Utrecht and the town hall

On my independent study travels through the Netherlands, I (and by i, i mean Dannielle, Hali and I) ventured away from the big cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, and found our way to Utrecht. Utrecht is a smaller city (4th largest in the netherlands, but small compared to Amsterdam) and quite quaint in most parts of it. There is actually quite a lot of interesting architecture in the city, but visiting on a sunday was a bad idea, because most of the buildings were closed and the inside unaccessible. One interesting building was the extension of the town hall done by Enric Miralles. while i was unimpressed with parts of it, one side of the building was very interesting to me. He created a facade that seemed to be (in parts) incomplete. There were gaps in the materials held together by steel beams. It was interesting because, while it seemed incomplete, you could tell that the look was done on purpose. Another part of this wall was a unique gutter system (at least i think thats what it was). These metal pipes came from the roof into a concrete trough at the base of the wall. the pipes were staggering back and forth making path for water to flow. when it was not raining, the pipes seemed to be used as a fountain. it would be interesting to see how the system works, although i am glad it wasnt raining while we were there. it was rather cold and extremely windy. After the Miralles building we walked around saw some other buildings (i.e. Reitveld Schroder house, Rem Koolhaas educatorium) and i "bahed" at some sheep.

another visit to nou barris and another falling maria

so yesterday maria and i went to our parc for our project for Kathrin. We packed a picnic lunch and headed into our park looking for people to interview to get some personal feedback about parc central de nou barris. we got a couple of interviews and on our way out we spotted some younger looking guys playing with their dogs. we needed to get over there fast before they left but we were up on this ledge and there were no stairs around. to get to the level they were on we had to cross an obstacle of a tiled sloping surface. i was able to make it down no problem. i was waiting on maria to follow my lead, but i thought about it and i new this had to be filmed. lucky for me i know maria and i knew that something was going to happen and....just watch the video its pretty self explanatory. and then i saw this grafitti that needed to have its photo taken. recognize this guy?

Public art in Barcelona

On friday one we had a guest come and talk about public art with the class. After her lecture we went on a walking tour around BCN. More specifically in the neighborhoods of Born and Barceloneta. the tour was interesting because she pointed out art that I have definitely past by before but i never really noticed. We had discussions at each piece and it was nice to hear everyones different opinions of the pieces. Although we didnt look at this piece specifically on the walk, I want to post a photo of Lichtenstein's "face of Barcelona". Lichtenstein is one of my favorite artists, and i think it is cool to be able to say there is a Lichtenstein sculpture basically in my backyard.

Chiezas di Venezia

1. Basillica of San Marco 2. Santa Maria Gloriosa del Frari

In continuing with the architecture of the catholic church in italy, it's important to note the role of art, particularly in Venice! San Marco was completely mosaiced and as you can see, deserves the nickname "chieza di oro." While I'm sure wanting to bling out their church, (each district in Venice had their own, and yes, they competed) the gold was God, and God is everywhere so gold is everywhere! It was a very beautiful and impressive church for the mosaics. Santa Maria Gloriosa del Frari competes with San Marco not just by having a longer name, but by displaying an array of altarpieces and paintings by the names of Donatello, Bellini, and Titian to name a few. It's most stunning unique-factor is the use of brick. While the outside is rather non descript the inside has this interesting play between the matte brick and the colored light from the windows at the sanctuary and transcept chapels. Structure, light, and artwork are what stands about about Chieza Frari. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Marco_di_Venezia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_di_Santa_Maria_Gloriosa_dei_Frari

cordoniuuuu

in the fair, almost deserted town of sant sadurni d'anoia outside of barcelona lies the cordoniu winery offering extremely impressive tours and cava tasting for only 2 euros. the town itself seems to revolve around the making of this bubbly delight with many other wineries of distinction. cordoniu, however, offers the most. the tour consisted of a 10 minute movie(interesting, but yawn), a tour of part of the grounds perched high on the hill(beautiful), a walking tour of the vast interior winery including information about production and other tidbits(enthralling), and last but not least...a "train" ride through the veritable catacombs of cava. another treat is saved for the last leg of the journey, a complimentary glass of their cava brut...of which i inevitably bought an insanely large bottle. i definitely recommend it as a getaway for a day(or a few hours) or if you want to school yourself on alcohol. A+.

