Blenheim Palace was a gift to a duke Churchill after winning the Battle of Blenheim against the French. The Queen was unable to give him anything other than a house because he already had the highest title. She commissioned 240,000 pounds, which quickly turned into 260,000 pounds: a lot of money for three hundred years ago. Eventually, Winston Churchill was born there, and was said to dictate while in the bath. He would then get up from the bath and into a towel, which in one case fell down and he continued to pace while dictating. Suddenly, the door bell rang but he did not hear this as FDR walked into Blenheim Palace to find a naked Prime Minister. Churchill responded without the least bit of embarrassment, “You see Mr. President, I told you I have nothing to hide.” I imagine that FDR did have something to hide, however: his eyes. Anyway, he was known for being a very quick-witted man, whom always won the battle of words. One woman said to him “If I was were wife, I would poison your tea.” To which he responded, “If you were my wife, I would gladly drink it!” One actor sent him two tickets to the opening night of his show saying, “Here is a ticket for you and a friend… if you have any.” Churchill responded, “Unfortunately, I am busy that night. But if you make it to the second night, perhaps I will attend.” An interesting fact we learned inside the Palace, is that Consuela Vanderbilt once married one of the dukes because he needed money and her parents forced her to marry a European aristocrat. Consuela was not very happy with this because he was in 5’10” or so, and she was over 6 feet tall. They had two children, and 11 years of marriage, which fortunately ended in them finding people they both actually loved and married. They had the most faded tapestries I have ever seen. They were Flemish and took 10 years to sew (and only from the back, so that they could never see their work as it progressed, which was a great risk – and ultimately, one of the dogs had hoof-like paws.) Now, significant portions of the tapestry are white, likely from exposure to sunlight in the bright room and flash photography. I have never seen the effects of such things to this great of an effect, and I now see the importance of not taking pictures when museums say not to. One friend of mine mentioned that the Mona Lisa is already becoming deteriorated, not even from flash photography, but because of people even breathing near it. I hope that I see it before it ever loses a lot of quality. Throughout the Palace, a lot of furniture was from Versailles after it was invaded. Bright royal red and gold furniture in one room was made for Louis XIV(?). The Palace also had Chinese, German and French china on display. Some, or perhaps all, of it was from a fellow that lived down the street but could not fit it all in his house anymore. He asked the duke if he could move into a small area of the Palace, and in return keep the china displayed in the Palace and after his death it would belong to the duke. The man died at only 37 years old.
During our free time, we decided to go into the café for tea and cake. This was my first time drinking afternoon tea at a café, and it was very good. I got Blackcurrant, Ginseng & Vanilla. I also got an apple and blueberry cake, but it was somewhat dry. We got lots of great pictures throughout the afternoon; the grounds and Palace were beautiful. Although, I must say I don’t believe I am the hugest fan of the honey-colored stone that made up the exterior of the Palace, and also much of the buildings in Oxford. Perhaps that was the most available stone in the area.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Oxford
Oxford University was honey-colored buildings scattered all through the town, around the market, shops and churches. The tour guide gave us a short tour around the area by St. Giles’, through the crossroads, past the Oxford Shop where you sit in desks for a multimedia tour, the Oxford Campus Store, to the Museum of the History of Science, Sheldonian Theatre, the Bridge of Sighs, Radcliffe Camera, The University Church of St. Mary the Virgin, and Brasenose College gardens/dining hall/chapel. If you are interested in some more history, I have put information at the bottom of this post.
She then directed us to the Christ Church Cathedral, the market and pubs to spend our free time. My friends and I decided to first go to Christ Church Cathedral, primarily because it is Hogwarts from Harry Potter. Unfortunately, that area of the Cathedral was closed today, so we decided to see the rest of the church anyway. It was beautiful, and they gave us a map of key artifacts throughout the chapel. These included the Jonah Window, St. Frideswide Window, the Shrine, the Bell Altar, the Chancel Vault, St. Catherine Window, and the Becket Window. At this end of this post I put more information on each, these blurbs were given to us on a map of the interior.
After walking around, we went to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Shop, The Old Sheep Shop “…full of all manner of curious things…”, across the street. It was really cute and I bought a few gifts. Then, we ate at the Eagle and Child pub (aka Bird and Baby) where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien frequently met to discuss their respective books, Alice in Wonderland and Lord of the Rings. It was my first time trying sausage and mash (or bangers and mash), and it was really good.
After lunch, we tried to go to the Sheldonian Theatre so we could walk to the top for a view of the city, but it was closed. We decided to go to the Oxford Campus Store to buy some Oxford gear, so I got a khaki and blue hat and a blue and white shirt. After this adventure, we were off to another at Blenheim Palace, the home of the Churchill family for 300 years.
More Oxford Information
a.) On St. Giles’, “at the south end lies the recently restored Martyrs' Memorial which commemorates Archbishop Cranmer and Protestant Bishops Latimer and Ridley who were burnt at the stake in Tudor times by the Roman Catholic Queen Mary. A cross in the road outside Balliol college marks the actual spot of the execution.”
b.) Sheldonian Theatre was built from 1664 to 1668 after a design by Christopher Wren for the University of Oxford. The building is named after Gilbert Sheldon, chancellor of the university at the time and the project's main financial backer. The theatre is used for music recitals, lectures (such as the annual Romanes Lecture), conferences, and for various ceremonies held by the University (such as graduation and matriculation). Handel performed here, including the first performance of his third oratorio Athalia in 1733. The building seats 800–1,000 people and is situated in the grounds of part of the Bodleian Library adjacent to Broad Street. To the left at the front is the Clarendon Building and to the right is the Old Ashmolean Building. Behind the Sheldonian is the Divinity School.
c.) Hertford Bridge in New College Lane, Oxford, England is often referred to as the "Bridge of Sighs" because of its supposed similarity to the famous bridge of the same name in Venice. However, Hertford Bridge was never intended to be a replica of the Venetian bridge and many believe it looks more similar to the Rialto Bridge in the same city. The bridge links together the Old and New Quadrangles of Hertford College. (The bridge does not link Hertford College to New College, as is stated by some inaccurate city tourguides.) The bridge, and much of its current architecture, was designed by Sir Thomas Jackson. It was completed in 1914, despite its construction being opposed by New College.
d.) The Radcliffe Camera (often abbreviated to "the Rad Cam" in Oxford), is a building in Oxford, England, designed by James Gibbs in the English Baroque style and built in 1737–1749 to house the Radcliffe Science Library. The building was funded by a £40,000 bequest from John Radcliffe, who died in 1714. Nicholas Hawksmoor proposed making the building round. After the Radcliffe Science Library moved into another building, the Radcliffe Camera became home to additional reading rooms of the Bodleian Library. It now holds books from the English, History and Theology collections, mostly secondary sources found on undergraduate reading lists. There is space for around 600,000 books in rooms beneath Radcliffe Square. The term "camera" translates from Latin as "room" or "chamber."
e.) The University Church of St Mary the Virgin (St Mary's or SMV for short) is the largest of Oxford's parish churches and the centre from which the University of Oxford grew. It is situated on the north side of the High Street, and is surrounded by university and college buildings. St Mary's has one of the most beautiful spires in England and an eccentric baroque porch, designed by Nicholas Stone, facing High Street.[1] Radcliffe Square lies to the north and to the east is Catte Street, pedestrianised since 1973. The 13th century tower is open to the public for a fee and provides good views across the heart of the historic university city, especially Radcliffe Square, the Radcliffe Camera, Brasenose College and All Souls College.
f.) Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral of the diocese of Oxford, which includes the City of Oxford, England, and the surrounding countryside as far north as Banbury. It is also, unusually, the chapel of Christ Church, the largest college of the University of Oxford. Some artifacts within the Christ Church Cathedral are:
1. The Jonah Window by Abraham van Linge 1630s. This window is of great interest because only the figure of Jonah is made of stained glass. The rest of the window consists of small panels of painted glass, showing the city of Nineveh in minute detail.
