Paris, France

PARIS = My most surprisingly favorite city.

I loved Paris because we got to spend so much time there. We spent 18 of the 35 days of our trip in Paris. It was amazing to be able to just feel like I knew Paris. I have been surprised since I've been home how many shows and movies have a scene in Paris or a reference to Paris, and a lot of the times it is not the Paris that I know! They are lying to you. So beware, and just try and go yourself k? ;)

First day at Notre Dame... Jen look really happy to be there ;)

We got to go to the French Open while we were there! We saw some doubles matches and one singles match that were all pretty awesome! I wish I could have seen some true masters like Raphael Nadal or Roger Federer

Chartres... Oh a dream come true! Look at that amazing view

The blue of these stained glass windows are not able to be redone. It is quite the sight to see.

These are the windows at St. Denis... This was an awesome place to have for my 21st birthday in France!

And so was this! I went to Disneyland after... It was awesome! I got to go there twice for FREE because of some awesome friends I made who worked for Disney in the last year.

THE LOUVRE!! This is awesome awesome place. It is like heaven for art history people... and I am now officially art history people. what an amazing experience to admire all of these masters of art. I hope y'all get inspired by this blog and decide to learn more about art stuffs... Cuz it is awesome.

This is one of my favorites at the Louvre! It is by Thorson, and he is someone I didn't know before this experience at the louvre, which is one of my favorite things about the experience in Europe was that I was surprised all the time by artists that I didn't know anything about. My top four surprise artists that I now LOVE = Berthe Morisot (fascinating story you should look it up. She's da bomb.), Gustave Callibot, Camille Claudelle (also look up her story) and Thorson.

This is a place called "Sacre Coure" it is located in one of the most beautiful places in all of Paris, Monmartre, which is basically this lush green hillside where all the artists of impressionism lived and hung out. Pretty awesome stuff. (Artists such as Van Gogh, Serat, Renoir, Monet... etc.)

This is a photo of mine taken from St. Chapelle, the most BEAUTIFUL and exquisite colored windows in all of France. You have to go through a ton of security to get inside, but it is pretty sweet.

Van Gogh's grave. We took a day trip up to his house slash town of Avernes and Monet's house at Geverny. Some of the most beautiful places in all the world Really. I keep saying that, but it is true of all these places!

The fields where Van Gogh killed himself... and painted his last painting of "crows in the field".

Geverny. BEAUTIFUL... Monet really painted impressions (or moments) of what he saw.

This of course is the Arch De Triumph... We went on a walk around town one night then ate the most delicious dinner! We went to this stake place that brought you salad, asked you how you like your meat cooked, then brought it two you 2 times and that was it! 25 Euros later (aka super expensive) and we were happy campers. Most delicious meal I ate in France.

The cool thing about being an art history student in France is that you get to go to historical places for free just by flashing your little art history student card in people's faces. It was so fun to climb up the towers of Notre Dame, especially since it didn't cost us 5 Euro. ;) Isn't the view pretty?? And high? It was fun to feel like Quazi Motto up there he he.

This was on one of our last nights in Paris. Jen, Me, and Kylie decided it would be cool to walk the streets of Paris together at night instead of riding the subway home. We walked about 3 or 4 miles, but it ended up being one of the coolest things I did in Paris. It was a beautiful night, and I was with really good company in these girls. (two of my favorites!). This day was a free day, and we spent it doing random things like going to the biggest (and most creepy) grave yards in France, then we got Indian food, and walked very leisurely and down the streets of Paris and the Champs d'lessee. Awesome night! I love Paris!

Our last Saturday of the trip we went to Versailles. Isn't it huge looking? And that is just 1/3 of the front of the Place. Louis the XIV was a crazy man who spent so so so much money to build this place for himself. Wish I had some of that dough right now seeing as I spent it all in Euro land and on my car which died right while I was gone... ;).

The Gardens at Versailles were so beautiful!!! They went on for miles and miles and we got to explore them for hours. It was one of the highlights of the trip for me, along with canoeing on the lake in the gardens there. We were laughing so hard and just had a good time. This is Haddy, Kylie, Diana, and I on the lake! If you ever go to Versailles, please please do this and go to Mari Antoinette's house/village. It was the most quaint and exciting thing! It looks just like the land of Bell from Beauty and the Beast. Seriously, they got their inspiration from this place. It was AWESOME!!!!

After Versailles we wanted to see the Eiffel tower light up at night... So we did! Isn't it pretty?

