La Vita Romana: 2011

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Last Blog Post

Well, it's my last blog post! Sorry I haven't posted very much, but I haven't had action-packed days like in Rome and my internet connection has been spotty. As I'm writing this, I'm sitting in Oslo's Gardermoen Airport waiting for my plane back to the US.

After meeting Cali at the University of Oslo, we walked around Oslo a bit. I saw where the bombing took place and I saw all of the flowers around the Domkirke. Those were both quite astounding sights and I know they're things that I'll never forget. We continued to figure out Cali's train ticket to Røros and then we took the bus up to Holmenkollen. We took kind of the wrong bus, so we ended up hiking up the backside of it through the forest, but then we went up the tower and the view from up there was amazing! We went back down into the city, ate some pizza, and then I went to the International Cultural Evening. I don't think it was as good as the one last year, but it was still quite good.

Flowers Around the Domkirke

Damage from the Explosion

Holmenkollen

Candles in the Domkirke

The next couple of days (Saturday & Sunday) I hung out with my friend, Christina, from the ISS last year and her sister, Erika. We explored Oslo by bikes and then grilled and swam on an island out in the fjord and then on Sunday we explored Oslo a bit and saw a movie. We also made dinner at Christina's apartment that night.

Eating Corn on Hovedøya

On Monday, I visited Cali's Norwegian class and the class interviewed me in Norwegian to figure out who I was. It was nice to see my Norwegian teacher from last year again. In the late afternoon, Hogne came and picked Cali & I up and then we went out to Sigrid & Hogne's house for dinner. Cali went back to Oslo later that night, but I stayed with Sigrid & Hogne for a few days (until Friday).

With Sigrid and Hogne, I went on Skibladner (the steamship on Lake Mijøsa), went to the Eidsvoll Constitution House, and took an excursion into Sweden. It was also nice to meet Sigrid's daughter, Cathrine, and her family a couple of times.

Skibladner

Eidsvoll

Border with Sweden

The next Friday, I took the train up to Røros to visit Arne & Ingela. I was there until Sunday. When I was there, I had the chance to meet Øivind and his son, Henrik. We took a boat trip on a lake near Røros on Saturday to Arne's cabin and I really felt like a real Norwegian that day. On Sunday, before travelling to Trondheim, Arne and I visited an art gallery near Røros.

Røros Church

On the Lake

Arne & Ingela's Hytta

In Trondheim, it was nice to see everyone and I had a great time travelling the "Golden Route" on Monday and then going to the Norwegian Pop & Rock museum on Tuesday. I woke up early, but not too early this morning, flew from Trondheim to Oslo, and now I'm heading back to the US.

Soccer Game (Rosenborg - Molde)

Olav Digre

I hope you've enjoyed reading this blog!

There's a lot more pictures to see:

Friday, July 29, 2011

Wow! An Entire Week!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately! An unreliable internet connection along with being extremely busy has made it a little difficult to post regularly.

I left Rome last Friday (22 July) amid a train strike. My train from Rome to Venice was guaranteed, but the regional trains past that to Trieste were all cancelled. Lucia drove from Trieste to Venice to come pick me up and I was really grateful! I got to Trieste about 3pm in the afternoon and we started right in on activies. First, we took a walk around the town and I recalled what I had seen and we saw some new sights as well. After that, we went to the only concentration camp in Italy that was in Trieste. It was such a strange experience to walk into a place where so many people died. It was very solemn and it was just a very strange experience. After that, we drove to Slovenia to visit this city called Koper. We walked around the city center which was quite small and then stopped at a grocery store since the stores in Slovenia are much cheaper than Italy. After that, we went to a traditional Slovenian restuarant where I ate something that ressembled a calzone, but was a little different.

When I got back to Lucia's apartment later that night, I turned on my computer and learned of the horrible explosion and shooting in Oslo! I was shocked! It was so crazy to see something like that occur in a country that's so peaceful. I'm still a little shaken by it.

"The Death Room"

Port of Koper in Slovenia

The next day, I got an Italian haircut and then we went to Croatia. Croatia is not in the EU, so we had to cross the border and there was quite a long line. It took awhile to get in, but once we were there, we visited a small city and it was beautiful! It's a very popular vacation spot for many European countries and I can see why. We spent the afternoon there and then drove back to Italy where we met Lucia's parents at a seafood restaurant for dinner. The calamari was so good!

Umag, Croatia

Sunday (24 July) was pretty lazy. Lucia had a test coming up so she was studying a bit and it was raining as well. We ventured over to the Trieste aquarium in the afternoon (which was actually more like a shelter for illegal pets) and then had a coffee. We made it back through the wind and the rain to her apartment and watched movies and made dinner.

Monday (25 July) was my last day in Trieste. We visited a large castle on a hill overlooking the city and did a little shopping. The next morning, I got up early and caught the 4:30am train to Venice.

Castello di San Giusto

Trieste

Three trains later and two that were nearly missed because they were so close together, I was in Zürich by 1pm. First off, Switzerland is beautiful! That train ride through the Alps is probably the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen -- the snow-capped mountains with the lakes and alpine meadows make it seem just like a fairy tale.

My friend, Alina, from the ISS in Oslo last summer and her sister, Charlotte, picked me up at the train station and we went to drop my stuff off at the apartment where they were staying for a couple of weeks. We took a walk around the city and saw so many amazing sites! Churches, chocolate shops, bridges, parks -- it was all very cool. One of the coolest things was climbing a church tower and being able to see the whole city and the lake. Another very cool thing was seeing these stained glass windows in a church by Marc Chagall.

