Today we woke up, finished the reading and typed our summaries in a frantic whirlwind of subpar comprehension and comedic hatred before heading off to the seminar. After our discussion group had finished, I went back to the room to get caught up on some life-maintenance things (reading, relaxing, nutella and jelly sandwich…). I also did my part of our self-assigned studio homework: typing up ¼ of an article on our building in an Italian book so that we can translate it to gain some more knowledge about this clearly fantastic work of architecture. After that I did some readings until we met up as a group to discuss the book before we left to meet up at the school to work on studio for a while!
Once there, we worked for a while on trying to develop our idea from the criticism we got the day before. We ended up making some pretty good progress, and Google translate has played a pretty big role in that, we have been getting pretty good at phrasing sentences so that they transfer well (you would be surprised how much we say makes no sense!). Although we have been getting some pretty fantastic oddities from her, such as “cylinder engine” when she tried to say too much…and the good thing is that we haven’t offended her at all. Our favorite moment was explaining to Jessica and some friends the very subtle differences between “beach” and “a female dog,” which was a blast! After a few hours of pretty solid work, we left the studio, stopped at Eurospin (the grocery store) for some green apple drink, and went home.
We decided to sit down as a group and crank out some diagrammatic digital models and discuss ideas to show to her tomorrow, which went pretty well and I feel pretty confident about our design! Studio in the morning and then free all afternoon!!!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Day 9 (3/30/11)
Today we were free to do whatever we wanted until 3 when we had desk critiques, so of course since we are studying abroad in a fantastically beautiful place, we sat inside and worked on our studio project :(. It was a pretty awesome experience, we ended up using Google translation back and forth to communicate with Jessica, and that worked pretty well. We had many similar ideas based solely on our research, so it was pretty easy to develop it a little bit during that time. After a few hours of that, everyone in the studio got together to head to lunch, and we all started walking back into town.
However, when Jessica and her friend Nelly (her group is the 3 seniors on the trip) heard where we were headed, we went a different way because they said it was bad. So we went to a small area just off of the Piazza de Roma that had a kebob place and a pizza place, and we ate there. My kebob was absolutely amazing! It had all the good stuff plus I got both the yoghurt and the chili sauces on it, a great decision. After we finished eating we stopped at Yoghi’s, a pretty big dessert place. I decided on gelato, (of course) the two flavors were pistachio (it had little pieces in it!) and biscotti with chocolate (also with big chunks!). It was some of the best I have ever had, and only 1.60 euro for a cup big enough for dessert, which was unbelievable.
After we walked back to Piazza Arringo where we were meeting up, we talked to everyone else and realized that Jessica and Nelly were very right (my friend ate hot dogs and cold spinach for lunch…ewwwww) about lunch. We all walked back to studio where we met as a group before dispersing throughout the school to prepare for our desk crits. We had a pretty awesome session of sketching where we unrolled one piece of vellum and just drew away at the same time to prepare. The review was kinda weird, we learned that our ruin was one of the most influential pieces of architecture in Italian history (which we obviously should have known since it was not even finished as designed and 75% of it was demolished almost immediately. Silly us?) and that we had to learn more about it. However they kinda liked a little of what we were doing, but once they left we were a little discouraged. However, Jessica’s teacher came over a little while later and talked to her and then to us, and she loved what we were doing and totally agreed with our approach (guess I should just study here…), so we were much happier then.
After we said goodbye we walked home and stopped at an art supply store and bought some sketchbooks and met another Italian architecture student who knew some people who came from Ohio State last year! After some talking we went to the grocery store where I got the green apple version of the 1.5 liter drink (THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER HAD TO DRINK. EVER!) and walked home.
The rest of the night was spent with, what else, sitting in the room and reading some of the most boring articles ever for our theory seminar tomorrow. Eventually Joe and I got annoyed and went to bed, so I will just finish at the last minute tomorrow morning (the best way to work).
However, when Jessica and her friend Nelly (her group is the 3 seniors on the trip) heard where we were headed, we went a different way because they said it was bad. So we went to a small area just off of the Piazza de Roma that had a kebob place and a pizza place, and we ate there. My kebob was absolutely amazing! It had all the good stuff plus I got both the yoghurt and the chili sauces on it, a great decision. After we finished eating we stopped at Yoghi’s, a pretty big dessert place. I decided on gelato, (of course) the two flavors were pistachio (it had little pieces in it!) and biscotti with chocolate (also with big chunks!). It was some of the best I have ever had, and only 1.60 euro for a cup big enough for dessert, which was unbelievable.
After we walked back to Piazza Arringo where we were meeting up, we talked to everyone else and realized that Jessica and Nelly were very right (my friend ate hot dogs and cold spinach for lunch…ewwwww) about lunch. We all walked back to studio where we met as a group before dispersing throughout the school to prepare for our desk crits. We had a pretty awesome session of sketching where we unrolled one piece of vellum and just drew away at the same time to prepare. The review was kinda weird, we learned that our ruin was one of the most influential pieces of architecture in Italian history (which we obviously should have known since it was not even finished as designed and 75% of it was demolished almost immediately. Silly us?) and that we had to learn more about it. However they kinda liked a little of what we were doing, but once they left we were a little discouraged. However, Jessica’s teacher came over a little while later and talked to her and then to us, and she loved what we were doing and totally agreed with our approach (guess I should just study here…), so we were much happier then.
After we said goodbye we walked home and stopped at an art supply store and bought some sketchbooks and met another Italian architecture student who knew some people who came from Ohio State last year! After some talking we went to the grocery store where I got the green apple version of the 1.5 liter drink (THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER HAD TO DRINK. EVER!) and walked home.
The rest of the night was spent with, what else, sitting in the room and reading some of the most boring articles ever for our theory seminar tomorrow. Eventually Joe and I got annoyed and went to bed, so I will just finish at the last minute tomorrow morning (the best way to work).
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Day 8 (3/29/11)
Today we woke up around 8 to head down for our breakfast. It was fantastic, much sweeter than I am used to; I had a custard-filled croissant with Nutella and strawberry jam, some fantastic juice that I think was mango, a roll or two and little toasted bread-chip-cracker-things. After breakfast we met together and talked about our classes that we will be taking and the way that everything will work before we went out on a group walk.