Our last day in Paris we did a lot of shopping, went to the Pompedue (sp?) and then had crepes and a boat ride as a big group. It was really fun to reminisce together and just spend the last few moments in Paris on a boat, on the lake, seeing all the things we really did fall in love with while we were there.

I am SOOOOOOOOO infinitely grateful for this opportunity I had to go to Europe and have my dreams come true. I will remember it forever with fondness. My parents and family are so great to have supported me and let me enjoy so much this opportunity even though craziness was happening at home. I am the luckiest girl in the world! I now get to go with my parents for two months and serve the missionaries of San Diego. I am one lucky, and blessed, and grateful girl.

London Town

LONDON = Such a fun place! I loved London so much! It was so nice after 10 days in Italy to be able to actually speak the language of people who were working and serving etc. I remember the first place that I asked for food was on the Sunday afternoon and we went to a sandwhich shop and I still pointed and barely said anything to the gal that was helping me with the food. I was being so silly, but old habbits die hard I guess. ;) Anyways, the first day we got there we just hung out in the subway until we could find our passes for the week, and did some excellent people watching. I tell you what, people in England just do whatever the heck they want to as regards their dress, speech, and mannerisms. It was so fun to watch, then went straight to bed we were so tired. The next day was Sunday, and we just took it easy by eating lunch in Hyde Park after an amazing session of church, walking around the city for the first time (where I took this picture of Westminster Abbey) and then just lazed around and read etc. and went to visit my friend Hannah who was at the London center until the day was done.

The next day we started the art classes again, and went to my most favorite museum, the National Gallery. It is cool because all of the museums in England are free to the public, so anyone who has any interest in art, PLEASE go to the national gallery in London. It was so magical because I finally felt like I connected with art, and got a little teary over a Monet and the one and only Fredrick that we saw on the trip (he's one of my most favorite artists) and I just realized how incredibly lucky I was to be able to be having that experience and be traveling and studying abroad. It was a great thing. Then we went and got fish and chips (where I left my journal, don't worry we went back to get it later that day), went to the Cult of Beauty exhibit in the V & A and after went to the musical "Billy Elliot". It was so weird, don't go, it swears a little too much, but I guess it was fun to be there with good friends and be able to feel some of the true culture of England.

The next day was more of the same as far as the layout of the day went. We went to the Brittish Museum and got to see the Elgeon marbles, Hammarabi's code, Egyptian artifacts like no other, and a lot of really old, cool stuff! We also went to this small collection called the Wallace collection. It has a lot of Rococo stuff in it, which is some of my favorite stuff so I really enjoyed it. We also saw Johnny Dep right before it, and I got to talk to some older gentleman about the gospel... it was pretty cool. Inbetween the two museums we went to find Harry Potter's Platform 9 3/4... This was it... a large poster on the wall with half a cart to pretend like you were pushing through... So silly, yet still fun to go as I am a huge harry potter fan.

That night we went to see the musical "The Phantom of the Opera". It was AMAZING... I don't think I have ever heard a more impressive man's voice before. I loved it!

The next day we got to go on a day trip to Stonehenge, Salisbury, Stourhead and Bath. Let me tell you what, the British countryside is incredible. I don't think I can recall a more beautiful place in the world than here... Maybe Hawaii and Florence, but this is beautiful because of the calm and peacefulness of the cities. Stourhead especially.

This is our group at Stonehenge. It was surprisingly smaller than I pictured it to be, but it really is incredible how mysterious it all is... I enjoyed it a lot!

After Stonehenge we went to Salisbury where there is the infamous Salisbury cathedral, one of the oldest in the world, and with just a very small (like 4 feet) foundation... They had to add a lot of things to the inside for support of the cathedral, but it was fun because in this cathedral we got to be taken around by a nice lady (in her 70's?) who told us all about the place. It was fun to hear not just art facts, but normal history stuff too! She finished her lecture saying, "Well you guys must be absolutely wacked" a phrase that we used repeatedly throughout the rest of the trip. Then we went to Stourhead, which really, INCREDIBLE. I have never seen a place so beautiful before in all my life. There was just lush greenness all around, and flowers of vibrant pinks, purples, yellows, blues, and just everything inbetween. We all decided if we could die anywhere it would be there. This picture is of the group at the temple of venus which is where a scene from the new Pride and Prejudice was filmed. We were in heaven, the boys? not so much. Hence why they are not pictured there. he he.

