Now that I am back in California for the summer and have sorted through all of my 10,000 pictures I took on the trip and gone through all of the brochures, and things I have collected on my travels, I am finally getting around to finishing my blog with my last couple of weeks in Denmark, my parents’ arrival and our 2 week trip to Italy.
Obviously I am writing this several weeks after the fact, but I have a decent memory, so here is what I remember doing/thinking…
Thoughts on Europe In General
1. The thing I miss the most about being in Europe is having good public transportation and not having to drive a car. One of the biggest pains with having to drive instead of taking public transportation is find parking, which can be very difficult in downtown Walnut Creek. Also, I miss being able to space out when traveling on public transportation (since its not really so good to space out while driving).
2. Being in a more socially liberal place where the government provides more for you. Also, I like how Europeans are much more aware of world events and other countries than the US.
3. Americans really are fat compared to Europe.
4. As a whole, Americans dress much more casually and not as fashionably than Europeans.
5. Walnut Creek seemed much smaller and the buildings a lot shorter after living in a city for 4 months (even though Copenhagen wasn’t a particularly tall city).
6. However, it is nice to be able to go out to eat to a decent restaurant and not pay the equivalent of $18.
7. It’s also nice to be able to carry on a bag plus a backpack and to be able to check two bags for free when I fly.
8. One of the things that struck me the most when I got back was how it was so easy to go into shops and stores because I could talk to the people who worked there.
9. The top places I want to go back to are England, Austria and Switzerland.
10. Although I really enjoyed traveling so much and seeing a lot of places even if it meant only being in a city for a couple of days, I think in the future, I will want to spend a little longer in a city so I can learn the city more.
11. Future trips I want to make: A Nordic Trip which would including Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland; a German trip where I train all around Germany; a Spain trip, including southern Spain, Madrid, Barcelona (and maybe Portugal); England – where I see some of the smaller English towns in addition to London; Austria and Switzerland Trip
Friday, July 10, 2009
Italy (Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome and back to Milan)
Italy
We finally arrived in Milan at 8 am night on Monday the 18th, a long time after leaving Copenhagen. Fortunately, all 5 of our bags (my 3 from being abroad and my parents 2 carry-ons) arrived and we took a taxi to our hotel.
What we did:
Tuesday, May 19th
We woke up early, got a big breakfast at the hotel, took the Metro to the Central Train Station and got our train to Venice. My parents got 1st class Eurorail tickets so we sat in pretty nice chairs with decent air conditioning. However, the train broke down in Verona, so we had to get on another train (that was already full) to Venice and so ended up standing for most of the rest of the ride in an un-airconditioned crowded 2nd class car. After arriving in Venice, we took the Vaporetto to our hotel, which was in a great location right next to the Rialto Bridge. After settling in to our hotel, we walked to Piazza San Marco, went into the Basilica San Marco, climbed up to the top, walked around the plaza, got gelato and went into the Ducal Palace. Afterwards, we just walked around that area a little big, got dinner by the Grand Canal at a very touristy (but pretty) restaurant,
Wednesday, May 20th
1. Breakfast at the hotel
2. Took the vaporetto up to the old Jewish Ghetto and walked around a bit and then crossed the Grand Canal and walked around Santa Croce area.
3. Went into the I Frai (a large church)
4. Got lunch on a canal
5. Walked over to the new Calatrava bridge (it looks like a fishtail)
6. Took the Vaporetto around the back side of Venice to San Giorgio Magiori, a famous Palladio church
7. Took the Vaporetto back to Piazza San Marco, walked around, my parents bought some glass
8. Took a break and got some gelato, bought some venetian marbled books
9. Back to the hotel and dinner at a restaurant relatively off the tourist path (although this is of course impossible in Venice)
Thursday, May 21st
We had a mid-morning train to Florence; so after breakfast, my mom and I went out to a bakery and to the market to get some food for lunch on the train. Then we went to the train station and boarded our train for Florence.
Thoughts on Venice (in no particular order):
1. Venice is pretty much exactly like how you expect it to be, there are little canals everywhere and you are constantly running into the stereotypical arched bridges and cute little corners. Venice was very beautiful, picturesque and photogenic.
2. I thought it was pretty cool how there were absolutely no cars in Venice. I had never really realized/thought about that before, but there would be no way to drive cars since you would always be coming to bridges etc. Also, there weren’t really any mopeds, which made walking around a lot nicer.
3. I loved all of the old twisting, narrow roads and didn’t really have a hard time finding my way around since the Grand Canal was a good landmark.
4. The food in Venice wasn’t that good, our second dinner was pretty good, but other than that, nothing special.
5. I thought the buildings were very cool, not just because they came right up to the water but the way they mixed Italian architecture with Eastern, Byzantine and Ottoman influences. I thought the more ornate style also helped make the city more attractive and pleasant to walk around.
6. Piazza San Marco was very beautiful, but I really didn’t like how there were no places (besides the restaurants) where you could sit in the square. It seems like the really discourage people from using the square as a public meeting/hanging our place since you aren’t supposed to bring food and eat it there and as there are no benches. (This is very different from Copenhagen where they try to make the squares good for people to hang out in).
7. One of the first things I noticed about Venice/Italy in regards to Denmark was how everyone tried to sit in the shade, whereas it is totally the opposite in Denmark. Of course, this makes sense as it get hot in Italy and as the Danes are without sunshine for most of the winter and so appreciate it more, but I just thought the contrast was interesting.
8. In all of my travels, Venice was the best city to get souvenirs from since the city is known for so many things such as glass, paper marbling, carneval etc and there are lots of artisan shops.
Florence
What we did:
Thursday, May 21st
We arrived in Florence from Venice (fortunately nothing went wrong with the train this time) in the early afternoon. We rented an apartment in Florence, which was right across from the Duomo, and about a 10-minute walk from the train station. We got to the apartment, and the owner who was very nice and helpful let us in and showed us around. It was very hot that day so we rested inside for a bit and then just went out and walked around Florence for a while, down to Ponte Vecchio. We stopped for dinner at a random touristy restaurant and then headed back to our apartment.