Our walk took us to Forte Malatesta, a pretty large fort that was built in 1349 along the river that circles the city. It was originally the site of Roman Baths, but after its destruction it was rebuilt by Lord Malatesta (called “the jailbird” because he used the fort to avoid persecution for his tyranny) in order to be safe. It was designed using new ideas for wall construction and design to prevent against projectiles, so the walls are extremely thick and they angle out at the bottom so that it is stronger at the level of the attackers. An interesting feature is how the windows work: they are very narrow slits that angle back as the hole of the window punches through the massive wall. They are placed almost entirely at strategic vantage points rather than scenic views, as they were used for defense instead of pleasure. The angle allows a sentry to point a gun through the opening while remaining a very small target to invaders. After it was finally captured and Malatesta was dispatched, an architect was commissioned to utilize the remains in the design of a church. Finished in 1550ish, it has remained in this state as a church, barracks, and up until 1978 (before it became a landmark and art museum) a prison.
After we had explored the fort/church we set off into the city, where we explored many of the smaller, back alley streets through the city. This was an exercise in getting off the main streets (Cardo and Decumanus were the North/South and East/West axis of every Roman camp, and these remain in the plan of most cities today, including Ascoli Piceno), since most of the fun things to see besides the main monuments are hidden in the dense fabric of the area. After a good amount of walking, we were asked to find our location, and using my glorious male ability to always know where I am, randomly pointed to the correct spot.
From there we walked back to the main piazza (del Popolo) where we dispersed to grab lunch. A group of us took some more back streets until we found the best pizza place around: Pizza One-Way. A slice of cheese (margherita) is 1 euro (about $1.50) and a slice of anything else (I had a slice with French fries and hot dog!) is 1.5 euro. Pretty amazing since the pieces are about twice the width (only have the thickness :\) of normal pieces. After lunch we met back up to head to the school where we will be meeting for studio.
The walk up is all uphill, and involves some fantastically tricky steps, but the view on top is unbelievable and totally worth it! Once inside we got a preview of the project and got into groups. The project regards taking ruins of 60s Italian architecture (Aldo Rossi is my personal favorite if anyone is interested, his redefinition of the city has been a great influence everywhere, although barely any of his work was built) and the way in which we can refold them into modern architectural society, whether this means renovation, expansion, or just building around them. The students we are studying with (the groups are made up of 5 people, either 4 of us and 1 of them or 3 and 2) have been doing research on these buildings since January, so we have some catching up to do. Anyway, each group is responsible for a very fast (our review is next Thursday. YIKES!) proposal of what we would like to do based on the original design, its flaws (since it is now a ruin, obviously something didn’t work), and its current use. Our building is the Casa dello Studente a Chieti by Georgio Grassi, an architect who influenced Rossi heavily. The original design is interesting, and of the four buildings (2 dorms, and two others), only 3 were built and only 2 remain (one dorm building that is empty and one other that has been turned into a cafeteria). The project will be pretty fun, especially with the language barrier, and I will keep you all posted regularly.
After some awkward hand gestures and broken English/made-up Italian (and possibly some Spanish) words from us, we had worked out a plan. A large group of us went downstairs to the café to continue to talk, which is where we learned that Ohio is somewhere the Italian students would love to go (right after LA, NYC and Miami it seems), while they think Ascoli Piceno is awful…we tried to convince them that they were sadly mistaken. Anyway, after a while we walked to a grocery store to pick up some supplies (nutella and mixed-berry sandwiches and a 1.5 liter orange soda [55 cents] for dinner!) and headed home. After dinner we chilled, and later our group is meeting to start working on ideas for studio!
As a heads up, my schedule is kinda random throughout the week, since we are working with “Italian Time” which means whenever we want to do something, we do. We also have no scheduled classes apart from random discussions or desk crits. All this means that if you want to talk (I will be subscribing to Skype so I can call landlines and cell phones from my computer!!!!) just shoot me an email and we can work out a time!
Our walk took us to Forte Malatesta, a pretty large fort that was built in 1349 along the river that circles the city. It was originally the site of Roman Baths, but after its destruction it was rebuilt by Lord Malatesta (called “the jailbird” because he used the fort to avoid persecution for his tyranny) in order to be safe. It was designed using new ideas for wall construction and design to prevent against projectiles, so the walls are extremely thick and they angle out at the bottom so that it is stronger at the level of the attackers. An interesting feature is how the windows work: they are very narrow slits that angle back as the hole of the window punches through the massive wall. They are placed almost entirely at strategic vantage points rather than scenic views, as they were used for defense instead of pleasure. The angle allows a sentry to point a gun through the opening while remaining a very small target to invaders. After it was finally captured and Malatesta was dispatched, an architect was commissioned to utilize the remains in the design of a church. Finished in 1550ish, it has remained in this state as a church, barracks, and up until 1978 (before it became a landmark and art museum) a prison.
After we had explored the fort/church we set off into the city, where we explored many of the smaller, back alley streets through the city. This was an exercise in getting off the main streets (Cardo and Decumanus were the North/South and East/West axis of every Roman camp, and these remain in the plan of most cities today, including Ascoli Piceno), since most of the fun things to see besides the main monuments are hidden in the dense fabric of the area. After a good amount of walking, we were asked to find our location, and using my glorious male ability to always know where I am, randomly pointed to the correct spot.
From there we walked back to the main piazza (del Popolo) where we dispersed to grab lunch. A group of us took some more back streets until we found the best pizza place around: Pizza One-Way. A slice of cheese (margherita) is 1 euro (about $1.50) and a slice of anything else (I had a slice with French fries and hot dog!) is 1.5 euro. Pretty amazing since the pieces are about twice the width (only have the thickness :\) of normal pieces. After lunch we met back up to head to the school where we will be meeting for studio.
The walk up is all uphill, and involves some fantastically tricky steps, but the view on top is unbelievable and totally worth it! Once inside we got a preview of the project and got into groups. The project regards taking ruins of 60s Italian architecture (Aldo Rossi is my personal favorite if anyone is interested, his redefinition of the city has been a great influence everywhere, although barely any of his work was built) and the way in which we can refold them into modern architectural society, whether this means renovation, expansion, or just building around them. The students we are studying with (the groups are made up of 5 people, either 4 of us and 1 of them or 3 and 2) have been doing research on these buildings since January, so we have some catching up to do. Anyway, each group is responsible for a very fast (our review is next Thursday. YIKES!) proposal of what we would like to do based on the original design, its flaws (since it is now a ruin, obviously something didn’t work), and its current use. Our building is the Casa dello Studente a Chieti by Georgio Grassi, an architect who influenced Rossi heavily. The original design is interesting, and of the four buildings (2 dorms, and two others), only 3 were built and only 2 remain (one dorm building that is empty and one other that has been turned into a cafeteria). The project will be pretty fun, especially with the language barrier, and I will keep you all posted regularly.