English Dodger

This was at one of the Hostels we stayed at in Amsterdam. Notice how the Weird Englishman dodges the camera and Maria and Hali show off their new head dance.

why we missed thanksgiving

Two of my favorite bands happened to be playing back to back this week at the Apollo behind RESA. Unfortunately one coincided with Thanksgiving dinner. It was nice being at the dinner for the first hour, and then Dylan and I sprinted to the venue. Both Dylan and I were pumped to see Devendra live for the first time. Being very excited, we were jumping around and singing along, however the others at the concert seemed a little less enthused. Dylan kept getting elbowed by neighboring people who didn't want us dancing. I was disappointed by the crowds' excitement, but i think Dylan and I made up for everyone else's lacking. Cocorosie the next night luckily attracted a more lively crowd, but not by much. It made me wonder if it was just a Spanish thing? I would have thought the fact that Devendra spoke Spanish the entire time would have pumped the crowd a little more. They did get a little excited when the band decide to ask the crowd if there were any young local musicians out there. One guy came forward and Devendra gave him his guitar and then retreated to the drums. Interesting crowd pleasing tactic. Over all it was exciting to see some live music. Maybe one day I'll be a musician. That would be most excellent.

This 120 meter spire is not only the tallest object in the city of Dublin, but also provided us with direction on how to get back to our hostel. I had always wondered what the spire symbolized, and finally looked it up when we got back. It was designed to replace the Nelson's Pillar which was blown up in 1966, and was meant to be a statement for the city of Dublin. Talking recently about the function of public art and the success of it in a public space, I feel that this spire is very successful. Not only is it low maintenance, but it provides a type of beacon seen from all over the city. The architect statement also stated that one of the goals was to reflect the movement of humanity both literally and figuratively. I think they were successful.

"The monument should be accompanied by abstract figures in black Kilkenny marble, embellished by stainless steel, as in the folds of a cloak, the bend of a knee doubling as a seat, or just the shiver of a glance. To draw and grow from the mercury and black marble base, shaping in an abstract from, but form with a human spirit."
Ian Richie Architects

the Brewery is not just a Brewery

Arthur Guinness was born in 1725 near Dublin in the town of Celbridge, county Kildare where his father, Richard Guinness, was a Land Steward. Part of Richard's duties were to supervise the brewing of beer for the workers on the estate and it is probable that young Arthur first learned the art of brewing from his father. The brewing industry in Dublin at that date was suffering because English beer was taxed less severely than the home-produced product. Arthur was not, however, deterred. He decided to acquire what was then a small, disused and ill-equipped brewery at St. James' Gate.

The lease, signed on 31 December 1759, was for 9000 years at an annual rent of £45, talk about smart business. To start with, Arthur brewed ale, but by the 1770s a new drink, a strong black beer called porter, was being exported from London. Arthur decided to brew this new beer himself. He proved extremely successful and right into his seventies Arthur continued to be active in supervising his business at the Brewery, now assisted by three of his sons. When he died in 1803, he left a considerable personal fortune of about 23,000 pounds and an extremely flourishing business which later generations of his family were to develop, following the example of initiative and enterprise set by its founder.

After venturing inside the Brewery, it was cool to see the transition from the outside of the brewery, which is a dark brown brick, to the inside, which was mostly steel. It was interesting how they seemed to keep the feel of the "old" rish brewery, but transformed the inside into an industry. The outside of the Brewery is deceiving in the sense that you cannot tell what it fully encompasses. The brewery shows you full how how the stout is brewed and gives you a full out view of the industry.

Mussolini's "Suburb"

the EUR (esposizione universale romana 1942) was designed to showcase fascist architecture in a functional manner outside the city, also a part of mussolini's plan to extend rome to the sea. while walking around the area of stark facades and minimal ornament, i felt a little transported back in time. the government buildings and cultural institutions all utilized marble, concrete and vast arcades creating a unified but ominous feel. despite this sentiment, the area is heavily used and there is a great interest to live here. i saw many families and business people strolling the tree lined boulevards, using the vast public spaces that come so naturally to this area. there were many private apartment complexes lining the government building spaces, each one having a pleasant courtyard and gardens. while i couldn't help but think of the strange history and building types of this area, i couldn't help but recognize that it is an area of successful urban planning and a bustling commercial district outside of the city.

