Thanksgiving in Berlin......never would have thought that would happen! We flew into Berlin on Wednesday at about noon and hopped a train into the city. After meeting a very nice girl from Berlin who spoke better English that most people from the United States on the train, we arrived at the Friedrichstrasse Terminal. We quickly found our bearings and walked in the direction of the Hostel. After we had settled in and warmed up a bit, we were off to find lunch/dinner since by that time it was about 4 and we hadn't had lunch. We found a very nice place [View Full Entry]

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We decided to head over to Spain for the weekend to see some architectural sites, since we are so close. Our first stop brought us to Barcelona. The building that I went to see was the Barcelona Pavilion designed by Mies van de Rohe. It was worth every penny. Friday when we arrived, the weather was not really cooperating like we would have liked it. It was about 40 degrees and windy, plus about a half hour after we got off the bus from the airport it started raining. But we made it to our hostel and got checked in and [View Full Entry]

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A city of water. How can you not love it? The city of Venice is amazing. On Friday, we arrived at about noon and then went straight to Saint Marks Square. The weather on Friday was amazing. Blue skies, 70 degrees.........Like I said, amazing. Friday night we went for a walk just to get aquainted with the city, then we were all pretty much worn out so we just went to bed. Saturday morning we woke up bright and early for a day of Island jumping. First we went to Torcello to see some of the original churches of Venice. After [View Full Entry]

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Villas, Palazzos, Gardens, all kinds of good stuff today. For class we went to Caprarola to see the Palazzo Farnese. It is a renaissance palazzo placed along the path to Rome. It was meant to be a kind of resting place for diplomats and such to rest on their way to Rome. It is also a place for the Farnese family to show of their power and money. The Palazzo itself is a Pentagon shape with a circular courtyard. It is pretty amazing actually. They were filming some crazy renaissance-type movie while we were there, so of course, we couldn't take [View Full Entry]

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This weekend was kind of just a relaxing weekend to get away from Rome for a while. We decided to go to Ravenna on Friday, which involved us have to get on a train at 6:30 in the morning! That's way too early on a Friday morning by the way. But had to switch trains a couple of times and finally at about 12:30 we arrived in Ravenna. The weather wasn't working with us, but it did hold off raining until about 4:30, so we did get to see some things without getting wet. We walked to San Vitale, which like [View Full Entry]

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So my perpetual search for Vebix Blu chapstick has brought me to Siena. The sky is blue, the air is crisp.......yet still no chapstick. I wander into a Farmacia just up the hill from Piazza del Campo, the piazza in which they hold the annual horse race, and I begin my search. Nope, no Vebix Blu. The search continues............................. (For more information of the subject: Siena, ask Nathan later.) [View Full Entry]

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Florence is beautiful. I thought it would be bigger than it was, but I was pleasantly surprised. We spent most of our days walking for class to strategic sites that Emilio had for us to go. The first day we went to the Laurentian Library and San Lorenzo. Churches an Cathedrals in Italy are some of the most amazing places I have ever been. After lunch, we went to the Ufizzi gallery and saw some amazing art and sculptures collected by the Medici family. Later that night, a few of us walked around the city and ended up on Ponte Vecchio, [View Full Entry]

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Well we had our first review. It wasn't too bad. For those of you who do not know what I am talking about...........ask someone. No I'm kidding. In the Architecture program we have projects every semester. Sometimes we have one project for the whole semester or multiple projects throughout. Nevertheless, usually about 2 to 3 times a semester we have a review of our work. If you have ever noticed all the architecture students disappear for about a week that is usually review week. So basically, we present our project to a jury of professors and then get feedback on what [View Full Entry]

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So I played soccer today. I need some work. We took to bus to Saint John's Univeristy in western Rome and played some soccer for about 4 hours today. The kids from St. John's are all very nice, most of which are also pretty damn good at soccer. Us one the other hand (the six out of shape kids from Arkansas) were all pretty much getting kicked around, with the exception of Billy Quinn, the son of the humanities professor that is here this fall. We actually got a pretty intense pick up game going with a bunch of kids that [View Full Entry]

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Well we finally got into our second apartment. This one we actually get to live in for more than three weeks (thanks to the jackass who double booked our first apartment). But all is well now, this place is much bigger and is in a better place. I say better place but in the old apartment I got to walk in front of the Vatican every morning and night, and if you have never seen that..........DO IT!!!!!!! It is beautiful! But this place is closer to the studio and classes so we don't have to walk as far when it is [View Full Entry]

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