Rome: July 6th

Very painful wake-up at 6am so that I could be at the Vatican Museum in time to miss the line.
But the view from the top of my hotel was priceless:

Still ended up waiting over an hour and half, but apparently it could be worse!


The Egyptian museum there is small but actually very interesting because it is the only museum (so far) that displays the Roman art that copied the Egyptians after they had conquered them. This was a rather different spin on things. The Egyptian section is also one of the only museums (so far) that still has Egyptian-like decorations to make you feel like you are in Egypt (sometimes a bit cheesy) but this kind of decoration dates back to the 19th century and this museum has preserved that same type of display…so, rather interesting for my study!



Then I wanted to see the Prima Porta Augustus (my bff)…but alas, the whole room was CLOSED! I was very sad ☹ But you can still see him from afar...

So I decided to go to the Sistine Chapel…where getting there is an adventure in itself. You basically have to go through half of the Vatican Museum to get there and the tourists go MAD. Every time there was a doorway into a new room, people thought it was the Sistine Chapel and would push and shove to get through…once they found out it was just another room, you could hear grunts of frustration and they continued pushing through into the next room. It was a rather amusing spectacle to witness. Once we did finally get to the Sistine Chapel, I was a bit disappointed…like I had been warned, ever since they cleaned it, the colors look way too bright and almost fake, there are too many people, and it’s too far up to really see any of the details! But still…I saw the Sistine Chapel, so that’s cool.


After that, I went back to my hotel and enjoyed some pool time (trust me, in this 90 degree weather, and after having walked around for hours at the Vatican, you will want to go swimming!).

Met back up with Saverio and Fabrizio where we got some more gelato and explore more of the city. Went to the Piazza del Popollo, the Pantheon (now THAT is an amazing site, the inside is so much bigger than you could ever imagine!).


We walked by the Ara Pacis but it was closed. Then we went to Fabrizio’s brother’s documentary film premiere at this huge festival. The film itself was really good and I hope he wins! Next, we met up with another friend of Saverio’s, who happens to know Jean-Mark (what a small world after all!). We had some great pizza and then hung out at San Lorenzo, a very popular place for our generation where there are no rules (basically the Christiania of Rome).

Then off to bed for another early start the next day!

More photos: here

Rome: July 5th

On Sunday morning (still in Bologna) I had enough time to go back to the museum and look at the Egyptian collection. Then in the afternoon I took my train to Rome.

Now, what’s worse than a crying baby or a really smelly man sitting next to you?...THREE crying babies and their obnoxiously annoyingly loud mothers. Ugh…I have no luck when it comes to train rides!

But the painful train ride was well worth it considering that my destination was ROME.


Saverio (my Italian friend who came to VCU for a semester) met me at the train station, and I am so glad he did because it is very confusing to find anything there! We found my hotel (on the same street as the Colosseum) and then had some gelato (of course).

My hotel:


We walked around and he showed me a bit of Rome. The city is unbelievable…everywhere there are ruins of some kind, surrounded by modern buildings..a rather strange sight sometimes. For dinner we went to the Campo di Fiori (a hip happening piazza) where we had a panino.

(Yes…Americans have got it all wrong..it’s ONE panino and TWO panini). Now you know.
We met up with his friend Fabrizio and discovered Trestavere, another hip happening place.

Then it was off to bed for an early wakeup the next day to go wait in line at the Vatican! More updates to follow!

More pictures from this day: here and here

Lots of catching up to do!

Alrighty folks...finally I have access to the wonderful World Wide Web. This means a LOT of updating, so here it goes!

First off: right now I am in London and it is quite nice! Jolly good actually :)

I will first tell you about London and then go back in time and recount my adventures in Italy!

I arrived with the Eurostar yesterday afternoon...with my luck, I was of course sitting next to a mother and her 2 month old baby. This one only cried for a little bit and the mom was so nice it was hard to be mad. There were, however, two other extremely annoying babies who screeched the whole time. Seriously, it should be illegal to bring them on trains if you can't shut them up!

I am staying with Patrick's aunt's family and they are extremely nice! The mom gave me lots of tips of where to go, and it has really helped make this less overwhelming. They took me out to dinner last night and it was delicious (but I was so exhausted that I forgot to take a picture of the food, sorry!).
Here is the outside of the apartment:

The last time I came to London (3 years ago, I think?) I really didn't like it that much. I'm not sure why, but it just felt too much like NYC or something. Now that I'm back, however, I am not sure why I didn't like it in the first place, because this time I really like it so far! (Maybe it's because I know where to go and all that).

I first went to the British Museum (of course)...where I spent a loooong time because their collection is huge and amazing. It's so crazy to just be able to walk into the museum with no lines, no security, no pay, nothing. I'm really excited to meet with one of the curators later this week! I also got to go on a free guided tour and the guide was very knowledgeable and funny (and not boring at all!).

Then I wandered to Camden Market, which is quite the happenin' place! You can buy some crazy clothes there...but I was good and didn't buy any! (so proud of myself!).

I walked around A LOT from there...and then wandered around on one of the double-decker buses:

I am now back at the apartment trying to get all of this updated :P

Here are some artsy pictures from Europe for you to enjoy: here

And here are more photos of London: right here

Roma

Hey hey,

I have arrived in Rome...an art historian's dreamland!
Wow...everywhere you look there is something to see and gasp at!

Went to the Vatican museum this morning: amazing.