Friday, May 22nd
1. Breakfast in our apt
2. Went to the Duomo and stood in line before it opened, but the line moved pretty quickly once the Cathedral opened
3. Climbed up the to the top of the Dome (400+ steps) which was cool, once we got high enough, the steps were actually in between the two layers of the dome.
4. Lunch at a bar
5. Walked over to Piazza Signoria and the Loggia dei Lanzi, got gelato
6. Went to the Uffizi Gallery where we had already booked our tickets, so we didn’t have to wait in the long line
7. Walked over to St. Croce, got gelato at Il Vivoli
8. Walked across the Arno and over to the Pitti Palace and then back to our apartment
9. Dinner at a nearby restaurant recommended to us by the owner of the apartment we rented
Saturday, May 23rd
1. Got up early and went to the Accademia, which really only has David and nothing else, but David was really cool to see
2. Went to San Lorenzo, a famous church built by Brunelleschi, unfortunately, the attached Laurentian Library was closed (it has some really neat steps by Michelangelo), also went to the attached Medici Chapel (by Michelangelo)
3. Went to the nearby Central market, got lunch and food for a dinner in the apartment.
4. Walked around, got gelato/drinks/coffee at Café Gilli
5. Walked back to the stalls outside San Lorenzo to get a couple of souvenir leather purses
6. Back to the apartment and made dinner (pasta, pesto, prosciutto, bread, fruit and veggies, wine, biscotti and limoncello)
Sunday, May 24th
1. We got up early and caught a local train to Pisa
2. Got to Pisa and walked to the Leaning tower, the Cathedral and the Baptistery
3. Got lunch at a bar
4. Took a train to Lucca, walked around, got gelato, walked on the wall
5. Took a extremely crowded, hot, slow local train from Lucca to Florence
6. Ate dinner in the apt with pasta and bread we bought in Lucca
Monday, May 25th
1. Took the train to Siena, got a very crowded bus up to the historical center of town
2. Walked to Il Campo and got lunch, walked around Siena and to the Duomo
3. My parents bought a really nice hand painted Tuscan bowl
4. Got good gelato
5. Took the train back to Florence (no a/c)
6. Dinner at a nearby restaurant.
Tuesday, May 26th
After waking up two mornings in a row, we slept in a bit and then Mom and I did a little shoe shopping for sandals. Then we walked up to the Ospedale degli Innocenti (foundling hospital) which was a very important Renaissance building from 1424 by Brunelleschi again. Then we walked over to Santa Maria Novella, the only Renaissance church in Florence to have its façade completed during the Renaissance (the other churchs all had their facades put on in the 18th century). After lunch we went to the Baptistry, across from the Duomo. Then we walked over to Il Vivoli for gelato again and walked around for a bit and then got a rest at Piazza Signoria at Café Rivori for drinks. Then just Dad and I went to the Palazzo Medici, the first of many Renaissance palazzos in Florence and italy. For dinner we ended up going back to Antico Noe since it was the closest and best place we had been to so far.
Wednesday, May 27th
1. Got up and took the train left from Florence to Rome at 11:30 with great scenery
2. Took a prius taxi from the train station to our apartment, it was very large but a little older and not as modern inside, but it had great wood beam ceilings.
3. Walked around, over Piazza Navona, to the Pantheon, the Trevi fountain and up to the Spanish Steps. Both the Trevi fountain and the Spanish Steps were full of Barcelona fans. Walked around the area next to Spanish steps, back to apartment, showers and dinner downstairs (with no wine due to the soccer game.)
Thursday, May 28th
1. Up early and walked over to Capotiline Hill, walked around to the Forum and Palatine Hill, then over to the Colesseum where we skipped most of the line because we had Roma passes
2. Took the Metro down to the Baths of Caracalla, the Metro was really croweded and hot
3. Got a late lunch
4. Back to apt, rested, got showers and out to dinner
Friday, May 29th
1. I got up early and walked over to Il Gesu, a great baroque church, then I walked over to Trastavere, wandered around there a bit and walked up a big hill to San Pietro in Monotorio, and to Bramante’s Tiempetto.
2. Met my parents at a recommended pizza place for lunch
3. Walked over to look at two more famous churchs, a little farther out
4. Back to apt, and went downstairs (in the other direction 2 steps) to dinner
Saturday, May 29th
1. Spent most of the day in Vatican City – went to the Vatican Museums, got lunch in the museum (whose cafeteria had the typical Danish series 7 chair!)
2. Went to St. Peters
3. Got gelato at Giolitti, back to apt, dinner etc.
Sunday, May 30th
1. Got up and had breakfast at the Piazza della Rotunda (just crossaint and very weak cappuccino), walked over to Giolitti for another cappuccino (much better)
2. Got a taxi next to the Pantheon to the train station
3. Took train to Milan fortified with bread and wine
4. Checked into hotel in Milan and got the rest of my luggage
5. Walked over to the Milan Cathedral, went to and walked around the nice shopping area next to it, got dinner
6. Back to apt and another reorganizing of the luggage to fit within the 50 lb limit per bag
Monday, June 1
1. Left Milan early plan to Frankfurt and then from Frankfurt to SFO!
Thoughts on Florence/Tuscany
1. Florence was much, much louder and not as pleasant as I was expecting
2. Hard to walk because even mopeds and bikes seemed to go everywhere, even on “pedestrian streets” which made it harder to walk around since you had to keep moving over to let them by
3. It was very hot which probably negatively influenced by perception of the city
4. Florence was very small but had a ton of old Renaissance buildings I had learned about in my classes which was cool
5. I didn’t think Florence as a city on the whole was very pleasant or very pretty. Although I like the idea of the simplicity of Italian buildings as compared in French buildings, I felt that in person, they were really flat and 2 dimensional which made the city less interesting to walk around. Part of this I think is because when you see pictures of building, it is usually of the whole building, so you can appreciate its simplicity but when you are just walking, you really only notice the ground level unless you are always looking up (which is hard to do when walking around), and so you can’t appreciate the simplicity as well.
6. I was surprised by the lack of small cobblestones in Florence, the streets and sidewalks were mostly larger flagstones which actually were a lot more comfortable to walk on than cobblestones.
