Villa Lante – 26.3.2010

The current entrance to the gardens at the base is the wrong end to experience the gardens. For this reason a group of my classmates closed there eyes while they followed a trusting friend as they traveled to the zenith. They were entertaining to watch after we all had a loud and enjoyable lunch that consisted of little samples of the local food and wine. Surprisingly the garden was a slight let down for me. It was not as large as I expected and due to the season it was not blooming as gloriously as it could be. This garden had similar features to Villa Farnese. One was a grotto like space in a large grassy open space where the cardinals used to enjoy each others company around a large table full of food and drinks. I heard from Carol that occasionally in the summer the servants would turn on the water that would shoot out of the sides of the small open buildings enclosing the space to wet them almost like a joke but more about cooling them off from the scorching summer weather. There were also many trimmed hedges leading you down from the space to a comparable waterfall hand rail down to a fountain further into the structured part of the garden. Down some stairs to the base of that fountain was an open space with a long stone table with a slit in the middle where cool water flowed through. It was another place where meals were eaten and the slit was used not only to bring a tranquil water feature to the table but became a functional drink chiller for the meals. In the next and last plateau was covered with knee high trimmed hedges and tall topiary trees creating a maze to the center where a large circular fountain was placed. Human figures were at the heart of the fountain on the main axis of the garden. Just outside this enclosed garden to the West is Huntington Park. Open fields with small waving hills and tall shady trees beckoned me to take a nap. I laid on an inclined part of a hill in the sun on the soft cool grass barefoot accompanied only by the white daisy flowers and small insects crawling around on my exposed skin. That was the most pleasurable time I have spent outdoors while here in Italy.

Villa Farnese at Caprarola – 26.3.2010

We walked up a steep narrow cobblestone street in a single file line with cars giving us a cool breeze as they pass us. The most famous view of the Villa Farnese in front of us a little more revealed with every step. There it is lit perfectly by the sun on this cool clear day. The steps up are deep and shallow with the cobblestone tread and solid rounded stone as the riser. Looking back down the long street we walked up from the main entrance then up two flights of stairs, it is obvious the palazzo is extremely important. It is the end of the axis. Next we entered across a fake drawbridge walkway along with another large secondary Italian school group. We descended down a stone spiral stair, famous from the third God Father movie, to the service spaces below. Under the main central courtyard is the room of the cistern. There off to one side was a laundry stone basin. Just outside the cistern room a circular path way wrapped around it giving it a similar feel to the Roman stadium circulation. As we walked that circulation path we were able to see they many kitchens and service spaces that radiated out. The kitchens were large open rooms with large fire places, one large enough for our class of twenty-one students to stand inside. We left the plain stone and plaster walls and gravel floors to the rooms several stories above. There the rooms were elaborately painted in a variety of sizes. Many of the rooms were painted in a tricky manner such that the architectural elements appeared to be three dimensional when they were in reality flat on the wall. The recently enclosed portico even had fake doors painted on the walls giving a sense of symmetry. The best part of the palace was the pentagon shaped courtyard and the views of it through the windows to the gardens. The gardens were peaceful with the birds chirping, sun piercing the tree canopies to warm the skin chilled by the breeze. The path to the secret garden begins to disappear. The surroundings change from structured colonnades, trimmed hedges to free loose forestry as though you’re almost hiking in the wilderness. On the right side a few yards from the dirt path created by the footsteps of the visitors to the gardens was a tree with a hollowed base. It was large enough for animals to inhabit similar to the one Alice falls into Wonderland with. The strong axis draws you up to the beginning of the gardens. A large circular fountain with faces pouring water out from their eyes, nose, mouth and ears greeted us upon our entry. Defining the space of the fountain were highly rough textured walls leading up to small arch ways into a petite space. In that space was coral covered walls originally fountains with water trickling out and over the coral to a basin on the ground. Black and white mosaic floors had a pattern with flor de leis. These spaces were on either side of the base of the hand rail of the main stairs ascending up to more structured gardens and the Villa. As you step down out of that space your feet touch grass covered stairs with stone risers. Stone fish was the edge of the railing used to contain the water flowing down. Another large fountain was located at the top of these stairs with gigantic human statues in leisurely positions. Once you climb the stairs around this fountain you reach the first level of the garden full of trimmed hedges with small horse fountains in the center and human statues used like a colonnade to define the edge. A beautiful tall pink rose bush lost some petals to the grass below it creating one of the most romantic sights I have seen. An open terrace surrounded by wilderness was located directly behind the Villa accessible only by two staircases on either side of the Villa. In this terraced garden there were urn shaped fountains at each level and on the lowest level closest to the Villa was a elegantly large fountain resembling an urn towered above us. Back in the main garden at the back of the Palazzo on our way out was a small space called the grotto full of water dropping down from the icicle shaped stones. This space had some similar characteristics to the Natural Caverns in San Antonio, TX but this one had been touched by the hand of man. There were statues in a similar colored stone to the existing stone placed inside as part of the grotto almost as if the flow of the water carved the figures over time. It was calming with the gentle sound of water dripping perfect for the hot summers to cool down and relax.