After some awkward hand gestures and broken English/made-up Italian (and possibly some Spanish) words from us, we had worked out a plan. A large group of us went downstairs to the café to continue to talk, which is where we learned that Ohio is somewhere the Italian students would love to go (right after LA, NYC and Miami it seems), while they think Ascoli Piceno is awful…we tried to convince them that they were sadly mistaken. Anyway, after a while we walked to a grocery store to pick up some supplies (nutella and mixed-berry sandwiches and a 1.5 liter orange soda [55 cents] for dinner!) and headed home. After dinner we chilled, and later our group is meeting to start working on ideas for studio!
As a heads up, my schedule is kinda random throughout the week, since we are working with “Italian Time” which means whenever we want to do something, we do. We also have no scheduled classes apart from random discussions or desk crits. All this means that if you want to talk (I will be subscribing to Skype so I can call landlines and cell phones from my computer!!!!) just shoot me an email and we can work out a time!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Day 7 (3/28/11)
Today we woke up (late) to go grab some last minute free breakfast (much less good than London…) and repacked our lives. We then checked out of the amazing hostel and took our taxi ride to the meeting point on top of Geniculum Hill where our bus would arrive to take us to Ascoli Piceno. When we got there we walked around and looked at the stunning views out to the city from the hill, as well as the pretty awesome stuff on top. After a while the whole group had assembled and we were on our way!!
The ride was pretty awesome, bus drivers in crowded cities like Rome are boss (but scary at the same time), there was tons of amazing landscape to be seen; from countless olive tree farms to giant cliffs and precariously placed cities to the greenest, most beautiful water I have ever seen, the trip had it all. I also got a good bit of reading and napping done, so it was a fantastic trip! Once we got there, we dropped our stuff off in our rooms, which are unbelievable! There are two of us per room with our own bathroom and a TV!
From there we took a walk down the hill and into the city where we got to see some of the sights and get oriented with the place where we will be spending the next few weeks. We got to see three different piazzas, a few churched, and a bunch of restaurants. There is also a supermarket so that we can buy food to cook at the hotel!
After a few hours of walking we came back to the hotel and went to dinner at a great restaurant called Mr. OK, which is right next door. Dinner was fantastic, we had fried green olives (the size of cad berry eggs almost!) stuffed with cheese and some kind of meat, fried mozzarella, and fried zucchini for appetizers, all were absolutely amazing (I know, even the olives!!!!) For dinner we had pasta, which I believe, was carbonara, and this time Italy beat London haha. For dessert we had a sampler of 3 types of gelato, none of which I could identify but all of which were fantastic!!!
After a great dinner we came back and settled in to our apartments before heading to bed, class tomorrow!!!!
The ride was pretty awesome, bus drivers in crowded cities like Rome are boss (but scary at the same time), there was tons of amazing landscape to be seen; from countless olive tree farms to giant cliffs and precariously placed cities to the greenest, most beautiful water I have ever seen, the trip had it all. I also got a good bit of reading and napping done, so it was a fantastic trip! Once we got there, we dropped our stuff off in our rooms, which are unbelievable! There are two of us per room with our own bathroom and a TV!
From there we took a walk down the hill and into the city where we got to see some of the sights and get oriented with the place where we will be spending the next few weeks. We got to see three different piazzas, a few churched, and a bunch of restaurants. There is also a supermarket so that we can buy food to cook at the hotel!
After a few hours of walking we came back to the hotel and went to dinner at a great restaurant called Mr. OK, which is right next door. Dinner was fantastic, we had fried green olives (the size of cad berry eggs almost!) stuffed with cheese and some kind of meat, fried mozzarella, and fried zucchini for appetizers, all were absolutely amazing (I know, even the olives!!!!) For dinner we had pasta, which I believe, was carbonara, and this time Italy beat London haha. For dessert we had a sampler of 3 types of gelato, none of which I could identify but all of which were fantastic!!!
After a great dinner we came back and settled in to our apartments before heading to bed, class tomorrow!!!!
Day 6 (3/27/11)
Today we woke up bright and early a 5 so we could be the first in line to drop our bags off and get through society. After going through all that mess, we found some very comfortable couches where we slept till our gate was posted. This was a dangerous maneuver, as we only woke up in time to walk over and get ready to board! The flight was another semi-empty one; I had my own aisle seat/window seat combo again! Unfortunately there was the most obnoxious little kid on the flight; he just sat there screaming nonsense at his parents while they chuckled and did other stuff. I slept for the entire flight except for the times when I could hear the yelling through my music…ugh. However it was a glorious power nap and I was refreshed and ready to go when we got to the Rome.
We got off the plane and took a train to the baggage area, and from there went to exchange some money. After we were all set we took a real train from the airport into Termini station, which was cool and surprising at the same time. The landscape was what I expected, but the rag-tag assortment of houses and the amount of graffiti everywhere was much different than what I had pictured. Nevertheless, we got off the train and walked a few blocks to our hostel!
The hostel is absolutely amazing; it is very pretty on the inside and extremely clean! After paying and storing our luggage, we set off for lunch across the street at Alfredo’s. We got complementary champagne, which tasted fantastic, and I ordered the spaghetti carbonara, so I could compare it to the meal from London. It was very good, but I actually thing it was better in London; but that doesn’t matter because it was official here! After dinner we walked around the city and saw some pretty cool stuff. First were ruins of an ancient fountain complex that had been taken over by cats (KITTTTYYYYYY!), and next we stopped to look at the Coliseum and the square around it. After we enjoyed the sun and the view for a while we walked back home, stopping once to see Santa Maria Maggiore, which we will have to go back to because it was beautiful.
Finally we made it back to the hostel where we met up with the rest of the group that is staying here (15 of us in two rooms). After unpacking and getting my life in order I took the most amazing shower ever! I could think that because of the 2 days since the last one, or because of the 2 square feet of cold shower we had in London, but I’m not sure… Anyway, after that I sat down to type these up until we decided on dinner!
For dinner we decided to head over to a small pizza place, which was pretty great. We are starting to adjust to the concept of time here; everything is much more relaxed and slowed down than we are used to, to the point where we sat around after dinner for so long we had to ask a random waitress for our check. But its ok, I enjoy the pace and I enjoy the atmosphere here, everyone just likes to chill and have fun. Anyway after dinner we walked home, repacked and went to bed!