Old friends in Amsterdam

The highlight of my trip to Amsterdam was seeing an old friend of mine, Gijs, from Holland. He took a train from his hometown in Valkesvaard, Holland, to Amsterdam, and spent the next two days giving me the tour of Amsterdam from the Dutch perspective. What I didn't realize about Holland is that it's an immigration country in much the same way that the United States is. There were so many different cultures gathered into one city, all of them speaking Dutch and working there. An article I read just this morning ("Netherlands not so Dutch anymore") elaborated on what Gijs told me about the country. I also learned more than I'll ever need to know about the canals' history thanks to a boat guide. And from Gijs, I learned that drunk people tend to throw bikes into the canal, to the point that the entire bottom is covered in bicycles.
The best part of Amsterdam itself is that everyone I talked to was so, so friendly. When a huge parade celebrating Saint Nicholas' arrival blocked me from crossing a street, I asked a stranger where I could cross, and then a police officer. They both gave me 10 different suggestions, all 10 in a cheerful tone, and wished me luck, also assuring me that their Saint Nicholas was NOT to be confused with Santa Claus. The other great thing about Amsterdam: the best cheese I have ever tasted. Ever.
On the downside, the immigration rules were strict and Matt and I had some trouble for about an hour -- I thought we might have to spend the night in the airport! But professor Hecker came to the rescue with the internet, and we bought a plane ticket. From now on I may just carry a bundle of papers documenting my entire life when I travel. That way when they ask for tickets proving that I'm leaving Spain eventually, I can show them that I ran cross country in highshcool, too.

the Silodam

After taking the mandatory pictures outside, some crafty sneaking allowed some indoor ones as well. It turns out that the hallways are color coded, mostly a bright snot green (as you can see at the end of the hall in the first picture) from carpet to wall to ceiling. Even the doors. The 8th and 9th floors were in sky blue and fire engine red, while the first two floors were grey. The condos inside were fabulous, with hardwood floors and huge windows overlooking the harbour in both directions.
The part that interested me the most about this building was it's interaction with the water. In the central hall, there are gaps so that you can look down and see the water and the docks below, where some residents parked their boats. In the front of the building, the apartments' front doors open onto walkways suspended over the water. From the top floors, looking out, it seemed like the building was just floating.

schouwburgplein, Rotterdam

One of the few things I explored in Rotterdam was this plaza. There was a large movie theater offset that reminded me of the Kursaal in Sans Sebastian. Whit had found this plaza the night before and told us how you could move these large cranes around at the push of a button. However, of course when we got there, there was no activity upon pressing the buttons. It still was a very neat plaza by night. Very nicely illuminated by colorful lights. The only thing I found strange was that the projection on the wall of the theater came from a portable projector that was guarded by a cold looking man at the very edge of the square. I think they should invest in a more permanent alternative so some poor guy doesn't have that job. We also discovered the ranging materials used for the floor of the plaza. They created an awareness of the different noises in which your feet could make when in contact with different materials. There were three different types of perforated metal. One with elliptical holes and the other two round but one protruded while the other was punched inward. Then there were different wood elements. Danni, Whit and I had fun making noise across the square.

Fun Firenze!

My fabulous birthday dinner (homemade pasta with a pear base filling = amazing!). Birth of Venus ... on a porta potty by the Uffizi. David looking studly in the sun

set.

I much preferred Florence to Venice. When its cold and you don't want to go outside, it's hard to enjoy a city based on canals and.. oh the outside. And 4.50 euro for a latte is ridiculous. Favorite things from this trip: 1.seeing my Mom 2. San Miniato del Monte in Florence (first church I felt compelled to pray at, didn't feel touristy). 3.Birthday dinner 4. Hostel Archi Rossi in Florence. I'm not sure you can call it a hostel when it has a computer, tv, private bathroom, room service, heck, bidet and complimentary breakfast. OH

AND At Archi Rossi, I just lovvved how (you're allowed to write on many of hte walls there) on the column by the check in desk, very very visibly there is a big orange CLEMSON paw :-) with Clemson written beside it. That made me happy. Archi Rossi was the homiest hostel I've stayed at and that says a lot given the great places we've had (minus London for those who went!). We also had a view of the Duomo!