Zürich

Limmat River

Stained Glass Windows by Marc Chagall

The next day (27 July), we explored the city some more. We started at the Kunsthaus (an art gallery) and there were so many famous works there by Monet, Van Gogh, Rodin, and many more. I really enjoyed that. We took a cog train to the top of a hill to a very fancy hotel and had a great view of the city. After that we walked around the city somemore: past the university and then into an up-and-coming district of the city across the river. By that time, it was coffee and nap time. We had a great time making dinner and then playing games in the apartment that evening.

"Waterlillies" by Monet

The Steeples of Zürich

Doors by Rodin

Yesterday (28 July), we took the train to Lucerne for the day! This is one of my new favourite cities. It's very small, but it's very charming and it's easy to walk every. There are painted buildings, churches, wooden bridges, towers, and city walls. It was just fun to explore, get Vietnamese food at a festival, and get some free chocolate. It was a very good day, despite the evil swans wanting more and more food.

Capellbrücke in Lucerne

Reuss River

Lucerne

Me & Alina

The Dying Lion of Lucerne

It was an early night to bed so I could wake up early again to walk to the train station in Zürich, take the train to the airport, and catch my 7am flight to Oslo. On the train, I discovered that the Swiss are very strict and not fond of leniency. The ticket checker was walking by to check my ticket and then he told me I shouldn't put my feet on the seat (I shouldn't have, but there was no one on the train since it was so early). He proceeded to tell me that it was against the rules and a 25 Swiss Franc fine. I now have 25 Swiss Francs less. I am now sitting in my hotel room about to leave for UiO and see Oslo today.

More updates to come!

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Thursday, July 21, 2011

Goodbye Rome!

First, I'll catch you up on things that have happened since the last post:

On Monday and Tuesday (18 + 19 July), we had our last two classes! They were pretty good and the last day we had a giant game of jeopardy about all of our topics from the courses and also gelato for everyone! After class on Tuesday, I went to one of my favourite places in Rome that I've been to: the top of the Vittorio Emanuele Monument (we call it the wedding cake). It cost 7 euros to ride the elevator for an adult, but we had the only 17-year old on the program buy the tickets for us so it was only 3.50. This is one of the most spectacular views in Rome! It was great to go after I had explored Rome and so I knew where everything was and I could point everything out!

Me & Via del Corso

Me & the Colosseum

On Wednesday (20 July), we took the train from Rome to Sperlonga -- a beach town on a hill about halfway to Naples. We got there about 10:30am and were there until 6:00pm. We had a three-hour lunch break with a three course meal with great seafood! The view from the restaurant was also fantastic! The beach was great (besides a small sunburn) and it was really windy so the waves were so much fun to jump through!

Sperlonga

The Beach Where I Was

Spaghetti with Mixed Seafood

Sperlonga

Today (21 July), I got to sleep in. I packed up and got everything ready to go and checked out from the apartment because I'm leaving early in the morning. I walked across town to visit Santa Maria della Vittoria where Bernini's "The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa" was. It was very cool to see. After that, it was time for my last gelato in Rome at Geolitti! In the evening, we had our last group dinner with a four-course meal at the first restaurant that we went to: Trattoria Moderna. Afterwards, everyone said goodbye to eachother and we had one last coffee paid for by the program. It will be sad to see everyone go, but we'll all be back in Seattle together!

"The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa"

Tomorrow, I'll be leaving bright and early on the 7:45am train to Venice (if the transportation strike doesn't affect it too much) and then on to Trieste where Lucia will pick me up and then we'll head to Croatia for the day. I'll be back in Trieste for the weekend until Tuesday when I'll take the train to Zürich to visit my friend Alina from the ISS last year. I'll try to keep you update on my progress!

Well, it's that time. I cannot believe that it's been five weeks already! I've had so many amazing experiences and it's been one of the best times of my life! I can't wait to come back to Rome and Europe again! I'm already thinking about new places to go.

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Sunday, July 17, 2011

Villas and Dinners

Quite a bit has happened since I last posted. On Thursday (14 July) we had class and then we finished up our independent studies presentations with one on "Mithraism" and one on "The Black Plague". After that, we trekked across town to the only movie theatre in Rome playing Harry Potter in English and we went to the best restaurant with the best food I've had in Rome!

On Friday (15 July), we took a charter bus to Tivoli (a small city southeast of Rome about an hour away) where we saw two villas. The first villa was built by Emperor Hadrian about two thousand years ago and the second villa was Villa d'Este. This villa had one thousand fountains and was has been in several movies (like "The Lizzie MacGuire Movie"). Franz Liszt also lived there for a period of time. There's not much to say about them, but you can see the pictures. When we got back, we had our last group dinner with Ricardo as he is leaving tomorrow for a safari in Kenya. We had Indian food. It will be very sad to see him go and he said that he will miss us.

Villa Adriana

Villa d'Este

Me & Ricardo

View from Villa d'Este

On Saturday (16 July), I had the day free and I spent it visiting Castel Sant'Angelo which was at one time the tomb of Hadrian and then it became a castle and fortress of the Popes. After that, I visited the Vatican Grottoes and climbed Saint Peter's Basilica. It was an amazing view since nothing is allowed to be built higher than that. After that, I visited the only gothic church in Rome and the only collection of artifacts that the Vatican says proves life after death. Most of them were just pieces of cloth with finger prints and handpaints, but it was interesting.

Castel Sant'Angelo

View from Castel Sant'Angelo

Me & The Vatican

View from Saint Peter's Basilica Dome

Me & Saint Peter's Square

On the Roof of the Basilica

Today (17 July) was another free day and it was spent going to one of the largest flea markets in the world where you could find almost anything and back to the Rome Center to write a paper for my anthropology/sociology/literature class. I wrote about the themes of gift and sacrifice present in a short story by Oscar Wilde called "The Nightingale and Rose."

Class tomorrow!

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