We got off the plane and took a train to the baggage area, and from there went to exchange some money. After we were all set we took a real train from the airport into Termini station, which was cool and surprising at the same time. The landscape was what I expected, but the rag-tag assortment of houses and the amount of graffiti everywhere was much different than what I had pictured. Nevertheless, we got off the train and walked a few blocks to our hostel!
The hostel is absolutely amazing; it is very pretty on the inside and extremely clean! After paying and storing our luggage, we set off for lunch across the street at Alfredo’s. We got complementary champagne, which tasted fantastic, and I ordered the spaghetti carbonara, so I could compare it to the meal from London. It was very good, but I actually thing it was better in London; but that doesn’t matter because it was official here! After dinner we walked around the city and saw some pretty cool stuff. First were ruins of an ancient fountain complex that had been taken over by cats (KITTTTYYYYYY!), and next we stopped to look at the Coliseum and the square around it. After we enjoyed the sun and the view for a while we walked back home, stopping once to see Santa Maria Maggiore, which we will have to go back to because it was beautiful.
Finally we made it back to the hostel where we met up with the rest of the group that is staying here (15 of us in two rooms). After unpacking and getting my life in order I took the most amazing shower ever! I could think that because of the 2 days since the last one, or because of the 2 square feet of cold shower we had in London, but I’m not sure… Anyway, after that I sat down to type these up until we decided on dinner!
For dinner we decided to head over to a small pizza place, which was pretty great. We are starting to adjust to the concept of time here; everything is much more relaxed and slowed down than we are used to, to the point where we sat around after dinner for so long we had to ask a random waitress for our check. But its ok, I enjoy the pace and I enjoy the atmosphere here, everyone just likes to chill and have fun. Anyway after dinner we walked home, repacked and went to bed!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Day 5 (3/26/11)
Today we started with a Tube ride out to the National Theatre. It had a fantastic exterior; with concrete that was so fantastic that it took on the appearance of the wood formwork to the point that I had to feel the walls sometimes just to check. Unfortunately we couldn’t get in because it wasn’t open, so we walked along the Thames and through the most eerily empty district; it could have been in I Am Legend! After escaping that area we found the Tate Modern, a fantastic gallery designed by Herzog & de Meuron (one of my favorite firms) from the shell of an abandoned power plant. A highlight was being asked by a British Citizen where the front entrance was, to which I chuckled and told him I should be asking him that question (especially since we couldn’t find it either). We then walked across the Millennium Bridge, which was pretty great and had great views to St. Paul’s Cathedral. Unfortunately (or fortunately) we couldn’t make it shake since there were only four of us walking together.
Once we got to the other side we took the Tube to the National Gallery, which was another quick stop that could have lasted for hours. Some of the great paintings I saw (if you wanted to see them) were Cognoscenti in a Room Hung with Pictures (paintings within a painting…Inception?), Dido Building Carthage or The Rise of the Carthaginian Empire, and Winter Landscape by Friedrick.
From there we went to Stephen Wiltshire’s Gallery. Stephen is a savant who has the most unbelievable talent for drawing, mostly from memory. His most famous works are 5-meter drawings of cities such as Rome, Paris, London and New York done after a single helicopter ride over them. He accuracy is scary good and his work is just unbelievable. If you guys have a chance, there is a great YouTube video of him creating one of these drawings. Unfortunately, the gallery was closed…so salty. So for comfort we went to McDonalds. Little did we know that it was the classiest and nicest McDonalds EVER! It puts the main New York one to shame. We even got to play Monopoly, I won porridge! After taking a picture of the interior and getting the evil eye for it, we embarked on an eventful walk to the Tube station. We walked alongside a massive rally against the current job cuts that was marching through the streets with bagpipes and extremely annoying horns (like Vuvuzelas on steroids).
Next up was the Royal Institute of British Architecture. It had a great and expansive exhibition of Adolph Loos, a pretty good architect who specialized in focusing on the comforts of home and the way we interact with our dwellings. He did this through excellent materiality, highly detailed woodwork, great colors and custom furniture. The Institute also had an amazing bookstore, filled with monographs of every architect I know and just as many that I don’t as well as books on theory, green design. Even the textbooks for our Structures and Construction classes were there!
When we left the Institute we split up and Richard and I walked to Foyle’s bookstore (voted UK’s best in 2010). The walk involved running the gauntlet through another rally, but this one was much angrier and scarier (no bagpipes). We looked through the huge expanse of books, and I checked out the Harry Potter books-the covers are very cool and featured images of the main props from the movies like the Sorcerers Stone or the actual Goblet of Fire. From there we caught the train out to the King’s Cross and St. Pancras Stations.
St. Pancras was unbelievably gorgeous; it had a classical Gothic façade outside with a massive steel and glass structure inside. It had been renovated recently and decked out for the Olympics so it looked great! King’s Cross, on the other hand, looked miserable. It was dark, dirty, and in the process of renovation (I'm not sure how much better it would have looked without it though…). But, we were able to find Platform 9 ¾!!!!!!!! Sadly, this was another disappointment. It was just a picture of a brick wall applied like wallpaper to a service tunnel between the two platforms. There was half of a luggage cart stuck in the wall, which was a little cool and a lot cheesy. However, it was still exciting just to be there!
Next we took the Tube out to Greenwich and the Prime Meridian. When we got to the station we walked through town, which was very neat, and passed the Royal Maritime Museum. We walked up a gigantic and steep hill up to the Royal Observatory where we met back up with Joe and Josh, took a picture with the Prime Meridian (meh?) and walked around through gardens and parking lots. Next we hiked back down into town where we ate at a fish and chips place that has been serving food since 1770! We got shoebox-sized meals, which I thought were still not quite as good as the takeout on day two, but the shear amount of food made that irrelevant. Once we could move we stopped in a candy shoppe and took the tube home!
Once home we packed up and dragged ourselves to the airport via Tube. The reason we came out here so early was because out passes for public transportation expired tonight and we needed a sure-fire way to get here. The airport is amazing, besides the pretty awesome structural design, the fact that we are almost alone here allows for awesome pictures of an empty airport. We even stood in the middle of the entry road to take a picture! So that brings us to our current situation: we are chilling at a café in the airport for the night, and I am sitting here cranking these out! I will finish them all tonight along with some reading and sleep! Then it’s on to Rome at 7:00 AM!!!!!!!
Once we got to the other side we took the Tube to the National Gallery, which was another quick stop that could have lasted for hours. Some of the great paintings I saw (if you wanted to see them) were Cognoscenti in a Room Hung with Pictures (paintings within a painting…Inception?), Dido Building Carthage or The Rise of the Carthaginian Empire, and Winter Landscape by Friedrick.
