Thursday, January 28, 2010
This week was mainly dedicated to work, since we had a site analysis review yesterday which went pretty well. We also had our second day trip around all the palaces in Genoa, and were frozen all day long because it was 39 degrees and very windy. Tonight though, we are going out to the OC where there are 2 girls who sing American songs so we can dance and hang out all night. I am currently doing laundry because we are leaving for Naples, Rome, and Florence saturday morning! I'm so excited to go!
Weekend in Nice and Monaco
This past weekend we went to Nice, France and Monaco. Nice was amazing. The first night we had a fantastic French dinner: coq au vin and mousse au chocolatte which was super delicious. After that we looked in some shops and I bought a purse :)
Saturday we walked through the city and found a fresh market where we bought some fresh food (baguette, strawberries, preserves) and took it and ate lunch on the beach. We then went up this big mountain to some Roman ruins and we got some beautiful panoramic views of the city. We went back to the hotel to clean up a little then went to the 5-story mall for a little bit then went to another cafe for dinner to celebrate Stephen's 21st birthday. The food was amazing again. After dinner we went to a creperia where the owner was super cool and turned out the lights and put a hat on Stephen while the entire place sang him Happy Birthday as he blew out the candle and sparkler on his crepe. I had a banana and chocolate crepe which was amazing.
The next morning we saw a beautiful Russian church then took the train to Monaco, where we climbed up to a fancy castle and walked around a bit. We then had lunch on the port and decided to take a later train back so we could see the famous Monte Carlo Casino and take a picture with the Clemson flag. Because we stayed later, we had to wait and hour and a half in a train station in Ventimiglia, where we walked to the beach and picked up cool rocks from the Mediterranean Sea. Our train back was definately the Hogwarts Express because we had a magical compartment to the six of us and we promptly pulled the seats out until they touched in the middle and we all got cuddly and tangled together in order to nap on the way back.
Saturday we walked through the city and found a fresh market where we bought some fresh food (baguette, strawberries, preserves) and took it and ate lunch on the beach. We then went up this big mountain to some Roman ruins and we got some beautiful panoramic views of the city. We went back to the hotel to clean up a little then went to the 5-story mall for a little bit then went to another cafe for dinner to celebrate Stephen's 21st birthday. The food was amazing again. After dinner we went to a creperia where the owner was super cool and turned out the lights and put a hat on Stephen while the entire place sang him Happy Birthday as he blew out the candle and sparkler on his crepe. I had a banana and chocolate crepe which was amazing.
The next morning we saw a beautiful Russian church then took the train to Monaco, where we climbed up to a fancy castle and walked around a bit. We then had lunch on the port and decided to take a later train back so we could see the famous Monte Carlo Casino and take a picture with the Clemson flag. Because we stayed later, we had to wait and hour and a half in a train station in Ventimiglia, where we walked to the beach and picked up cool rocks from the Mediterranean Sea. Our train back was definately the Hogwarts Express because we had a magical compartment to the six of us and we promptly pulled the seats out until they touched in the middle and we all got cuddly and tangled together in order to nap on the way back.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Thursday, Jan. 14th
We had class all day and signed up for our villa jobs. Mine is to go get milk about twice a week from the latteria (milk shop) down the street. We also decided our studio groups (me, Evan, and Jeff). That night our professors took us out to a bar called Le Corbu (haha ironic) and hug out for a little bit.
Friday, Jan. 15th
We had call in the morning-Italian Rationalism with a professor who is a bit of a creeper so we'll see how that goes. He said he wouldn't kill us with work til next week though...
Then we decided to have a quiet night in and bought a bunch of snacks and watched a movie (Hitch) on the projector. Then we played drinking games down in the kitchen (I had water, I promise).
Saturday, Jan. 16th
We had an early Italian class then went to the main shopping street after lunch. We found this street vendor/market area that happens on saturdays and there was a lot of antiques and vintage stuff. I got this great neckalce and bracelet for 25 euro. We also looked in a bunch of shoe stores and need to go to some more. We also got pizza at the pizzeria just down the stairs from the villa and it was amazing!