7. I still don’t really understand how one small city can (and could during the Renaissance) support so many large churchs. Especially now that not everyone goes to church, what do they do with the smaller churches, it seems like it would be very expensive to keep them up even if no one is using them. Also, who is responsible for keeping them up? The city, the parishoners or the Vatican?
8. The food was much better in Florence than Venice but I ended up eating pasta the entire time because as I discovered, Italians don’t really eat much chicken and tend towards meats that I don’t eat (which is I guess basically anything besides chicken, turkey or pork).
9. The tourist gelato places weren’t anything special, and were expensive. Il Vivoli which was recommended to us was really good, but it wasn’t as special as I was expecting.
10. The hills around Florence were really pretty, and when we took our day trips, it was incredible how they looked exactly like all of the pictures and paintings one sees. I think overall, Italy was the one place that looked exactly like its representations.
11. Another reason Florence wasn’t as pleasant feeling of a city was that there wasn’t a lot of work paid towards making the major squares really pleasant to be in. Like in Venice, there weren’t places to sit in the squares and in the Loggia dei Lonzi on the side of Piazza Signoria; you couldn’t eat which was kind of annoying.
12. We didn’t really do anything in Pisa except see the Cathedral, leaning tower and Baptistery, so I don’t really have much impression of the town. Also, we went on Sunday so everything was closed.
13. Lucca was a really nice, cute little city. It is one of the few cities in Italy to retain its old medieval wall, which is 25 feet thick or more and has a path on top that goes around the medieval core. Lucca was much quieter than Florence or Pisa and was more what I expected from Florence. However, we went on Sunday so there weren’t really many people out and most of the stores were closed but I still really enjoyed it.
14. Siena was definitely older feeling, especially in terms of architecture than the other places we visited. I liked how it was located on a hill because the up and downhills gave the city more interest. Also, on the bus ride down to the train station, there were really great views of the surrounding hills.
Rome:
What we did:
Wednesday, May 27th
4. Got up and took the train left from Florence to Rome at 11:30 with great scenery
5. Took a Prius taxi from the train station to our apartment, it was very large but a little older and not as modern inside, but it had great wood beam ceilings.
6. Walked around, over Piazza Navona, to the Pantheon, the Trevi fountain and up to the Spanish Steps. Both the Trevi fountain and the Spanish Steps were full of Barcelona fans. Walked around the area next to Spanish steps, back to apartment, showers and dinner downstairs (with no wine due to the soccer game.)
Thursday, May 28th
5. Up early and walked over to Capitoline Hill, walked around to the Forum and Palatine Hill, then over to the Colesseum where we skipped most of the line because we had Roma passes
6. Took the Metro down to the Baths of Caracalla, the Metro was really crowded and hot
7. Got a late lunch
8. Back to apt, rested, got showers and out to dinner
Friday, May 29th
5. I got up early and walked over to Il Gesu, a great baroque church, then I walked over to Trastavere, wandered around there a bit and walked up a big hill to San Pietro in Monotorio, and to Bramante’s Tiempetto.
6. Met my parents at a recommended pizza place for lunch
7. Walked over to look at two more famous churches, a little farther out
8. Back to apt, and went downstairs (in the other direction 2 steps) to dinner
Saturday, May 30h
4. Spent most of the day in Vatican City – went to the Vatican Museums, got lunch in the museum (whose cafeteria had the typical Danish series 7 chair!)
5. Went to St. Peters
6. Got gelato at Giolitti, back to apt, dinner etc.
Sunday, May 31st
7. Got up and had breakfast at the Piazza della Rotunda (just croissant and very weak cappuccino), walked over to Giolitti for another cappuccino (much better)
8. Got a taxi next to the Pantheon to the train station
9. Took train to Milan fortified with bread and wine
10. Checked into hotel in Milan and got the rest of my luggage
11. Walked over to the Milan Cathedral, went to and walked around the nice shopping area next to it, got dinner
12. Back to apt and another reorganizing of the luggage to fit within the 50 lb limit per bag
Monday, June 1
1. Left Milan early plan to Frankfurt and then from Frankfurt to SFO!
Thoughts on Rome:
1. I liked Rome much more than Florence, it seemed quieter even thought it was 10 times bigger in size and population. I think it seemed quieter because I was expecting it to be loud since it was a big city and also because there were fewer mopeds in the little, pedestrian streets. Rome had several large thoroughfare roads that held most of the traffic and noise but kept both off of the smaller streets, which were most of the ones, we walked around.
2. I also like Rome better because it was less touristy. While there were still tons of tourists, it was easier to get off the beaten path and there were still plenty of people who actually lived in Rome.
3. Also, because Rome was less touristy, it was easier to find better restaurants because they didn’t just cater to tourists.
4. It was actually really nice that we went to Florence before Rome because most of the architecture in Rome is from the later Renaissance to the Baroque period whereas the architecture in Florence is either medieval or early-mid Renaissance. It was neat to see how the architecture styles evolved from Florence to Rome in person as opposed to just learning about them in class.
5. There are REALLY a lot of churches in Rome. I think I saw somewhere that there were over 900! Which seems possible since there were churches around every corner. The churches I went in were mostly High Renaissance and Baroque and had a lot more depth and movement than the flatter, more 2D churches in Florence.
6. Italian marmalade croissants are not very good, they are very sweet and the croissant part is much more solid feeling and not very flakey.
7. Rome did not have many good souvenirs.
8. The old Roman ruins were cool, but at the same time it does seem kind of strange? That people are still copying Roman architecture 2 millennia later.
9. Trastevere was really nice and much smaller/quieter/more quaint seeming than the rest of Rome.
10. I’m not a huge fan of statues, after a while they all tend to look the same, especially when they are not full statues but ruins.
11. I really enjoyed seeing Michelangelo and Bramante’s buildings.
12. My favorite building I saw the entire time I was in Italy was Bramante’s Tiempetto, a very small temple built over the spot St. Peter was supposedly killed. It is a very simple, but well proportioned building and it is rare since few churches/buildings are actually perfectly circular.
