Closing Thoughts

AT LONG LAST all of my essays, presentations, and exams are complete. In the last month, I have written around 14,000 words...just a bit more than I had in mind...Grades look like they should be fine. Now begins the period of serious packing. I filled my two smaller suitcases today. Here's to hoping I'm able to fit all the rest of my stuff into the big suitcase and my backpack!

Tomorrow I have a sort of farewell "tea party" with some of my friends. I'm looking forward to taking a break from packing and spending time with other people - I haven't had much time for that with all this essay-writing and exam-studying! :(

I thought I'd take this opportunity to share a few last thoughts about my trip. I had a wonderful time, first of all. I learned so much more than I was taught in my class. Dutch culture and politics, is...well, complicated, obviously. It is, however, relatively similar to American culture. How, I couldn't precisely say. But just after spending a few days in France and Italy, I could tell it was vastly different from French and Italian culture. In my history seminar, about half the class did their presentations and final essays on American political culture. When I asked about it, my professor and several classmates joined in explaining to me that there is a sort of fascination with American culture and politics, which is really interesting to me.

There are a number of things I will miss about this country. Big things, like Amsterdam. I LOVED Amsterdam. It's such a beautiful city. I also like the landscape - it's very idyllic. Lots of farms. The word "charming" comes to mind, haha! I love the culture, too. I have really loved learning about it. It's...funky. That's the best way I can describe it. Funky. Of course, there are some very silly people, particularly in politics: The PVV, the Freedom Party (basically), is the only party I've ever heard of with only one member. I've heard more about it and it's member, Geert Wilders, than I have about any other aspect of politics in the Netherlands! (Mostly, I think, because so many people hate the party!)

Things I will not miss? This dorm, for one. I will not miss the vomit on the carpets, the people sprinting down the hallways pushing squeaky grocery carts at 3:00am, the poorly ventilated bathrooms, the kitchens that hardly anyone ever cleans, the loud techno music playing from the adjacent rooms while I'm trying to go to sleep, etc. In a bizarre twist, I will also NOT miss the landscape - it's so FLAT! Scarcely any hills to speak of. And the WIND! Even now, in June, it can be strong enough to knock you off your bike if you're not careful. And it's still too cold out. I still usually need a jacket with me when I go out. The sun here also rises far too early. I'll be glad to be farther south again!

I have really enjoyed my experience, but I am terribly homesick at this point. I'll be glad to get home on Tuesday.s. I

One other thing I can say for this semester though is I have been incredibly productive, artistically. You may remember I did National Poetry Writing Month in April. I'm currently working on the first short story I've written in a long time. And (here I take the opportunity for some SHAMELESS self-promotion), I have started a little poetry project. I have created a list of 100 topics which I will be using to write 100 poems. I've already written a few! If you're interested, here's a link to the first post.

Thank you to everyone who has kept up with this blog over the past months. I know I have not been the most faithful correspondent, but I hope you at least enjoyed my pictures!

I wish you all a wonderful summer, and I look forward to seeing many of you soon!

XOXO Jes

Florence, Day 2

Well hello! I finally have a chance to create another post! my school assignments have kept me quite busy lately. Two essays and a presentation down, two essays and a final exam to go. *Huff huff huff*

So anyway, Italy:

My second day there, I took the opportunity of going up into the Duomo. I had originally planned to go up into the dome, which opens at 8:30, and then be done and get in line to enter the main church at 10:00 when it opened. Turns out, I did the right thing in going into the dome. First of all: it was spectacular. The murals were absolutely incredible. Depictions of people being tortured in hell at the bottom, paintings of the angels in heaven near the apex. The climb was pretty intense - several hundred stairs, most very tightly spiraling, some steep enough that you were basically climbing a ladder. But when you finally made it to the top: oh, the VIEW! Yet another fantastic view over the city of Florence.

Climbing down was a bit of an emotional and psychological challenge, though. I couldn't decide whether to go down some of the staircases forwards or backwards. The church itself was fairly unremarkable. The dome and the outside are really the best parts.

