Where the Towers Are Leaning

After our brief nap at the hotel with the receptionist who took pity on us, we boarded our 3am train to Florence, where we would then take a connecting train to Pisa, then to La Spezia. At 3am, nothing should be open, no one should be awake, yet there we were standing in the cold with all our belongings for 2 weeks waiting for a train. When the train finally arrived we were so happy, so happy until we got on the train to realize there were no more seats left. For a good hour into the train ride, we were sitting on top of our bags in the outside hallway corridor hoping at the next stop someone would get off and then we could take their chair. About 2 hours into the ride, our prayers were answered and we got chairs. We rolled into Florence around 7am, and by now we were all beat. Everyone sat in silence, just waiting for the connecting train to arrive so we could get to La Spezia to get to our hostel, to get to a bed to rest our weary heads.

Eventually, the connecting train arrived and we were then dropped off at Pisa. Our next train was leaving in 10 minutes, but the following train wasn't supposed to leave for another hour, so we decided as long as we were in Pisa, we might as well go see the Leaning Tower that everyone seems to talk about. We took a taxi to the area, ran to the tower, ran back to the taxi, and was back at the train station within 20 minutes. Unfortunately, our first train had already left, so we waited for the next train going to La Spezia. When the train came, we simply hopped on, paying no attention to what kind of train it was, if it was a local train or high-speed train. Quickly though, we came to understand that we were on a nice high speed train and our tickets were not valid on this train. The stewardess gave me two options: 1. pay the difference, which would have been something obscene like 45 euro per person, or 2. we could get off at the next stop free of charge and wait for the next regular train heading our way. Obviously, we chose the latter.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

I'm pushing it back up!

Other leaning buildings in Pisa

 When we got off the train, we looked around to realize we were in some sort of podunk town in Italy. Since it was still raining and we had a long time to wait, we decided to go inside the waiting area. At first we talked about drinking to pass the time then we thought that made us sound like alcoholics and by now it was only 9am, far too early to start drinking! Instead we passed the time by playing cards and eating chocolate. Our surroundings were quite scary though, it reminded me of something that you would imagine in seeing in a creepy carnival fun house. There was a giant Obama head. Yes, there was in fact, a giant plaster sculpture of President Obama's head. It only got weirder the longer we stayed there. Midway through our card game, the bartender came up to our table and started tapping away on his metal tray, just rapping his fingers and trying to give his commentary of the game. But since he spoke Italian, that whole conversation scene was not working out to well. Finally, after what seems like days of being in this creepy place we left. And by we left, I mean Maisah and I got on the train with Kelly and Christy's stuff, while the others were in the bathroom. Eventually, we all met up at La Spezia to enjoy a superb time in Cinque Terre.

Venice

So after the first leg of spring break with the Art 361 class had come to a close, I got off the train from Paris at Brussels Midi, raced home, took a shower, repacked, had anawkward exchange with my host family about why I was home, then left again off to gare central to make a train to Charleroi, since the shuttle buses had already stopped for the night. I get to the train station 5 minutes before the train is to
depart, only to realize that the train station doesn't sell tickets past 10pm (so the ticket attendant Kelly had talked to the day before had lied to her) and Maisah was at the wrong train station. By the time we (Kelly, Katie, Maisah, and I) were all situated it was now 12:30am. Since we had already gotten this far in our plan there was no turning back now. We decided we would all just split a taxi to the Charleroi airport. After falling asleep for most of the ride we awoke to an unfortunate bill of about 40 euro per person! Rough. The worst part about it all was that our flight wasn't until 7am, so we got to hunker down like hobos at the airport and get some zzz's before our Spring Break 2011 could officially commence. At 4am when the airport officially opened we were woken up my guards kindly asking us to wake up. It seems as though the airport has no problem with people spending the night there, but in the morning when they open their doors they want all the hobo college kids waiting for their flights to get up. Once we were up, we pretty much sat around waiting for Christy to join us (her host mother was driving her so she wouldn't have to sleep at Charleroi. Once Christy arrived we checked in, got coffee, and once again waited for our flight. While waiting we ran into Zack, who was also heading to Venice.