There Is No Place Like Home – 20.3.2010

I used to dream about living abroad permanently. How wonderful it would be, a fairy tale. Well, having my taste of living abroad for two months now I can safely say No. There are too many things I need that only home can provide; family, friends, food, and some aspects of the American culture. I realized this sitting in La Salsa, a small Mexican restaurant in Galway. I had joined my friends knowing better. Growing up with fresh homemade Mexican food there is no way I would be satisfied with what they will serve. There restaurant name was salsa but they did not have any and I don’t mean the dancing. They had a tomato paste with a pinch of a spice to it, absolutely awful not hot at all or flavorful. My friends’ disappointment made me wish I could only get some hot peppers and cilantro in Orvieto to make some salsa for them. At that moment it hit me, I love America because it is a melting pot. We have so many different kinds of people with their own sub culture. Plus that is how we got so many types of food we eat on a regular basis; Mexican, Italian, Cuban, Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, American, Irish, Indian, etc. Ireland is similar but not America. Italy has hardly a variety at all but why should they, they are Italy. USA also has a wide variety of climates and environments were we can live and work you just have to figure out which is best for you. I am currently on that journey and hopefully within a year I will have a better understanding at the least enough to have picked a place to start my career. We will have to see, but now I know for sure it will be in America. That eliminates a ton of choices already, the rest of the world. It will just have to be my escape, I love seeing new places, experiencing new things and learning more about other places, cultures and societies. I just can’t stay there for multiple years at a time.

Dublin – 20.3.2010

Dublin is a big City, extremely obvious after Kilarney and Galway. It is full of historic buildings with newer modern buildings popping up among them. This is what I would have expected from London, well sort of I hope to find out for real in a couple of months. They have a similar pedestrian shopping street to Italian big cities. What has made us feel so comfortable and almost home is the English language widely spoken all around us, automobiles, modern buildings, and food places we are used to Pizza Hut, Subway, TGIFridays, HardRock,etc. They also have one of Europe’s largest city parks, the Stephen Green Park. Today was beautiful sunny but a cold day. The grass was green, flowers were blooming, and people were everywhere enjoying the nice weather in this park amongst the cityscape. Walking around it I was able to hear seagulls, water splashing form the ducks movements, kids laughter and friendly conversations I multiple languages. One of many things Houston, my hometown, is missing green spaces in the heart of the city. Later we walked to the Dublin castle which was not what I expected but then again it is in the middle of the city. We walked along the river for a bit on our way to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It was huge with its own garden park next to it open to the public. It is the mini me of Stephen Green Park. The park was peaceful and quiet creating a good place to relax and read a good book or sip a smoothie while catching up with friends. I liked Dublin and all it had to offer; food shopping, parks and multiple forms of transportation (buses, taxis, cars, rail, train, and even bike and pedestrian friendly). I was sad to have only spent one and a half days here.