And it's good I figured that out. When I got back outside, at about 9:45, the line to get into the church already crossed the piazza. I decided I had seen enough of the church from near the dome, and left.

For lunch, I walked down to this little place someone at the hostel had told me about, Acasamia, in the Mercato di Sant'Ambroggio. For 6 euros and 70 cents, I got a full bottle of water, an appetizer, a salad, a main course, and a coffee. The place was entirely full of locals. Granted, for the most part I had no idea what I was ordering - the menu was in Italian, and it was clearly a menu they change on a daily basis, because there were only three options for each category. However, the food was good, and it was in a wonderful little market square.

That afternoon, feeling exhausted from several days of intense walking, I let myself chill out a bit. I sketched a bit, had some more awesome Italian food, and then hung out with the guy at the front desk of the hostel for a bit. Then I got my stuff together and went to the train station.

All I can say for the train trip back is: thank goodness for my Eurail pass. It meant I was able to get a cheaper ticket on the high speed train from Paris to Amsterdam. Which was good because by the time I reached Paris again, I was so sick of trains.

And with that, my trip to Paris and Florence ended! I am sorry it has taken me so long to get through all these photos. The end of the semester has really been brutal so far. Ah, but I have only 2 weeks to go!

Once again, I apologize for the quality of some of the pictures. They really don't like flash cameras in churches.

Paris, Day 2 and Florence, Day 1

My second day in Paris has far fewer pictures than the first. I attempted to begin at the Musee d'Orsay, but after waiting in line to get in for over an hour and only being about halfway through the line, I gave up. Perhaps on another visit. For the most part, I simply wandered around where I had already been, simply enjoying the city.

I had a fantastic croque madame in a cafe along one of the avenues. At around 3 o'clock, fearful I wouldn't be able to get down to the Paris-Bercy station in time to catch my night train to Florence, I packed up my things and headed for the nearest metro station.

Fortunately, I DID catch my train, and the following morning I awoke to a very different view from the one I have grown accustomed to in the Netherlands, one with lots and lots of hills. Tuscany. Is. GORGEOUS.

My hostel was a fantastic little place within sight of the Duomo. I learned over the course of the day that Florence doesn't look like a terribly big city...until you walk the length and breadth of it, out and back again! By the end of the day, I was pleased but exhausted. For someone as fond of artwork as I am (not in the least such historical artwork), Florence was amazing.

First, I went for lunch. I had some absolutely amazing spinach and ricotta ravioli in butter and sage sauce. YUM! I then spent some time wandering around, acquainting myself with the exterior of the Duomo and the surrounding streets, before I headed Michelangelo's David. It was breathtaking. Frankly, much of the rest of the museum he was in was a bit...lackluster. Even as avid a historian and art-lover as I got bored. But then I was standing before the David. And he was just...wow. He almost doesn't look like he is carved from stone. I have an even greater appreciation of Michelangelo's work. Sadly, the museum security was unhappy with anyone who even LOOKED like they might be CONSIDERING using their cellphone's camera capabilities, so I am afraid I have nothing to show you.

After the museum, I went and got myself gelato! Mmmmmmmm! I then headed south, crossing the Ponte Vecchio and looking at all the very silly gold-sellers shops. From there, I walked along the road and climbed the long paths to the Piazza le Michelangelo. What a view!

THEN, I turned around and went all the way back down and set my sights on the Santa Croce church. I visited the graves of Galileo, Machiavelli, and Dante, and then walked north again to the great domed synagogue. Finally, after a couple of wrong turns, I made it back to the Piazza del Duomo to find that the great big crowd in front of the famous Baptistry doors had disappeared, and I was able to take some decent photographs. Granted, they're the replicas, but they're still amazing.

I then finished off my evening with some lasagna and some tiramisu. And I was then exhausted and went to bed!

Enjoy they pictures. I'll post the last batch when I have the chance.

The Musee d'Orsay is a lovely building, but after an hour in line, this was still my view of it...

In Florence, my view of the Duomo from the front doorstep of my hostel. Not a bad location, huh?

