american nomad.

My friend Jenna listens to a band called the Apache Relay. She knows some of the members, and has told me about them multiple times. When she messaged me and told me that they were playing in London last week I decided to check them out. The show was free so I took a few friends and we had a really great time. Their latest album is titled "American Nomad," which we thought was fitting. Sometimes I feel like a nomad, with all of the suitcases and storage containers that are currently used in my life! I never really spend too much time in the same place. I also just realized that I won't be in the same place for more than two weeks straight again until I am in Chapel Hill in January. Crazy. But anyway. Their music is the kind of stuff I want to listen to while sitting on a porch in the mountains. They definitely got a few more fans that night! Yes, I went to see a band from Tennessee while in London, but it was a great show and it was nice to get a little taste of home. I felt like I should be wearing flannel. I am so looking forward to seeing the Blue Ridge Mountains again soon.

Over the weekend I went to multiple parks. I am planning to purchase a print from the gallery where I have my internship, and the print I want shows a scene from Primrose Hill. I decided that I should probably go to Primrose Hill before I buy the print, just so that I can say I've been there. I found it right as the sun was starting to set and it was really pretty! The hill provided a great view of London. I could see the eye, and St Pauls, as well as a few other noticeable landmarks!

Then, on Sunday I went to Hampstead for their Christmas Festival. I am in Hampstead at least once a week for my internship but I never really get to explore. It was fun to actually see the area where I have invested so much time. I went to Hampstead Heath, which is a massive park. Somehow, my friends and I found ourselves leaving the park in an entire separate part of London. But we managed to get back to Hampstead to enjoy the rest of the festival, and to see the lights turned on, on the high street. It was a beautiful day and a nice time to relax and explore the area. It was a nice weekend, and I enjoyed exploring the parks and areas outside in London! The weather has been absolutely incredible this semester; I don't know how long it has been since I have seen rain!

do you sell sour cream?

Two years ago I spent Thanksgiving in Ireland with my family. It was slightly odd, not being in the USA, but it wasn't too strange, because I was still with my family. Clearly, Hannah and I still enjoyed Thanksgiving.

This Thanksgiving, however, I was not only in London, but I was not with my family. It was my first Thanksgiving without them. Luckily, my program decided to have its own Thanksgiving dinner. Our UNC professors said that they would provide the turkey and the pumpkin pie as long as we all brought in a side dish. Great!

Wait...now not only was it my first Thanksgiving away from my family, but it was the first time I was responsible for REALLY contributing to the meal. Hm...

So I emailed my mom and got a recipe for broccoli casserole. It seemed manageable. I was in Sainsbury's on Thanksgiving grabbing a few last minute ingredients for the casserole and I was reminded that some things just aren't the same here. For example, I could not find Ritz crackers. Or any proper substitute for a super processed, buttery and salty cracker. As I was running around, attempting to figure out the conversions for ingredients and the proper substitutes for what I couldn't find I noticed a young man with a cart. In his cart were two entire turkeys, a wide range of vegetables, and a few other seemingly obscure items. He was going up to every employee in the store and asking them "Do you carry sour cream?"

I'm not sure what Thanksgiving dish involves sour cream, but his southern drawl was a give-away; he was an American student attempting to recreate Thanksgiving, just as I was. It was some what comforting to know that someone else was having a makeshift Thanksgiving. I was tempted to speak to him, and tell him I knew how he felt. Hopefully he figured out a good substitute for sour cream.

My flatmates and I all managed to pull off our dishes, and it was a successfully yummy Thanksgiving meal. We had turkey, pie, casseroles, sweet potatoes, rolls, and cranberry sauce, just to name a few. It was nice to be around people who had ties to UNC, and North Carolina just as I do. But, while I am not quite yet ready to leave London, I decided it would have been nice to return just for Thanksgiving. It's just not the same without family.

if harry potter shopped at harrods...

For those of you who didn't already know, I'm rather obsessed with Harry Potter. Surprise, I know. I heard that Harrods had a special display and shop of Harry Potter props and toys. I went on Saturday and completely nerded out. They had actual props from the movies, which was neat. Wands that were actually used by the actors, and dresses worn by various actresses.