Thoughts on Italy overall
1. I think overall Italy was my least favorite place that I visited. I think food was a big reason for this; Italian food is not really that different seeming and is not as interesting to me as other food. This is partly because I am a picky eater, and don’t like cheese or most meat. However, there are not many other kinds of restaurants in Italy besides Italian (and most Italian restaurants have very similar things to each other) so it doesn’t make for very varied eating. For example, one reason I really liked London so much was the food (which might seem kind of paradoxical). But London has pretty much any kind of ethnic food, and its good! So there are lots of choices, especially Asian, which is what I prefer to European food.
2. Even though we were only in Milan for a few hours, I like how the city felt much more than Florence or Rome. Milan felt a lot more French, especially with its more French, 2nd Empire buildings.
We finally arrived in Milan at 8 am night on Monday the 18th, a long time after leaving Copenhagen. Fortunately, all 5 of our bags (my 3 from being abroad and my parents 2 carry-ons) arrived and we took a taxi to our hotel.
What we did:
Tuesday, May 19th
We woke up early, got a big breakfast at the hotel, took the Metro to the Central Train Station and got our train to Venice. My parents got 1st class Eurorail tickets so we sat in pretty nice chairs with decent air conditioning. However, the train broke down in Verona, so we had to get on another train (that was already full) to Venice and so ended up standing for most of the rest of the ride in an un-airconditioned crowded 2nd class car. After arriving in Venice, we took the Vaporetto to our hotel, which was in a great location right next to the Rialto Bridge. After settling in to our hotel, we walked to Piazza San Marco, went into the Basilica San Marco, climbed up to the top, walked around the plaza, got gelato and went into the Ducal Palace. Afterwards, we just walked around that area a little big, got dinner by the Grand Canal at a very touristy (but pretty) restaurant,
Wednesday, May 20th
1. Breakfast at the hotel
2. Took the vaporetto up to the old Jewish Ghetto and walked around a bit and then crossed the Grand Canal and walked around Santa Croce area.
3. Went into the I Frai (a large church)
4. Got lunch on a canal
5. Walked over to the new Calatrava bridge (it looks like a fishtail)
6. Took the Vaporetto around the back side of Venice to San Giorgio Magiori, a famous Palladio church
7. Took the Vaporetto back to Piazza San Marco, walked around, my parents bought some glass
8. Took a break and got some gelato, bought some venetian marbled books
9. Back to the hotel and dinner at a restaurant relatively off the tourist path (although this is of course impossible in Venice)
Thursday, May 21st
We had a mid-morning train to Florence; so after breakfast, my mom and I went out to a bakery and to the market to get some food for lunch on the train. Then we went to the train station and boarded our train for Florence.
Thoughts on Venice (in no particular order):
1. Venice is pretty much exactly like how you expect it to be, there are little canals everywhere and you are constantly running into the stereotypical arched bridges and cute little corners. Venice was very beautiful, picturesque and photogenic.
2. I thought it was pretty cool how there were absolutely no cars in Venice. I had never really realized/thought about that before, but there would be no way to drive cars since you would always be coming to bridges etc. Also, there weren’t really any mopeds, which made walking around a lot nicer.
3. I loved all of the old twisting, narrow roads and didn’t really have a hard time finding my way around since the Grand Canal was a good landmark.
4. The food in Venice wasn’t that good, our second dinner was pretty good, but other than that, nothing special.
5. I thought the buildings were very cool, not just because they came right up to the water but the way they mixed Italian architecture with Eastern, Byzantine and Ottoman influences. I thought the more ornate style also helped make the city more attractive and pleasant to walk around.
6. Piazza San Marco was very beautiful, but I really didn’t like how there were no places (besides the restaurants) where you could sit in the square. It seems like the really discourage people from using the square as a public meeting/hanging our place since you aren’t supposed to bring food and eat it there and as there are no benches. (This is very different from Copenhagen where they try to make the squares good for people to hang out in).
7. One of the first things I noticed about Venice/Italy in regards to Denmark was how everyone tried to sit in the shade, whereas it is totally the opposite in Denmark. Of course, this makes sense as it get hot in Italy and as the Danes are without sunshine for most of the winter and so appreciate it more, but I just thought the contrast was interesting.
8. In all of my travels, Venice was the best city to get souvenirs from since the city is known for so many things such as glass, paper marbling, carneval etc and there are lots of artisan shops.
Florence
What we did:
Thursday, May 21st
We arrived in Florence from Venice (fortunately nothing went wrong with the train this time) in the early afternoon. We rented an apartment in Florence, which was right across from the Duomo, and about a 10-minute walk from the train station. We got to the apartment, and the owner who was very nice and helpful let us in and showed us around. It was very hot that day so we rested inside for a bit and then just went out and walked around Florence for a while, down to Ponte Vecchio. We stopped for dinner at a random touristy restaurant and then headed back to our apartment.
Friday, May 22nd
1. Breakfast in our apt
2. Went to the Duomo and stood in line before it opened, but the line moved pretty quickly once the Cathedral opened
3. Climbed up the to the top of the Dome (400+ steps) which was cool, once we got high enough, the steps were actually in between the two layers of the dome.
4. Lunch at a bar
5. Walked over to Piazza Signoria and the Loggia dei Lanzi, got gelato
6. Went to the Uffizi Gallery where we had already booked our tickets, so we didn’t have to wait in the long line
7. Walked over to St. Croce, got gelato at Il Vivoli
8. Walked across the Arno and over to the Pitti Palace and then back to our apartment
9. Dinner at a nearby restaurant recommended to us by the owner of the apartment we rented
Saturday, May 23rd
1. Got up early and went to the Accademia, which really only has David and nothing else, but David was really cool to see
2. Went to San Lorenzo, a famous church built by Brunelleschi, unfortunately, the attached Laurentian Library was closed (it has some really neat steps by Michelangelo), also went to the attached Medici Chapel (by Michelangelo)