2. The Shrine, built 1289, destroyed 1538, rebuilt 1889, 2002. The oldest monument in this cathedral, the shrine is covered in fine carvings of plants and faces. It once held the relics of St. Frideswide, the patron saint of Oxford, but was destroyed at the Reformation. Firdeswide was then buried beneath a nearby gravestone.
3. St Frideswide Window, by Edward Burne-Jones 1858. If you look at the very top center circular panel, it shows a ship of souls carrying St. Frideswide to heaven. The brilliantly coloured lower window panels tell the earthly story of this 8th century local saint.
4. The Bell Altar (look closely at the center bottom), by Jim Partridge, 2000. This altar was made to mark the millennium and is dedicated in memory of Bishop George Bell, who courageously opposed the bombing of the German cities in WW2. A cross which stands near it, was cut from the underside of the alter.
5. The Chancel Vault, by William Orchard, c.1500. This remarkable stone vault is made up of intricate star-shaped patterns to create an image of heaven. Twelve beautiful pendants hang gracefully from it.
6. St. Catherine Window, by Edward Burne-Jones, 1878. The face of the central figure, St. Catherine of Alexandria, is a picture of Edith Liddell. her sister Alice was the inspiration for the bool 'Alice in Wonderland', and a portrait of Alice may be seen in a window in the Great Hall at Christ Church.
7. The Becket Window, c. 1320. This beautiful medieval window is the oldest in the cathedral, and contains a rare panel (a diamond in the middle - see next photo for closeup) showing the martyrdom of Archbishop Thomas Becket, who died at Canterbury Cathedral in 1170. Beck is kneeling between a monk and the four knights who murdered him. The panel was defaced in the sixteenth century, and the original face of Becket is now missing.
British Museum, Knightsbridge
After class on Friday, I shipped a few gifts home. It has taken me a while to get this done, and so I am happy to have finally sent them on their way. I then went to the British Museum to see the Rosetta Stone. It was marvelous. I loved it. It was so powerful. It literally unlocked a few thousand years of previously “lost” history. It was really cool too, because the plaque explained how to read a bit. At first, the Stone was a blur of Hieroglyphs, Demotic and Greek. Then, the plaque urged me to find the circled hieroglyphs. Circled groups of images indicate a name. In this case, the name Ptolemy came up multiple times. The plaque broke down each character as a letter. It was also interesting to learn that hieroglyphs used a combination of characters and images. For instance, after spelling out the word “cat” there was an image of a cat. This was on a different artifact in the museum. It was interesting to find all the circled hieroglyphs on other artifacts throughout the museum, as well. Anyway, I am so happy to have seen the Rosetta Stone. I cannot really articulate how it made me feel, but it was truly captivating, and it made me want to sit all day trying to solve the puzzle of translating the languages. It was also interesting to see that along the sides of the stone, the date it was captured and the name of King George I are written. In addition, the piece that we have of the Stone is only a portion of the original stone.
I also walked through the scattered remains of the Parthenon, and some of the Persian and Assyrian artifacts. The Parthenon was essentially reconstructed in the room so that one can walk around and see what the edges of the ceiling looked like. I read almost every plaque in that section of the museum. I plan to go back another day to do another section. Perhaps it will be a gradual learning process, because there is way too much to see in one visit.
My hands were very dry, so after getting on the tube at Holborn, I got off at Knightsbridge. Earlier in the day, I looked up locations for The Body Shop, and saw that there was one near Harrod’s. I shopped around a few stores, and went into The Body Shop to buy the smaller Hemp hand lotion. The night before, I had stopped at a Body Shop counter at Waterloo but they had sold out of the small lotions, and the guy was not very helpful. I tried on a dress at H&M that was designed by Madonna, but it didn’t fit quite right. It was different though, and slimming. I really liked that it had a lot of cinched fabric at the empire waist.
After shopping, I walked home through Russell Square I think it’s called. It was a new perspective coming up from the north side of South Kensington. Anyway, there were a number of nice restaurants along the way. When I got home, I ate some dinner and collapsed for the rest of the night, knowing that I had to wake up the next morning for Oxford and Blenheim Palace.
I also walked through the scattered remains of the Parthenon, and some of the Persian and Assyrian artifacts. The Parthenon was essentially reconstructed in the room so that one can walk around and see what the edges of the ceiling looked like. I read almost every plaque in that section of the museum. I plan to go back another day to do another section. Perhaps it will be a gradual learning process, because there is way too much to see in one visit.
My hands were very dry, so after getting on the tube at Holborn, I got off at Knightsbridge. Earlier in the day, I looked up locations for The Body Shop, and saw that there was one near Harrod’s. I shopped around a few stores, and went into The Body Shop to buy the smaller Hemp hand lotion. The night before, I had stopped at a Body Shop counter at Waterloo but they had sold out of the small lotions, and the guy was not very helpful. I tried on a dress at H&M that was designed by Madonna, but it didn’t fit quite right. It was different though, and slimming. I really liked that it had a lot of cinched fabric at the empire waist.
After shopping, I walked home through Russell Square I think it’s called. It was a new perspective coming up from the north side of South Kensington. Anyway, there were a number of nice restaurants along the way. When I got home, I ate some dinner and collapsed for the rest of the night, knowing that I had to wake up the next morning for Oxford and Blenheim Palace.
Great Week of Work
On Tuesday morning, I walked in to work, put my coat on my chair, washed my hands from the tube, and then the Fixed Income Managing Director asked what I was doing today. Responding cautiously, I told him that I was still working on my written project. He asked if I would like to go to a Fund Management Conference hosted by the International Economic Association… in 20 minutes, for the rest of the day. I immediately remembered that I had lunch plans with Claire and Lauren at 12pm, and so my boss agreed to walk outside to let them know that I wouldn’t be able to go with them. After I was assured I wouldn’t be rude to my friends, off I went to Whitehall. Ironically, I had only discovered the night before while out with Claire and Lauren where exactly Whitehall was – it is the huge complex of ornate buildings across from the London Eye, and down the street from Big Ben. It took me a bit to find where it was once the cab dropped me off, and I was a few minutes late for the first speaker, which the MD wanted notes on. I slipped into the back row of seats and began furiously writing notes because I had no idea what the speaker was talking about. That was the general theme of the day. I met 4 really nice business people throughout the day, and was fortunate to get three of their business cards. I have yet to email them. I am thinking of doing it tomorrow; I hope it is not too late. They know I am a student, so perhaps they will forgive me as I discover how to be a more effective businessperson. Anyway, I learned a ton throughout the day, such as what are derivatives (which I didn’t realize I already knew) and synthetic hedge fund replication (which I definitely didn’t already know). Basically, synthetic hedge fund replication is the practice of observing the basic characteristics of a hedge fund and applying those while developing a portfolio that is not a hedge fund. The name is daunting, but it is a rather simple concept. Ultimately, I loved the day so much that I asked my boss if I could go back with him the next day. He said that his only concern was that we had only paid for one spot, and we do not want to risk being charged for a second spot. Fortunately for me, and unfortunately for him, he was ill the next morning again and so I was able to go through lunchtime. I met him out front and handed him the binder of materials, and off to the office I went. When I arrived at the office, I spoke with his boss who had just returned from a 2-week vacation. We discussed my project and how to improve it to be a more effective tool for the group. I also asked her if I could come in on Friday so that I may take off the Thursday before Easter when Brad is here. She said that as long as I make up all the hours, it isn’t a problem at all. Obviously, it would be ideal to just the time off, but whatever, it wasn’t a big deal to go in on Friday morning. However, this also means staying late a few days this next week.
