Milano - Firenze

I have been having a lovely time in Italy for the last 5 days time has been flying. Alexis and I have been eating well and are safe. I have taken photos but I did not bring my computer so I cannot upload them. Love and Christmas cheer to all!

Headed to Italy!

I just finished my final for Cognitive Neuroscience, and I am now packing for my next adventure to Italy. I still have two papers to write to finish the semester, because of my early exit option, but I am going to have to finish those in the new year. It was VERY challenging studying for my final today because I was so excited about leaving for Italy. I am a bit nervous as this is the longest trip I have ever planned for myself, but I am sure everything will work out. I am really excited about getting to see all sorts of beautiful and historic places.

I'll do my best to take lots of photos and keep a good journal but I may not have too much time for blogging. We shall see.

Itinerary

Bergamo-18th
We fly into an airport very close to here so we are going to explore what we hear is a charming town.

Milan 19th-21st
Maybe I'll do some shopping. I hear the city is uber-fashionable.

Florence 21st-23rd
The city where the past is present.

Rome 24th-25th
Christmas in Rome! I'll be sending my love to California, and I know you all will be sending it to me.

Sorrento 26th-30th
Elena Shelton recommended this beautiful bed and breakfast that is in a small town very close to Naples and Pompeii.

Venice - 31st-2nd
New Year 2011 in Venice!

Bologna 3rd-5th

Berlin

With school work pending, but traveling sounding ever more enticing Paul and I headed to Berlin last weekend. I had started hearing about Berlin this summer from the Ristig's who had travelled there and taken a biking tour during the World Cup. It is also reknown for it's nightlife, as well it should be, as I found out. Paul and I ended up doing so much that we didn't get a lot of sleep but we had a lot of fun.

These are the metro cars and how we got to and from everywhere we went. They are clean, timely and efficient (very german).
This sideways picture that I can't fix for some silly reason is a picture of a prodestant church that was built in the 1980's next to a church that was destroyed in WWII. We didn't get to go inside because it was closed but it has these beautiful blue/purple windows that are supposed to be gorgeous from the inside. It was pretty to see it from the outside. There was a christmas market outside this building which was a funny juxtaposition of old german culture with this modern structure.
Below and above are some pictures of some of the grafitti that we saw. The above picture was taken in the art squat in the middle of Berlin. The one below was taken in a district of Berlin that had the best falafel. We went indoor rock climbing inside of the building below. It was quite fun. I think I'd like to start doing some of that.

This is the Holocaust Memorial. I was really impressed and moved by it. It's hard to tell here but it extends a full city block. They are simply huge blocks and you walk down into them and very quickly they are over your head. While walking through them it was easy to feel lost and overwhelmed which I believe was the artists intent. I thought it was an excellent memorial.
Nom nom. Currywurst is the specialty in Berlin. It's a fried sausage with a curry coating on the outside. I didn't get a picture of our best meal, at a christmas market, but we had several very hearty german meals.
Here we are at Checkpoint Charlie. Lots of interesting history here about the cold war. Berlin really was at the forefront of political wartime negotiations for decades. Fascinating now that it has returned to peacetime to see how the lines are still drawn in the east v. the west.

Look at all the ice in the river. This is a picture of museum island. Berlin is quite impressive with all of it's museums. Our tour guide told us that Berlin has more museums than London and Paris combined. I never really thought of the Germans as a very cultural people but they certainly are. We went to the Pergamon Museum which is right behind the archeology museum pictured. There was huge gate of Ishtar, goddess of love and war, that was in what is now Iraq but was taken by German colonialists. I usually think of Britian and France as the main colonial powers but Germany and Holland were also important colonists.
-First snow in Utrecht-

This was the first day it snowed. In about a half an hour the whole city went from it's normal colors to being covered in white. It was a magical transition!