Cliffs of Moher – 18.3.2010

Another bus tour across the Irish country side started on a cloudy sprinkling morning. Before the weather finally cleared up I was not sure what was on the other side of the glass window I was looking out. As we approached the Cliffs the sun came out to greet us and travel with us as we walked around. Another friend joined me as soon as I stepped off the bus, the wind. It was not as nice as the sun, blowing me around. The bus driver made a cute joke about the new hair dos we would have when we returned to the bus. It made more sense and proved to be true once we finished visiting the site. He was not lying and I have pictures to prove it. It was gorgeous soft green and yellow grass among limestone rocks, white waves beating into the cliff back dropped with dark blue water and bright blue sky. I explored on my own letting it all absorb in through all my senses before I shopped around in the gift shop. There I found some nice stuff but what caught my attention the most was a living shamrock in a necklace. I went ahead and treated myself to it along with some more family souvenirs.

St. Patty’s Day in Galway – 17.3.2010

We had breakfast at a small café similar to Panera Bread (aka St. Louis Bread Company). After my tummy was full with a breakfast bagel and fruit infusion cup of tea we picked our spot for the parade and stood our ground. The parade was not at all what I expected, especially when it is the second largest parade in Ireland to Dublin. It was made up of mostly kids’ sports groups, camps, bands, then some theater troops and church groups. Very few people were really dressed up there except for the few people with the identical costumes. We wondered the streets taking in our surroundings afterward till we found a pub that looked good. I drank a Guiness as we listened to some live musicians playing in a crowded bar of people of all ages even children. Once we finished our round of beer we headed off to our next pub to start our St. Patrick’s Day pub crawl. It took a few more pubs before we decided we were hungry for lunch. That is where I got my first fish and chips since being in Ireland. At the end of the night we finally met some guys in a bar. One was Irish and the other was Canadian. It was a good time, not all that I expected but an experience none the less.

Bus Tour of Dingle Peninsula & 22nd Birthday – 15.3.2010

On a small bus like van we headed out with two couples, one young the other old. The whole day we spent riding across the country side seeing the gorgeous hills that would have been breath taking if they were only green. That was one big disappointment. I expected it to be lusciously green. We were told it was due to that they had a harsh winter. Each village was colorful and tiny. We broke for lunch in Dingle where I got a bowl of seafood chowder. Then I broke my Lenten penance of chocolate for my birthday to try a bite of fried Kit Kat and Snickers. Everyone was right about it. Delicious!!! I now understand what they were all saying. That night Chuck and I drank some beer while watching some soccer. Later the girls joined us to finish the night by going to a bar. It was dark and as we moved further to the back close to the stage there was a booth with red lights. As we got closer there was a Happy Birthday banner and a picture of Alex. Nikki and Alex’s mother had reserved this booth for the night. We enjoyed putting our drinks on her mom’s tab as we listened to a live musician. Towards the end of the night Alex and I worked up enough courage to ask him to play Sweet Caroline and an Elvis song. If you know me at all you should be able to guess which one I asked for. It made for a good night that we all enjoyed.

First Day in Ireland – 14.3.2010

I woke up on my own to the bright and beautiful sun shining in through our sky light. I cleaned up using my new Lush products that smelled divine as I prepared for mass. The strange thing about the showers was not that they were unisex but the shower head worked the same as most public sink faucets. I had to push a button and it would release the water for about 10 seconds then shut off which could have made for a frustrating shower if it was not my first day in Ireland. The walk through the Killarney streets on my way to St. Mary’s Cathedral for mass was peaceful. The streets were quiet and empty except for those people headed to one of the several churches. The Cathedral was beautiful despite the fact that it was exactly like many Italian churches with a few minor changes. Definitely gothic with its stone, stained glass windows and pointed arches. I enjoyed being able to hear and understand the father’s homily but it reminded me too much of home that I had to fight back tears a few times. I grew up going to mass as a family every Sunday, a good memory. After touring around the church after mass I headed back to the Hostel to meet up with my friends but instead ran into them on the street. At that point we were all hungry and decided to stop into a pub advertising a full Irish breakfast. It was an egg, couple of sausages, bacon, hash browns, toast, blood pudding and tea. I walked around for a bit by myself afterward to enjoy the cool weather. The views were spectacular with the mountains in sight. I did my first sketch of the mountains in the distance cows in between, and then fences and a gate. It looked awful but served its purpose by relaxing me and eventually jog my memory about the view and environment as I stood there sketching it. I did not get to finish it because I went to meet up with the girls for a movie since we were in an English speaking country. We watched Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland in 3D for the steep price of 11 Euros. I got so wrapped up in the experience I forgot I was not home til the lights came on and the people around me started speaking in their Irish accents. To end the night we had dinner in a small bar where we got 5 free beers and I got a free soup, we were not sure why but did not argue just tipped well.