The next morning, on Thursday, the MD asked if I had any plans for that night. I said no, accepting that I would have to miss out on Thai Taste with Liz and Marilyn. I ended up going to the London Aquarium from 6:30-9:45pm for the celebratory opening of Euronext’s and iTraxx’s Credit Futures product. It was great. We first walked into a room with a huge circular tank with sharks looming in the bottom, and a school of fish circling around the top. There were a few arcade games that businessmen, professionally dressed, enjoyed. Also, there were two ribbon twirlers, and two masseuses. Let’s also not forget the catering staff. Everyone was dressed for a luau. My favorite people, however, were the divers in the tank. Our “host” diver, held up ads from iTraxx and Euronext, and held up a clipboard against the tank to speak with us. There were clipboards all along the edge of the tank that we could write on to ask them questions, like “Are you concerned that the sharks may eat you?” After a while of feeling shy and having difficulty breaking into a group, I finally made my way into a small group of people from Lehman Brothers. They were really nice, and there was an American girl from the New York office in London for a week. She graduated from Wellesley last year, and did their training program for two months. We chatted about her sister in Asia, worldly travels, how to speak Mandarin, Boston, MIT boys, etc. She was also very nice to let me in on the nickname of another Lehman employee so that I wasn’t horribly confused when I saw him referred to with two names. This other Lehman employee spent a lot of time helping me to know where I should travel while I am here, and also talking about his family’s private tour of Westminster Abbey and how his daughter played Go Tell it on the Mountain on the organ. He was extremely nice, and later emailed me to remind me of all the names of places he rambled off to me. I also met someone who lives in Japan, although is originally from England, and helped to develop the Credit Futures product that we were celebrating. Throughout the evening, we were moved to a petting area with stingrays that were extremely friendly, and I had no idea how personable and interactive they could be! We were then moved to a room lined with fish tanks and with a large bar in the middle. The entire evening they handed out drinks from the open bar and hors dourves, including these little bowls of rice and chicken/pepper kebabs. Finally, I went home and was very tired, knowing that I had to get up the next morning to go to work and class. Overall, it was a great week of work, and it was a nice change of pace from the previously quieter week… all thanks to the Fixed Income Managing Director, and my sick boss.
The next morning, on Thursday, the MD asked if I had any plans for that night. I said no, accepting that I would have to miss out on Thai Taste with Liz and Marilyn. I ended up going to the London Aquarium from 6:30-9:45pm for the celebratory opening of Euronext’s and iTraxx’s Credit Futures product. It was great. We first walked into a room with a huge circular tank with sharks looming in the bottom, and a school of fish circling around the top. There were a few arcade games that businessmen, professionally dressed, enjoyed. Also, there were two ribbon twirlers, and two masseuses. Let’s also not forget the catering staff. Everyone was dressed for a luau. My favorite people, however, were the divers in the tank. Our “host” diver, held up ads from iTraxx and Euronext, and held up a clipboard against the tank to speak with us. There were clipboards all along the edge of the tank that we could write on to ask them questions, like “Are you concerned that the sharks may eat you?” After a while of feeling shy and having difficulty breaking into a group, I finally made my way into a small group of people from Lehman Brothers. They were really nice, and there was an American girl from the New York office in London for a week. She graduated from Wellesley last year, and did their training program for two months. We chatted about her sister in Asia, worldly travels, how to speak Mandarin, Boston, MIT boys, etc. She was also very nice to let me in on the nickname of another Lehman employee so that I wasn’t horribly confused when I saw him referred to with two names. This other Lehman employee spent a lot of time helping me to know where I should travel while I am here, and also talking about his family’s private tour of Westminster Abbey and how his daughter played Go Tell it on the Mountain on the organ. He was extremely nice, and later emailed me to remind me of all the names of places he rambled off to me. I also met someone who lives in Japan, although is originally from England, and helped to develop the Credit Futures product that we were celebrating. Throughout the evening, we were moved to a petting area with stingrays that were extremely friendly, and I had no idea how personable and interactive they could be! We were then moved to a room lined with fish tanks and with a large bar in the middle. The entire evening they handed out drinks from the open bar and hors dourves, including these little bowls of rice and chicken/pepper kebabs. Finally, I went home and was very tired, knowing that I had to get up the next morning to go to work and class. Overall, it was a great week of work, and it was a nice change of pace from the previously quieter week… all thanks to the Fixed Income Managing Director, and my sick boss.
Claire and Lauren Visit
After work on Monday, I walked into my house to find Claire and Lauren in my livingroom. J I was really excited to see them, and so after changing/eating/them showering, I took them out on the town. First, we went to Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. We crossed the bridge to the Thames Path and walked under the London Eye. We went over the walkway bridge down the street to Trafalgar Square. We then walked through the gates to Buckingham Palace and walked for 20 minutes down to see it. It was great to see it at night, since I have already seen it twice during the day. We then walked back, by which point we were very cold from the wind. After going through Trafalgar Square and by the National Portrait Gallery, we went to Leicester Square. We were going to eat at the Hamburger Union, and then I spotted Wagamama’s! The food and dessert were great, as usual. Oddly, though, I had some sort of weird frostbite thing going on with my ear, and once we walked into the warm building, it swelled up. In addition, my other ear couldn’t hear well, perhaps leftover ear problems from the plane. Anyway, this subsided in a few minutes. After dinner, we quickly walked through Leicester Square to Piccadilly Circus and hopped back on the tube to South Kensington. It was a very successful night of tourism.
On Tuesday, I went to a conference during the day and ate lamb that didn’t sit well with me. Later that night, Claire and Lauren went to visit some Princeton friends at a friend’s house who lives a few blocks from here. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go because I didn’t feel well. They said it was a beautiful home and a lot of fun, and I learned that Hugh Grant lives very nearby. We stayed up chatting for a bit after they got home because Claire and I realize that it will be quite a long summer apart again. We were lucky to have time together this week.
On Wednesday, we ate at Giraffe on High Street. It was very yummy, but unfortunately we got there a bit late and Claire and Lauren had to switch their orders a few times. It tasted great; I love their falafel burgers. I chose not to get dessert, but after trying theirs, I am quite certain to get it next time. J
Claire and Lauren left for Heathrow early Thursday morning. I woke up to say goodbye to them, and it was sad to see them leave. Hopefully, I will be able to join them at lawn parties when I am home in early May.
On Tuesday, I went to a conference during the day and ate lamb that didn’t sit well with me. Later that night, Claire and Lauren went to visit some Princeton friends at a friend’s house who lives a few blocks from here. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go because I didn’t feel well. They said it was a beautiful home and a lot of fun, and I learned that Hugh Grant lives very nearby. We stayed up chatting for a bit after they got home because Claire and I realize that it will be quite a long summer apart again. We were lucky to have time together this week.
