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| Pax et Bonum--the catchphrase of St. Francis |
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Assisi: Pax et Bonum
Today, I went with AUR to Assisi for the day. Assisi is almost perfect. The weather was great, the colors were bright, and the town was quiet. There weren't any beggars or aggressive sellers. I felt safe in Assisi. The old town was small so it was easily walkable. The little side streets stemming off from the main drag lead to small churches and picturesque views. I don't play favorites, but Assisi is probably one of my top places in Italy. It is a medieval city like Viterbo but with more peace and color. Assisi is known for its saints which sounds more appealing/holy to me than Viterbo's corrupted papacy elections. It was a well preserved medieval town and the weather was much nicer. I really liked Assisi!
Friday, April 5, 2013
Viterbo
Yesterday, I went to Viterbo--a small medieval town north of Rome. My Italian teacher lives in Viterbo so it was nice seeing where she is from. The train took forever (like an hour forty) but it was worth it. The medieval part was very well preserved and reminded me of my trip to Rothenburg in Germany. There wasn't too much to do, especially because we got there during lunch break. But we ended up going on a tour and museum visit. They used to elect popes in Viterbo and the term "conclave" was coined there when they locked all the cardinals in a room because they couldn't decide.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Paris Signs and Designs
With graffiti, London was spotless and Rome is covered. I was curious to see what Paris was like. Along the way, I also found some street signs/other signs that I liked! I don't what it is with my liking of signs.
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| looks like fun |
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| thanks for letting me know |
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| this is probably my favorite |
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| kitty |
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| I hadn't seen that one before |
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Flat Explorer Takes on Paris!
I took a abnormally huge amount of pictures with Flatty in Paris. Check out our adventures.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Paris for Easter: Part 2
Saturday, we climbed the Arc de Triomphe, walked along the Champs Elysees, and went to the Bastille (which is no longer there, by the way). My brother wasn't feeling well, so my mom took him back to the apartment. My sister, aunt, and I went to the Bastille and then to Victor Hugo's house. When we came back, my sister and I explored Montmartre. We went to the Sacre Coeur, saw Picasso's studio, and walked by Van Gogh's house. We saw one of only windmills left on the hill. We then meandered back to the apartment, stopping to buy souvenirs and food for dinner.
Sunday was Easter so we attended mass at Sacre Coeur. It was packed and visitors were streaming in, which was very distracting. It was in French and I was tired, so I fell asleep for a little. The pain was that we didn't even get Eucharist! They didn't come down our aisle. Afterwards, we went towards Notre Dame. We saw Shakespeare and Co bookstore and walked to the Pantheon (there's one in Rome, too). The Pantheon was this big structure that from the outside looked like the Pantheon here in Rome. Inside, it had paintings and sculptures, mostly dedicated to St. Genevieve, patron of Paris. In the crypt, many famous people were buried, like Voltaire, Marie Curie, Victor Hugo, and Rousseau. We headed down the street to the Luxembourg Gardens and strolled for a little in there. It was cold on Sunday so we decided to head back. We walked through the Latin Quarter, St. Germain, past Saint Sulpice church and along the Seine. For dinner, we just got sandwiches. I had an extremely early bedtime because I had to be up at 4:00 am to get my plane.
Paris grew on me. At first, I didn't really like it, but by the time I left, I wanted more. The metro is efficient and extensive--so nice for someone like me who loves public transportation. My favorite part, besides seeing my family, was probably Sacre Coeur. Although there were throngs of people, I loved the view and the church and the area.
Sunday was Easter so we attended mass at Sacre Coeur. It was packed and visitors were streaming in, which was very distracting. It was in French and I was tired, so I fell asleep for a little. The pain was that we didn't even get Eucharist! They didn't come down our aisle. Afterwards, we went towards Notre Dame. We saw Shakespeare and Co bookstore and walked to the Pantheon (there's one in Rome, too). The Pantheon was this big structure that from the outside looked like the Pantheon here in Rome. Inside, it had paintings and sculptures, mostly dedicated to St. Genevieve, patron of Paris. In the crypt, many famous people were buried, like Voltaire, Marie Curie, Victor Hugo, and Rousseau. We headed down the street to the Luxembourg Gardens and strolled for a little in there. It was cold on Sunday so we decided to head back. We walked through the Latin Quarter, St. Germain, past Saint Sulpice church and along the Seine. For dinner, we just got sandwiches. I had an extremely early bedtime because I had to be up at 4:00 am to get my plane.
