La Vita e Bella- Ancient Rome

Our first full day in Rome was spent exploring Ancient Rome. It was definitely pretty sweet!

Here is the Colosseum, the first stop on our journey. Somehow, the anti-bouncers* managed to know that we were American, and bugged us until we went on a tour group into the ruins. It was a pretty good deal, all in all. :)

(*Note: "anti-bouncer" is a term for people whose jobs it is to get tourists, usually Americans, to use their tour/bus/restaurant, etc. They can spot Americans from a mile away, and will incessantly try to convince you to buy their services. This term will be copyrighted soon.)


The inside. Random fact of the day: at some point in history (the Middle Ages?) the Colosseum was used as a village, and several hundred people had their houses and shops in it. Pretty sweet, huh?


Obviously, if they left all these giant rocks laying around, they intended for people to climb on them!


Some big, giant, important old building. Don't ask me. The tour guide had left us by this point. :)


Some more ruins... I know this was important... I just can't remember why...


Hmm... what to eat for lunch? Pizza, por supuesto! Of 14 meals in Italy, probably about 8 featured pizza for at least one of us. Mmmm.... :)


After lunch we went to a museum of art and sculpture. As you can see below, we took all of this history very, very seriously.


Practicing my teacher's-disapproving-look. >: |


The best part! This was the hall of philosopher busts. So obviously I just had to jump in line... :)

La Vita e Bella- Roma

(Note: to those of you who know me well, you know how I positively adore scrapbooking. Completely. Totally. With every ounce of my being. Thus, I warn you now- the photos I will be posting from here on out will only be a small part of those which will be debuting in my scrapbook of my trip. Get excited!)

So, Rome...

Is there any way to truly describe it?

It's one part blinding reality- hold on you your purse, or they'll steal it!- one part romance with the past- Julius Ceasar once walked these streets!- and several parts of deliciousness incorporated- you mean I can eat pizza for breakfast? Mom isn't here to stop me?!? :)

Definitely one of the coolest parts of my trip to Italy (aside from my awesome travel buddy) was the fact that I was incredibly ignorant of all things Italian beyond pizza and spaghetti. Sometimes I feel like some of the fun of travel is lost these days, as so often we've seen a hundred movies featuring the Eiffel Tower before we ever see it ourselves. So it really was a great experience to have no preconceived images of many of these sites, and to be completely surprised when we got there!

Exhibit A: Trevi Fountain

Exhibit A: Trevi Fountain. I'm sure the rest of the world is aware of how amazing it is, but I had literally never seen a photo of it, ever. I was expecting some decorated wishing well or other- imagine my surprise when we were greeted by a veritable waterfall gushing over magnificent statues into a pool the size of a small building! This was definitely one of my favorite discoveries in Italy, in large part because of surprise of the discovery.

We missed the memo that you're supposed to toss a coin in over your shoulder without looking. Hopefully tossing-one-in-sideways-because-we're-looking-at-the-camera counts. :)

Exhibit B: The Pantheon. Again, I'm sure all of you educated readers are aware that this impressive building from the Roman Empire was the largest dome in the world until the invention of poured concrete in the 20th century, but I was expecting something square and in ruins... I was literally blown away by this completely intact architectural wonder!

This is the best shot I could get of the Pantheon- I promise that it does not do it justice at all!

LB, don't be angry at my lack of Italian culture, but I must admit that many of our travels went along these lines... "Hey! Look! That's big. And old." "Yeah, I bet it's important. Let's take a picture!" Such was the case with the square below, which we learned later was the Square of Venice or something along those lines. To us, it is forever the SCARIEST street in the world to cross. In Italy, to cross you just walk out in front of the traffic, 4 LANES of speeding cars notwithstanding. It felt like learning to double-dutch all over again. Only, if you miss, you're roadkill. :)

The... Palace of Venice? Really, we don't know. But it looks cool!

We spent the first evening just wandering around, getting the lay of the land. We popped in and out of anything that looked interesting, like the church below. You know, just your average parish church. There must be dozens in Rome alone. So crazy!

The Sistine Chapel is NOT the only ceiling chapel in Rome, and if you ask me,
not even one of the most impressive ones! (Don't tell the pope...)

Sunny with a high of 75'...

Despite having basic competency in two languages, I'm afraid that I still cannot convey the glory of spring in Madrid. This year spring seems more wonderful than ever, since we literally just passed through ten weeks of rain, the longest in anyone's memory! (Note to self: don't live in England.) Every day I wake up, sun streaming through the white curtains above my bed, and peer outside. Birds are chirping, the trees are finally putting forth new leaves, and flowers are popping up everywhere. Walking around town, it feels like the world is just baking you with love- the sun warming your soul, and the breeze inspiring you to skip and whistle along. Life is beautiful. God is good. (And He is risen... Allelujah!)

Retro Post: Cordoba!

So, on our way to Sevilla, we stopped at the "little Mosque" in Cordoba. Random world-religion fact of the day: as the Muslim religion spread in the early Middle Ages, Spain became one of the biggest Muslim communities in Europe. Around the year 1000, the Spanish Muslim "church" split from the leaders in the middle east, and the "Caliph of Cordoba" became the ruler of all things Muslim in Spain. The point being... the Mosque in Cordoba is accordingly awesome!