From there we went to Stephen Wiltshire’s Gallery. Stephen is a savant who has the most unbelievable talent for drawing, mostly from memory. His most famous works are 5-meter drawings of cities such as Rome, Paris, London and New York done after a single helicopter ride over them. He accuracy is scary good and his work is just unbelievable. If you guys have a chance, there is a great YouTube video of him creating one of these drawings. Unfortunately, the gallery was closed…so salty. So for comfort we went to McDonalds. Little did we know that it was the classiest and nicest McDonalds EVER! It puts the main New York one to shame. We even got to play Monopoly, I won porridge! After taking a picture of the interior and getting the evil eye for it, we embarked on an eventful walk to the Tube station. We walked alongside a massive rally against the current job cuts that was marching through the streets with bagpipes and extremely annoying horns (like Vuvuzelas on steroids).
Next up was the Royal Institute of British Architecture. It had a great and expansive exhibition of Adolph Loos, a pretty good architect who specialized in focusing on the comforts of home and the way we interact with our dwellings. He did this through excellent materiality, highly detailed woodwork, great colors and custom furniture. The Institute also had an amazing bookstore, filled with monographs of every architect I know and just as many that I don’t as well as books on theory, green design. Even the textbooks for our Structures and Construction classes were there!
When we left the Institute we split up and Richard and I walked to Foyle’s bookstore (voted UK’s best in 2010). The walk involved running the gauntlet through another rally, but this one was much angrier and scarier (no bagpipes). We looked through the huge expanse of books, and I checked out the Harry Potter books-the covers are very cool and featured images of the main props from the movies like the Sorcerers Stone or the actual Goblet of Fire. From there we caught the train out to the King’s Cross and St. Pancras Stations.
St. Pancras was unbelievably gorgeous; it had a classical Gothic façade outside with a massive steel and glass structure inside. It had been renovated recently and decked out for the Olympics so it looked great! King’s Cross, on the other hand, looked miserable. It was dark, dirty, and in the process of renovation (I'm not sure how much better it would have looked without it though…). But, we were able to find Platform 9 ¾!!!!!!!! Sadly, this was another disappointment. It was just a picture of a brick wall applied like wallpaper to a service tunnel between the two platforms. There was half of a luggage cart stuck in the wall, which was a little cool and a lot cheesy. However, it was still exciting just to be there!
Next we took the Tube out to Greenwich and the Prime Meridian. When we got to the station we walked through town, which was very neat, and passed the Royal Maritime Museum. We walked up a gigantic and steep hill up to the Royal Observatory where we met back up with Joe and Josh, took a picture with the Prime Meridian (meh?) and walked around through gardens and parking lots. Next we hiked back down into town where we ate at a fish and chips place that has been serving food since 1770! We got shoebox-sized meals, which I thought were still not quite as good as the takeout on day two, but the shear amount of food made that irrelevant. Once we could move we stopped in a candy shoppe and took the tube home!
Once home we packed up and dragged ourselves to the airport via Tube. The reason we came out here so early was because out passes for public transportation expired tonight and we needed a sure-fire way to get here. The airport is amazing, besides the pretty awesome structural design, the fact that we are almost alone here allows for awesome pictures of an empty airport. We even stood in the middle of the entry road to take a picture! So that brings us to our current situation: we are chilling at a café in the airport for the night, and I am sitting here cranking these out! I will finish them all tonight along with some reading and sleep! Then it’s on to Rome at 7:00 AM!!!!!!!
Day 4 (3/25/11)
Today after breakfast we took the Tube out to St. Stephen Walbrook’s Church. It was built just after the Great Fire by Sir Christopher Wren (he built basically every church that exists in London). It had a beautiful interior space that had a very personal and intimate feel. There was also a stone altarpiece that both created a distinct centrality within while emphasizing circular unity around. We even got to hear the organist practicing which was pretty cool, but the best part was getting to be there alone since we were the first people there.
From there we walked to St. Paul’s Cathedral, and on the way we saw an absolutely horrible modernist building (a redundant description but it requires the extra emphasis) that looked like a submarine/battleship building dressed like Waldo. We also got to see the Temple of Mithras (built in the 2nd century AD) that had been discovered during the construction of a foundation and subsequently raised up 18 feet to sit at street level.
Once we got to St. Paul’s we got to explore the many absolutely fantastic spaces (no pictures allowed inside so please look it up!) and revel in the overwhelming scale and sublime detail of the decorations. After circling the entire main floor, we took 257 of the most awkward and frustrating circle stairs up to the Whispering Gallery which sat at the base of the rotunda and allowed great views down into the main space. From here we took another 119 steps up to the Stone Gallery, which was an exterior ring that allowed for views out to the city (obstructed by a giant stone railing though…). Finally, after 200 of the tightest and narrowest stairs imaginable we arrived at the Golden Gallery, which circled the very top of the rotunda and provided amazing views all over. We believe that it is the tallest non-skyscraper point in the city!
After the horrifyingly long journey down we walked to the Christchurch Greyfriars Garden, which was a fantastic shell of an old church (Wren of course!) that had been destroyed and subsequently turned into a public garden. The various plant features referenced the pews, columns and aisles in plan of the original. Very cool!! This space is one of several church developments and part of a series of 150 public spaces that the government takes care of.
From there we walked through Lincoln’s Field Park to John Soane’s House and Museum. The museum was actually his residence where he collected and displaced countless artifacts from all over the world and all through time. If I had to describe it, I would tell you to picture a wall, and have that wall covered with so many paintings, sculptures, statues, etc. that the wall is no longer visible. Now build a 3-storey house out of those walls. There were even artifacts on the ceilings!! The high point for me was the authentic Egyptian sarcophagus in the basement (it had to be lowered down by crane!).
After a good deal of careful exploration we wandered around the area searching for food. Eventually we stopped at a small café where we had teeny tiny little sandwiches (mine had pastrami and jarlesberg* cheese-very tasty!). From there we walked to the British Museum, which was absolutely massive and would have required a whole day just to see it all once. So instead we picked a few things like the Rosetta Stone (which we finally saw after surviving the mob of Asian tourists…), Egyptian relics with hieroglyphs, pieces of the Parthenon (which we will go to in Italy!!!!), and Easter Island Head, and 6 of the Pieces of 8.