On Wednesday, we ate at Giraffe on High Street. It was very yummy, but unfortunately we got there a bit late and Claire and Lauren had to switch their orders a few times. It tasted great; I love their falafel burgers. I chose not to get dessert, but after trying theirs, I am quite certain to get it next time. J
Claire and Lauren left for Heathrow early Thursday morning. I woke up to say goodbye to them, and it was sad to see them leave. Hopefully, I will be able to join them at lawn parties when I am home in early May.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Harrod's and St. Patrick's Day!
I started off St. Patrick's Day by waking up at 1:30pm. It was wonderful. Although, I was quite disappointed after I lamely pulled open my curtain a few inches and got a peek at the amazingly beautiful weather that I had been missing. Waste of a day? Perhaps, but at least I had my sleep. Michal and I decided to walk down to Harrod's so we could accomplish another big tourist site. It is beautiful inside, grand escalators/stairs that are lined with small balconies. I bought a really cute tin with a man next to a fire engine red phone booth that had triple chocolate chunk biscuits inside. Suddenly, we heard Ave Maria filling the escalator area and went on a hunt to find the source. There on one of the balconies was a woman singing, across from which stood a small audience. She gestured to the shoppers at Harrod's with open arms and took us from a shopping mall to a concert hall. Then, she stopped and Michal and I continued our walk elsewhere through all the various floors and departments. We heard another song again, this time Carmen's Habanera, so we walked out to see a different woman singing from the same balcony. She finished and so we continued to shop, until I heard what I believed to be O mio babbino caro. We ran back just in time to hear the end. I was excited to finally have Michal hear the song I had talked about when I dragged her to Porta Rossa and back to Ponte Vecchio and the Arno when we were in Florence.
When I got back to my house, the St. Patrick's Day party had started in full swing. I made myself a falafel pita for lunch, and bought some cheap wine from Tesco's. We all partied throughout the house, and made it a complete mess, but it was a lot of fun. There were a number of people here I didn't recognize but I met most of them throughout the party. Christine and I decided that we didn't have quite enough to drink, so made a run out to Odd bins and Tesco's for Smirnoff vodka and cranberry juice. We had a funny run-in with the guys at Odd bins and told them they should sell plastic cups and straws and cranberry juice so they could be a one stop shop. They said they'd be willing to sell plastic cups but not straws, and they do have cranberry juice. He pulled up a box of cranberry juice from behind the counter and said "It's made from concentrate." To which Christine replied, "Does that mean we have to add water?" The guys laughed at her and said, "No, you just have to drink it." I was also confused because I didn't know why it was significant to tell us it was made from concentrate. Whatever. We went to Tesco's and found they sell the same thing, but Christine needed dinner and we bought dish detergent so it was still worth the stop. We came back and drank a bit more as everyone started to file out to other parties/eat dinner/get ready for bed. Mind you this was only about 8:30pm. However, most people began drinking sometime between 11am and 3pm. I hung out with Marilyn and Liz in their room and watched Monster-in-Law on Betsy's bed while she and Mike were out. They have the comfiest bunk beds! Michal and Leor randomly walked in while I was watching but then left after seeing I wasn't going to move very far in my pj's... on st. patrick's day... at 10:30pm. Yes, it was rather pathetic. But now I'm going to bed so I can hopefully wake up on time tomorrow for the festival and parade downtown, research for my team business strategy project, and go to a 3 1/2 hours team meeting. Goodnight!
When I got back to my house, the St. Patrick's Day party had started in full swing. I made myself a falafel pita for lunch, and bought some cheap wine from Tesco's. We all partied throughout the house, and made it a complete mess, but it was a lot of fun. There were a number of people here I didn't recognize but I met most of them throughout the party. Christine and I decided that we didn't have quite enough to drink, so made a run out to Odd bins and Tesco's for Smirnoff vodka and cranberry juice. We had a funny run-in with the guys at Odd bins and told them they should sell plastic cups and straws and cranberry juice so they could be a one stop shop. They said they'd be willing to sell plastic cups but not straws, and they do have cranberry juice. He pulled up a box of cranberry juice from behind the counter and said "It's made from concentrate." To which Christine replied, "Does that mean we have to add water?" The guys laughed at her and said, "No, you just have to drink it." I was also confused because I didn't know why it was significant to tell us it was made from concentrate. Whatever. We went to Tesco's and found they sell the same thing, but Christine needed dinner and we bought dish detergent so it was still worth the stop. We came back and drank a bit more as everyone started to file out to other parties/eat dinner/get ready for bed. Mind you this was only about 8:30pm. However, most people began drinking sometime between 11am and 3pm. I hung out with Marilyn and Liz in their room and watched Monster-in-Law on Betsy's bed while she and Mike were out. They have the comfiest bunk beds! Michal and Leor randomly walked in while I was watching but then left after seeing I wasn't going to move very far in my pj's... on st. patrick's day... at 10:30pm. Yes, it was rather pathetic. But now I'm going to bed so I can hopefully wake up on time tomorrow for the festival and parade downtown, research for my team business strategy project, and go to a 3 1/2 hours team meeting. Goodnight!
Monday, March 12, 2007
Mum in London!
Thursday
My 'mum' came to London from Thursday night to Monday morning. We walked absolutely everywhere and it was great. The first night, I gave her Chardonnary and Extra Virgin Olive Oil from the Chianti vineyard that I visited in Tuscany. We chowed down with Jen and Jenny, and tried to get some rest for the next day.
Friday
I had to go to class from 9:30am-1:30pm, so she walked down to Kensington Palace through Hyde Park siteseeing and searching for breakfast. When we met up, we walked over to where I have class and down Gloucester Road to the tube. We decided to first go to the "City" where I work at the Royal Exchange. We to had trouble choosing where to eat and just ate at Starbucks before we walked by the Bank of England, the house of the City's Mayor, the Swiss Re Gherkin, through Leadenhall Market (Harry Potter's Diagon Alley) and past Lloyd's of London to the Tower of London. It was a beautiful day so we got great pictures at the Tower and along the Thames in front of the Tower Bridge. We went up into the Tower Bridge exhibition to get a great view of the city along the Thames, and then into the pump rooms for the drawbridge. Later, we went to Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. After touring that area, we walked along the river, from which we could view the London Eye lit up at night, to Trafalgar Square spotted Renoir's Landscapes which we knew we wanted to go back to see later. We followed that down to Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus.
Saturday
On Saturday morning, we walked up Queensgate to Kensington Palace and through Hyde Park to go to Portobello Market. It was a bit crowded, and a long walk so we decided to trek back to the Notting Hill tube stop and go to Oxford Street for theatre tickets. We started on Argyll for Sound of Music, then walked down to Guys and Dolls and finally Avenue Q. We got great tickets for a 5pm showing so we ate late lunch at a nearby pub for an hour or so before walking back over. The show was amazing and we laughed hysterically almost the entire time. Since it was a relatively early showing, we went searching through Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus for another show, movie or comedy club. Spontaneously, we chose to go to 99 comedy club and see 3 comedians. We got center seats on a sofa in the back; although we didn't have a view we were close enough to hear it really well and the comedians were good. The first was the best, then the other 2 were alright. There was an argument between this one big drunk guy and the people sitting right next to us, so we were a bit concerned but it was all okay. After the show, we went back to South Kensington and rested up for the next day.
Sunday
We began Sunday very early at Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards and marching band. They played a lot of modern and classical tunes like the Star Wars theme and I think something from Don Giovanni or some opera. The website listed the start time earlier than it actually was, so we waited for quite some time before it began. However, we enjoyed the walk around the Palace and near St. James's Park because it was such a beautiful day. We left during the band to see the Globe Theatre.