3. Went to the nearby Central market, got lunch and food for a dinner in the apartment.
4. Walked around, got gelato/drinks/coffee at Café Gilli
5. Walked back to the stalls outside San Lorenzo to get a couple of souvenir leather purses
6. Back to the apartment and made dinner (pasta, pesto, prosciutto, bread, fruit and veggies, wine, biscotti and limoncello)
Sunday, May 24th
1. We got up early and caught a local train to Pisa
2. Got to Pisa and walked to the Leaning tower, the Cathedral and the Baptistery
3. Got lunch at a bar
4. Took a train to Lucca, walked around, got gelato, walked on the wall
5. Took a extremely crowded, hot, slow local train from Lucca to Florence
6. Ate dinner in the apt with pasta and bread we bought in Lucca
Monday, May 25th
1. Took the train to Siena, got a very crowded bus up to the historical center of town
2. Walked to Il Campo and got lunch, walked around Siena and to the Duomo
3. My parents bought a really nice hand painted Tuscan bowl
4. Got good gelato
5. Took the train back to Florence (no a/c)
6. Dinner at a nearby restaurant.
Tuesday, May 26th
After waking up two mornings in a row, we slept in a bit and then Mom and I did a little shoe shopping for sandals. Then we walked up to the Ospedale degli Innocenti (foundling hospital) which was a very important Renaissance building from 1424 by Brunelleschi again. Then we walked over to Santa Maria Novella, the only Renaissance church in Florence to have its façade completed during the Renaissance (the other churchs all had their facades put on in the 18th century). After lunch we went to the Baptistry, across from the Duomo. Then we walked over to Il Vivoli for gelato again and walked around for a bit and then got a rest at Piazza Signoria at Café Rivori for drinks. Then just Dad and I went to the Palazzo Medici, the first of many Renaissance palazzos in Florence and italy. For dinner we ended up going back to Antico Noe since it was the closest and best place we had been to so far.
Wednesday, May 27th
1. Got up and took the train left from Florence to Rome at 11:30 with great scenery
2. Took a prius taxi from the train station to our apartment, it was very large but a little older and not as modern inside, but it had great wood beam ceilings.
3. Walked around, over Piazza Navona, to the Pantheon, the Trevi fountain and up to the Spanish Steps. Both the Trevi fountain and the Spanish Steps were full of Barcelona fans. Walked around the area next to Spanish steps, back to apartment, showers and dinner downstairs (with no wine due to the soccer game.)
Thursday, May 28th
1. Up early and walked over to Capotiline Hill, walked around to the Forum and Palatine Hill, then over to the Colesseum where we skipped most of the line because we had Roma passes
2. Took the Metro down to the Baths of Caracalla, the Metro was really croweded and hot
3. Got a late lunch
4. Back to apt, rested, got showers and out to dinner
Friday, May 29th
1. I got up early and walked over to Il Gesu, a great baroque church, then I walked over to Trastavere, wandered around there a bit and walked up a big hill to San Pietro in Monotorio, and to Bramante’s Tiempetto.
2. Met my parents at a recommended pizza place for lunch
3. Walked over to look at two more famous churchs, a little farther out
4. Back to apt, and went downstairs (in the other direction 2 steps) to dinner
Saturday, May 29th
1. Spent most of the day in Vatican City – went to the Vatican Museums, got lunch in the museum (whose cafeteria had the typical Danish series 7 chair!)
2. Went to St. Peters
3. Got gelato at Giolitti, back to apt, dinner etc.
Sunday, May 30th
1. Got up and had breakfast at the Piazza della Rotunda (just crossaint and very weak cappuccino), walked over to Giolitti for another cappuccino (much better)
2. Got a taxi next to the Pantheon to the train station
3. Took train to Milan fortified with bread and wine
4. Checked into hotel in Milan and got the rest of my luggage
5. Walked over to the Milan Cathedral, went to and walked around the nice shopping area next to it, got dinner
6. Back to apt and another reorganizing of the luggage to fit within the 50 lb limit per bag
Monday, June 1
1. Left Milan early plan to Frankfurt and then from Frankfurt to SFO!
Thoughts on Florence/Tuscany
1. Florence was much, much louder and not as pleasant as I was expecting
2. Hard to walk because even mopeds and bikes seemed to go everywhere, even on “pedestrian streets” which made it harder to walk around since you had to keep moving over to let them by
3. It was very hot which probably negatively influenced by perception of the city
4. Florence was very small but had a ton of old Renaissance buildings I had learned about in my classes which was cool
5. I didn’t think Florence as a city on the whole was very pleasant or very pretty. Although I like the idea of the simplicity of Italian buildings as compared in French buildings, I felt that in person, they were really flat and 2 dimensional which made the city less interesting to walk around. Part of this I think is because when you see pictures of building, it is usually of the whole building, so you can appreciate its simplicity but when you are just walking, you really only notice the ground level unless you are always looking up (which is hard to do when walking around), and so you can’t appreciate the simplicity as well.
6. I was surprised by the lack of small cobblestones in Florence, the streets and sidewalks were mostly larger flagstones which actually were a lot more comfortable to walk on than cobblestones.
7. I still don’t really understand how one small city can (and could during the Renaissance) support so many large churchs. Especially now that not everyone goes to church, what do they do with the smaller churches, it seems like it would be very expensive to keep them up even if no one is using them. Also, who is responsible for keeping them up? The city, the parishoners or the Vatican?
8. The food was much better in Florence than Venice but I ended up eating pasta the entire time because as I discovered, Italians don’t really eat much chicken and tend towards meats that I don’t eat (which is I guess basically anything besides chicken, turkey or pork).
9. The tourist gelato places weren’t anything special, and were expensive. Il Vivoli which was recommended to us was really good, but it wasn’t as special as I was expecting.
10. The hills around Florence were really pretty, and when we took our day trips, it was incredible how they looked exactly like all of the pictures and paintings one sees. I think overall, Italy was the one place that looked exactly like its representations.
11. Another reason Florence wasn’t as pleasant feeling of a city was that there wasn’t a lot of work paid towards making the major squares really pleasant to be in. Like in Venice, there weren’t places to sit in the squares and in the Loggia dei Lonzi on the side of Piazza Signoria; you couldn’t eat which was kind of annoying.
12. We didn’t really do anything in Pisa except see the Cathedral, leaning tower and Baptistery, so I don’t really have much impression of the town. Also, we went on Sunday so everything was closed.
13. Lucca was a really nice, cute little city. It is one of the few cities in Italy to retain its old medieval wall, which is 25 feet thick or more and has a path on top that goes around the medieval core. Lucca was much quieter than Florence or Pisa and was more what I expected from Florence. However, we went on Sunday so there weren’t really many people out and most of the stores were closed but I still really enjoyed it.