These are ACTUAL WANDS. BAH. Okay, freak out is finished, for now...

They also had a small recreation of the great hall, with a great back drop. I would have been sorted for Gryffindor, obviously. It was really fun to see it all!

Saturday night I went to a Christmas market with a friend. It was on the southbank, which I have decided I really love. Waterloo bridge is probably my favorite one, because you can see everything from it. On one side is Parliament and Westminster, and on the other you can see Saint Pauls and the Gherkin. It's a really nice bridge, and it was fun to be on for the sunset.

I went to the Courtauld gallery on Sunday, but I didn't take any pictures there. Last night I went to see The Apache Relay, a band from Tennessee, and they were really good! And then tonight I saw the play One Man, Two Guvnors. It was absolutely hilarious. It was a great week.

is the lord mayor santa?

This Saturday was the Lord Mayor's Show in London. I don't understand all of the politics of having a Lord Mayor of London, and a Mayor of London, and the positions not being the same, but it meant there was a parade, which I understood completely. The parade was much longer than we expected, but it was really neat. There were bunches of marching bands and floats, all representing aspects of London. We kept joking about the parade, and comparing it to Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We would laughingly look for Garfield balloons, and we discussed the thought of the parade ending with Santa. There was no Santa, but the parade ended with the Lord Mayor himself, riding up the street in the really elaborate carriage seen below.

There were fireworks on the Thames river in the evening, then I walked around down near Westminster. It's such a nice area lit up at night. It was quite crowded, though. I think many people had the same idea. But it was pretty to see it all, and it wasn't too cold, which was nice.

Today, some of us decided to have a tourist afternoon and explore some of the more touristy areas of the city. We went to Kings Cross station to attempt to get pictures at Platform 9 3/4. When I was in London a few years ago the display was not actually in between platforms 9 and 10, but it was inside of the station. The sign is now outside of the station in what appears to be a construction corner. Not the real thing. I'm sure I would have successfully gotten to Hogwarts if I had been able to get to the real platform...

We the wet to Abbey Road to see the recording studios. We had debated getting a picture at the cross walk, but we quickly realized how obnoxious it was for all of the drivers to be interrupted by the crowds of tourists. We may return in an evening to get a picture when traffic is down, but we did not want to cause any more annoyances on the road today. Instead we just took pictures in front of the studio.

It was a gorgeous day in London. It felt like mid-October. The leaves are changing colors and falling, and I wore a light sweater and was fine. I was glad to be able to explore some. It was a wonderful London weekend.

Parma, but not parmesan.

Parma is even smaller than Bologna, but it felt more livable. I really liked the city. Our hostel was on the outskirts of the city, so we saw a fair amount of it in our travels. It was fun to see the city center and the more industrial aspects of it. I really liked the feel of it all.

There is a big park in Parma called Ducal Park, which is really pretty. There is a palace, which was closed, and a lot of sculptures and pretty cutaways. The park was a nice place to eat lunch.

We went to the Baptistery which was really pretty. I didn't really know what to expect and I was absolutely blown away. There was a tour group there, which kind of took away from it, but it was really nice. I loved the different colored stones and each of the columns and sections inside were different. No two capitals were the same. No two columns were the same. It was so artistically interesting. I don't know why I haven't learned of it before.

Each of the triangles within the baptistery were painted differently. It was really impressive. I just sat and looked at it for a long time. I couldn't imagine anything being more impressive, though, until I walked into the cathedral.

I don't think I closed my jaw for the first ten minutes I was inside of the cathedral. I could not come up with words. The walls, columns, and ceiling were all covered completely with elaborate frescoes. I think this was the most impressive thing I saw in Italy. It looked like sculpture, it was so intricately painted. My neck started to hurt, I spent so much time looking up. I really don't think I can accurately describe it. It was overwhelmingly beautiful. Erin left before me, and she joked with me later that she had already decided to come find me if I hadn't appeared within twenty minutes. Like the baptistery, I have no idea why I haven't heard of this cathedral in art classes before. It deserves to be recognized.