We took the tube to the London Bridge stop on the south side of the river, and walked the Thames Path until we stopped at Pizza Express (and had the best fungotti [stuffed mushroom on garlic bread] ever! We passed the Southwark Bridge, the Golden Hinde ship, and the Clink Prison Museum on the way to the Globe.
It was absolutely amazing, and that was greatly to the help of our tour guide. She truly enjoyed telling us about the reconstruction and redevelopment of the Globe by Sam Wanamaker, as well as the details of the historic behavior within the seating/standing areas, use of the inflexible stage during shows due to the lack of a curtain and high balonies, costumes, etc. The audience is very interactive with the actors, and actually some of the action occurs where the "groundlings" stand i.e. sword fight. Almost the entire stage is wood painted with elaborate scenes and marble. The theatre is not an exact replica of the original due to modern fire and safety regulations i.e. sprinklers on top of the thatched roof. Also, when a character dies they must lie motionless on the stage for the remainder of the show due to the lack of curtains. Romeo and Juliet had difficulty on the stage when they pass a rose because the balcony is very high.
Outside the Globe, we stopped for a quick snack at a food stand and looked down the wall to a small patch of sand where people were standing near a sculpture of a man covered by an octopus, over which a man was drinking an entire bottle of wine. We continued our walk along the Thames Path past the Millennium Bridge, Tate Modern, Blackfriar's Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, Hungerford Bridge and human statues to the London Eye. After some consideration, my mom was nervous about the height of the London Eye (which, I admit was rather daunting) and so we walked by Dali Universe where we saw a large statue of the warped clock before turning back to the Hungerford Bridge.
We walked down Northumberland Avenue to Trafalgar Square where we remembered how we wanted to see Renoir's Landscapes. We rushed in to see them in the last 45 minutes the National Gallery was open, and it was absolutely amazing. There were 64 paintings, along with which I read a blurb in a booklet. I am very disappointed that I did not have more time to spend staring at these hypnotizing paintings; you truly feel like you are a part of them. My mom discovered that "Wheatfield" painted in 1879 was her favorite of them all. The blurb reads:
I had a much more difficult time choosing a favorite painting, although I frequently like paintings that seemed to join people with nature. After Renoir's beautiful works of art, we considered eating in Trafalgar Square and then decided to turn back to South Kensington for a more relaxing meal. We rested here for a bit, and then walked down Queensgate to High Street where we ate at Giraffe. We had Mango Mama smoothies and fresh hummus with vegetables and warm naan bread. For dinner, she had a colorful vegetable stirfry and I had a falafal burger.
Monday
The following morning, we woke up very early and I walked her back to South Kensington to make sure she got to Heathrow alright. Thus was the end of our weekend in London.
My 'mum' came to London from Thursday night to Monday morning. We walked absolutely everywhere and it was great. The first night, I gave her Chardonnary and Extra Virgin Olive Oil from the Chianti vineyard that I visited in Tuscany. We chowed down with Jen and Jenny, and tried to get some rest for the next day.
Friday
I had to go to class from 9:30am-1:30pm, so she walked down to Kensington Palace through Hyde Park siteseeing and searching for breakfast. When we met up, we walked over to where I have class and down Gloucester Road to the tube. We decided to first go to the "City" where I work at the Royal Exchange. We to had trouble choosing where to eat and just ate at Starbucks before we walked by the Bank of England, the house of the City's Mayor, the Swiss Re Gherkin, through Leadenhall Market (Harry Potter's Diagon Alley) and past Lloyd's of London to the Tower of London. It was a beautiful day so we got great pictures at the Tower and along the Thames in front of the Tower Bridge. We went up into the Tower Bridge exhibition to get a great view of the city along the Thames, and then into the pump rooms for the drawbridge. Later, we went to Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. After touring that area, we walked along the river, from which we could view the London Eye lit up at night, to Trafalgar Square spotted Renoir's Landscapes which we knew we wanted to go back to see later. We followed that down to Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus.
Saturday
On Saturday morning, we walked up Queensgate to Kensington Palace and through Hyde Park to go to Portobello Market. It was a bit crowded, and a long walk so we decided to trek back to the Notting Hill tube stop and go to Oxford Street for theatre tickets. We started on Argyll for Sound of Music, then walked down to Guys and Dolls and finally Avenue Q. We got great tickets for a 5pm showing so we ate late lunch at a nearby pub for an hour or so before walking back over. The show was amazing and we laughed hysterically almost the entire time. Since it was a relatively early showing, we went searching through Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus for another show, movie or comedy club. Spontaneously, we chose to go to 99 comedy club and see 3 comedians. We got center seats on a sofa in the back; although we didn't have a view we were close enough to hear it really well and the comedians were good. The first was the best, then the other 2 were alright. There was an argument between this one big drunk guy and the people sitting right next to us, so we were a bit concerned but it was all okay. After the show, we went back to South Kensington and rested up for the next day.
Sunday
We began Sunday very early at Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards and marching band. They played a lot of modern and classical tunes like the Star Wars theme and I think something from Don Giovanni or some opera. The website listed the start time earlier than it actually was, so we waited for quite some time before it began. However, we enjoyed the walk around the Palace and near St. James's Park because it was such a beautiful day. We left during the band to see the Globe Theatre.
We took the tube to the London Bridge stop on the south side of the river, and walked the Thames Path until we stopped at Pizza Express (and had the best fungotti [stuffed mushroom on garlic bread] ever! We passed the Southwark Bridge, the Golden Hinde ship, and the Clink Prison Museum on the way to the Globe.
It was absolutely amazing, and that was greatly to the help of our tour guide. She truly enjoyed telling us about the reconstruction and redevelopment of the Globe by Sam Wanamaker, as well as the details of the historic behavior within the seating/standing areas, use of the inflexible stage during shows due to the lack of a curtain and high balonies, costumes, etc. The audience is very interactive with the actors, and actually some of the action occurs where the "groundlings" stand i.e. sword fight. Almost the entire stage is wood painted with elaborate scenes and marble. The theatre is not an exact replica of the original due to modern fire and safety regulations i.e. sprinklers on top of the thatched roof. Also, when a character dies they must lie motionless on the stage for the remainder of the show due to the lack of curtains. Romeo and Juliet had difficulty on the stage when they pass a rose because the balcony is very high.
Outside the Globe, we stopped for a quick snack at a food stand and looked down the wall to a small patch of sand where people were standing near a sculpture of a man covered by an octopus, over which a man was drinking an entire bottle of wine. We continued our walk along the Thames Path past the Millennium Bridge, Tate Modern, Blackfriar's Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, Hungerford Bridge and human statues to the London Eye. After some consideration, my mom was nervous about the height of the London Eye (which, I admit was rather daunting) and so we walked by Dali Universe where we saw a large statue of the warped clock before turning back to the Hungerford Bridge.
We walked down Northumberland Avenue to Trafalgar Square where we remembered how we wanted to see Renoir's Landscapes. We rushed in to see them in the last 45 minutes the National Gallery was open, and it was absolutely amazing. There were 64 paintings, along with which I read a blurb in a booklet. I am very disappointed that I did not have more time to spend staring at these hypnotizing paintings; you truly feel like you are a part of them. My mom discovered that "Wheatfield" painted in 1879 was her favorite of them all. The blurb reads:
"In this frieze of wheat, which registers the movement of the wind, Renoir's
handling of paint is particularly bold. Hatches of olive green, brown and yellow
punctuate the expanse of gold. Precise strokes, applied at speed, convey a sharp
focus that softens to the rear of the scene. This is the purest of landscapes: a
composition that relies neither on figures, buildings, nor unusual geographical
motifs."