Chiezas of Italy: compare+contrast part 1

No I didn't visit Japan. I visited Italy. Florence and Venice specifically. This first post shows four images from Florence. Two are of San Miniato al Monte, which is on a hill overlooking Florence. The other two are of Florence's most dominant architectural piece: the Duomo, also known as Santa Maria del Fiori. The churches were constructed with some overlap in time, but Miniato was about 200 years older. Both of course were a part of the Catholic (though Benedictine - Miniato, and Dominican - Duomo) church but differ greatly in most design aspects. The exteriors look somewhat similar here, with colored (sienna red or green) lines dividing up the facade, but the focii are very different. With Tadao Ando's Church of Light, the focus, the intent of you being there, is in your face. It's opposite is Santa Maria del Fiori with the dominant decoration, geometry, and color going on on the exterior. Also inside, the walls and ceilings of the Duomo are relatively plain, with exception given to the painted domes and some paintings. The art that does exist seems to be more for decoration. The floor is of particular interest, there are crazy geometric patterns everywhere. I'm sure this has to do with the renaissance approaching and a renewed interest in logic and order. Consequently, their God is a god of logic, pattern, nature, and order. The cross and images of saints are secondary. The reverse is true with San Miniato al Monte. I'll talk more about the comparisons and contrasts in religious architure in italy later in my case studies...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_del_Fiore http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Miniato_al_Monte

Sissy Boy...the sequel

I apologize for the unnecessary length of this video but you're going to have to talk to Madison's sissy behind on that one. Cut up your volume, the dialogue is priceless. Madison, Kelly, and me in a nutshell. Amsterdam was full of laughs, oh and great architecture...notice the Borneo background.

Che bella é l'italia!

Quando sto viaggiando a l'italia, sempre sto felice. La terra, le spiagge... penso che l'italia é unica, perché non ho visto un otro luogo simile. E il cibo... buonissimo! In un villagio, abbiamo mangiato pizza di pesto ché era megliore di tutte le pizze in espangna! Era una sorpresa a me che i italiani nord erano molti simpatici, perché in citte come Roma, tutti hanno fretti e non piacono i turisti.



La storia di l'italia é fantastica. I Romani ha costruito edifici come la arena in Verona, e italiani a volte i usono oggi.

Come on, girls

Rosalyn and Kelly take advantage of the playground equipment at a new housing development in Amsterdam. Rejoice.

Laugh, but don't laugh too hard. It took me twice as long as it took Rosalyn.

The Old Country

Having been born in South Jersey and raised in the Philadelphia area, I've known a thing or two about Italian culture. Talking with one's hands, last names ending in a vowel, eating pasta, having wine with meals, meeting with family, etc etc etc etc. So I sort of knew what to expect with the culture of the place. But what I didn't expect was how incredibly nice all of the people were. At first I thought it was going to be somewhat similar to my native City of Brotherly Shove, and as I got off at Roma Termini station and shady people were trying to offer me a room, I thought it might be rough. But not before long I realized that the people, especially in Tuscany, were incredibly nice, very helpful in terms of giving directions, and I was shocked to discover that they all at least spoke some English. Whether it was picking out the right bike to take along the river or picking out the right wine to bring back home, the Italians made me feel at home during my stay in their country.

And in terms of the quality of the architecture, I was expecting to see a sort of museum of architecture in the city centers, basically just roman architecture that we have already seen in the Barri Gotic and such. While it is true that there is very little brand spanking new ground-breaking architecture in Italy, the old architecture is diverse and always contains a lesson to be learned. Whether it's the spaces within Bruneleschi's cathedrals, the monumental nature of Roman buildings/streets/plazas, or the integration of the landscape in the urbanity of Siena, there is some kind of genius thinking that went into the historic elements that you don't always see in Spain. Another interesting note...each region and subregion has its own character based on its history. We were only in Rome for 24 hours, but it was long enough to see how the it had an ancient Roman monumental character as opposed to Florence's Rennaisance-style decour, and Florence's southern Tuscan counterpart, Siena, had more of a hill town medieval setup. Each of these places reflected the character of their peak periods in history. One thing they all had in common though; there is an abundance of places where you can get a beautiful view over the cities.

pilgrimage to Goedereede

Going to Holland, I had to make one stop. Goedereede is where my mother´s grandmother is from. I will have been the first one back since she emigrated to the United States. Fortunately Goedereede wasn´t too fair from Rotterdam, on my travel itinerary. So today, I got up early on my first day in Rotterdam and made my way to the tourist center. The woman was very nice and gave me printed instructions on how to reach my destination, however was confused on exactly why I was going. I got the strange transportation stamp strip common to the Netherlands, enough to get me there and back. i headed off on the metro to the bus termial. All confusing enough, I finally found the right bus. The sheet of instructions, much like map quest, instructed me to take bus 101 until richting hellevoetsluis, then take bus 104 until richting renesse. Easy enough I thought. But there is always a but. There was no Hellevoetsluis stop, and I ended up taking bus 101 to the last stop, in the end having to get off and backtrack. Not only that, but once I got onto 104, there was also no Renesse stop. So in the end I had turned a 1.2 hour journey into a 3 hour journey. I finally got to Goedereede, and it was thankfully beautiful. The town couldn´t have been a mile wide, and was centered around a small canal. There was a beautiful church from the 1400s which played musical bells pretty much the entire time I visitied. The end of town was marked by an old windmill and from there started fields of green and sheep. Very quant and small and cold. There were only 2 cafes, one hotel-resturant, one bakery, and some assorted (yet closed) antique and art stores. After awkwardly taking some photos and videos, I got a cup of coffee and decided to head back to Rotterdam. The only thing I failed to note was that the Saturday (Zumerdaag, i believe) bus left an hour later than I had thought. But other than that, it only took me 2 hours on the return. Improvement at least. Even though I messed up my transportation sheets, and had no cash left to my name, I managed to get back to the hostel. It was neat to see where I came from in a sense. People thought I was dutch and the Santa Clause wears a pope hoot.