 Parma was a great way to end the break. There was enough to do to keep us interested without stressing us out with the need to do too much. By the end, though, I was ready to get back to London. I've realized that I only have a few weeks left here, and there is still so much to do in this amazing city. Italy was great, but I was happy to get back to tea, and biscuits, and the English language.

And the city is already lit up for Christmas. London is beautiful.

my Bologna has a first name.

My next stop was Bologna, which is a nice town that we had heard has amazing food. Everything in Bologna was really accessible, and we were able to walk the entire city center in the first afternoon. We kept coming across churches and museums, and we would just enter them out of curiosity. It was fun to have enough time to just wander and take in the surroundings.

This square is in front of Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servi, which I knew I wanted to make sure I found. The church currently has Cimabue's Virgin and Child Enthroned, which I have learned about in my art history classes. It was absolutely awesome to see the piece, especially in a church. It is totally different seeing the pieces in an intended location. There was a woman praying in front of the particular chapel holding the piece. Seeing art is it was intended adds an entirely new level of understanding. Also, the piece is from the 13th century. SO OLD. So incredible.

The second day Erin and I decided to climb one of Bologna's towers. At one point there may have been over 150 towers in the city, but only a few still stand. The one that we went up in is the Asinelli Tower, and it was over 400 steps to the top. The above picture is supposed to give you a frame of reference. Remember the green roof.

This is the view from the top of the tower. I love that my camera has a panoramic setting. IT WAS SO PRETTY. And it was an amazingly clear day. We were really lucky. The picture below shows you the green roof. That's how high up we were. And we weren't even that out of breath.

Bologna was really pretty, and the food was amazing. We were ready to head on, though, and we were excited to see what Parma had to offer.

this tower, it leans.

After Rome and Pompei, I met someone else in Pisa. The train ride by myself was kind of lonely, and I was happy to find Erin in the train station. The city was small, and really touristy, but I liked it. I thought it was really pretty, and walking across the river was really nice. It was a beautiful day, which was good because we expected rain. It was great to just walk around and explore, without needing a map because everything was along the same road.

We quickly made it to the tower. Honestly, the lean was rather unsettling for me. I knew it was not going to fall over, but part of me was slightly wondering if it was going to keep sliding. I just can't quite understand why the thing falls like it does. Whoops.

We had thought that it might be fun to go up in the tower,  but it cost 15 euros. So we paid 6 euros to go into the Baptistery and the Cathedral instead. It was a good decision, because the Baptistery and the Cathedral were really beautiful. And the view from the upstairs of the Baptistery was really great. I also think it may have weirder me out even more to walk on the leaning platforms of the tower.

It was funny to look around and see all the people posing in front of the tower, leaning on it, and attempting to get good pictures. I know that I walked through peoples pictures constantly. It was impossible not to. There was not much to Pisa beyond the tower, but it was a nice relaxing day. I didn't feel super stressed, running around like I did in Rome. And I got some really silly pictures of me being super touristy. This is the least ridiculous of them all.

pompei.

I have wanted to go to Pompei since I first learned about it in TAG in 3rd or 4th grade. I have been fascinated by the history of the place. I was super excited to finally get to go, and it was really cool.

This is one of the streets in Pompei. The sidewalks are really high because there was a lot of rain drainage and the streets often flooded. The large rocks across the road were used to walk across when the streets were high and flooded. The audioguide taught me lots of cool facts like this one. I was totally amazed at the sheer size of the ruins. It was MASSIVE. If I hadn't gotten an audioguide I wouldn't have had a map, and I probably would have gotten lost wandering around the area.

Many of the homes and living areas had pieces of art displayed.  Most of them, however, were recreations, as the originals are kept in the history museum in Naples. Some of the frescoes were originals, because it can be difficult to move them, but most of the art was not original. I guess I understand the need to move and preserve the art, but it was kind of a let down to be repeatedly told by my audioguide that the work wasn't original.