Kelly and Katie at 4am at Charleroi Airport

SPRING BREAK 2011

 When 7:15 rolled around we were finally off on yet another joyous Ryanair adventure. After a rocky flight we arrived safely in Venice-Treviso. It seems as though every time I take a Ryanair flight I end up an hour out if the city I am aiming to arrive in and this trip was no different. We had to take an hour long bus ride from the airport to get to our destination of Venice. First thing we did in Venice was figure ourselves out, for we were only spending the day there and then taking a night train to Cinque Terre. In order to situate ourselves best, we dropped off our luggage at the train station, then went off to explore the city. Katie had managed to fill up her memory card in Paris on the ART trip and didn't clear it when she stopped by her host family, so we stopped at a stand and got her a new memory card that then didn't even end up working. But since she had opened up the packaging, she wasn't allowed to return it. It was after this little fiasco of trying to return the memory stick that I learned that bargaining and bartering wasn't going to happen during this break. 

Church next to the train station

Once I learned this, which by the way, I was super unhappy about, we stumbled upon a protest outside a church. What the protest was for is truly beyond me, but they looked upset, so we quickly got out of there. In our wanderings we found some gelato, our first experience with gelato was awesome. And it just kept being awesome! I can honestly say, I don't think I'll ever get tired of gelato. Its sooo NOM NOM NOM!

Protest in Venice

Gelato Number 1

Later, we went to a delicious lunch of pizza. Our first true Italian pizza! Then, we passed by numerous canals and found the Rialto brige. Just as we were trying to find St. Mark's square, we ran into Sam from Beloit, the only other Beloit student studying at Vesalius. With his help we found St. Mark's square. There we walked around admiring the vast open area surrounded by churches, the town hall, and the Zodiac clock.

Katie, Janice, Kelly, and Christy

Janice on the Rialto Bridge

Rialto Bridge

I WISH I HAD BOUGHT THIS HAT!

St. Mark's Square

Zodiac Clock

 From there we headed to the Marina area and Katie went off to find some beads that her dad had gotten for her as a child. Since I decided it was a lost card, Kelly, Christy, and I went off and ended up in some random children's museum.

Children's Museum

 After the fun of the museum, we got more gelato! Then ended up in a music museum, where we got to see some classic instruments made in Venice. The Hemingway exhibit in another museum became our next stop. In case you were wondering, it was quite cold outside, so we kept ducking into museums to try and get some warmth.

Gelato Number 2

Musical Instrument Museum

 Once we left the Hemingway exhibit, we stopped by the Opera and Theatre house, as well as we visited a church. We did a giant circle somehow and ended back on the Rialto Bridge, only to end up at a restaurant where we got coffee. By this time, we were running on no sleep, gelato, and it was cold out, so sitting down to drink something warm was just what we wanted! After about 2 hours of sitting and drinking our coffee we started feeling hungry, so we left that restaurant to walk across the street to go to another restaurant.

One of the guys from the other restaurant walked into the one that we were now eating dinner at and they kept asking us why we had left them to go to the place we were at. We simply smiled and said we were hungry. Before we know it we are getting asked out for drinks after the waiter was done with work, and since we didn't have any other plans we said yes. This was our first mistake. We ended up having drinks with the waiter and his boss, who was about 45 over back at another one of the restaurants that they own. But the longer we spent there, the creepier they got, until finally the bad vibes got me and I stood up saying we needed to leave, only to find out that they had closed a garage-type door. This is the point in the trip when I said, "Oh shit...." then I began to bang on the doors. Quickly, they let us out and we ran back to the train station. As it was getting late, we picked up our luggage and went to the closest hotel. We went inside and asked if it would be ok for us to sit in their lobby until 3am when I train left because we didn't feel safe waiting at the train station and the receptionist was so kind. He said of course, and showed us where to stay for the next few hours. We waited in a lobby which fortunately had enough couches for all of us, so most of us just took a quick nap before our alarms went off a few hours later leading us to the next day of our spring break journey...

Au Revoir Paris!