Wonderful Copenhagen

ok so i have found an extra couple of minutes to come back and edit this fast post from Copenhagen. My experiences in Copenhagen were "wonderful" and i can agree with what seems to be the slogan of the town. It was not as big as i had imagined but there was still so much to see and do that i think i still missed out on a great deal of what Copenhagen had to offer. As I mentioned, the 8 hours of sunlight means my days started early and ended early too. After 5 o'clock everyday the stars were out and the city starts to shutdown. A lot of the city becomes desolate from the hours of 5-7 or 8. Then the partying starts up again, and despite the cold weather and baring the snow i managed to go out every night. One of the highlights was catching a jazz show at the Copenhagen jazz house, which is apparently a famous spot for jazz in Europe. the jazz was really awesome and I later learned, from a nice danish man, that the guy had played with Miles Davis earlier in his life.

As for the architecture of Copenhagen. Much of the new building is going on along the waterfront, which the city addresses nicely (opposed to Valencia). One of the buildings is the city's new opera house that is right on the water and almost has the Bilbaoesque feel to it, although on a much smaller scale of course. Arriving on a weekend I was unable to explore the inside like i would have liked to, but the outside and the look through the glass were enough to show the grandeur of it. I also got to the Zaha museum extension, outside of the city. The collection of the museum is very small and if it weren't for the temporary Piet Mondrian exhibit, the art would not have been worth paying for. The extension, contrary to the art inside was very interesting. the folds of the building exterior mimic the surrounding landscape while creating a unique art viewing experience inside as well. the experiences you get as you turn each corner were one of a kind and i loved the way she created these through the forms of the concrete floors and ceilings.

But by far the most interesting part of Copenhagen was the area of Christiania. This is the area of Copenhagen, that in the 1960's was taken over by hippies!! I know its hard to imagine hippies taking over anything, but that is exactly what they did. They boarded off the area and created an area where, and i am quoting one of them "everyone owns everything, and you can build whatever wherever." They built an entire community within the city with their bare hands. It is interesting to see now because the land is prime land right on the waterfront, and you see normal business men and women riding their bikes to work through what is not the best run neighborhood. The city is trying to normalize the community but they are protesting it and fighting very hard for their independence. I was unable to take photos in this unique area except for the entrance sign that on one side said "Christiania" and the other side, as you leave the area, "you are now entering the EU" which i found comical. Bevar Chritiania!!!

But as for final notes on Copenhagen: It is expensive but worth it, Denmark is incredible and I cant wait to go back one day.

Ireland and such

So I can´t put any photos up yet, because I don´t have my computer. So far I have been to Dublin and Cork, Ireland, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, Netherlands. This is my last night in Rotterdam before leave for Amsterdam again, then back to Barcelona. Dublin was amazing! The people in Ireland are the nicest people you will ever meet. The second you pull out a map, someone is there to tell you where to go. Everyone is so polite and eager to help you out. A few of us stayed at Isaac´s Hostel right by the bus station. I advise you, if you decide to stay in Dublin, go to Isaac´s. They have the nicest reception. You will meet people from all over, its is the most cozy atmosphere. people are always going out and inviting you to join, but if you are tired after a long day of traveling, there is a TV room in the basement with a bunch of incredibly comfortable couches.
I would have to say my favorite part of Dublin was Trinity College. It is probably one of the coolest universities I have seen, outside of Clemson of course :) There was all the old architecture complimented by beautiful grass fields. The student are so nice and fun there. I definitely want to look into a grad program there.
So thats a tid bit of stuff so far. I´m saving all the good stuff for later so I can post pictures and videos along with it.

