Inghilterra - England (Part II: Liverpool)

Strawberry Fields. Nothing is real. Nothing felt real when I got to Liverpool and began exploring the hometown of The Beatles. I'll admit it might be a little ridiculous to plan a trip to a different country around a band... but it's The Beatles! C'mon! I went to Liverpool to enjoy myself and learn more about one of my favorite bands, and I did just that. I also learned a thing or two about the city itself. A bartender I saw scolded me for not knowing who Robert Morris is; a founding father of the United States that hailed from Liverpool. Liverpool has a closer connection with America than any other place in England according to this bartender. Maybe that partly explains why The Beatles spent so much time there?

I went to The Beatles Story exhibit on Albert Dock and the Fab Four Taxi Tour during my one day in Liverpool. The Story had plenty to read and took me through the decade or so The Beatles were together. The Taxi Tour took me virtually everywhere that concerned the band: all four of their homes, Strawberry Fields, Penny Lane, places of birth, marriage, and death. My tour guide talked a mile a minute and his entire life centered around knowing about Liverpool. It was an experience I won't forget.

Check out my pictures from Liverpool here.

Inghilterra - England (Part I: Londra - London)

Last weekend I got to do my most desired trip, London and Liverpool! It was more beautiful than I expected. Honestly I wanted to visit mainly to see Beatles history, but I also wanted to see another area of Europe unique to all the others I've seen (and one that spoke my language primarily!). The trip, while fairly short, was a ton of fun and I would quickly go back to England if given the chance. This first part shows my first day, which was spent in London. Given only a day to explore, I had to stick to the tourists points. One of the main sections not pictured is the crown jewels in the Tower of London, where I was not allowed to take pictures. This is a shame because there were many exquisite gold pieces (the best of which strangely enough being the Grand Punch Bowl) and crowns of previous monarchs. But everywhere else I was able to take pictures, and you'll be able to see the beauty well enough. Check it out!

See my London album here.
Down below is the Grand Punch Bowl. Talk about over-the-top.

Firenze - Florence

To cap off my spring break, I made a two day trip to Florence. When studying art in Italy for four months just a few hours away from the place, it's ludicrous not to visit. I was excited to see their Duomo and compare it to our Milanese Duomo, and I was excited to see how the beauty of the city compared to others. Turns out it is a fabulous city to visit for a mix of traditional Italian atmosphere and modernity. It was like a mix of Venice and Milan, taking good parts of each. Florence is located in the Tuscany region of Italy, a region famous for its beautiful scenery. It really shows even in the city, with the buildings located by a river in a sort of valley, rolling hills above on either side. Seeing the surroundings made me want to get on a bike and ride far out into the suburbs.
While there, I hit the main tourist points and structures, but also went to two museums. The first was the obligatory museum where the David by Michelangelo is located (pictured). The other was chosen by a friend and turned out to hold more famous works than I knew were in Florence. Most notably is The Birth of Venus by Botticelli. You'll see that, along with some of the natural beauty of Florence, in the attached album.

See the album here.

Pompei - Pompeii (Part II: Scavi Pompei - Pompeii Ruins)

On the next two days after Vesuvius and Herculaneum, Wednesday and Thursday, I took trips to the ruins of ancient Pompeii. What an experience. This trip reminded me of how much I've learned about Europe and never even considered I would see. When I heard about the Mona Lisa, or Michelangelo's David, or the ruined city of Pompeii, I never dreamed I would see those places. They were like some faraway story that people who write textbooks have seen. But now I have experienced some of those things I was told about growing up. It's just so amazing because I did not see it as a possibility. Yet, there I stand in the ruins of Pompeii with Mount Vesuvius behind me.
Walking through a whole city made of ruins is, in one word, unique. It's like a museum where everything you touch, walk on, and look at is history (well, besides the metal gates and groups of school kids). The city was set up with grids of buildings and simple North-to-South, East-to-West streets. The buildings were like cubicles, each about the same size with one opening and a destroyed, open-air roof. The points of interest were all the places that defer from this pattern; the arena, the odeon, the forum, the large wealthy homes, bathhouses, etc. To see everything in Pompeii with each point of interest explained would probably take 2.5 days. With my two days I saw everything available, because some areas were closed and I had only a booklet as a guide. Still, I feel like I learned more information of historical significance than any other trip. I've narrowed down my images to a manageable number so you aren't looking at every wall of Pompeii.

See the album of Pompeii Ruins here.

Pompei - Pompeii (Part I: Mount Vesuvius and Herculaneum)

For my spring break I headed off for the mid-south of Italy to the city of Pompeii. Exploring an entire city of archaeological findings has always sounded awesome to me, and seeing the ruins of Pompeii and the surrounding areas gave me a greater understanding of what happened there 2000 years ago. I even made it to the summit of the active volcano Vesuvius and to a neighboring ancient ruined city, Herculaneum.
This was my first trip alone, which meant many firsts for me. The first time flying alone, the first time navigating a foreign city and staying at a hotel alone. With my solitude I felt I gained more patience to see the area, as I was on my own time. A couple things went wrong as expected, but this was an excellent learning experience for me in more ways than one.
I took a flight to Naples and worked my way down the coast to my hotel in Pompeii. For about 3.5 days I made it to the three locations I mentioned above. Needless to say I took a ton of pictures in that 3.5 day span, but I will try to cut them down into manageable chunks. So firstly, here is the album for what I did on Tuesday: Mount Vesuvius (Monte Vesuvio) and Herculaneum (Ercolano).

See my album here.

Return to Sforza Castle Museums

You may or may not remember the Museum of Ancient Art I visited months ago at the Sforza Castle - the one with the sculpture by Michelangelo. Well, there are many more museums in the Castle alone to be seen, so I returned for another round. The museums are all connected to each other, and without clear signage as to where I am. That said, I'm positive I saw the Egyptian Museum, Museum of Prehistory and Proto-history, the Furniture Museum, and a special exhibition of the work of Georges Rouault. There is more to be seen, but here is a selection of the works I saw today from those museums.
This post comes right before things get very busy. I won't go into much detail, but my next trip (and consequently next blog post) will be Pompeii. That's Pompei if you're Italian. I'll be going alone for 4 days to the city of Pompeii, and hopefully its surrounding areas. That's a spring break I can't wait for. Wish me luck!

See the album of museum works here.

Barcelona

Ah yes, Barcelona. My latest trip, which turned out to be the most vacation-esque. Barcelona is a beautiful place and a great vacation spot for people that just want to go walk around outside and lounge around. On my trip I hit many tourist points, but did not actually go into any of them. This was either because the entry fee was outrageous, or the place was closed. Still, the weather was beautiful (around 60 on Saturday), the beach was clean, and the food was its own attraction! Yes, I tried a fair amount of things in Barcelona, and you can see most of them in the album.

Check out the album here.