Conte Sketching - Part 3

Just some sketches as my trip is winding down:)

Piazza Farnese 

Orvieto 

Orvieto 

Colosseum

Pantheon

Palm Sunday - In my Thoughts

*thinking to myself while out n' about in Rome*

Hmm...it's Palm Sunday. I wonder what's going on at the Vatican today. I mean, it's already Noon, so I probably missed Mass, but you never know. Oh wait, why are all these people walking away from St. Peter's? I must have missed whatever it was I thought I missed. Ahh well, there seem to be quite a few people still in the piazza. Let's just see then. *walk, walk, walk*

Wait, who's that speaking Italian over a loudspeaker? *remove headphones and walk into Piazza* There are guards! Shoot, there's no way they'll let me walk in there! Oh wait, they totally don't care that I'm here. I seriously need to look/act/be less fidgety. *walk to center of Piazza* Oh look! There's a TV screen with the pope on it. It must be a recording from this morning. Look at all the people sitting in chairs holding signs. Why is there an alter up there? Why are there...

Whoa, that TV is a live feed, isn't it? That means that that little red dot in front of the main doors of St. Peters is the...HOLY CR--eh, Father! THAT'S THE POPE! I SAW THE POPE! *get goosebumps*

*call parents at 6 in the morning (US time) to gloat*

If only I had actually taken this picture...

Spring Break Part 2 - France

To be perfectly honest, I believe that Paris would have been a major letdown if it weren’t for one thing.

Eiffel Tower. Eiffel Tower. Eiffel Tower.

This is my love child. It was before I had even seen it for myself, but to actually walk up the axial pathways toward a structure that you have dreamed about seeing for years?

Gah. Epic. 

And it was so much more amazing than I ever thought it would be. The Eiffel Tower is *huge*. It’s elaborate and delicate while giving the Parisian skyline something to boast about. We spent hours there (although an hour or two of that wasn’t really our choice…but nonetheless!).

Eiffel Tower. Eiffel Tower. Eiffel Tower. 

Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?

After waking up the three boys I was traveling with at 3:30 AM to catch a 6 AM flight on Tuesday morning (very happy people, they were), we arrived to a bustle of activity in Paris. It was nearly 9 AM by the time we got into the center of town where everyone was busy getting to work on the metro and by car. This gets me to my first point.

1. The metro in Paris is the easiest means of transportation I have ever used. It goes everywhere and connects to everything of relevance in the city. I couldn’t help but be so thankful to it because it allowed us to see far more of the city than we would have been able to on foot. One of our first stops upon arrival was to purchase a 3-Day Pass for the metro system. It was well worth it.

Our first day took us to the Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, the Grande Arch, the modern side of Paris (*blah*), and the Eiffel Tower. We, indeed, climbed the Eiffel Tower to give ourselves a lovely view of Paris at dusk. And it was lovely (and windy) as ever. Still, we couldn’t have asked for better weather during our stay in Paris. It felt like spring!

Being exhausted from our early morning, I grabbed a quick dinner (of Subway!) before going to sleep at our hostel.

The next day, we took the metro to Versailles. It was nice to see a different part of town that wasn’t nearly as loud and busy as the majority of Paris seems to be.

2. Point Number Two! Paris is very much like Rome, in many respects, although it is still far cleaner. And while there are still many, many cars on the road, there are logical street instructions. Much like Austria, I did not feel like I was going to get run over at any moment. Very nice, Paris.

After a relatively quick self-guided tour through the palace (you really don’t get to see that much of it) including the Hall of Mirrors (best part, predictably), we took to the gardens. Now, they were phenomenal, ridiculously huge, and went on for miles, but because of the time of year that we went, none of the trees had leaves. So unfortunately, I left disappointed but having every intention of returning in the future to see the lovely gardens in full bloom.

Once we got back into town, we went to the Notre Dame Cathedral, which was also far more incredible than I ever thought it would be. After three months of church-visiting (I should have counted how many we’ve gone to…gah), Notre Dame still managed to impress me. And that’s truly saying something.

On our final full day in Paris, we took the metro once again to Poissy, France, to visit Villa Savoye, a house designed by Le Corbusier. Most people who are not in the architecture field will have no idea who this guy is or what he designed, but Villa Savoye is a prime example of the types of structures I study in school. Case and point: Architecture students visit the villa for free (*awesome*) because we are the only ones that know it’s even there.    

3. And our final point for the evening! While Paris did not instinctually feel as welcoming as Vienna did, the people were not rude by any stretch of the imagination. The front desk lady at our hostel made our restaurant reservations for us. Our waitress at that restaurant explained the menu to us in English. The owner of the restaurant even took a picture of us upon our request. I didn’t feel looked-down-upon or belittled.

The rest of my day consisted of sketching in the park around the Eiffel Tower with one of my dearest friends, eating a wonderful, only slightly-expensive French meal with wonderful schoolmates, and seeing the Eiffel Tower sparkle.

Friend:)

With our waitress! 

Friends:)

Perfect? I dare say it was. 

Conte Sketching - Spring Break

This is a post mostly to my parents to show them that I am, indeed, learning something while I'm frolicking around Rome.

:)

I love you guys! Thank you so much for letting me do this!

SALZBURG

Fortress

PARIS

Notre Dame

Villa Savoye

Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower

(Yes, there are three drawings of the Eiffel Tower. Spare me.) 

Versailles

The Louvre

Spring Break Part 1 - Austria

I have always thought that Italy would be my country. It is socially labeled as such a “romantic” place filled with interesting customs, amazing food, superb wine, and friendly people. While all those assumptions are still generally true, Italy is not the place I want to come back to with my parents/family. That honor now goes to Austria.