From there we walked to Regents Park via Fleet Street (no Johnny Depp…) and Oxford Street (the Soane’s House of streets). We saw the new BBC building, which was pretty cool, but we got yelled at for taking pictures. The park was unbelievable massive, filled with many different types of spaces: from gardens with a ton of different plants to open green spaces to ponds and rivers. Walking through this emphasized one of my favorite parts of London: the amount of green space available combined with the amount that they are used compared to the USA. We walked around there (got lost) for a good while before finally escaping and took the Tube out to Hampstead.
Hampstead was a very hilly and affluent area that was gloriously removed from the jam-packed streets and tourist traps of the city. From the station we took the long walk to a pub that our theory teacher recommended called Spaniards (built circa 1585). It was a fantastic, small, un-touristy spot with amazing food. I tried some Hard Cider and London’s Pride Ale; both were pretty good! The food was true British, my meal was Pulled Beef Brisket Cottage Pie topped with Celeriae and Horseradish Mash. It was ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVABLE!!! For desert I had a Plum, Raspberry and Frangipane Tart with Custard-also unbelievable. After we finished we embarked on the long and pleasantly full walk and Tube ride home.
From there we walked to St. Paul’s Cathedral, and on the way we saw an absolutely horrible modernist building (a redundant description but it requires the extra emphasis) that looked like a submarine/battleship building dressed like Waldo. We also got to see the Temple of Mithras (built in the 2nd century AD) that had been discovered during the construction of a foundation and subsequently raised up 18 feet to sit at street level.
Once we got to St. Paul’s we got to explore the many absolutely fantastic spaces (no pictures allowed inside so please look it up!) and revel in the overwhelming scale and sublime detail of the decorations. After circling the entire main floor, we took 257 of the most awkward and frustrating circle stairs up to the Whispering Gallery which sat at the base of the rotunda and allowed great views down into the main space. From here we took another 119 steps up to the Stone Gallery, which was an exterior ring that allowed for views out to the city (obstructed by a giant stone railing though…). Finally, after 200 of the tightest and narrowest stairs imaginable we arrived at the Golden Gallery, which circled the very top of the rotunda and provided amazing views all over. We believe that it is the tallest non-skyscraper point in the city!
After the horrifyingly long journey down we walked to the Christchurch Greyfriars Garden, which was a fantastic shell of an old church (Wren of course!) that had been destroyed and subsequently turned into a public garden. The various plant features referenced the pews, columns and aisles in plan of the original. Very cool!! This space is one of several church developments and part of a series of 150 public spaces that the government takes care of.
From there we walked through Lincoln’s Field Park to John Soane’s House and Museum. The museum was actually his residence where he collected and displaced countless artifacts from all over the world and all through time. If I had to describe it, I would tell you to picture a wall, and have that wall covered with so many paintings, sculptures, statues, etc. that the wall is no longer visible. Now build a 3-storey house out of those walls. There were even artifacts on the ceilings!! The high point for me was the authentic Egyptian sarcophagus in the basement (it had to be lowered down by crane!).
After a good deal of careful exploration we wandered around the area searching for food. Eventually we stopped at a small café where we had teeny tiny little sandwiches (mine had pastrami and jarlesberg* cheese-very tasty!). From there we walked to the British Museum, which was absolutely massive and would have required a whole day just to see it all once. So instead we picked a few things like the Rosetta Stone (which we finally saw after surviving the mob of Asian tourists…), Egyptian relics with hieroglyphs, pieces of the Parthenon (which we will go to in Italy!!!!), and Easter Island Head, and 6 of the Pieces of 8.
From there we walked to Regents Park via Fleet Street (no Johnny Depp…) and Oxford Street (the Soane’s House of streets). We saw the new BBC building, which was pretty cool, but we got yelled at for taking pictures. The park was unbelievable massive, filled with many different types of spaces: from gardens with a ton of different plants to open green spaces to ponds and rivers. Walking through this emphasized one of my favorite parts of London: the amount of green space available combined with the amount that they are used compared to the USA. We walked around there (got lost) for a good while before finally escaping and took the Tube out to Hampstead.
Hampstead was a very hilly and affluent area that was gloriously removed from the jam-packed streets and tourist traps of the city. From the station we took the long walk to a pub that our theory teacher recommended called Spaniards (built circa 1585). It was a fantastic, small, un-touristy spot with amazing food. I tried some Hard Cider and London’s Pride Ale; both were pretty good! The food was true British, my meal was Pulled Beef Brisket Cottage Pie topped with Celeriae and Horseradish Mash. It was ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVABLE!!! For desert I had a Plum, Raspberry and Frangipane Tart with Custard-also unbelievable. After we finished we embarked on the long and pleasantly full walk and Tube ride home.
Day 3 (3/24/11)
Today we woke up bright and early and got some great free breakfast (coco crispies and toast) before we left for the Tube. Today we went out to the London Tower where we walked around for a good while. Before we got there we stopped at a pretty fantastic Navy/Merchants Memorial as well as the Trinity Building; also known as Poseidon’s Lair (according to us) because of the absolutely gigantic statue standing in it.
From there we walked to the Tower (please note that it is in fact much more than a tower, I would call it London Castle…). We started by walking around the remains of the outer wall where there were many small exhibits as well as awesome statues. From there we moved down into the main courtyard where we got to see the various smaller buildings and the remnants of the inner wall. The main part of the castle (the original “tower”) houses multiple levels of arms and armor exhibits. There we saw the world’s largest suit of armor (6’8”!!!!!) and a sword that was taller than me. My favorite part was seeing the toilets that emptied directly into the courtyard below…yikes!!! After that we went to the Crown Jewel exhibit which had all kinds of gaudy British nonsense like the “Coronation Spoon” and a tub-sized solid gold punch bowl with a ladle that had to have been made from an entire tusk’s worth of ivory.
After we finished up there we left the tower where we found a very cool complex of buildings with a giant glass atrium connecting them. Unfortunately we were yelled at for taking pictures again so we had to scurry away. After that we explored All Hallows Church (no Harry Potter though…) that had a pretty amazing crypt exhibit with a fantastic sanctuary church as well as remnants of an original street from Roman times.
From there we found a small fish and chips place that was half the price and twice the good of the fish and chips we had yesterday at the “nice” restaurant. Next we walked along the Thames to the Tower Bridge exhibit where we got to see engine rooms as well as amazing views of the city from the very top. Once we finished there we walked along a back street where we found a pretty fantastic little secret staircase down into the Thames. The street we walked on had amazing bridges crisscrossing overhead all over the place, left from when it used to be a spice market area. On that street we found a small little bakery where I had some amazing Blueberry Chantilly. We ate our dessert on the waterfront before heading to the Design Museum.