14. Siena was definitely older feeling, especially in terms of architecture than the other places we visited. I liked how it was located on a hill because the up and downhills gave the city more interest. Also, on the bus ride down to the train station, there were really great views of the surrounding hills.
Rome:
What we did:
Wednesday, May 27th
4. Got up and took the train left from Florence to Rome at 11:30 with great scenery
5. Took a Prius taxi from the train station to our apartment, it was very large but a little older and not as modern inside, but it had great wood beam ceilings.
6. Walked around, over Piazza Navona, to the Pantheon, the Trevi fountain and up to the Spanish Steps. Both the Trevi fountain and the Spanish Steps were full of Barcelona fans. Walked around the area next to Spanish steps, back to apartment, showers and dinner downstairs (with no wine due to the soccer game.)
Thursday, May 28th
5. Up early and walked over to Capitoline Hill, walked around to the Forum and Palatine Hill, then over to the Colesseum where we skipped most of the line because we had Roma passes
6. Took the Metro down to the Baths of Caracalla, the Metro was really crowded and hot
7. Got a late lunch
8. Back to apt, rested, got showers and out to dinner
Friday, May 29th
5. I got up early and walked over to Il Gesu, a great baroque church, then I walked over to Trastavere, wandered around there a bit and walked up a big hill to San Pietro in Monotorio, and to Bramante’s Tiempetto.
6. Met my parents at a recommended pizza place for lunch
7. Walked over to look at two more famous churches, a little farther out
8. Back to apt, and went downstairs (in the other direction 2 steps) to dinner
Saturday, May 30h
4. Spent most of the day in Vatican City – went to the Vatican Museums, got lunch in the museum (whose cafeteria had the typical Danish series 7 chair!)
5. Went to St. Peters
6. Got gelato at Giolitti, back to apt, dinner etc.
Sunday, May 31st
7. Got up and had breakfast at the Piazza della Rotunda (just croissant and very weak cappuccino), walked over to Giolitti for another cappuccino (much better)
8. Got a taxi next to the Pantheon to the train station
9. Took train to Milan fortified with bread and wine
10. Checked into hotel in Milan and got the rest of my luggage
11. Walked over to the Milan Cathedral, went to and walked around the nice shopping area next to it, got dinner
12. Back to apt and another reorganizing of the luggage to fit within the 50 lb limit per bag
Monday, June 1
1. Left Milan early plan to Frankfurt and then from Frankfurt to SFO!
Thoughts on Rome:
1. I liked Rome much more than Florence, it seemed quieter even thought it was 10 times bigger in size and population. I think it seemed quieter because I was expecting it to be loud since it was a big city and also because there were fewer mopeds in the little, pedestrian streets. Rome had several large thoroughfare roads that held most of the traffic and noise but kept both off of the smaller streets, which were most of the ones, we walked around.
2. I also like Rome better because it was less touristy. While there were still tons of tourists, it was easier to get off the beaten path and there were still plenty of people who actually lived in Rome.
3. Also, because Rome was less touristy, it was easier to find better restaurants because they didn’t just cater to tourists.
4. It was actually really nice that we went to Florence before Rome because most of the architecture in Rome is from the later Renaissance to the Baroque period whereas the architecture in Florence is either medieval or early-mid Renaissance. It was neat to see how the architecture styles evolved from Florence to Rome in person as opposed to just learning about them in class.
5. There are REALLY a lot of churches in Rome. I think I saw somewhere that there were over 900! Which seems possible since there were churches around every corner. The churches I went in were mostly High Renaissance and Baroque and had a lot more depth and movement than the flatter, more 2D churches in Florence.
6. Italian marmalade croissants are not very good, they are very sweet and the croissant part is much more solid feeling and not very flakey.
7. Rome did not have many good souvenirs.
8. The old Roman ruins were cool, but at the same time it does seem kind of strange? That people are still copying Roman architecture 2 millennia later.
9. Trastevere was really nice and much smaller/quieter/more quaint seeming than the rest of Rome.
10. I’m not a huge fan of statues, after a while they all tend to look the same, especially when they are not full statues but ruins.
11. I really enjoyed seeing Michelangelo and Bramante’s buildings.
12. My favorite building I saw the entire time I was in Italy was Bramante’s Tiempetto, a very small temple built over the spot St. Peter was supposedly killed. It is a very simple, but well proportioned building and it is rare since few churches/buildings are actually perfectly circular.
Thoughts on Italy overall
1. I think overall Italy was my least favorite place that I visited. I think food was a big reason for this; Italian food is not really that different seeming and is not as interesting to me as other food. This is partly because I am a picky eater, and don’t like cheese or most meat. However, there are not many other kinds of restaurants in Italy besides Italian (and most Italian restaurants have very similar things to each other) so it doesn’t make for very varied eating. For example, one reason I really liked London so much was the food (which might seem kind of paradoxical). But London has pretty much any kind of ethnic food, and its good! So there are lots of choices, especially Asian, which is what I prefer to European food.
2. Even though we were only in Milan for a few hours, I like how the city felt much more than Florence or Rome. Milan felt a lot more French, especially with its more French, 2nd Empire buildings.
Last Weeks in Copenhagen
One of my favorite things I did in my last couple of weeks in Copenhagen was make a trip up to the Louisiana Museum (named after the founder’s wife, not the state). The Louisiana Museum is located in Humelbaek, at the northern end of Zealand, the island that Copenhagen is on and is about a 30-minute train ride from Copenhagen and then a 10-minute walk from the station. The Louisiana Museum is very well known art museum in Denmark, it specializes in modern art and most of the museum is given over to special exhibits, and only a small portion of their permanent collection is shown in the museum, apparently they have a really good permanent collection and they are able to get a lot of special exhibitions because they lend out the art that they own. The Louisiana Museum is also really special because of its location and the way the building interacts with the outside. The museum was built in 1958 and is a really good example of Danish modernism and the practice of creating a building that “brings the outside in” and has very simple, straight, clean lines. Furthermore, although the Louisiana Museum is a very simple modernist building, there is a lot of wood and brick used on the inside, which gives that building a warmer feeling. This use of wood and natural materials is very typical of Danish architecture as opposed to the Germans who tend towards a more industrial look. The site of the building overlooks the Øresund (the stretch of water that separates Denmark and Sweden) and the building blends in really well to its surroundings. Besides being located overlooking the water, the building is surrounded by beautifully landscaped gardens with lots of great trees. I went when it had finally started to get warm and spring-like so the site was really beautiful with all of the blossoming trees, bright green grass and a sunny sky. While the building does blend in to the landscape from the outside, from the inside its huge floor-to-ceiling windows are give great, uninterrupted views of the outside. While this was one of my favorite museums to go to, I wasn’t a huge fan of most of the art that was displayed, for one part, the main special exhibit was on art by Max Ernst, and I found his stuff a little too strange for me. Also, one wing was closed due to installation of another special exhibit. However, I did enjoy most of the museum’s permanent collections and wish they had more of it on display.