Crazy Adventure to Ireland – 13.3.2010

Crazy Adventure to Ireland – 13.3.2010

First let me help you understand what I meant by crazy. Our schedule started by catching a bus at 4:09a.m. the 13^th of March to the train station. There we waited in the creepily empty, as in a horror film way, train station for about 45 minutes to depart from Venice to Milan. Upon arriving in Milan we had to catch another bus to the airport take a plane to Dublin. Yet again we took a double decker bus to the Dublin train station for our train to Killarney for the weekend. Travel time from the take off of the first bus to us walking into our Hostel was 17 hours. We made it just fine through the beginning luckily because we remembered to bring our permit of stay making it much simpler and less stressful. When on the plane I was in awe of the amazing Swiss Alps poking through the clouds. I never really had a strong desire to go to Switzerland, there were too many other countries I preferred see first. Now I am sure I would like to go snowboarding there. They were the most beautiful mountains I have seen. Vale does not compare. On the double decker bus from the Dublin airport I experienced what it was like to be traveling on the wrong side of the road or just the other side depending on how you want to look at it. Driving through Dublin was a nice change with all its modern buildings and signs with English everywhere. After checking into our hostel we walked the main street looking for a place to grab dinner when we stumbled across an Irish fast food place. Across the street we got our first Guiness beer before we headed back which helped us fall fast asleep. We were excited to see there were other groups of students staying there also. They changed our minds that night when we were trying to get some shut eye from the full day of traveling in an uncomfortably hot room because we were abruptly awoken by there drunk bums being loud and obnoxious.

Venice: Part II – 12/3/2010

The next morning we walked around took in a few churches one being St. Giovanni and Paulo. That was huge and empty compared to the one yesterday, but the chapels were beautiful. Afterward I joined a couple of guys to tour the Naval History Museum. We got lost of course due to the dead ends into canals and fewer bridges in the residential areas. I am sure we had a unique experience walking through them. We found it finally and ran inside with empty stomachs because it closed at 13:30. It was a really interesting exhibit of models of different eras and styles of ships for centuries, cannons, swords, guns, old style grenades of glass, clothing, ship parts and navigation tools were what I was able to see before we were what I was able to see before we were kicked out. I am now able to start a list for when my family and I come back. I definitely would like to go back to share it with my brother and father especially and also finish seeing what else they had to display. A quick bite to eat was next on the agenda before I headed off to meet up with my good friends from home who were going to our other Italian program. The most famous meeting place between the columns at San Marco is where we were reunited. It used to be where people where publicly executed, oh so romantic. I toured the Correr while they went to the Doge’s Palace. The Correr had a mixture of what I had seen at all the previous museums I have been to in Italy. Each museum had their own room with a small assortment of artifacts. It was similar to a cliff notes but museum version. It was amazing to see them and catch up as we window shopped and ate dinner. Before long we had to say our good byes. Once I left them I rode the vaporettos back to the Hotel to get sleep for my long day of traveling to Ireland starting at 3:40 a.m.