The spires of Salzburg

Austria is, truly, an underrated country. I honestly couldn’t be happier about our choice to go there over some more popular and mainstream places. I shall hit the major winning points quickly before delving into the more intricate moments of our trip!

1. Food – Austria has, hands down, the best food I have ever tasted. In. My. Life. Of the three days we stayed there, I had something different at every meal and loved every bite of it. Their diets are comprised mostly of meat (veal, bratwurst, beef, pork), potatoes (roasted, mashed), and beer. Lots and lots of beer. And fantastic beer at that.

My personal favorite dish was at Leupold in Vienna on our first night in town. My three traveling companions and I were nearly frothing at the mouth for that entire meal because it was so wonderful. My Weiner Schnitzel (veal-based) and Edelweiss beer was the best meal (and most wonderful dining experience) I have had in my time abroad. I’m pretty sure we all wanted to cry after we’d finished. It was THAT good.

Sorry, Italy. Your repetitive pasta and bread servings have gotten a bit old for my taste.

2. People – While I thought that many people in Italy could speak English very well, they don’t even compare to the number of people in Austria who were extremely fluent in English (as well as many other languages). I felt instantly welcome when we arrived in Vienna at midnight on Friday night and a kind taxi driver (who drove within the lines) didn’t try and rip us off on the drive to our hostel. The next day, I smiled, shocked, when a woman approached me (after she had diverted her own walking path to remove herself from the picture I was taking) and apologized for maybe getting in my picture and hoping that she hadn’t been in the way. I still cannot get over how friendly the workers at the train station were who cut the price of our tickets to Salzburg in half and saved us 200 Euros.     

I didn’t feel like a smaller person because I was American and not bilingual, even though I knew enough German to get me by.

3. Streets and Traffic – There were bike lanes! And pedestrian sidewalks! And traffic lights that give you time to cross the street before a car can run you over! What’s not the like?!

4. The View – The Alps. I really don’t need to say more, do I? Best view of my life!

WIN

Continuing on, after a late flight (on Air Berlin : Highly recommended if you ever fly within Europe), we took a taxi ride to our hostel in Vienna. The hostel was oddly clean, newly furnished, and extremely hospitable and friendly with other tenants sitting throughout the common room chatting in all different languages. After a good night’s sleep, we began our day in Vienna. Although the weather was a bit brisk and cloudy, we marveled at the surrounding architecture as we walked to the center of town. While the older architecture was very Roman-like in its height and themes, its influences were very much their own. Also unlike Rome, Vienna had many more modern buildings that showed the true growth of an aging city. Nearly every street housed a random modern structure that related to nothing but still captivated our attention, nonetheless.

  

Once in the historic district, we moved from one building to the next, from the museum center of town to the Imperial Palace to every cathedral we could find.

Natural History Museum

Adolf Loos!

Cathedral

The architecture was grand without being overly extravagant. It seemed to serve its purpose for the city and the people within it without really caring about opinions of those outside the city limits. The city was Vienna for the people of Vienna and no one else.  

Cafe Central

My favorite building was the University near the Imperial Palace. While we unfortunately could not find our way inside, the long colonnade and gorgeous façade were enough to put it at the top of my list.

After our fantastic dinner at Leupold, we spent another night in our hostel before waking up early the next morning to catch a three-hour train to Salzburg. While the morning fog covered the Alps for most of the trip (we did see them on our return to Vienna the next day), the mountains are very apparent in the city of Salzburg itself. The town sits in a valley at the northern edge of the Alps with other mountain ranges covering the rest of the view.

This is also, obviously, the home of the Sound of Music. As many of you will know, this is my favorite movie. Ever. I want people to break into song for no apparent reason. Life would be happier, no matter how much you won’t admit you want the exact same thing. However, as I was traveling with three guys, it didn’t feel right to force them each to pay 40 Euros for a four-hour tour of all the Sound of Music sites used throughout the movie (no doubt on a bus with Julie Andrews painted on the side and fanny-packed Americans singing to the soundtrack). Regardless, I did see as many key sites as we could walk to, and I was very happy with the results!

The arched vine structure Julie Andrews dances through in "Do, Re, Mi..."

The Abbey where the von Trapp Family (in the movie) escapes from the Nazi Regime 

After another wonderful authentic Austrian meal (boiled sausage, applesauce with horseradish, and roasted potatoes), we spent the night at a guesthouse in the hills of Salzburg with an amazing view and comfortable beds. After a morning of sketching the following day (sketches will be uploaded on here sometime next week), we took a return train back to Vienna.

Musikverein

On our final night in Vienna, we saw a symphony orchestra play in the famed Musikverein where we, with every other jean-clad tourist, stood in the standing-room-only area in the most beautiful concert hall I have ever seen and listened to classical music.

Someday, I will get a seat in this place and be more appropriately dressed. Austria, we will meet again!

My First View of the Eiffel Tower!

And as this is only detailing half of my Spring Break trip, get excited. Because Paris is next!

Conte Sketching

For the last two months, I have been taking a sketching class as part of my semester abroad. This class is not used to teach us how to sketch; the professors give us exercises and challenges to strengthen our skills and help us find what best suits us. We have site visits every week, so all of our sketches are done on-site rather than of a picture. After an exercise that required us to use Conte (similar to charcoal, but more grainy) as a drawing medium, I have definitely taken to it and have been using every class to improve. 

I have never really enjoyed sketching or been praised for my skills, so coming to Rome and finding a niche? Kind of awesome, to be honest. 

The following is a progression of my favorite Conte drawings from my very first one (Trajan's Market) to my most recent (Villa Guilia). Please enjoy!

Trajan's Market

Campidoglio

Tempietto

Villa Guilia

Villa Guilia