Italy!!!!

I arrived in Vicenza on Tuesday night around 6:15PM. We missed our orientation that was scheduled for 3 at our studio. So we were unable to get our keys to our apartments, our meal card, and other info discussed during the meeting. So finally we all managed to get to our aparments by finding other people from UF to let us in. Our apartment (all 6 girls, 4 undergrad and 2 grad students) was a loft type apartment. The rooms have been enclosed by adding pywood where it was previously open. There is one bedroom downstairs with one single bed and a set of bunkbeds (I am on the bottom bunk in this room). The second floor has a small attic-like room which one girl is in, and the main space on the second floor has two beds, which is where the 2 grad students sleep. There are 2 bathrooms, 1 upstairs and 1 downstairs. Also, there is a washing machine in the second floor bathroom. (I will post pictures of the apartment later, I still have not taken any!!!)
On Wednesday, we went on a 3-hour tour of Vicenza. The tour was interesting, we were able to go into the Teatro Olimpico, in addition to several churches. Vicenza is a very beautiful city. It is very old, and historic. There are so many shops and stores, I can't wait to have time to go shopping!!!

French Alps

I have been in the French Alps since Wednesday night. We all took a train from Paris to Grenoble, and another train to the town of Gap in the French Alps. Charles' grandparents picked all of us up from the train station. We then rode about an housr to the resort call Les Orres. The resort is used for skiing in the winter and during the summer, the mountains are mostly used for mountain bikers. There are also many hiking trails nearby. On Thursday, TJ Charles, Matt, and I went hiking on a trail near the resort. We ate a picnic lunch about 2 hours in to the hike. There was a great view from the top of the mountains.
On Friday, Charles' grandparents drove us to another hiking trail. This trail was much prettier and interesting than the first. The trail began in the shade of trees with roots beneath us, followed by fields of grass and wildflowers, and then as we nearded the top, the trail became rocky. Many times during the hike, I was reminded of images from the movie "The Sound of Music."
Saturday, I took a rest day and did not go on any long hikes, instead I went for a short walk, and watched the crazy mountain bikers fly down the mounatin in full body armor. I also made time to have a chocolate crepe, delicious!!!
Sunday, I went on my last hike. This was the day that we climbed to the very summit of the mountain, walked along the ridge, then continued back down. There was a beautiful view from the top including a view of the huge man-made lake below.
Today, I took another rest day to allow my body to recover for my traveling to Italy tomorrow. So tomorrow, we will be driven to a sity just across the Italian border, Bardoneccia, and from there the four us will board a train to Milano, and from Milano to Vicenza.

Last Day in Paris

Today, Tuesday is our last day in Paris. Today our friend Matt arrived this morning from the States. So now there are four of us staying in Paris. Today we did a lot of walking around. We also took the metro. We visited the Institut du Monde Arabe (Arab World Institute) by Jean Nouvel. The building is interesting because of its metallic screen that consists of operable shadeing devices. We also walked through a park , and saw many interesting modern buildings. We took a break from all of the walking to grab some drinks in a small streetside cafe. One interesting think about all of the streetside cafes, is that all of the patrons actually face the street, similar to a "tv family," with everyone on one side of the table. During our stay in Paris, we typically went to the supermarket and prepared our meals ourselves, so one last thing we wanted to do on our visit was eat at a French restaurant; so we had dinner just around the corner from the apartment. I order chicken, while TJ ordered veal, Charles order lamb, and Matt ate a sandwich. All of our meals were prepared well, but nothing was "to die for."

Day 3 In Paris

The third day in Paris, Charles, my friend from school whose grandparents apartment we stayed in, visited with some of his other relatives that live in Paris, so TJ and I rode the metro from the apartment to the Louvre. We spent several hours there, but still were unable to see everything. The Louvre is enormous!!! At first, our plan was to just start at the begining and walk thoughout the entire museum. We then decided that that was a huge mistake. We had to then look at the map and decide which exhibits we wanted to see, and just make a bee line for those. It took awhileto see all that we wanted because of the size of the building in addition to the huge crowds of people.

Also, while in Paris, TJ, Charles, and I had had cafe (espresso) a couple of times at little shops, but there isn't anywhere to get a normal coffee "to go". So while in the Louvre, there was a Starbucks and I made a stop in. After the Louvre, and Starbucks Tj and I headed back to the apartment. Later that same night, TJ and I went to the Eiffel tower. We climbed the stairs up two levels (a total of 660 stairs), and then rode the elevator to the top. The actual height of the Eiffel Tower is quite astonishing.

Day 2 in Paris

On Sunday we went to the Pomidou Center, a modern art museum, by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers. We saw some interesting things and some strange things. We bought paninis from a street vendor and then ate lunch next to the Seine River. We continued our day by walking around Paris. We visited the Quai Branly designed be Jean Nouvelle. We also walked by the Notre Dame Cathedral.

Arrival to Paris

Hey!!!! So I am finally in Paris!!! Ok , so to begin, I left Jacksonville around 2 pm on Friday, then flew into Charlotte, NC, and then immediately

boarded the plane to Paris. I arrived in Paris this morning (Friday) around 6:40 paris time (12:40 am jax. time). Now it is 3 in the afternoon in paris and I have yet to sleep, since I only slept an hour or so on the plane. Due to the tiredness , I am going to keep this pretty short, but I just wanted to let everyone know I arrived safely in Europe and to show some of the photos I took today..