I had a much more difficult time choosing a favorite painting, although I frequently like paintings that seemed to join people with nature. After Renoir's beautiful works of art, we considered eating in Trafalgar Square and then decided to turn back to South Kensington for a more relaxing meal. We rested here for a bit, and then walked down Queensgate to High Street where we ate at Giraffe. We had Mango Mama smoothies and fresh hummus with vegetables and warm naan bread. For dinner, she had a colorful vegetable stirfry and I had a falafal burger.
Monday
The following morning, we woke up very early and I walked her back to South Kensington to make sure she got to Heathrow alright. Thus was the end of our weekend in London.
First Week at Work
Last week I had 3 days of work, and 2 days of class. I like the team I am working with, and everyone else has been very welcoming as well. They let me spend a morning at a few FX desks on the trading floor, and another morning with the transition management team. I learned a ton about both areas, and have been writing notes during the day so that I may more easily write my portfolio diary for the final project. After work on Monday, I met with some 85 Broads members who ironically were mostly from the US. We met at the George Pub by the Liverpool station near RBS. Some were nicer than others, but overall it was a good experience. The next day was a FX intern's 21st birthday and so a bunch of us went to Prohibition to celebrate. I was there until 8:30pm and met some other interns, a transfer from Sydney, and some more senior employees. I'm really excited to continue working there, and this upcoming Wednesday I will be back at transition management for a bit. One guy in my team showed me around the building and introduced me to a lot of people, a few of whom were interested in letting me shadow them in their roles. We will see how it goes..
Monday, March 5, 2007
Italy!!
Rome
After a 2 hour flight, 5 of my flatmates and I took a shuttle van to Hotel Romae. The driver was really nice, and we spoke Spanglish with him as he gave us a mini-tour of the Coliseum, St. Peter’s etc. It was amazing to see this at night, and he told us to eat at the restaurant a block from our hotel where his friend Massimo worked. The restaurant was AMAZING and I loved my penne with vodka sauce. The hotel was really clean, and all 6 of us fit comfortably. We had a view out on to the street, and this is when I discovered that nearly every window in Italy has real shutters. We woke up early and got tickets for a 24-hour hop-on/hop-off bus, and then went to the Coliseum. It was beautiful, ancient, and massive. We took a tour, meaning that we didn't have to wait in the enormously long lines. Afterward, we discovered our tickets gave us access to the Palatine Hill next to the Roman Forum. This gave us a rather aerial view of Rome, the Forum, and Coliseum. Also there was the Arch of Titus that commemorates the capture of Jerusalem. We then went to steps that I believe Michelangelo or Raphael made? I will find out exactly who it was. After, was the Pantheon and it was beautiful inside, had the tomb of Raphael, and was in the middle of a plaza. The Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain were definite highlights, and very busy. The Spanish Steps are at the end of a high-end shopping street. The Trevi Fountain is a huge, beautiful wall of sculptures where people could sit and eat. One of the Basilica’s we saw was Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri. It was very open and grand inside, and located across a circular road around a fountain and across a nice hotel. The next day, Vatican City was free from 8:45am – 1:45pm, and the Pope was speaking at 10am. We tried to do it all, but were quite shocked when we arrived to a line of thousands of people for the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. We paid for a tour, and got in to the Museum in about 45 minutes from our arrival. The Museum had a lot of interesting artwork, including an exhibit of Laocoonte which depicts a father fighting off snakes that are killing his sons. It was interesting because it was on a circular platform so we were able to walk all the way around it. There was a very long corridor fully painted that was a particular highlight as well. After this we saw the Sistine Chapel which initially I was not impressed by because I was not very interested in so many separate paintings, until our tour guide explained the stories it told about the creation of Earth and religion. At the end of the tour I wanted to climb to the top of St. Peter’s because it is the highest point in Rome, but we were tight for time and my flatmates did not want to wait in line. We walked through St. Peter’s, it was magnificent, and we saw the statue of Mary holding Jesus after his crucifixion. It began raining when we were taking pictures in front of St. Peter’s, and so it was time to get on the train to Florence.
Florence
We arrived at the Santa Maria Novella "stazione" late at night and in the rain. Luckily, Liz was able to figure out where we had to walk to get to Corona D'italia and we were there soon since it was only 2 blocks away. The hotel was really nice and clean, and the employees spoke English :-) They directed us to a restaurant on the street that was still open that late on a Sunday, and we were happy to finally sit down and eat. Oddly, there was a couple perhaps gypsies fighting on the street hitting each other and yelling. Then, we randomly stopped in a local convenience store for some essentials. I shared a room with Marilyn and Christine overlooking the San Lorenzo Market. That night we all met up in our room and brainstormed on places to spend the next day since we heard that not many places are open in Florence on Mondays. Liz, Marilyn and I decided to go Pisa the next morning, and meet the rest of the group at 2:15pm for a bus tour and wine tasting to a vineyard in Chianti.
Pisa
Liz, Marilyn and I arrived around 10am to Pisa Centrale, and it was a beautiful clear day in a pretty city (although some streets smelled). We bought our tickets and had about a 30 minute wait to walk up the Tower, so we took perspective shots. Liz had random Italian men ask her to take pictures with them and they gave her a kiss on the cheek. It was kind of weird, but I guess the Italians do not think it is out of the ordinary. The climb up the Tower was somewhat nervewrecking because you can feel yourself pulling toward the low side. When we got up to the top we were nervous to let go of the railing but also afraid to go near the railing because it was not very much support near the edge of the Tower. We got over this quickly though as we discovered the view of the beautiful mountains and the city of Pisa in the valley.
Castello Il Palagio and Greve in the Chianti region of Tuscany
Fortunately, we made it back from Pisa in time for the tour bus at 2:15 to Tuscany. We took a bus ride for about 45 minutes through the rolling mountains and hillsides lined with rows of ungrown vineyards. The castle was perched above and amidst the vineyards from which its employees handpick grapes for wine and olives for 100% Italian olive oil. Everything related to their products is done inside the castle, including bottling. We first went down into the basement to see huge barrels of wine each dated and named for its contents. This was followed by a walk through the inside courtyard where wedding receptions are held, a few blue pieces of artwork as preferred by the owner, and a private chapel. There were two levels with rows of arches delicately draped in with rich green plants. After touring the castle and taking pictures in front of the vineyard, we all went in for a wine tasting. There were about 10 tables for 8 people each, with 3 glasses, 2 red wines with salami and bread with olive oil, and 1 white and pecorino cheese. The woman who works at the castle told us how to spin our glass and judge the strength of the wine based on the arches left on the side of the glass. Also, she said to sip the wine through your teeth and let it sit in your mouth a second before swallowing. The point is to taste the wine, there is water for drinking. This was followed by a small, goldish-colored dessert wine and almond biscotti. We then placed orders to bring some home and piled back onto the bus to go to Greve. This was a small hill town nearby that had a huge black iron rooster, the symbol of true Chianti products. There was an original group of Chianti vineyards, and after proving commercially successful other producers moved nearby and began advertising as Chianti products. Thus, the original group was given the legal right to put the black rooster in order to differentiate itself.
Florence
The next day I stayed in Florence and saw the main tourist sites like Ponte Vecchio, the Duomo, the Uffizi, outside of the Uffizi was a row of famous peoples' statues like Leonardo DaVinci, and San Lorenzo Market. We then checked out and headed off to Cinque Terre.