The next day was April 13th, and our last day in Paris. Since the Missouri kids had already left back to Brussels, there were only about 14 of us left and the whole dynamic of the trip had changed. Everyone was ready to be done, including Martine. Despite this fact, we continued to learn and see things, as if we would do anything else!

So, that morning we got up, ate breakfast, put our luggage into the hotels storage area, aka their dinning room area, and what was left of the class went off to the Arenas of Lutetia. They reminded me so much of the Roman Forum Baths that we saw in Trier.

 From the Arenas, we ventured over to the gardens of St. Julein le Pauvre, where I gave my stellar presentation on Moliere. Once that disaster of a speech had come to a close, we ate some cookies, passed by the bookshop Shakespeare and Company, walked across the Sienne to Notre Dame. No matter how many times I go inside Notre Dame, I am impressed by its magnitude and beauty!

this is where I gave my speech, pretty huh?

Notre Dame

Once we finished up with Notre Dame, we broke off for lunch. Then met back up at the Hotel de Ville, only to have it be closed during the time that we were to have a tour. Brr...Martine was not pleased. So, we were free for the next hour and half to wander. Elisa, Casey, and I broke into a hotel to use their bathrooms, then walked along the river looking at the sales. After our hour break had run out, we returned to the Hotel de Ville, not to visit the Hotel de Ville, but to visit the Sainte Chapelle located right next to it. The Sainte Chappelle is known for its 1100 biblical scenes in stained glass.

outside of Sainte Chapelle

inside Sainte Chapelle

  Next, we went to the Mussee d'Orsay to see the Manet exhibit, which hadn't been there when I went with Mom and Aunt Barb, so it was cool to see. After that, Casey, Dane, and I went to the Moulin Rouge just to say we saw it, and after a few pictures Dane and I split from Casey to return to the hotel to get our luggage to make our train back to Brussels.

Mussee d'Orsay

Moulin Rouge

 In the end, I would say Paris was a hot mess for ART 361, but an overall success! I had a truly great time.

Let them eat cake

Day 4 of our Paris trip started in Paris, but a majority of the day took place in the land of wealth and excess, Versailles!

It was Tuesday, April 12th and we started off our morning taking the metro to La Defence to see the Grande Arche built in 1989. The name refers to the Defence of Paris in 1871 when the Prussians surrounded the town during the Franco-Prussian war.

La Defence

The gang at La Defence

On top of the Arch!

 After La Defence, we set off to the grandeur that is Versailles! We arrived in Versailles around noon and walked from the train station to the Petit Trianon. Marie-Antoniette's play house given to her as a gift from her husband, Louis XVI. While admiring the architecture of the building, and the layout of the gardens, we listened to some student presentations, then had a fancy picnic, where we ran out of food! Whoops!

Janice, Casey, and Elisa exploring the gardens of Marie-Antoinette

Picnic in Marie's gardens!

Once our meal and all the presentations had ended, Martine looked at her watch only to realize that we were late for our tour of the palace, so we literally ran through the gardens of Versailles snapping as many photos as we could. By the time we got to the palace, half the class was missing; I guess they didn't feel like running right after a meal!

ART 361 at the Petit Trianon

Janice, Casey, Mary Claire, and Rob at Grand Trianon

In the gardens of Versailles

Les Grandes Eaux

 At the palace, we got a personal tour of the palace with the best tour guide I have ever had. He was fun, quick to the point, and knew when the audience was getting tired. He even had us sit down a few times. Versailles, is huge! Its like the Louvre in that once you are inside you have no idea where you are in relation to outside nor do you know how you got there with all the long corridors then spiral marble staircases it is easy to get lost.

A gem of a tour guide!

 Once our tour of Versailles had come to a close, we took the train back to Paris, said goodbye to the Missouri kids for the last time, and Casey, Elisa, Dane, Chris, Sam, and I went out to high class dinner at a place called Tennessee, named after one of the united states. It was an ok dinner, but relaxing and talking to friends made it a lovely night! 

Outside the gates of Versailles

France

Paris: Day 3

Ok, so you guessed it, at this time ART 361 is still in Paris. By now, its Monday (April 11th, 2011) and its day 3 of the trip. 