The next day we went to some more museums like the Tate Britain (so many Turners and Constable's there I was just in heaven) and the Tate Modern (I also spent a ton of time at this museum cuz I thought it was awesome). We went to the london bridge, the tower of london, and the Tower Bridge as well... Oh and saw the Globe theater, and St. Paul's bascillica. So much of the famous stuff in London was all off of the same metro stop.. It was awesome.

I totally loved London. It is a place i had been dreaming about going to for so so long, and so it was amazing for me to go there! Also, there was so much history there so I had to see it. And, my Grandpa B. along with so many other important church members served there! What heritage. It was also the most fun place to shop! I only ended up buying some hair stuff, jewelry, and a pair of shoes for 11 pounds (at primemark, the least expensive yet most busy store I have ever been to).

Florence, Venice, Milan and Padua

FLORENCE = My favorite place in Italy, and maybe in the whole world. This city is absolutely Magical. I loved every second of our 2 1/2 days there. We got to see so many amazing things as far as art was concerned, but really I loved most the atmosphere of the place. As you can see from all of these pictures, it was BEAUTIFUL there. Everywhere was green and they have this river that was just outside of our silly little hotel (it was like an ugly dorm room for 3 people... the shower was also connected to the toilet with no divider curtain, so everything just got wet as heck... plus the towels were basically the same material as sheets... so funny). We at delicious food here, and they had some great shopping. Brunalessci's duomo, Gilberti's baptistry doors, and of course Michaelangelo's absolutely perfect David were all there as well, which just added to the fact that this is now one of my favorite places on earth.

(The view of the city out of our Apartment window)

(That first night... Isn't it breathtaking?)

(A view (ish) of the city from the top of the hill. It was so green and full of flowers that was just beautiful, plus this guy was playing music which just made the experience that much better.)

VENICE- Not as romantic as you may think. I actually really liked Venice, but it is just a place for tourists to eat pretty decent food (actually the best pizza of the trip was here) and to enjoy water everywhere with these beautiful buildings. All the buildings in Italy are these pastel colors, but they were much more vibrant in Venice. The whole city is falling apart, but it is still pretty awesome. Me and my friend Jamie took a boat ride around the whole city and up to the island of Morono, which is where they actually blow the glass. We got to see some amazing works of glass art here, and a few old chapels that were pretty. I would recommend paying the money to take the boat ride around this city, it was picturesque.

After venice we got to go to Milan, the fashion capital of the world. It was not that much different from a city in America as far as around the train station and the hotel that we stayed in. We got in pretty late that night, and so all we wanted to do was find food and go to sleep. So me, Jamie, Jen, Spencer and Will found this small Italian resturaunt and it was so delicious! We just talked for about 3 hours and it was such a nice change of pase and a very fun way to get to know the people in our group. We enjoyed it for sure. My favorite modern museum was here in Milan, so that was the highlight for me I think, but also, this Cathedral, the Milan Cathedral, is BREATHTAKING both inside and out. Go there. :)

After Milan we took a few hours to see the city Padua. Now anyone who knows anything about Art History should recognize the name, Giotto. Well Giotto is this genius painter who basically started the renaissance movement in painting. He is the first man to show realistic perspective and facial expressions. This chapel pictured below was painted by him, and seriously made me cry how beautiful it was. Our instructors had never been inside either, so they were balling as well, and it was just awesome. Go there. It is called the Arena Chapel. We were happy art history people in there.

So that is how we ended Italy. It was a beautiful day! And we were all excited to get off to England where they spoke English ha ha. :)

Europe with Pictures. Finally

Hello family and friends! I am so sorry it has taken me forever to post pictures and stories on the Blog. We have been so busy since I got home with the mission, I haven't had a minute to sit down and just write about the WONDERFUL experience that I had. I am going to start of with and Italy post, then an England one, then a Paris one. I will try to be condensed, but who knows. This is more for my posterity than anything anyways, so if you don't want to read a saga, just enjoy the pictures. :)

Italy - Rome

Rome is this city full of romance, history, and so many people. This was the first city that we visited on our abroad, and oh man, it was PACKED with things for us to do and see. We were so busy just looking at all the ancient sights that it was impossible to be 'bored'. The first day we went to the Spanish steps and did a walking tour that included the Pantheon (amazing), Trevi fountain (also amazing, and cool, which was nice as it was very warm in Rome) and the streets of Rome.