Paris grew on me. At first, I didn't really like it, but by the time I left, I wanted more. The metro is efficient and extensive--so nice for someone like me who loves public transportation. My favorite part, besides seeing my family, was probably Sacre Coeur. Although there were throngs of people, I loved the view and the church and the area.
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| Arc de Triomphe |
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| view from Arc de Triomphe |
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| Arc de Triomphe |
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| view from Hugo's house |
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| Sacre Coeur |
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| Pantheon |
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| interior of Pantheon |
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| Eiffel Tower |
Monday, April 1, 2013
Paris for Easter: Part 1
This past weekend, for Easter, I went to Paris...to see my family!!! My mom, brother, sister, and my mom's best friend came to see me! It was very nice of them to do that, considering it is very expensive to fly to Europe. And my siblings missed school for me. I'd never do that. But my mom also brought me over some goodies (ie. cookies, candy. pretzels, my yo-yo, etc) and some birthday presents from my friends!! Thanks friends for the cards and candy and books and CD's!
Anyway, after a rocky start (Air France left us sitting in FCO for an hour so I arrived later than I expected to Paris), things began to look up. I didn't get lost going to our apartment. Usually, I don't look up specific directions and wing it so then I get lost, but this time I didn't! Our apartment was in Montmartre, right near the Sacre-Coeur. On Thursday, we went to the Eiffel Tower and climbed a lot of steps to the second level. Nice views but I definitely would have been scared if we went all the way to the top. For dinner, we just went to the grocery store to get food. We had early nights all week because of long days being out.
Friday, we went to the Louvre. The collection is huge! The only painting I really wanted to see was "Liberty Leading the People," but it wasn't there! Ridiculous. Jimmy and I explored what we could in a short amount of time before we all met up again for lunch. We then walked along the Seine to Notre Dame. We snuck in the mass entrance, bypassing the whole line (on Good Friday, nonetheless!). After, we went to Pere Lachaise cemetery (I needed my dose of dead people in Paris). It was huge, but we saw Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde. Both graves were blocked off by fences because of crazy fans who go crazy over those two guys. Wilde's grave had a glass wall, but where it ended (6 feet up), I saw lipstick kisses. That's devotion. For dinner, we went to an Italian place. Pretty much the whole trip I used Italian instead of French. Oh well. Except for when I bought a train ticket in the Rome airport today, I said "merci." Oops.
Anyway, after a rocky start (Air France left us sitting in FCO for an hour so I arrived later than I expected to Paris), things began to look up. I didn't get lost going to our apartment. Usually, I don't look up specific directions and wing it so then I get lost, but this time I didn't! Our apartment was in Montmartre, right near the Sacre-Coeur. On Thursday, we went to the Eiffel Tower and climbed a lot of steps to the second level. Nice views but I definitely would have been scared if we went all the way to the top. For dinner, we just went to the grocery store to get food. We had early nights all week because of long days being out.
Friday, we went to the Louvre. The collection is huge! The only painting I really wanted to see was "Liberty Leading the People," but it wasn't there! Ridiculous. Jimmy and I explored what we could in a short amount of time before we all met up again for lunch. We then walked along the Seine to Notre Dame. We snuck in the mass entrance, bypassing the whole line (on Good Friday, nonetheless!). After, we went to Pere Lachaise cemetery (I needed my dose of dead people in Paris). It was huge, but we saw Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde. Both graves were blocked off by fences because of crazy fans who go crazy over those two guys. Wilde's grave had a glass wall, but where it ended (6 feet up), I saw lipstick kisses. That's devotion. For dinner, we went to an Italian place. Pretty much the whole trip I used Italian instead of French. Oh well. Except for when I bought a train ticket in the Rome airport today, I said "merci." Oops.
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| Where is the Eiffel Tower??!? |
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| fam squad |
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| never stop exploring |
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| our apartment was right by the hill in the back |
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| brother!! |
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| Louvre sculptures |
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| view from the Louvre |
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| Napoleon III apartment |
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| Ile de la Cite |
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| Notre Dame--hunchback not included |
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| Notre Dame |
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