"burrrr"in in berlin

or at least thats what im calling it. its crazy cold, but i guess its not snowing steadily so im not allowed to complain. there will be minimal punctuation in this entry, because german keyboards just arent worth the time. it took me 20 mins to get those quotations right. so while in berlin, ive had my first mies, libeskind, and gropius experiences. i am going to have to come back in with my photos later.

the jewish museum by libeskind is amazing. it was so good, it made me angry. i think we all get a little tired of symbolism in architecture, but this symbolism was so appropriate you couldnt argue with it. one example is a small room 3 or 4 stories high only lit by daylight via a very small window at the top. it is meant to bring feelings of despair and isolation. and that it did. i would say it was probably the most moving space ive ever been in. and his zig zaggy windows are sweet, too.

mies, oh mies. the neue nationalgalerie was cool. just the mies we all know, less is more. i must admit, the space is elegant, and makes it all about the exhibition space on the first level. a little bit of the platter syndrome, though, i must say. i was really excited to see some dada work in the galleries below.

as a rule of our travels, there must be one museum that is not completely open. the bauhaus archives was the one to strike with disappointment this time. of course, it opens NEXT week. i was, however able to see a lot of domestic products and toys produced by the school. there were multiple drawings, and advertisements for certain businesses they had created, as well. there were even two exercises where students had to fold and cut paper, without removing the excess. sound familiar?

Parting is such Sweet Sorrow

The jury is still out on whether or not Romeo and Juliet were real figures (here you can see what is supposedly their family homes, including the famous balcony, along with Juliet's tomb), but regardless, Verona exceeded all of my expectations. The city itself is stunningly beautiful: wide streets, bright colors, and that landscape of rolling hills and cypress trees that seems so quintessentially Italian.

There's a great deal of variety to see here. Verona is home to the third largest Roman arena in the world. While smaller than the Colosseum, it is better preserved, and is still used for operas and musicals today.

Across the river we came across the Giardini Giusti, a suprisingly non-publicized renaissance garden. The lower level of the garden is a roughly 50 m x 50 m traditional space (hedge mazes, statues, etc). However, at the end of this area, the garden becomes uncharacteristically imaginitive as it climbs up a cliffside in a series of terraces and footpaths. Inspired by mythology, carved into the cliffside are grottos, pseudo ancient ruins, a tower that takes one to the upper garden, and, at the very top, a large and rather imposing beast head that, at one point, used to spout tongues of flame for the benefit of the guests.

If you find yourself in Lombardy, don't overlook Verona.

I wish I could upload my own pictures, but that's not an option at this point... so enjoy one from the internet. Hopefully I won't get sued.

Jewish memorial in Berlin

Berlin was a city steeped in history. The Jewish Memorial near Potsdamer Platz is at once both mass sculpture, and architecture of experience –- a three-dimensional thought process, maybe? Although the blocks of the memorial are on a perfect grid, there is still the sense of being lost, and moments of surprise. The ground rises up sharply; a corner reveals another person; people call out the names of the friends they’ve lost in all the turns. Something in the spatial sequence and the cool, impassive stone asks for remembrance. Without words, signs, directions, or marks, the memorial pulls people inward and asks for respect. Should buildings have a purpose like this? Should they influence emotion as well as experience?

a little misshap in Berlin and the strike in Paris

In Berlin, Matt and I went to the wrong bus station to catch our bus to Paris, with only 10 minutes to spare. We were then informed that we’d been given the wrong address and that our bus station was across the city. The taxi that we’d just used was gone. Some calls were made, German bouncing around the room, and then one of the guys in the office told us to follow him. We followed him out quickly, and instead of a taxi, he hustled us into his car…his personal car, a zippy little blue thing. Once on the interstate, I realized how ridiculous this was – an average Berliner had just piled two American kids into his car and driven them to catch a bus to Paris. When we got there he motioned us toward the bus in the middle of our overflowing thanks, gave the bus driver a familiar pat on the back, and was gone.