 

This is the Colosseum in Pompei. It was one of the largest amphitheaters in the area. At one point it was closed, because riots broke out during the games, but it was reopened years later. The whole idea of gladiators is kind of strange to me. I guess it is good that I was not alive in ancient Roman times.

The ancient ruins were really impressive. I was quite amazed at the scale and level of preservation of the ruins. And it was neat to think of them as a current archeological site. Excavations are still being done, and pieces are still being discovered. The modern town of Pompei isn't so nice, but the ruins were really cool to see, and I'm glad I went. And I'm learning that audioguides aren't so bad after all.

roaming in rome.

Last week was my fall break and I spent the week exploring Italy. I took more pictures in the eight days in Italy than I have in two months in London. I will attempt to choose the best pictures and the main highlights for my blog so that the posts don't get incredibly long and monotonous. I hope you enjoy!

The first stop on my Italian adventure was Rome. I have wanted to go to Rome for an incredibly long time and ended up only have a day and a half their, so I was busy the entire time. I spent the first day walking around the city, exploring the monuments and buildings that were free. It was really awesome to see things that I have learned about in my art classes. It made my major real and relevant in a way that is sometimes missed when looking at pictures of art in text books.

The first big stop was the Pantheon. Not only is this structure free, but it is absolutely beautiful. It would have been worth paying a few euros to go into. I love the idea of a perfect structure being comprised of a circle inside of a square, and this building shows an attempt to obtain this perfection. [yes, my art history background is coming out here]. Also, it is one of the oldest buildings around, as it was built in about 126 AD. THAT IS SO OLD! I have a difficult time comprehending the pure age of the structure. It was a great introduction to Rome.

 The rest of the day was spent wandering around the city and seeing more churches and landmarks. This picture was taken above the Spanish steps, where I had a great view of the city. I did not have much time to purely take in the beauty of Rome, but it is a really nice place.

On the second day, we got up early to go to the Vatican. St. Peter's Basilica was closed in the morning for a private mass so we started in the Vatican Museums, which also include the Sistine Chapel. We were not allowed to take pictures in the Sistine Chapel but we could take pictures in the rest of the museums.

This is the School of Athens by Raphael. It is a gorgeous piece. I was surprised, however, at the little amount of lead up to the image. I had totally forgotten that this painting was in Vatican City, and I almost missed it. It is towards the end of the fresco galleries, and I was just ready to see the Sistine Chapel. Many people breezed right by it, not realizing what they were missing, and I almost did the same. I happened to glance back to try to located Liz, the girl I was with, and I noticed it on the wall behind me. I am really glad I did, as I would have been very disappointed to have missed it. I love learning who all is depicted in the painting, and although many of the figures identities have escaped me, it is still a very impressive piece.

 After we got through the Vatican Museums we got in line for St. Peter's Basilica. This basilica is the largest Catholic church, and no other catholic basilica is allowed to be bigger than this one. I was very impressed by its scale and grandeur. I remember first seeing this particular altar piece in an art history class and, while thinking it was pretty, not totally understanding the fascination with the object. I understood when I saw it. The piece is HUGE. I was immediately drawn to it, even though it is located towards the back of the basilica. I walked directly to it, ignoring the rest of the art around me, and I was still looking at it long after Liz had seen half of the entire church. I could have spent even more time staring up at the impressive piece in front of me. Hand carved and absolutely massive, the piece is very incredible.

After we finished in Vatican City, we went to the Colosseum. We knew we did not have much time left before it closed, and we were getting very tired. At this point I had been on my feet for at least 8 or 9 hours. We were in line for tickets and one of the staff made the announcement that anyone who was willing to pay 5 more euros for the audio guide could skip the line and enter immediately. That audio guide was a great purchase.

Not only did we get to enter far faster than we would have without the guides, I learned a great deal about the landmark. I knew generally what it was, but, honestly, I had no idea just how significant it was. All of the stories and facts were fascinating, and I think I would have been confused and rather disappointed without the guide. Yes, I would have gotten to see a really impressive old building, but I would not have understood the significance and history of what I was seeing. I have been skeptical of audio guides in the past, but this one made all of the difference.

And the Colosseum is a great place to watch the sun start to set.