Another couple of things:
I live about 10 minutes away from the US embassy and so on my way back from Østerport station, I decided to walk through some gardens and past the US embassy. As I was walking past the embassy I took several pictures and then promptly a guard came out from the building and told me that I wasn’t allowed to take pictures and then he asked to watch me delete all of the pictures I took. So I deleted the several pictures I took of the embassy while remarking that there was no sign or anything telling you not to take pictures to which the guard responded that yeah there weren’t and that there was no way I should know not to take pictures. I thought the whole thing was kind of strange. While I understand that they may not want people taking pictures of the embassy for security purposes, there really was no way that they could prevent people from taking pictures from across the street, from the building across the street, or even from the car or a bus and it just seemed kind of silly. But so that was my experience with the American Embassy in Denmark.
Another afternoon, I decided to walk around a big cemetery in the middle of Nørrebro, which several famous Danes are buried such as Hans Christian Anderson and Søren Kierkegaard. The cemetery was really beautiful and was really more like an enormous garden with headstones in it.
On one of the last days in Copenhagen, I took a trip out to some new development in Amager Island (which is part of Copenhagen but on a different island than the main city). I went with another one of my architecture friends and we visited a couple of really new and cool buildings. One of the first buildings we visited was a round Kolligeum (a Danish student residence) that was shaped like a donut with rooms around the outside and large open circle in the middle. The entire building was clad in bronze and on the inside, the rooms were arranged so that any resident can see what is going on in the entire building, which could be kind of annoying for lack of privacy but is good for fostering a sense of community (and for knowing where the good parties are). The building was pretty new but very nice and located right next to a Metro stop for easy access into the center of Copenhagen. A couple of Metro stops later, we came to another area where a large Danish architecture firm (BIG) has built several new and interesting/strange buildings. Both are apartment buildings, one where the balconies come out in sharp triangles and the other built to resemble a mountain. Finally, we decided to take the Metro one more stop, to the last stop on the line and once we were there, we found that we had literally reached the edge of Copenhagen. There were a few buildings being built and beyond them were just green fields and trees. Even the road that had been running out into Amager and paralleling the Metro line look a sharp 90 degree turn at this point, as if it had reached an edge and could go no further in that direction.
Besides doing any last minute sight seeing during my last couple of weeks in Copenhagen, I had to deal with finals, final papers and a final architecture project. It was really hard to feel like doing any work, especially studying for finals, but fortunately I didn’t really have that much to do besides my architecture project. The assignment for the final architecture project was to build a pavilion that would be put up during the COP15 conference that is going to be held in Copenhagen this December. The COP15 conference is a climate change conference whose goal is to renew the Kyoto Protocol (which expires in 2012) and to countries such as the US and China to sign and agree to its conditions about lowering CO2 emissions. Our main criterion for the pavilion was that it could be no bigger than 3 m3 (we found this to be flexible) and had to be made out of wood. This project was also done in groups of 3 (my studio of 9 people mixed with another studio and out groups were made out of people from both studios, and we got two teacher’s feedback which was great). Our professors wanted us to work in groups because architecture is done in groups and because only by working together are humans going to be able to solve global warming. My group ended up working pretty well together and our final pavilion ended up being 8 3D benches that would sit out in a nearby square and act as both a place for people to sit, to meet each other and to gather while providing protection from the strong wind in Copenhagen. For each day of the conference, the chairs would be arranged in a different way to encourage people to interact in different ways and to be symbolic. Also, since the COP15 is being held during Christmas time in Copenhagen (which is a really big deal apparently), we were going to have a guy serving hot drinks and mold wine in the square to add incentive for people to come and sit down.
During my last week I also spent a lot of my time trying to find gifts for people back home and I discovered that Copenhagen and Denmark in general are not great places to get souvenirs. For one thing, everything is really expensive (Souvenir store t-shirts were twice as expensive as in Italy), and for another, the things that Denmark is really good at and that you want to remember are not good for souvenirs and are hard to transport back home. For example, I would have loved to been able to buy everyone and myself examples of Danish Design, which is mostly furniture and house wares, but besides being expensive (I found a cool, and cheaper colander for over $50), it is just too big to bring home with you. Also, for some reason, the souvenir stores did not have many good designs for T-shirts.
My Parents Arrive:
My parents came to Copenhagen for a few days before we went to Italy, so I had a very busy last couple of days in Copenhagen between showing my parents around and packing up 4 months worth of stuff. However, I really enjoyed showing my parents around Copenhagen and they really enjoyed the fact that I knew where to go and what things they should and shouldn’t see while they were in town. My parents stayed in a hotel right by Radhauspladsen (City hall square), which is right in the middle of things, and right on my bus line so it was really convenient to get there and it was close to everything. Also, I never really went out to eat much in Copenhagen since everything was so expensive, so it was nice to be able to go out to with my parents. It was also fun to take my parents to the pølser stands (hot dog/sausage stands) and to the schwarma restaurants since we don’t really have them in the US. Just a couple of things that we did: we went on a canal tour of Copenhagen which was fun because I got a different view of the city and it was funny to hear the tour guide talking about stuff that I already knew. We also went to Tivoli (a really old amusement park right in the middle of the city) one night, and although we didn’t go on any of the rides, it was fun just to walk around with all of the lights. My parents were really only in Copenhagen for 2.5 days before we went to Italy, but we managed to squeeze a lot in.