Cinque Terre (Monterroso, Vernazza, Corniglia?, Manarola?, Riomaggiore)
We had a difficult journey to our hotel in La Spezia because we did not realize it was not within walking distance. I decided to walk into a pizzeria and ask for directions. They spoke very little English and eventually the rest of the group followed in and we tried to communicate. They were extremely nice and called 2 cabs for us at the corner of their restaurant. It was a very long drive up the hill, and without their help we would have likely spent the entire night trying to find out hotel unsuccessfully. The hotel seemed nice when we arrived, it had a large restaurant, living room and breakfast area. Then, I found a little bug in my bed which freaked me out. I decided to just suck it up and hope the best for the following day.
We began by taking the local train up to the northernmost town, Monterroso. We walked down to the Mediterranean and I touched it! We had a lot of fun playing around, and then began our 1.5 hour hike to Vernazza. Later, we realized that we should have visited the actual town of Monterroso but perhaps another time.. The hike was rather difficult and hot, and we were not well prepared for it i.e. Marilyn wore flats and I brought my Coach bag. The views were beautiful though, although the walks upstairs were rough, and we met a man working in his mountainside vineyard and selling his wine. We knew we couldn't carry anything, so we stopped to say hello and catch our breaths before continuing. We only passed 1 couple the entire hike; it was very obvious that it was off-season. Vernazza was a beautiful town, and we stopped there to sightsee and eat. Betsy became ill and so left early, later on we found out that we should have sent someone with her because she almost did not make it back safely to the hotel. She believes it is because she drank some of the water, "Montezuma's Revenge". We then went to Corniglia(?) which was another beautiful town carved into the cliffside. The waves crashed and sparked high, and I wanted to take a video on my camera but moreso wished to conserve my batteries for the rest of the walk. We ended up skipping Manarola(?) and going to Riomaggiore due to one hike being closed and us being tired. It was the smallest of the cities, but we entertained ourselves down the main drag until the train back to La Spezia arrived. That night we all played a game in the hotel, and the next morning I left early to meet Michal in Florence.
Florence
I checked back into Corona D'italia because I couldn't get a hold of Michal, almost immediately after which she called and we decided to meet at the Duomo. Ironically, she was staying on the same street as me with a friend. She had already climbed the Duomo, so we decided to walk to Porta Rossa since I hadn't had a chance to do it earlier. We continued down to Ponte Vecchio, and walked the other side of the river to a high view of the city within the valley. We stopped at Basilica di San Miniato al Monte, which is supposedly a big tourist site, and overlooks the Boboli Gardens. Apparently, my friends and I had gone to the wrong entrance of the Boboli Gardens earlier in the week and it indeed was open. So, I was happy to at least see it from a more aerial view before I left. Michal and I walked back to check in with her friends and make plans for the night. It was nice to go see where students take classes there; her friend had a bellydancing class still though so we left without her until later. We ate at Zaza's early evening because I really wanted to try the ravioli with the mushroom truffle sauce (I had eaten it with the walnut truffle sauce earlier in the week). I also had their Zaza's pudding/custard. It was good, but different and somewhat warm. We went to her friend's flat while they ate dinner and then walked out to Very Good near the Duomo for gelato. Afterward, I came back to get some sleep and get ready for the next day in Venice.
Venice
We left early for Venice, although our train was delayed we still made it there noonish. We ran around to find our hotel quickly because we wanted to make it to San Marco by public boat in time for the 2:30pm tour of the three islands, Murano, Burano, and Torcello. After frantically searching for the boat, we made it on in the last possible minute and took a risk by paying them on the street. Fortunately, they were honest and we took the boat ride to Murano's glassmaking factory, then to Burano which is known for lacemaking and where children played in the square, and then the quite Torcello with only 12 residents. We spent the rest of the night walking around and exploring while trying to find reasonably priced food.
The next day, we woke up early and had breakfast at the hotel, checked out, and kept our luggage in the corner of a dark open room for the afternoon. I spent most of the day searching for the perfect mask, which I found to be a pink, white and gold one with a stick and fringe. Unfortunately, it broke in my luggage on the way back, but that is another story. We ran into my flatmates at 12pm in San Marco Square and we all went to lunch at a pizza place. We then walked along the Rialto Bridge back north while shopping and somewhat hoping to end up at the crepe place that Michal and I ate at the night before. I left early since my flight was earlier than Michal's (and my flatmates left the next day), so I ran back to figure out how to take the bus to the airport, etc. It ended up getting me there 2 hours early, and I was the first person. It was a tiny airport, and I know for the future that there is not a great rush to arrive on time. Overall, it was perhaps the best week of my life, and I would give anything to live it again.
After a 2 hour flight, 5 of my flatmates and I took a shuttle van to Hotel Romae. The driver was really nice, and we spoke Spanglish with him as he gave us a mini-tour of the Coliseum, St. Peter’s etc. It was amazing to see this at night, and he told us to eat at the restaurant a block from our hotel where his friend Massimo worked. The restaurant was AMAZING and I loved my penne with vodka sauce. The hotel was really clean, and all 6 of us fit comfortably. We had a view out on to the street, and this is when I discovered that nearly every window in Italy has real shutters. We woke up early and got tickets for a 24-hour hop-on/hop-off bus, and then went to the Coliseum. It was beautiful, ancient, and massive. We took a tour, meaning that we didn't have to wait in the enormously long lines. Afterward, we discovered our tickets gave us access to the Palatine Hill next to the Roman Forum. This gave us a rather aerial view of Rome, the Forum, and Coliseum. Also there was the Arch of Titus that commemorates the capture of Jerusalem. We then went to steps that I believe Michelangelo or Raphael made? I will find out exactly who it was. After, was the Pantheon and it was beautiful inside, had the tomb of Raphael, and was in the middle of a plaza. The Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain were definite highlights, and very busy. The Spanish Steps are at the end of a high-end shopping street. The Trevi Fountain is a huge, beautiful wall of sculptures where people could sit and eat. One of the Basilica’s we saw was Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri. It was very open and grand inside, and located across a circular road around a fountain and across a nice hotel. The next day, Vatican City was free from 8:45am – 1:45pm, and the Pope was speaking at 10am. We tried to do it all, but were quite shocked when we arrived to a line of thousands of people for the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. We paid for a tour, and got in to the Museum in about 45 minutes from our arrival. The Museum had a lot of interesting artwork, including an exhibit of Laocoonte which depicts a father fighting off snakes that are killing his sons. It was interesting because it was on a circular platform so we were able to walk all the way around it. There was a very long corridor fully painted that was a particular highlight as well. After this we saw the Sistine Chapel which initially I was not impressed by because I was not very interested in so many separate paintings, until our tour guide explained the stories it told about the creation of Earth and religion. At the end of the tour I wanted to climb to the top of St. Peter’s because it is the highest point in Rome, but we were tight for time and my flatmates did not want to wait in line. We walked through St. Peter’s, it was magnificent, and we saw the statue of Mary holding Jesus after his crucifixion. It began raining when we were taking pictures in front of St. Peter’s, and so it was time to get on the train to Florence.
Florence
We arrived at the Santa Maria Novella "stazione" late at night and in the rain. Luckily, Liz was able to figure out where we had to walk to get to Corona D'italia and we were there soon since it was only 2 blocks away. The hotel was really nice and clean, and the employees spoke English :-) They directed us to a restaurant on the street that was still open that late on a Sunday, and we were happy to finally sit down and eat. Oddly, there was a couple perhaps gypsies fighting on the street hitting each other and yelling. Then, we randomly stopped in a local convenience store for some essentials. I shared a room with Marilyn and Christine overlooking the San Lorenzo Market. That night we all met up in our room and brainstormed on places to spend the next day since we heard that not many places are open in Florence on Mondays. Liz, Marilyn and I decided to go Pisa the next morning, and meet the rest of the group at 2:15pm for a bus tour and wine tasting to a vineyard in Chianti.