Today, I got up and we had to pack up all of our luggage because we were leaving the hostel to stay in a hotel for the rest of the trip. Apparently, our teacher (Martine) had had trouble finding us accommodations because we were such a large group, so she took what she could get, a hostel for the first 2 nights, and a hotel for the rest. Once we got everything situated with bags and such, we left the hostel to walk to the Pont Neuf (the oldest bridge in Paris).

ART 361 minus the Missouri kids

From the Pont Neuf, we went to the Conciergerie, which was part of the palace of Louis IX along with the Sainte Chapelle until the 14th century when Charles V abandoned it for the Louvre. The palace was then left in the hands of the Concierge, who turned it into a jail. Famous people such as Marie Antoinette were kept prisoner there.

Inside the Concergerie

Elisa, Janice, Stacey, and Emily at the Tower Bonbec

 Next stop on our agenda was Les Invalides. We got there and ate a quick lunch in the cafeteria where Casey and I got to meet a delightful couple from California who were traveling to Paris for the first time. I don't know what it is about me, but I simply love hearing people's life stories, especially those who are traveling. They always talk with such a sense of adventure and seem as though they have a wealth of knowledge about them. After lunch, we actually got to tour Les Invalides and see Napoleon's tomb.

Les Invalides

 

 

Elisa, Casey, and I outside Les Invalides

Napoleon's Tomb

Inside Les Invalides

 Following the Dome, we waited to find some of the guys in the group who had wandered off to the Museum of War. Eventually, Martine got fed up and we went to the lawn outside Les Invalides and listened to some student presentations before we walked across the Sienne to stop at Place de Concorde to arrive at the art museum, the Orangerie.

Outside, Martine gave us Napoleons!

Dane, Elisa, Casey, and I crossing the Sienne

Orangerie

After having experienced some of Monet's works and finding my new favorite painting of the little boy dressed like a clown, I felt it was time for a nutella crepe. NOM NOM NOM. Then, the class walked through the Tuileries gardens designed by Le Notre, the gardener of Versailles to get to the Comedie Francaise where instead of me giving my presentation about Moliere which would have made sense given that is where Moliere played and died, Martine talked about Moliere and made me wait to talk until Wednesday. Following the Comedie Francaise, we went to the Basilica Notre-Dame des Victoires. This church is interesting for a few reasons. Number 1, Lully's tomb is found there. Lully was the composer of many of Moliere's works. Number 2, Queen Anne of Austria went to this church to pray asking her wish of giving the king a son a reality, and she did 9 months later! So, its a magical church where prayers come true. Number 3, in honor of this pilgrimage place, the church did a promotional thing where people could donate to the church and get their "thank yous" written on bricks that would then be used in the renovation of the church, so all over you would see bricks saying things like "Thank You for Helping My Father" or "Thank you for helping me ace that final," etc.

Monet's water lilles

BEST PICTURE EVER!

 After we left the Basilica, we went to another church, Saint Eustache, where the tomb of Colbert is found. We split the group after the church and we returned to the hotel to move our luggage from the hostel to the hotel. This process was a nightmare! 40 plus students with all their luggage trying to take the metros they don't really know to get to a hotel they had never been to before. Ahhh....hot mess. In the end we made it. Only to realize, Elisa, Casey, Dane, Stacy, and I were the last ones there. Since the Missouri kids were leaving the next day, Stacy wasn't allowed to room with us, so Casey, Elisa, and I went to our "4" person room, which only had 3 beds! WHAT? That's right, once again Casey and I got the shaft. Apparently the plan was for 2 of us to share a bed while the other 2 got their own double beds. I was pissed, so upset in fact that Elisa and Casey shared a bed, so I could have my own.

After the whole hupla of the hotel was situated, we met up with Stacy and went out to the Champs Elysee so Elisa could pick out an outfit to wear at Versailles the next day. 2 hours passed, and by now we were all quite hungry so we found a restaurant on a side street and ate there. We had some delicious food, which happened to include escargots! When we were done with dinner, we took some pictures at the Arc du Triomphe, then we took the metro back to the hotel. On the way back we even got to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle one more time!

Janice, Casey, and Elisa at Arc de Triomphe