(Spanish steps with Diana)

(Trevi Fountain)

(Pantheon Oculous)

Keisha and Reegan finally made it up with at the end of the day when they had this horrible experience with their flights and basically almost didn't make it to Rome! We were all so tired after basically staying up for 24 hours that by the end of this tour (which included some of the best gelato of the trip), we were exhausted, and just hit the hay.

Day 2 was a day I absolutely have to talk about. We saw all the ancient sights of Rome, and then went to the Borghese Palace which had the most amazing sculptures in it by Bernini.

(Colosseum)

(Constantine's Arch)

(This is Michelangelo's Moses)

On Saturday we took at trip to Naples/Pompeii. Pompeii was awesome! It was so interesting to see this pretty well preserved ancient town that wasn't Rome. It was so much bigger than I thought it would be, and it was so interesting to look at all the fresco's, buildings, and even people who were preserved from this time. It was dusty and old and I loved it. Naples however, was a scary experience for us. Naples is supposedly the birth place of Pizza, and so it is a tourist spot, but we just had a few hours there after this museum we went to, so we did not get to find the pizza that is delicious, instead we had to search around the train station for something, and it was one of the scariest experiences of my life! I was not able to hold in my fear, and at one point just looked up at the sky and kept walking as not to stare back at the people staring at me, or the men living on the side of the road with all the garbage. It was just a scary experience... yet now I look back on it with fondness because of how silly we were all being.

This is a picture of the "Ecstasy of St. Teresa" by Bernini. He is such a phenomenal sculptor. O man I was so excited to see this sculpture because of how much my high school art history professor, Mrs. Hughes, loved it. Now I get what she was talking about with the cloth thing. Bernini is a genius. We went to see a lot of the churches and the works inside of them like a lot of the Caravaggio paintings and sculptures of the early renaissance. It was awesome.

Our last day in Rome we went to the Vatican and saw all of these amazing sites there. Did you know that the Vatican is it's own country? I think that is crazy, but it is huge, and the pope does live there... Anyways, this is the top of St. Peter's Basilica, I took a lot of pictures inside of this building, but I am struggling with adding the pictures for some reason... So this is what you get. If you want more, I will e-mail them to you. :) Anyways, the thing that I thought was more impressive than this huge cathedral, is the Vatican itself! There was so much amazing stuff in there! Of course we couldn't take too many pictures inside, so i just didn't try. But we got to see the Augustus Prima Porta, Apollo Belvidere, Laocoon, Raphael's School of Athens, (and many more of his paintings), and of course the Sistine Ceiling!!! That was such an amazing experience, except guess what, I don't really care for Michelangelo's work because his anatomy is TOTALLY ridiculous. Sure, he understood what muscles could look like on strong men, but he adds so many that do not really exist, and all the women look like men. I don't appreciate that.

So that was Rome! I loved it! We saw a lot of awesome things, and even stayed up one night until 1:00 am looking at art!! (they had this late night "free museum" thing going, so we went to a modern art exhibit at about 11:00 at night. So adventurous ;) ) Next up, Florence.

I am feeling very very grateful to be here today. I am so lucky to have had this opportunity to grown and learn. It has been just incredibly fulfilling and it has strengthened my testimony of the gospel. I have been so happy to see and truly experience the works of these masters. I have made great friends and learned from the example of so many people.   

This trip can be summarized by the verb amaze. I have been amazing and humbled not only by the artwork I have seen, but the deep culture that I have seen in all of the countries I have been to. The people in Italy are humble and hardworking. They know the pride of living in a city such as Rome or Florence, and they want people who come to that country to remember and feel that. In england, they are confident and different. Each person seems to have a unique identity and purpose. We were always treated with respect and church there was one of my favorites of my life because of the family union that I felt there. Paris/France is calm, confident, and proud. The city is not as busy as that of Rome or Venice, but it has the seine which somehow makes it seem like there is calmness in the city. It is the city of love. So many people around us are happily and calmly in love. Everywhere you go here in the city has a specific charm and feel to it, plus so much history and things to see here. Out of all the places I have been, Paris has been my favorite because of the feel of it. 

I love and appreciate art more then I thought I would after this ends. It has an amazing power to change your perspective on the world and on emotions. It has helped me to solidify my testimony and feelings about Jesus Christ and his life on earth. It has also helped me to recognize how having opinions or feelings about life can translate to the works that people are creating. I will only have good art in my home, and I will make sure to have it be uplifting and beautiful as well. :) 

These were my thoughts today in church, and it has most absolutely been a blast to be here. I will miss it so much!! I will post specifics and pictures etc when I get home in 2 days. :)