And now, in Paris, the friendly hostel cat is sitting on my feet after meowing to be let in. Paris…it is all it’s cracked up to be, if not a little (read: a LOT) on the expensive side. My favorite parts so far have been Montmarte, with all its hilltop glory, and the little island in the middle of the city that hosts Notre Dame. The French here are also nicer than I expected – my lack of French is more an amusement to them than an annoyance, and they patiently battle it out in English until communication is achieved. Right now the transport strikes make it a little difficult to get around the city, since walking is the only option. Also, at six o'clock the traffic is incredible! The cars and motorbikes are backed up, with the police directing traffic, and people riding their bikes are actually a third lane of traffic all their own, moving by one after the other like cars.

verdict: the dutch are funny when falling

title says it all. whilst in amsterdam, near our hotel, we stumbled upon a series of unfortunate ice skaters showing off their "skills". judge accordingly.

two cities down, one to go, and madison and rosalyn are still alive

so tonight wraps up our (rosalyn, madison and i) last night in prague. we were previously in amsterdam for 4 days and here for 3. the weather has been a bit much. (off and on rain all day every day in amsterdam, sleet if we were really lucky, as well as off and on snow in prague.) amsterdam was very charming. it felt like a little christmas village. we saw the anne frank house, van gogh museum, the new housing projects, coffeeshops, and the hard rock cafe. i am not even ashamed. the free refills and chicken fingers were amazing. we were also lucky enough to find an american grocery store and we got a surprise for thanksgiving. when we landed in prague it was snowing harder than any of us had ever seen. our hostel is amazing. we have a balcony that overlooks the river. unfortunately it is too cold to take full advantage. yesterday we walked about an hour in the snow just to see the vila mueller. prague castle was a bust. the wax baby jesus church gave all of us a good laugh. the baby jesus was a gift to prague from spain. he has about 70 different outfits, including his petticoat underwear, that are changed pretty regularly. it was creepy. the statue wasn't as funny as we had hoped. it looked like every other religious statue, just a bit shorter. today rosalyn and i had quite an experience at the prague train station. i think i can safely say that it is probably the most disgusting, unorganized, horrible station in the world. when we approached the abandoned looking station, the only apparent entrance appeared to be crossing a 6 lane highway. upon closer inspection (and after passing the abadoned kiosks that have apparently become a homeless refuge) we realized we had to descend through a rather sketchy, decrepit tunnel. entering the station didn't appear any more hopeful. the station must be where all the homeless people as well as all the pigeons in prague escape the harsh weather. bottom line, i don't think either of us have felt more uncomfortable anywhere in europe as we did in this 'station'. the whole purpose of this visit was not in vain(ish) we traveled about an hour outside of prague to kutna hora to visit an ossuary decorated with bones from over 40,000 people. it was creepy, yet somewhat beautiful. the currency in prague has taken a bit of getting used to. for the first and probably only time in my life, i have had a 1000 bill in my hand. while it seems nice, it really is only about 40 euros. food seems to come out a lot cheaper using the crowns, but it is rather funny when dinner costs over 900. tomorrow morning we are taking a train to budapest. luckily we are departing from a different train station and hoping for the best.

Happy Birthday to myself from Stockholm!

Edit: blogger has cropped my images- to view them full size, click on them.

Stockholm was wonderful! Here are some of the things I did:



-Eat Tacos
-Eat Hamburgers
-Eat Hot Dogs
-Get Fun-ky with some Happy Jazz blues rock music!



Stockholm is the exact opposite of Barcelona. Unlike Barcelona, the city smells like fresh pine and cinnamon buns (Kanelbulle, invented here by the way.) Everything closes by 6 PM. The food at any budget is terrific (even getting Köttbular from 7-Eleven!). Breakfast rivals America's. The people don't hate you for speaking English, and perhaps even more surprising, most of their television is the exact same as ours. In fact, the first question when I checked in was "Do you know when the writer's strike will be over?" (They love Conan O'Brien)

Needless to say, some of their culture has reflected this- restaurants such as the one above were formed solely out of the numerous references to "tacos" in America, and the curiosity as to what they were like.

The city is extremely classical in its appearance, but modernism is celebrated with a subdued, functional approach. Much of the city is enclosed through several projects over the years (starting with the town square above and tying in to the Kulturehuset (right) and the new GALLERIAN. It's all done seamlessly and, more importantly, successfully. In fact, everything in Stockholm is done well- from the flow of the city to to the resolution of critical intersections. It's possible to navigate a good portion of Stockholm's downtown without ever being directly exposed to the elements.



While here I visited the Museet Modern and its architecture museum next door, Asplund's Library and Woodland cemetery (below) , the Vasa Museum, the Kaknas Tower, and the Royal Palace.





Asplund's work was also impressive. Particularly of interest was the competition being held to built a new addition to the stockholm city library, with proposals ranging from clever to cliché to just plain stupid.



And, an obligatory long-exposure shot. It's 2:50 PM in that picture.