Venice: City of Islands – 11/3/2010

We arrived late, wet, cold and exhausted. The first night I just relaxed with some buddies. Early the next day we all took the vaporetta to San Marco Square for a tour of the Doge’s Palace. It was much larger than it appears from the exterior and what I expected. Rich materials, paintings, furniture and fixtures covered the interior. What caught my attention the most was the scale of the justice rooms. As soon as I entered the armory my brother’s face popped into my head. It is not what you are thinking; I love my brother and just know he would have enjoyed this room the most. Swords, shields, armor, bows and arrows, etc were displayed in glass case in several rooms. I was shocked by the size of the armor; I don’t think I could have fit into them. They were petite and skinny. My brother entered my thoughts again as I descended down to the prisons, not because he is a bad boy, but because he would have found interest in the writings and drawings on the chambers walls. After we all regrouped in front of the church we took our turn pushing through the Asian tourist groups to see the beautiful façade of the church. It was gorgeous but not as pleasurable of an experience walking through due to the amount of tourists everywhere. We spent a whole five minutes inside because it was so bad. The large group of us split up and got a quick lunch and wandered back towards the hotel on foot. Before we knew it we were on the top of the Rialto Bridge. Vendors’ Alley is what I would call it. I liked it better than the Ponte Vecchio in a few ways. One was I could afford what they were selling if I wanted to verses high end jewelry. The unique difference the Ponte Vecchio had was the old style security wood doors and canopies to cover it up completely. As we were walking on a less touristy street we noticed a man blowing glass in a store window to our left. Mesmerized the three of us walked in through the open door to a small shop. The African man greeted us in Italian. Watching him work and talking to him for about half an hour we got to know him well and vice versa. He was originally from Africa but went to Japan to compete in Kick Boxing tournaments for several years and won a few titles. He bought this shop with some of his earnings and started his jewelry glass blowing store. I could not help but ask him about the music he was playing. The salsa music was one of his favorites. I shared with him I too enjoy it especially when I can dance to it. The three of us each bought something different. Brooke bought a key chain, Alyssa bought a pair of earrings and I bought a necklace. We started to say our good byes when he gave us some simple key chains for free. Then as he handed me mine he did not release my hand but instead pulled me further into the store and began dancing with me to the instrumental salsa music. I was so surprised I did not know what to feel as my body moved like it had been wanting to this whole time we had talked to him as the music played softly in the background. It had been awhile since I had danced last but the moves flowed out of me as if I have been doing everyday for years. It was the typical “it’s like riding a bicycle” syndrome. By the time the song ended my face was flushed with my pearly whites exposed. I predicted as we left that was going to be my favorite and the single most memorable experience on this north trip. That night I ended up on what a waiter thought was a date between Conner and I which made for an interesting time. The waiter was nice and gave us some names of a couple other bars and a discotecca he said would be open. We planned on going with our friends but when we midnight rolled around we found it was still closed and did not look like it was going to open. We made the most of it the situation by taking in the quiet night streets drinking warm sangria at a fruit stand by day and a bar by night vendor.

Carlo Scarpa’s Brion Tomb and Cementary – 10.3.2010

Hearing so much about this famous work of scarpa and now knowing how much I admire his work I was just excited to see what the spaces he created feel like and try to pick out all the little but meaningful details. It is still snowing as we walk down the long gravel path lined with trees to the grave yard. He did not disappoint. One of my favorite experiences I have had here in Italy. We waited, in the cold snow and rain because the weather could not make up its mind, for a custodian to come and open up two spaces for us. This janitor was no ordinary one, he was working here as a young boy when Scarpa was designing and building it. We were able to ask him questions and he would know the answer. This helped me understand how detailed everything was around us. Everything he did had a reason and meaning. What amazed us all was a large white wall broken up by a few horizontal and vertical lines turned into a large door opening up a place of worship with an altar. Seeing his work has definitely given me more inspiration to continue down this career path I have choosen.