There we checked out a pretty cool exhibit on new developments in technology, architecture, art, and science (one cool thing was a drink developed by Google that makes your poo change colors when the first signs of dangerous diseases like cancer are released by your body; this would aid in rapid responses and earlier recognitions). But the best part was running into Doug Graf, our theory professor, completely by chance. We talked for a while and he gave us some tips on good places to see and eat, which was amazing!
After we finished there we walked a little ways to their new City Hall and the surrounding square and complex of fantastic buildings. There was also a pretty amazing café made out of wood that had been layered vertically to create a sort of topographic estimation of curves, which seemed to reference the many curved buildings in the area. There was also a pretty great water feature that ran the length of the complex, very similar to that of the Salk Institute by Louis Kahn (which I urge you all to look at, it is one of my favorites of all time).
After we left the square we walked to Lloyd’s Building which was an amazing example of the style of architecture made famous by Renzo Piano where the structure and the support systems like HVAC and piping are exposed on the outside, leading to a fantastic sci-fi mechanical look. Next we saw the most famous (sadly) of London’s new buildings: The Gherkin. While I appreciate the look that it has and the juxtaposition of its massive steel and glass composition with the stone and brick buildings around it, I cannot allow myself to endorse a gigantic and misplace Faberge egg shaped like a you-know-what. However, Sylvia Lavin wrote one of my favorite articles on architectural theory about it, so it isn’t all-bad.
Next up was a quick trip through Leadenhall Market, which was pretty great, and a trip to The Monument, which was interesting not only because of its simple name but the way it was jammed in a tiny square between buildings. We ended up wandering around this area for a long time looking (and not finding) for St. Stephen Wallbrook’s Church. When we finally did find it we couldn’t get in, so we walked to St. Paul’s Cathedral. To our chagrin it was also closed, so we sat on the steps and relaxed while we watched the double-decker busses zoom through the very busy square in front. Our last adventure of the day was to Tempio, an Italian restaurant (we just couldn’t wait!). I had the spaghetti carbonara, which was fantastic! From there we walked about 3 miles home along the river where we saw the National Theatre and other buildings around it all lit up. When we finally made it home, we collapsed from another great and exhausting day!
From there we walked to the Tower (please note that it is in fact much more than a tower, I would call it London Castle…). We started by walking around the remains of the outer wall where there were many small exhibits as well as awesome statues. From there we moved down into the main courtyard where we got to see the various smaller buildings and the remnants of the inner wall. The main part of the castle (the original “tower”) houses multiple levels of arms and armor exhibits. There we saw the world’s largest suit of armor (6’8”!!!!!) and a sword that was taller than me. My favorite part was seeing the toilets that emptied directly into the courtyard below…yikes!!! After that we went to the Crown Jewel exhibit which had all kinds of gaudy British nonsense like the “Coronation Spoon” and a tub-sized solid gold punch bowl with a ladle that had to have been made from an entire tusk’s worth of ivory.
After we finished up there we left the tower where we found a very cool complex of buildings with a giant glass atrium connecting them. Unfortunately we were yelled at for taking pictures again so we had to scurry away. After that we explored All Hallows Church (no Harry Potter though…) that had a pretty amazing crypt exhibit with a fantastic sanctuary church as well as remnants of an original street from Roman times.
From there we found a small fish and chips place that was half the price and twice the good of the fish and chips we had yesterday at the “nice” restaurant. Next we walked along the Thames to the Tower Bridge exhibit where we got to see engine rooms as well as amazing views of the city from the very top. Once we finished there we walked along a back street where we found a pretty fantastic little secret staircase down into the Thames. The street we walked on had amazing bridges crisscrossing overhead all over the place, left from when it used to be a spice market area. On that street we found a small little bakery where I had some amazing Blueberry Chantilly. We ate our dessert on the waterfront before heading to the Design Museum.
There we checked out a pretty cool exhibit on new developments in technology, architecture, art, and science (one cool thing was a drink developed by Google that makes your poo change colors when the first signs of dangerous diseases like cancer are released by your body; this would aid in rapid responses and earlier recognitions). But the best part was running into Doug Graf, our theory professor, completely by chance. We talked for a while and he gave us some tips on good places to see and eat, which was amazing!
After we finished there we walked a little ways to their new City Hall and the surrounding square and complex of fantastic buildings. There was also a pretty amazing café made out of wood that had been layered vertically to create a sort of topographic estimation of curves, which seemed to reference the many curved buildings in the area. There was also a pretty great water feature that ran the length of the complex, very similar to that of the Salk Institute by Louis Kahn (which I urge you all to look at, it is one of my favorites of all time).
After we left the square we walked to Lloyd’s Building which was an amazing example of the style of architecture made famous by Renzo Piano where the structure and the support systems like HVAC and piping are exposed on the outside, leading to a fantastic sci-fi mechanical look. Next we saw the most famous (sadly) of London’s new buildings: The Gherkin. While I appreciate the look that it has and the juxtaposition of its massive steel and glass composition with the stone and brick buildings around it, I cannot allow myself to endorse a gigantic and misplace Faberge egg shaped like a you-know-what. However, Sylvia Lavin wrote one of my favorite articles on architectural theory about it, so it isn’t all-bad.
Next up was a quick trip through Leadenhall Market, which was pretty great, and a trip to The Monument, which was interesting not only because of its simple name but the way it was jammed in a tiny square between buildings. We ended up wandering around this area for a long time looking (and not finding) for St. Stephen Wallbrook’s Church. When we finally did find it we couldn’t get in, so we walked to St. Paul’s Cathedral. To our chagrin it was also closed, so we sat on the steps and relaxed while we watched the double-decker busses zoom through the very busy square in front. Our last adventure of the day was to Tempio, an Italian restaurant (we just couldn’t wait!). I had the spaghetti carbonara, which was fantastic! From there we walked about 3 miles home along the river where we saw the National Theatre and other buildings around it all lit up. When we finally made it home, we collapsed from another great and exhausting day!
Day 2 (3/23/11)
After disembarking the plane, we began the long and treacherous journey through security and customs. After some goofing around with the bus service to take us into London as well as money withdrawals and some much-needed teeth brushing, we were on our way! The bus driver was an awesome guy with an extremely sad story: he was from Spain and has had to be apart from his family for months at a time until he can make enough money to bring them here. He was a lot of fun and the ride was a blast; it was tough to get used to being on the left side of the street, and even weirder was moving to the right in order to be in the fast lane! When we got to the drop-off point we said goodbye and trekked to the Tube station.