I believe this is currently a bell tower- it may have once been used as a minaret.

Spanish tradition is that whenever you take over a people of a different faith, you smash their religious centers as a reminder of who's boss. The Muslims did it to the Christians in the 700s, and the Christians returned the favor during the reconquista. Thankfully, whoever was in charge of smashing the Mosque at Cordoba refused to follow orders, preserving this breath-taking monument. As a compromise, they built a Cathedral in the middle of the Mosque instead. So, you win some you lose some- history maintained a good deal of the Mosque of Cordoba, but Muslims lost it as a place of worship since it's currently covered in Christian symbols and artwork. The Mosque/Cathedral still serves as the main Cathedral in Cordoba, and the official seat of the bishop there.

(In case I haven't conveyed this well, this mosque is HUGE. It has a CATHEDRAL in the middle of it, and the Cathedral only takes up about 15% of the floor space!!!

Like I said, GARGANTUAN! Muslims do not use symbols of humans, God, or animals in their artwork, so they're really big on geometrical shapes and designs, such as the arches above.

Here you can see the Christian side chapel added to the Mosque. There are Christian chapels all around the perimeter of the building.

Hola!

The Cathedral inside the Mosque. This is my favorite Cathdral for decorations so far!

Altar of the Cathedral

I believe this is the ceiling of one of the side chapels. You can see Muslim use of words for decoration towards the bottom.


Some "Christianized" arches.


A Christian dome above some Muslim arches.

Retro Post: Sevilla! (Part 2)

Sevilla is by far my favorite Spanish city to-date. Partly because it is small and charming, and partly because the SUN came out for the first time in a month, I fell in love with this little town! There are no sky-scrapers, no fast-moving activities, and no dirt and grime of big cities. Just lots of Spanish couples, strolling the streets, children playing in alleys, and horse-drawn carriages taking visitors around town. Truly, it's a wonderful place to be!

I think this is the tomb of Columbus. At any rate, Sevilla's Cathedral is ENORMOUS.
It is the 3rd- largest Church in the world!

A very inadequate photo of the Cathedral. Sorry, folks!


We took a tour at the Alcazar, or the royal residence of Sevilla. Pretty sweet!


As with so many buildings in Spain, the Alcazar has sections that are of all different influences. Here, you can see the Arabic style that the Spanish monarch was fond of.


Wonder of wonders! Miracle of miracles! The SUN!!! It exists!!! Quick! Take a photo!


It was positively Heavenly to wander the gardens of the Alcazar in the sunshine.
This is why everyone loves Spain! I understand now!!! :)


Just look at the happiness exploding all around!


Peacock at Alcazar.


Walking around the city, we spotted the Toro de Oro, or tower of gold.
Sorry, don't know anything else about it!


Sitting by the Guadalquivir, watching the world go by...


The clouds begin to roll in. Alas, happiness can't last forever...


Look! A rainbow! God promised Noah he wouldn't flood the entire earth ever again... the sun must come back someday!!! Farewell, Sevilla!

Retro post: Sevilla! (Part 1)

If all goes well by now I am in Italy for Holy Week! So this is a great chance to do some retroactive blogging. (Did you know I can write these in advance and post them later automatically! So cool!) It's completely not-okay that I haven't talked about my trip to Sevilla yet on this blog!

We went to Sevilla with our program, aka we didn't have to pay for anything! Since we're always traveling on a budget otherwise, it was really great to be able to order all the food we wanted, and not have to foot the bill! :)

Highlight of the trip- finding Narnia in my closet!!!

Plaza de Espana- home of the 1929 Spanish- American exhibit? Maybe?
At any rate, enormous, and gorgeous!


Each "state" within Spain has its own little alcove- here I'm sitting in Burgos,
the home of my host family!

Like I said.... really big!


One of the towers of the Plaza.

Please note how Spanish the architecture is- the arches in the distance are traditional to Spanish Muslim architecture, and the white and blue ceramic in the foreground is "azulejos", one of Spain's favorite decorative materials.

One of my friends. The Plaza has everything- even a moat! :)

Still the Plaza de Espana- close-up of some arches.

The Problem of Man in Contemporary Society:

No one has friends as awesome as mine!


So, you may or may not be aware that I took a brief hiatus from being a world-traveler to jet home for a week. If the term "remicade" doesn't mean anything to you, let's just say I went home for a wedding. :)

The POINT is, that this brief trip home was highlighted by an even-briefer trip to school. It was magic! All my super-busy friends, who are always frantically trying to save the world one program at a time, all stopped what they were doing and came to visit me! I should travel abroad more often!

From relaxed meals in the Pryz to just sitting in dorms and chatting, it was really wonderful. Thanks to all of you who etched out time to see me! It really means the world to me, and gave me the encouragement to leave again for (gulp!) five more months!

PS. For those of you who don't know, I'll be back on campus for OM training in early August- party in the city!

Note: These photos are a little blurry, but I love them anyway! Even if it's just a shot of you guys laughing or making a funny face, I've missed you all so much, that I think it's a beautiful thing! If any of you in these photos really hate them let me know and I'll take them down.

My first public drink in the US (yay for being 21!)- "Chastity on the Beach"!

LOVE THIS SHOT. The Nellson eyebrows and RTC's belly-laugh in one shot. Success!

Dear CB- why is the the only shot I have of you???