I am letting you know in advance that my posts will be brief (if any) because the internet here is more than ridiculously expensive. Sorry! I will catch up when I make it to England. (so be patient)

Bologna!

So I am currently trying to digest the pizza I just ate: (yes...it is bigger than the plate..and DELICIOUS)


and proceeded to destroy:
(ok...so I don't like the crust...even on real Italian pizza...you want it?)

I will then attempt to go back out and search for some dessert once this is all digested :)

Today I spent most of the day at the museum here. While it is somewhat of a small collection, the museum setup was really quite nice and I thoroughly enjoyed it.


After that, just wandered around the city under some rather menacing clouds (which ended up bursting into a rain storm so I rushed into the safest place nearby: an H&M :P)

I have more photos to upload but the internet here is super buggy so I will try later!

Ciao ciao Torino, buon giorno Bologna!

I now find myself in the little city of Bologna. I feel like I've also traveled through time, back in the middle ages, because the buildings here are sooo old! It's really neat.

Do you know what's worse than screaming babies on a train?
... a really bad smelling person sitting next to you for 3 hours. I literally had to plug my nose the whole time for fear of vomiting/passing out. Ugh..gross!

Anyway, these last few days in Torino were absolutely amazing. I went to back to the museum everyday and got a lot of work done there. Unfortunately, most of their important pieces are in Japan (what?) so that was kind of frustrating, but the museum was still one of the best!

On Wednesday, after going to the museum, I went and had a kebab with mis amigos. Muy delicious.
We then went to celebrate one of their friend's birthdays and I met even more cool people (this time, Brazilians!).

On Thursday, returned to the museum (I know it by heart now!). Then wandered around the city to take pictures. Gustavo and I went to the Cinema Museum which is in an old Mosque. This was probably one of the coolest museums I've been to! And then the view from the top is amazing!

That night, went to another aperitivo for more delicious food!

And now for Bologna!
The museum was closed by the time I got in, so I will do that tomorrow.

The streets here are itttty bittty and everything is just so old! It's quite fascinating.

And here are plenty more pictures for you to indulge in: here

I <3 Italia

Ok ok..I'm getting really bad at updating this. Sorry!

The last time I wrote, I was in Basel.
There's me at the museum:
My last night in Basel, I was walking around and there was a little concert going on outside of a bar with free champagne and wine..super! Apparently, the building was celebrating its 10 years and they had built a special tower that you could climb to see the city from the top:
The waitress at this place was really nice and when I asked what there was to do at night in the city, she invited me to come hang out with her friends at a local bar. While it was extremely difficult to understand anything they were saying (German) it was still a lot of fun and I was glad to have met some nice people!

The next day, I took a train to Bern, a very cute little city with an amazing view!

The museum was very nice...even if the Egyptian collection took up only about 50 meters square...but I still got to meet with the curator (who had the great moustache ever...unfortunately didn't get a picture!).


That same day I took a train back to Paris where I had a few days to rest up and get ready for ITALY. While in Paris I saw the Gay Pride Parade, a huuuuge deal and quite a lot of fun to watch!

Hung out with Aurore and my long lost Lithuanian friend Juste! Went back to the Louvre to see the temporary exhibit one last time since it will be closed by the time I get back to Paris next.
I ate profiterole...probably the best dessert ever invented.


And saw a Vivaldi concert in the Sainte Chapelle...beautiful!


Finally, at an ungodly hour in the morning on Monday, I took a train to TORINO, Italia. The train ride was about 5 hours, but a nice train ride with a beautiful view.
And then I arrived...I had heard few positive things about Torino, mostly that it was an industrial city with little to see. WRONG.
There is beautiful architecture everywhere, no tourists, and really great people.

My first day here, I wondered around the city and sat down at a fountain where I heard some people speaking French. For a while I hesitated saying anything, but finally thought that this was my chance to meet some people! Turns out they're Belgians and super nice! They let me follow them around and showed me the city. We then went to what is called an "aperitif", quite dissimilar from the French version. Here, you go to a bar and order a drink and then you eat allllll the food that you want that they have set out. They replenish it consistently throughout the night and it was DELICIOUS (and super cheap considering you get a nice cocktail and unlimited food). They then invited me to their friend's birthday party which was quite fun as well.

Yesterday, I went and discovered the Museo Egizio...all I can say is WOW. I think it wins so far. It also makes for some very interesting observations for my project since their displays are extremely old fashioned (but I think I like it best that way!). Their collection is ridiculously amazing...they even have Nefertari's tomb goods, including what they think are her knees (cool..huh?)
That's a colossal statue of Thutmosis III, whose twin resides at the Louvre!

After the museum, wandered about the city some more and then met up with some of my new friends for dinner.

I.will.never.be.able.to.eat.any.other.food.ever.again

This was the antipasti: the most delicious mozarella evvvvvvver.

Don't even get me started on the pizza...

Then spent the rest of the evening taking pictures and discovering Torino's night life...

My new friends:


Today, spent most of the day at the museum. I then tasted the greatest gelato in the world and once again will never be able to eat regular ice cream. Ever.

Oh, and did I mention the caffe? Only 1 euro everywhere, and the best coffee you will ever taste. Ever. How am I ever going to be able to live with regular food and coffee after this?!?

This is my favorite caffe...I have been here everyday, the bartender speaks French and is tres nice.

I just love how classy they are :)

Well, that's all for now! I will try my best to update more regularly.