After our first exhilarating Tube ride we got to the hostel, but couldn’t check in so we left our bags and headed out. From there we walked out to and along the Thames river, seeing many interesting things like the Tate Britain museum and a school next door that had a pretty cool entrance. We also looked across the river at some pretty cool buildings, which I don’t know. We continued walking until we came to a fantastic public park in front of the Houses of Parliament.
In the park was a gloriously ugly and colorful thing that kinda ruined the view, but its ok because Parliament was amazing. It had such a high level of detail combined with varying scales and types of ornament. We continued around it until we got to Westminster Abbey, which had a pretty awesome exterior with many different styles and colors. We walked around inside through the crazy amounts of stuff going on. It was packed full of statues and other relics, some looked pretty cool and others looked like poop. It was also kinda weird because almost everywhere you walked there was somebody buried below you, with a giant plaque on the ground. There was also an amazing courtyard inside where students came to eat and we came to rest our feet (what a poet I am…).
After we finished there we walked to Big Ben, and saw a few cool things including my favorite random building in London, various stunning entrances to Westminster, and a neat old Basilica. After we got our touristy side on at Big Ben we walked to Trafalgar Square where we saw the statue counting down the days till the Olympics, a giant ship in a bottle, and some mimes! From there we walked to the Cavalry Museum, which had a ridiculously massive entry court that seemed like a desert as we crossed it. After that we stopped by the Churchill War Rooms, a museum inside the original bunker that Winston Churchill and his war cabinet met/hid in during WWII. It was pretty awesome since almost all of it was still original.
After touring the War Rooms we walked through St. James Park, which was pretty amazing, but we saw a guy peeing in the bushes, which was kinda unfortunate since it was such a nice and classy area. Oh well, once we walked all the way through the park, we came to Buckminster Palace, which was pretty great! It was really crowded and not much was going on except for people staring at the guards.
After some touristy photos we left for home, and while it was a pretty uneventful walk home we did see a new version of the 2-door Toyota Rav4, which made my day!!!!! Finally we got home and unwound before heading to a small kebob shop up the street (no Istanbul but it was pretty good!). After dinner we walked home and went to bed!
After our first exhilarating Tube ride we got to the hostel, but couldn’t check in so we left our bags and headed out. From there we walked out to and along the Thames river, seeing many interesting things like the Tate Britain museum and a school next door that had a pretty cool entrance. We also looked across the river at some pretty cool buildings, which I don’t know. We continued walking until we came to a fantastic public park in front of the Houses of Parliament.
In the park was a gloriously ugly and colorful thing that kinda ruined the view, but its ok because Parliament was amazing. It had such a high level of detail combined with varying scales and types of ornament. We continued around it until we got to Westminster Abbey, which had a pretty awesome exterior with many different styles and colors. We walked around inside through the crazy amounts of stuff going on. It was packed full of statues and other relics, some looked pretty cool and others looked like poop. It was also kinda weird because almost everywhere you walked there was somebody buried below you, with a giant plaque on the ground. There was also an amazing courtyard inside where students came to eat and we came to rest our feet (what a poet I am…).
After we finished there we walked to Big Ben, and saw a few cool things including my favorite random building in London, various stunning entrances to Westminster, and a neat old Basilica. After we got our touristy side on at Big Ben we walked to Trafalgar Square where we saw the statue counting down the days till the Olympics, a giant ship in a bottle, and some mimes! From there we walked to the Cavalry Museum, which had a ridiculously massive entry court that seemed like a desert as we crossed it. After that we stopped by the Churchill War Rooms, a museum inside the original bunker that Winston Churchill and his war cabinet met/hid in during WWII. It was pretty awesome since almost all of it was still original.
After touring the War Rooms we walked through St. James Park, which was pretty amazing, but we saw a guy peeing in the bushes, which was kinda unfortunate since it was such a nice and classy area. Oh well, once we walked all the way through the park, we came to Buckminster Palace, which was pretty great! It was really crowded and not much was going on except for people staring at the guards.
After some touristy photos we left for home, and while it was a pretty uneventful walk home we did see a new version of the 2-door Toyota Rav4, which made my day!!!!! Finally we got home and unwound before heading to a small kebob shop up the street (no Istanbul but it was pretty good!). After dinner we walked home and went to bed!
HOORAY!!!
Hey everyone!!! So I have some good news, great news and an idea! The good news is that we are here safely in our hostel in Rome, the trip was easy and all is well! The great news is that that every day up until I finished these today is going to be up soon along with a few selected pictures from each day! My idea is if you guys wanted to see more pictures than the ones I posted, just comment on the day and tell me the subject and I will try to oblige. Ok, prepare for a bombardment of my ramblings!
Love, Zach
Love, Zach
Friday, March 25, 2011
Day 1 (3/22/11)
Alrighty then, finally the first update!!! This is for our travel day up until we landed. Our trip got off to an auspicious start as we were informed (thanks to Kaitlyn’s demand for our flight numbers) that the flight from Cleveland to Atlanta had been delayed. However this ended up being awesome because we were given a voucher for lunch (Cheeburger Cheeburger for me!) and that was 3 less hours we had to spend in Atlanta! Yay! Anywho the first flight was pretty average, just read my book the whole time. After a newly shortened layover we were on the way to London!! The plane was absolutely gigantic (2-4-2 person rows, something like 50 of them) but it was only half-full! We each ended up taking our own two-person row, and everyone got an aisle! The seats all had personal TVs with a fantastic selection of movies (I watched RED and Due Date, both were fantastic), games (Bejeweled!!!!!!) as well as maps and other stuff. For dinner we had tortellini, salad, bread and little cookie-cake things that were amazing. The only downsides to all the fun I was having was the lack of sleep I got (2ish) and the lack of reading I got done in my book (none-ish). Oh well, after I slept a wee bit we woke up for breakfast during the most beautiful moment I have ever seen on a flight: on my side it was pitch black but you could make out the land forms and the waves of the water from the glow of the moon, as well as the many cities of Ireland below. On the other side the sun was rising and the sky was an amazing combination of purples, oranges and reds. When we finally landed, we packed up and left the best flight I have ever had.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Failure
Hey everybody, so sorry that I have been failing hardcore at getting word to everyone and posting here, we have severely limited internet use and a very busy schedule. I am currently writing everything down that we have done for the past few days as well as going through photos so I hope to have the three days posted tomorrow night (afternoon for you). For now, just know that we are safe and having a blast! Also if any of you have desires for certain souvenirs, post them here that way i dont have to think about it!
Love you all, hopefully more will follow soon!!!
Zach
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