The Dam

After spending four days in Amsterdam, I am determined to live there for some unspecified period in my life. The people were fantstic, the coffeeshops genius. I loved the use of bicycles over cars, and how all of the main streets had a view of the canal attached. Architecturally, I loved how quirky the old city is. I don't care that most of the buildings are lopsided, I thought it just gave them character.

By far my favorite area of the city, however, were the newer housing projects out on the Eastern Islands, in Borneo and Java. I think it's great that the city allowed such crazy designs to be implemented, and that the homeowners were given a high degree of culture in the design of their residences.

Dublin, IRELAND

So far the study travel has been great. Virginia, Will, Hunter and I have been traveling together and it has been a great experience. Dublin was our first stop and my favorite so far. It was really fun in Dublin cause we ran into Dannielle, Hali and Dave. We all stayed in the same hostel and traveled through the city together. Everyone there spoke English (with an Irish accent of course). It was quite a change to hear English for once...seeing as we haven't heard it that regular in about three months. Similar to what Whit explained, it also got dark there really soon. So our site seeing started very early and we raced daylight the entire day. The first day in Dublin, Virginia and I took a tour bus. It was probably the best decision we could have made. Not only did we learn our way through the city but we also learned a lot of history about certain buildings. We needed to take that bus with the guided tour seeing as we didn't have our Professor Hecker tour guide with us. While I was in Dublin, I visited the Irish Museum of Modern Art, the oldest cathedral in Dublin, the Dublin Castle and much more. The Dublin Castle was my favorite. I got tons of pictures that I will post as soon as I get back home to Barcelona. We have just completed our three days in Brussels, which was amazing as well. We are now about to catch our train to Amsterdam, so sadly I have to wrap this blog up. As soon as I get computer access, I will continue to inform you of my travels. I hope everyone else is having a safe and fun journey.

An Endless City

Prague is now officially the most unique place I have ever been in. No, unique is such a dead word to describe Prague. It's like taking some kind of fairy-tale castle town, elevating it in vertical scale, make it really cold, and make the streets really wide and filling it with lots of beer. In the center of town where there there are lots of people (really the only touristy part of Prague), they are surprisingly quiet compared to the entire city of Barcelona. It's like the giant surrounding buildings (there are many, new and old) and the cobblestone streets have some kind of effect on the people and their attitudes









And you truly haven't experienced the city of Prague until you have gotten LOST. Prague's streets are winding and endless. It doesn't matter which road you walk down, you will eventually end up in one of the creepiest places you have ever been in....creepy but in a way really cool. Very little have I ever thought about the people that live in this part of the world and now I am peeking into their daily lives, wondering what their upbringing was like under communism/soviet influence, wondering how they deal with this freezing weather (I'm surprised I've gotten used to it so quickly!). Of course we have only been here two days and there is still so much more to see, but that's Prague in a nutshell.

La Mezquita de Corboda

During our day trip to Cordoba, we visited La Mezquita. La Mesquita was an amazing mosque that remains, in large part, intact. There is also a cathedral inside the mosque. In this building, there are rows and rows of arcades. This gives the condition of a spatial field. The feeling that there is no beginning and no end. It gives a concept of space with patterns. Space is infinite and endless. We also learned that all the columns in the mosque were old Roman columns that the Muslims took during this time. That is why every columns is noticeable different. Drawing and sketching this area was difficult at times. It was hard to show the infinite amount of columns in an accurate way. Professor Skinner and Professor Hecker explained to us this type of grid system. A grid system that we can use when we sketch. So we learned how to sketch with a grid to better align the columns up, along with the other components of the picture. It is very difficult but something I would like to improve on.

Slacklines in the Park

On one beautiful Saturday a group of us, including Professor Hecker and Professor Skinner, decided to go to the park. We spent dawn listening to one another play instruments. As we were playing these instruments and enjoying our day in the park, these people come by and set up these ropes that reach from one tree to another. They looked like ratchet straps. After they secured five or six in between trees very tightly, people began to get up on these straps and walk across them. They would jump from one to another and it was awesome to watch. All of us really wanted to try it, so Professor Skinner and I finally got up the courage to ask them if we could try. They were really nice and they were more than happy to show us how to do it. It was a lot harder than it looked. Having my background in gymnastics and walking on the balance beam, I thought it would be a little easier, but it wasn't. It was really fun to try though. By the end of the night, everyone was up on the straps trying to make it from one side to another. Through the night we were getting braver and braver on them and trying different things. We had a laughs, some falls, and some bumps and bruises. But we also had an unforgettable evening.