We celebrated Ashley's 21st birthday that night at a bar called Old City which was really fun. I had this really delicious non-alcoholic fruity drink with orange and strawberry in it.
Sunday, Jan. 17th
Today we went to mass at this amazingly beautiful church called San Lorenzo which was very interesting to attend and listen and follow along with the Italian service. We are having another Italian class and are going out to a multi-course Italian dinner with the professors which sounds delicious.
We had class all day and signed up for our villa jobs. Mine is to go get milk about twice a week from the latteria (milk shop) down the street. We also decided our studio groups (me, Evan, and Jeff). That night our professors took us out to a bar called Le Corbu (haha ironic) and hug out for a little bit.
Friday, Jan. 15th
We had call in the morning-Italian Rationalism with a professor who is a bit of a creeper so we'll see how that goes. He said he wouldn't kill us with work til next week though...
Then we decided to have a quiet night in and bought a bunch of snacks and watched a movie (Hitch) on the projector. Then we played drinking games down in the kitchen (I had water, I promise).
Saturday, Jan. 16th
We had an early Italian class then went to the main shopping street after lunch. We found this street vendor/market area that happens on saturdays and there was a lot of antiques and vintage stuff. I got this great neckalce and bracelet for 25 euro. We also looked in a bunch of shoe stores and need to go to some more. We also got pizza at the pizzeria just down the stairs from the villa and it was amazing!
We celebrated Ashley's 21st birthday that night at a bar called Old City which was really fun. I had this really delicious non-alcoholic fruity drink with orange and strawberry in it.
Sunday, Jan. 17th
Today we went to mass at this amazingly beautiful church called San Lorenzo which was very interesting to attend and listen and follow along with the Italian service. We are having another Italian class and are going out to a multi-course Italian dinner with the professors which sounds delicious.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
So today was the first day of classes. We had an intro lecture of European architecture (I wish I remembered more from those art and architectural history classes, oh well) and then another Italian lesson where we practiced saying where we're from and started on numbers. Then after lunch we went and got gelato and it was delicious, plus we found a way back to the villa that eliminates over half the stairs making gelato even more accessible.
Around 3 we had our first studio class, where we had an intro then walked down to the site we're going to work with, which is in the middle of the historic district. We also walked in a couple of really ornate churches and a museum inside one of them. We all were frozen by the time we were done because it gets real cold real quick when the sun is setting.
We ended the day by watching a really long movie on Louis Kahn and drinking hot chocolate.
Around 3 we had our first studio class, where we had an intro then walked down to the site we're going to work with, which is in the middle of the historic district. We also walked in a couple of really ornate churches and a museum inside one of them. We all were frozen by the time we were done because it gets real cold real quick when the sun is setting.
We ended the day by watching a really long movie on Louis Kahn and drinking hot chocolate.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Got to the villa yesterday after a looooooonnnggggg flight sitting near crying kids, no sleep but overall not that bad. Went out and explored the city yesterday and discovered the massive amount of stairs we have to walk up to get to the villa...
So the stairs:
First-you can hardly call them stairs-the bricks are so uneven
Second-they are about 3-4" tall and at least 2-3' long and so weirdly proportioned
Third- they become even worse death traps when they are wet from the rain
Fourth- there really is like 350+ stairs you MUST go up to reach the villa
But other than that, Genoa is beautiful and the villa is amazing (I'm going to post some pictures soon). We had our first Italian lesson today and walked down to the Mediterranean Sea (where we had our first of many scoops of Gelato, so delicious). And now I'm relaxing after the amazing food we had for dinner in our very cute room!
So the stairs:
First-you can hardly call them stairs-the bricks are so uneven
Second-they are about 3-4" tall and at least 2-3' long and so weirdly proportioned
Third- they become even worse death traps when they are wet from the rain
Fourth- there really is like 350+ stairs you MUST go up to reach the villa
But other than that, Genoa is beautiful and the villa is amazing (I'm going to post some pictures soon). We had our first Italian lesson today and walked down to the Mediterranean Sea (where we had our first of many scoops of Gelato, so delicious). And now I'm relaxing after the amazing food we had for dinner in our very cute room!
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