, crazy with anticipation of the sights... but first to find our hostel. Two hours and two bus rides later, we arrive at Litus Roma. By Roma, they mean Litus, which is Rome's old port. Oh, our hostel is on the beach. Awesome. Except we are there to see Rome, not the sea. Another hour of public transportation passes to get to Rome. Not kidding at all. We hit the sites, hard. Then we proceed to have more public transportation issues later because the A metro line closes at 9 PM... who knew? We eventually made it back though, and after that our troubles were mainly over.

We had great weather our three days in Rome. I travelled with my friend Heather who is studying interior architecture at KSU.

The Colosseum, day.

And night.

The bridge to Trastavere at sunset.

St Peters.

Trevi Fountain.

After Rome we headed to Orvieto to relax a little and visit people from KSU who were studying there. There is actually a lot to see there, suprisingly. It is a beautiful little town on top of the hill. They made us some delicious pasta and peas dinner and then we went for cappuccino before going to bed.

Around noon the next day Heather and I headed on to Siena. (this is me and Adrienne at the train station)

Then it rained a lot in Siena. The next day we climbed the tower of the Palazzo Publico. SO COOL.

Here is Heather and I...

That morning we went on to FLORENCE! I got to see the David and the Duomo! (My life is complete!) We were there for 2 and a half days. On our list of sites include the duomo (and climbing through the inner and outer dome to the top high above Florence), the Palazzo Piti, Academia d'Academia, Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi Gallery, etc. WOW we were busy bees on this trip.

Here are Micheangelo's stairs at the Laurentian Library.

The climb up to the top of the duomo... a very odd space.

Me at the top, before the rain!

A view from this Unesco world heritage fort we hiked up to. See the duomo?

My sketch of David since they don't allow photos...

The Ponte Vecchio...

We left Florence around noon on Thursday and stopped by Pisa on our way to Cinque Terre. Pisa is one of the most fun places to take pictures because there are so many interesting views and angles to explore, even without the "leaning tower." Here is the main lawn.

Columns on the tower. (yes for a low low price of 15 Euros they let you climb it... but hey, whens the next time I will be in Pisa?)

Ha I love this one... I was trying to smile, not look worried, but the rain made that kinda hard...

Trying to keep the tower from falling...

So we left Pisa and headed on to Cinque Terra... the coast of Italy south of Genoa, and one of the most beautiful places in the world. It rained... again (are you starting to see the trend?) but we decided to do the hikes anyways. Low and behold, by the time we got on the trail it had basically cleared up. We had some intense hiking involving a free beach that didn't really have a trail to it and even less of a trail on the way back up, but it was super fun. We also had some more delicious gelato because that is what you do in Italy when you are hot.

View of Vernazza, one of the towns, from the trail.

More in Vernazza.

The "free beach" where I slipped and fell in the ocean.

Me, Heather, and the two canadian girls we went hiking with from our hostel. We are dirty, and I am soaked, but still having a lot of fun.

The next day we departed for Venice bright and early. It was about a 6 hour train ride. We arrived excited and ready to sight see. But then we waited for someone to come check us into our hostel for an hour and a half... and during this period of time I dropped my camera, still in the case, again, and it broke, again. So I will be getting Heather's pictures at some point of Venice since I only have the 7 I took on the way from the train station to our hostel. Venice was incredible.

Our first day there we just walked around and took it in. Day two we hit the islands of Murano, Burano, and Torcello. Day three we did the attractions in St. Mark's Square and laid on the beach on Lido before taking the 16 hour sleeper train back to Prague. Oh what a trip. As amazing as it was, it was nice to come back and sleep in my own bed.

Then I checked my email and realized I had midcrits for studio on Thursday. So I cranked out a project in 2 days. And in between that I studied and passed my test in Czech language and did laundry. And then I slept all day yesterday.

I need to finish planning the rest of my travels at the end this week, get a lot more work done on studio, and get ready for Barcelona!!! (yeah, im going to Barcelona this weekend for 4 days, Berlin next weekend for 3 (we got bus tickets for forty dollars...), and then I have one weekend in Prague before I take off on my big adventure. Weeee! I hope everyone is well... its lunch time for me! Love you all, Sally.

Week 11: Italy

Buongiorno! I know, I know, this post is early, but since I will be travelling this Friday and I don't know if I will have internet access this is my best shot at convincing you I am alive and well. Yes, yes, I am still in Italy, Firenze to be exact. It is almost 10 PM and I am just catching up on some email before hitting the hay. So far I have been to Rome, Orvieto, Siena, and Firenze. Tomorrow we head to Pisa and Cinque Terre, then Venice on Saturday and home Monday night.

Among my favorite things so far have been the Vatican tour I took of the museums and the Sistine Chapel, and La Pieta in St Peters. Also, the Colloseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, the Duomo in Firenze, and the David have been among my favorites *of course*. I promise to make a really nice, lengthy, photo-filled entry upon my arrival in Praha, but for now I have to get my beauty sleep so I can see a lot of sights tomorrow! I love you all and miss you bunches! Ciao.

Here is a picture of Micheangelo's David I got off the internet, just to refresh your memories *we weren't allowed to take pictures of it anyways*

Also, this is the Sistine Chapel...

...and La Pieta. Sorry about the photo quality, I am doing this as fast as possible.