Villa Rotunda in the Snow – 10.3.2010

Driving in snow to the Villa Rotunda was quiet. We were dropped off at a gas station bar place and had to walk in the snow down a cobblestone road with ivy and moss growing on a brick wall hiding the Villa. We enter through a small wooden door way next to a large iron gate. I walked up some snow covered pebbles bordered by rose bushes. The site was well worth to frozen fingers and cold body because how many people get to see the Villa Rotunda, a summer villa, in the snow with their own eyes. It was so symmetrical we had trouble figuring out where the original main entrance was. The view out was amazing. I can only imagine it in the spring long ago with out tons of buildings below and off in a distance. Inside matched the symmetrical exterior. The proportions of the spaces was a dead give away it was Palladian. Standing in the middle of the Rotunda was my favorite spot surrounded by paintings of Roman gods to look like reliefs and statues protruding out of the wall. I began to day dream with Carol’s voice in the background slowly fading into the distance as soft string music began to play. I was standing in the exact same spot with the sun shining down on me through the windows above in the dome warming my toes in leather sandals as the wind passed straight through the open doors slowing down only to cool me down and caress my skin as while my white cotton dress wavered with movement absorbing it’s sweet smell. What a summer vacation home. The cold wet wind woke me up as we started to head back outside. One of the fun girls in our group got the smart idea start a snowball fight. What a unique experience we all had.

Verona – 9.3.2010

Gorgeous City, the city of Romeo and Juliette full of classical style buildings well kept and colorful. Carol took us to the stadium their, third largest in Italia still remaining what set it apart from others we have seen is it was directly of a main piazza, Piazza Bra next to shops. It has massive stone walls and archways everywhere. When we walked into the open arena snow began to fall. As I looked around at all the empty stone seats when a gust of wind came through throwing sand into our eyes. I would not have liked to be performing down here with sand being blown around getting everywhere distracting me especially into my face. Afterward we walked down the main street full of top designer shops till we go to the supposed house of Juliette. We walked through a small dark tunnel full of sheets of paper flapping in the wind covering the walls to a small courtyard. There was a statue of Juliette below her window. What was funny is men were taking pictures with the statue and the common pose was with their hands on her breasts. Then we made our way to Castle Vecchio to see the museum that Carlo Scarpa designed it was intriguing because he designed every space, display, pedestals, wall hangings, furniture and railing, etc. Nothing was too small for his attention. His architecture was way more interesting than what was being displayed to me. Then to my surprise I walked across an outdoor wall to a tower and as I entered the room I immediately recognized it and was overwhelmed with excitement. Last semester I worked on a retail and office building project for studio. One of my inspirational images of my design was a photo focusing on a sculptural staircase, iron in L and U shapes attached to the stone wall that I found on google with no name or location on it. Ta da there it is right in front of me answering those questions. I walked up them and was able to confirm the feelings the space withdrew from those using it, it was almost like being in my building. That made my day and probably the whole trip. Later I walked trough the city to the only existing Roman bridge left here. Shocked to see what good shape it was in, but there was definitely restoration done to make it usable. As we cross we spot some locks locked to each other on the bridge with the rushing water from the river in the background. Maggie explained to me the symbolism as we continued to walk along the river. Lovers lock a lock with their names on it in a public place; bridges, lampposts, benches, etc close to a river and through the keys away into the river. It is a sign of eternal love. As we continued to walk I began to day dream about doing that with someone I love that loves me someday. That night a couple of us went wandering around back close to the river in the more residential area to find a restaurant full of locals. A cute small restaurant is what we came across. Once we sat down at the blue and white checkered table cloth covered table with matching bread basket covers we realized everyone around us were locals. We opened the small menu and I was shocked to find most of the dishes dealt with horsemeat. Yes, I got a dish of horsemeat and polenta for dinner. I figured I should at least give it a try especially since it seems to be a specialty of the area. The way it was prepared reminded me of the wild boar I had in Orveito. It was similar to one of my favorite Mexican dishes my mother makes Carne Guisada , chunks of meat in a brown sauce. The meat was super tender, juicy and flavorful which I did not expect it since horses are so muscular and have little fat. The house wine they served directly from a brown wooden barrel that tasted just like my grandfather’s. To finish the meal and day I had a plateful of fresh ananas (pineapple).