Pisa
Liz, Marilyn and I arrived around 10am to Pisa Centrale, and it was a beautiful clear day in a pretty city (although some streets smelled). We bought our tickets and had about a 30 minute wait to walk up the Tower, so we took perspective shots. Liz had random Italian men ask her to take pictures with them and they gave her a kiss on the cheek. It was kind of weird, but I guess the Italians do not think it is out of the ordinary. The climb up the Tower was somewhat nervewrecking because you can feel yourself pulling toward the low side. When we got up to the top we were nervous to let go of the railing but also afraid to go near the railing because it was not very much support near the edge of the Tower. We got over this quickly though as we discovered the view of the beautiful mountains and the city of Pisa in the valley.
Castello Il Palagio and Greve in the Chianti region of Tuscany
Fortunately, we made it back from Pisa in time for the tour bus at 2:15 to Tuscany. We took a bus ride for about 45 minutes through the rolling mountains and hillsides lined with rows of ungrown vineyards. The castle was perched above and amidst the vineyards from which its employees handpick grapes for wine and olives for 100% Italian olive oil. Everything related to their products is done inside the castle, including bottling. We first went down into the basement to see huge barrels of wine each dated and named for its contents. This was followed by a walk through the inside courtyard where wedding receptions are held, a few blue pieces of artwork as preferred by the owner, and a private chapel. There were two levels with rows of arches delicately draped in with rich green plants. After touring the castle and taking pictures in front of the vineyard, we all went in for a wine tasting. There were about 10 tables for 8 people each, with 3 glasses, 2 red wines with salami and bread with olive oil, and 1 white and pecorino cheese. The woman who works at the castle told us how to spin our glass and judge the strength of the wine based on the arches left on the side of the glass. Also, she said to sip the wine through your teeth and let it sit in your mouth a second before swallowing. The point is to taste the wine, there is water for drinking. This was followed by a small, goldish-colored dessert wine and almond biscotti. We then placed orders to bring some home and piled back onto the bus to go to Greve. This was a small hill town nearby that had a huge black iron rooster, the symbol of true Chianti products. There was an original group of Chianti vineyards, and after proving commercially successful other producers moved nearby and began advertising as Chianti products. Thus, the original group was given the legal right to put the black rooster in order to differentiate itself.
Florence
The next day I stayed in Florence and saw the main tourist sites like Ponte Vecchio, the Duomo, the Uffizi, outside of the Uffizi was a row of famous peoples' statues like Leonardo DaVinci, and San Lorenzo Market. We then checked out and headed off to Cinque Terre.
Cinque Terre (Monterroso, Vernazza, Corniglia?, Manarola?, Riomaggiore)
We had a difficult journey to our hotel in La Spezia because we did not realize it was not within walking distance. I decided to walk into a pizzeria and ask for directions. They spoke very little English and eventually the rest of the group followed in and we tried to communicate. They were extremely nice and called 2 cabs for us at the corner of their restaurant. It was a very long drive up the hill, and without their help we would have likely spent the entire night trying to find out hotel unsuccessfully. The hotel seemed nice when we arrived, it had a large restaurant, living room and breakfast area. Then, I found a little bug in my bed which freaked me out. I decided to just suck it up and hope the best for the following day.
We began by taking the local train up to the northernmost town, Monterroso. We walked down to the Mediterranean and I touched it! We had a lot of fun playing around, and then began our 1.5 hour hike to Vernazza. Later, we realized that we should have visited the actual town of Monterroso but perhaps another time.. The hike was rather difficult and hot, and we were not well prepared for it i.e. Marilyn wore flats and I brought my Coach bag. The views were beautiful though, although the walks upstairs were rough, and we met a man working in his mountainside vineyard and selling his wine. We knew we couldn't carry anything, so we stopped to say hello and catch our breaths before continuing. We only passed 1 couple the entire hike; it was very obvious that it was off-season. Vernazza was a beautiful town, and we stopped there to sightsee and eat. Betsy became ill and so left early, later on we found out that we should have sent someone with her because she almost did not make it back safely to the hotel. She believes it is because she drank some of the water, "Montezuma's Revenge". We then went to Corniglia(?) which was another beautiful town carved into the cliffside. The waves crashed and sparked high, and I wanted to take a video on my camera but moreso wished to conserve my batteries for the rest of the walk. We ended up skipping Manarola(?) and going to Riomaggiore due to one hike being closed and us being tired. It was the smallest of the cities, but we entertained ourselves down the main drag until the train back to La Spezia arrived. That night we all played a game in the hotel, and the next morning I left early to meet Michal in Florence.
Florence
I checked back into Corona D'italia because I couldn't get a hold of Michal, almost immediately after which she called and we decided to meet at the Duomo. Ironically, she was staying on the same street as me with a friend. She had already climbed the Duomo, so we decided to walk to Porta Rossa since I hadn't had a chance to do it earlier. We continued down to Ponte Vecchio, and walked the other side of the river to a high view of the city within the valley. We stopped at Basilica di San Miniato al Monte, which is supposedly a big tourist site, and overlooks the Boboli Gardens. Apparently, my friends and I had gone to the wrong entrance of the Boboli Gardens earlier in the week and it indeed was open. So, I was happy to at least see it from a more aerial view before I left. Michal and I walked back to check in with her friends and make plans for the night. It was nice to go see where students take classes there; her friend had a bellydancing class still though so we left without her until later. We ate at Zaza's early evening because I really wanted to try the ravioli with the mushroom truffle sauce (I had eaten it with the walnut truffle sauce earlier in the week). I also had their Zaza's pudding/custard. It was good, but different and somewhat warm. We went to her friend's flat while they ate dinner and then walked out to Very Good near the Duomo for gelato. Afterward, I came back to get some sleep and get ready for the next day in Venice.
Venice
We left early for Venice, although our train was delayed we still made it there noonish. We ran around to find our hotel quickly because we wanted to make it to San Marco by public boat in time for the 2:30pm tour of the three islands, Murano, Burano, and Torcello. After frantically searching for the boat, we made it on in the last possible minute and took a risk by paying them on the street. Fortunately, they were honest and we took the boat ride to Murano's glassmaking factory, then to Burano which is known for lacemaking and where children played in the square, and then the quite Torcello with only 12 residents. We spent the rest of the night walking around and exploring while trying to find reasonably priced food.
The next day, we woke up early and had breakfast at the hotel, checked out, and kept our luggage in the corner of a dark open room for the afternoon. I spent most of the day searching for the perfect mask, which I found to be a pink, white and gold one with a stick and fringe. Unfortunately, it broke in my luggage on the way back, but that is another story. We ran into my flatmates at 12pm in San Marco Square and we all went to lunch at a pizza place. We then walked along the Rialto Bridge back north while shopping and somewhat hoping to end up at the crepe place that Michal and I ate at the night before. I left early since my flight was earlier than Michal's (and my flatmates left the next day), so I ran back to figure out how to take the bus to the airport, etc. It ended up getting me there 2 hours early, and I was the first person. It was a tiny airport, and I know for the future that there is not a great rush to arrive on time. Overall, it was perhaps the best week of my life, and I would give anything to live it again.
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