While my parents were visiting, I was also busy packing all of my stuff up and it turned out to be harder than I thought – I had lots of extra room but no extra weight since all of my packs were almost 50 lbs. Fortunately, my parents had packed light so I was able to put my extra heavy stuff in their carry-ons.
We left Copenhagen early Monday morning with an indirect flight to Milan via Dusseldorf (and an 8 hr layover).
Another couple of things:
I live about 10 minutes away from the US embassy and so on my way back from Østerport station, I decided to walk through some gardens and past the US embassy. As I was walking past the embassy I took several pictures and then promptly a guard came out from the building and told me that I wasn’t allowed to take pictures and then he asked to watch me delete all of the pictures I took. So I deleted the several pictures I took of the embassy while remarking that there was no sign or anything telling you not to take pictures to which the guard responded that yeah there weren’t and that there was no way I should know not to take pictures. I thought the whole thing was kind of strange. While I understand that they may not want people taking pictures of the embassy for security purposes, there really was no way that they could prevent people from taking pictures from across the street, from the building across the street, or even from the car or a bus and it just seemed kind of silly. But so that was my experience with the American Embassy in Denmark.
Another afternoon, I decided to walk around a big cemetery in the middle of Nørrebro, which several famous Danes are buried such as Hans Christian Anderson and Søren Kierkegaard. The cemetery was really beautiful and was really more like an enormous garden with headstones in it.
On one of the last days in Copenhagen, I took a trip out to some new development in Amager Island (which is part of Copenhagen but on a different island than the main city). I went with another one of my architecture friends and we visited a couple of really new and cool buildings. One of the first buildings we visited was a round Kolligeum (a Danish student residence) that was shaped like a donut with rooms around the outside and large open circle in the middle. The entire building was clad in bronze and on the inside, the rooms were arranged so that any resident can see what is going on in the entire building, which could be kind of annoying for lack of privacy but is good for fostering a sense of community (and for knowing where the good parties are). The building was pretty new but very nice and located right next to a Metro stop for easy access into the center of Copenhagen. A couple of Metro stops later, we came to another area where a large Danish architecture firm (BIG) has built several new and interesting/strange buildings. Both are apartment buildings, one where the balconies come out in sharp triangles and the other built to resemble a mountain. Finally, we decided to take the Metro one more stop, to the last stop on the line and once we were there, we found that we had literally reached the edge of Copenhagen. There were a few buildings being built and beyond them were just green fields and trees. Even the road that had been running out into Amager and paralleling the Metro line look a sharp 90 degree turn at this point, as if it had reached an edge and could go no further in that direction.
Besides doing any last minute sight seeing during my last couple of weeks in Copenhagen, I had to deal with finals, final papers and a final architecture project. It was really hard to feel like doing any work, especially studying for finals, but fortunately I didn’t really have that much to do besides my architecture project. The assignment for the final architecture project was to build a pavilion that would be put up during the COP15 conference that is going to be held in Copenhagen this December. The COP15 conference is a climate change conference whose goal is to renew the Kyoto Protocol (which expires in 2012) and to countries such as the US and China to sign and agree to its conditions about lowering CO2 emissions. Our main criterion for the pavilion was that it could be no bigger than 3 m3 (we found this to be flexible) and had to be made out of wood. This project was also done in groups of 3 (my studio of 9 people mixed with another studio and out groups were made out of people from both studios, and we got two teacher’s feedback which was great). Our professors wanted us to work in groups because architecture is done in groups and because only by working together are humans going to be able to solve global warming. My group ended up working pretty well together and our final pavilion ended up being 8 3D benches that would sit out in a nearby square and act as both a place for people to sit, to meet each other and to gather while providing protection from the strong wind in Copenhagen. For each day of the conference, the chairs would be arranged in a different way to encourage people to interact in different ways and to be symbolic. Also, since the COP15 is being held during Christmas time in Copenhagen (which is a really big deal apparently), we were going to have a guy serving hot drinks and mold wine in the square to add incentive for people to come and sit down.
During my last week I also spent a lot of my time trying to find gifts for people back home and I discovered that Copenhagen and Denmark in general are not great places to get souvenirs. For one thing, everything is really expensive (Souvenir store t-shirts were twice as expensive as in Italy), and for another, the things that Denmark is really good at and that you want to remember are not good for souvenirs and are hard to transport back home. For example, I would have loved to been able to buy everyone and myself examples of Danish Design, which is mostly furniture and house wares, but besides being expensive (I found a cool, and cheaper colander for over $50), it is just too big to bring home with you. Also, for some reason, the souvenir stores did not have many good designs for T-shirts.
My Parents Arrive:
My parents came to Copenhagen for a few days before we went to Italy, so I had a very busy last couple of days in Copenhagen between showing my parents around and packing up 4 months worth of stuff. However, I really enjoyed showing my parents around Copenhagen and they really enjoyed the fact that I knew where to go and what things they should and shouldn’t see while they were in town. My parents stayed in a hotel right by Radhauspladsen (City hall square), which is right in the middle of things, and right on my bus line so it was really convenient to get there and it was close to everything. Also, I never really went out to eat much in Copenhagen since everything was so expensive, so it was nice to be able to go out to with my parents. It was also fun to take my parents to the pølser stands (hot dog/sausage stands) and to the schwarma restaurants since we don’t really have them in the US. Just a couple of things that we did: we went on a canal tour of Copenhagen which was fun because I got a different view of the city and it was funny to hear the tour guide talking about stuff that I already knew. We also went to Tivoli (a really old amusement park right in the middle of the city) one night, and although we didn’t go on any of the rides, it was fun just to walk around with all of the lights. My parents were really only in Copenhagen for 2.5 days before we went to Italy, but we managed to squeeze a lot in.
While my parents were visiting, I was also busy packing all of my stuff up and it turned out to be harder than I thought – I had lots of extra room but no extra weight since all of my packs were almost 50 lbs. Fortunately, my parents had packed light so I was able to put my extra heavy stuff in their carry-ons.
We left Copenhagen early Monday morning with an indirect flight to Milan via Dusseldorf (and an 8 hr layover).
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