07.
Fill your life with adventures, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show.
ARCHITETTURA ISTRUZIONE.
For those of you who were wondering, we do take a vigorous course load here in Rome. In addition to studio three days a week, we take Italian 101, History and Field Studies. I went into the semester thinking that Italian 101 was going to be easy considering I took Spanish for so many years in high school and did decently well. Well, this is not the case. Learning a new language in two, three hour courses a week is difficult. It's also pretty difficult that when you initiate a conversation in Italian to an Italian and they see that your pronunciation is so bad and your sentences are so slow that they immediately respond in English. But nonetheless, it has been an interesting course where we have been able to learn more about the culture as well. I must say, it has gone a bit smoother over the length of the semester and luckily this course ends about thee weeks before any of our other classes wrap up. Also, I should note that we actually aren't instructed this class by a CUA Professor. So this means we actually have class near Campo di Fiori. One added plus about this is that there is a beautiful market in Campo almost every day where you can find fresh fruit, flowers, dried fruit, spices, pasta and plenty of limoncello.
History and Field Studies take up the majority of our Wednesdays. We typically go to a selected site in Rome for history and then a different site for field studies. History is so interesting because we aren't learning the facts from a book or powerpoint slide. Instead, we are fully immersed in our subject while walking around the Roman Forum or various different museums. This past week we actually just had our History midterm, help me by keeping your fingers crossed for a good grade! Field Studies is basically a sketching class. We can already see the progress that we students have made from the first sketch we did this semester. We've been sketching and analyzing all types of different works from Carlo Scarpa to Michelangelo. On our CUArch Rome Spring 2017 blog page, you can actually see some of our sketches. Interested? Click here.
CERCHIAMO DI VIAGGIARE | LONDRA
It has been said that a bad day in London is still better than a day anywhere else.
This quick weekend trip to London from Friday, March 11th-Sunday, March 13th has been my absolute favorite visit thus far. By absolute favorite I mean I could honestly see myself living in this beautiful city in ten years. My friends and I were nonstop walking around, drinking coffee, weaving in and out of markets, trying great food in hipster restaurants with plenty of exposed brick and last but not least constantly surrounded by lovely people. We did sooo much this weekend, so I'll begin to share with you by taking you on a visual memory trail...
We had a very simple Air BnB in a very convenient location of Shoreditch. Shoreditch is a beautiful area that is easily situated on metro lines so that you can get to the center of the heart of London very easily. You can also use uber here, which is an added plus. We found plenty of shops, restaurants and cafes in this area too.
In short, this city had all of my favorite things on every corner...
Specialty coffee shops...
Actually, this coffee shop had a really interesting theme that revolved around the cycle of addiction. They probably play it off in a humorous way considering we coffee lovers all say that we are addicted to coffee in an exaggerated way to saying that we really love our caffeine. But, I think it's interesting and a strong educational tactic because people can get informed on the really important subject of addiction while they are waiting for their coffee to be freshly brewed.
See? This place gets me.
PRO TIP | If you ever stumble across this place, make sure you get their rewards card because you get a free coffee on your second purchase. Which was really cool since we were only in London for two mornings!
Stores devoted to chocolate...
If I could bottle up the scent of this store and keep it with me forever, I would.
London is supposedly known for their wide variety of ethnic foods. We found this 'Irani Cafe' in King's Cross for lunch one day. Pictured below is some delicious Paneer Tikka, naan and some vegetable curry.
Sightseeing by foot is the best way to do it in London and you get to come across some beautiful architecture, both old and new, and some wide spread landscapes such as Hyde Park.
Really big touristy stuff here guys...
Tate Modern is the coolest museum I have ever been to. I also strongly encourage you to take the walk along the river to get to the museum. Their boardwalk is always lively and you can usually find a market, beer, restaurant or live entertainment along the way.
People! London has bottomless brunch everywhere on the weekends! THIS PLACE COULDN'T GET ANY BETTER.
Yes, I know that this looks completely staged. And it looks this way because we literally paused in horrible walking poses. But, we still get to say that we walked across Abbey Road just as the Beatles did.
Oh, and we were able to check out the Sherlock Holmes house!
Overall, it was a super fun weekend with lots of laughs, walking and eating. I couldn't ask for much more. I'm sure I'll be visiting London again someday, so until next time...