I just love this church. It doesn't have a very exciting interior (as you'll see soon enough), but the exterior is just magnificent. All white and green marble.

A view of Tuscany down a random street.

Mmmmmmmmm! Strawberry gelato!

One of the major market centers.

Headed south across the river.

Still headed south. I loved the little street and the sign off to the right.

Well, this is Florence! The view from the Piazza le Michelangelo.

And back down we go...

The Santa Croce church.

Galileo. I apologize for the terrible photo quality. The lighting inside the church was, as usual, terrible.

Dante.

Machiavelli.

The synagogue.

Ghiberti's doors. Michelangelo called them the Gates of Paradise.

Paris, Day 1

(Theme music for the following two posts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsMIuuV05uc)

Well, now that blogger has let me back in, I can finally start posting stuff from my trip! Hooray!

Again, I am posting this in chunks because I have TONS AND TONS of pictures. I don't want to overwhelm you all :). I apologize particularly for the number of Egyptian artifacts and such in this entry. The part of me that still sort of wants to be an Egyptologist just couldn't help itself! Also, it was overcast most of the day. This means some of my picture quality isn't great. Not to mention the nice people in the Louvre were very unhappy if you used your camera flash. I did the best I could.

First of all, let me say Paris was FANTASTIC. I'm pretty sure the Louvre is my favorite museum in the world, and considering I used to drag my family to the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History in DC once a year on my birthday, that's saying quite a bit. I mean the entire BUILDING is a work of art, not to mention all the incredible artifacts inside it. The beauty of being a historian, is that you get to study everything, because everything is relevant to history, and this museum is not just an art museum, it also represents the history of the human race.

Anyway, I arrived in Paris the night before, at about 10pm, having decided I didn't want to buy one of the high-speed tickets, and therefore having spent about 12 hours on trains. Fortunately, I had booked a room 4 blocks from the train station, 2 blocks from Sacre Coeur, and it had a private bathroom. I was a happy camper.

My first day in Paris, I was incredibly productive. In the morning, I walked down the the Place de Concorde to look around a bit. From there, I strolled down to the Grand Palace, the American Church and the Eiffel Tower, and then met my uncle and aunt, Sean and Lori, for an absolutely spectacular lunch. It was really nice to be able to sit down with people I knew. And need I say, the lunch was DELICIOUS!

After that, I went to the Louvre, where I discovered that, because I am a resident of the EU between the ages of 18 and 24, I could get in FREE. Works for me! I spent most of my time in the Egypt and Greece wing, though I of course swung by La Giaconda, to say hello, waved to Napoleon, visited the Winged Victory, and saw the awesome fort they've unearthed beneath the museum.

From there, I went back to my hostel, relaxed for a bit, then walked to a nearby bakery to pick up dinner (a baguette), and walked up the many flights of stairs to Sacre Coeur. Dinner was a simple affair, but it worked well enough for me!

Not sure what church this is, but I liked the paintings. Celebrating the saint-ing of Pope John Paul II.

L'Academie National de Musique!

The Place de Concorde + the Eiffel Tower. Obviously.

I just can't get over the fact that this obelisk is 3,300 years old. THREE THOUSAND. THREE HUNDRED. YEARS OLD. I just can't get over that!

The Champs-Elysee.

The entrance to the Tuileries.

CREPES! Nom nom nom.

The Grand Palace.

Doors to the building right across the street. No idea what building this is.

Mr...Churchill?

The inscription at his feet. I just...I can't get past the irony...I'll say no more....

A shot of the Grand Place from across the river.

The American church in Paris.

The Eiffel Tower!

Joan of Arc

The Louvre!

Poor quality, poor lighting, but you can see how high these walls were. UNDER THE MUSEUM!

Egyptian treasures!

The Winged Victory, of course.

Gee...Have I ever seen this in any textbooks before? Ever? I was very sad, by the way, I couldn't get close enough for a picture of the Mona Lisa.

Apollo after he has slain Python. Very St. George.

Dinner!

My "seat" - the stairs in front of Sacre Coeur.

My view!