-Also, does anyone know how to do an equivalent of LJcuts for blogspot? Because that would be useful in moments like this.
Here's the book I finished reading yesterday, which I mentioned at the end of my last post. "The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: The Birthplace of the Western World". If you like history, this is an easy and fun read about the great minds of old Alex- I would recommend it.
Photo of 10.29.08(top image- I can't get these captions to line up right with the pictures, sorry about that): The Night Bridge. I know I've taken pictures of the castle's arches over the moat before, but I like the curves and the reflections. It's too bad my camera doesn't get better resolution at night, but it's a decent camera anyway, so I'm more than happy with it. As you might be able to tell from the massive number of photos I take in general... :) 10.30.08
Unfortunately, plane tickets around Christmas time are ridiculous for going from Europe to the States at the beginning and viceversa at the end of the holiday period, meaning that I can't go home during the break, which is something of a disappointment. On the upside, tickets with the opposite directions (US coming to Europe) are quite reasonably low, so my family (parents and brother Alex) will be visiting me! I am so excited. Also, it will give me a much sooner time to count down until (in comparison with the beginning of February). In the meantime though, there is one week until I see Will and MK in Mainz, and just over a month until Leah and I go to Scotland to visit MK in Edinburgh. These breaks and visits will be a great way to encourage me to get through my classes. Joy for seeing friends and family.
LIST MAKING (for myself mainly and because why not)
Things to do in Ferrara or nearby (I reeeally need to get on this stuff, which means I'm not allowed to complain that there's nothing to do here until I actually do all this).------------------------------------
[]-make it all the way around the Wall
[x]-the Balloon Festival
[x]-Massari Park
[x]-explore the medieval neighborhoods, old ghetto and historic center
[x]-explore some of the renaissance neighborhoods
[x]-actually go into and explore the castle, not just the courtyards
[x]-look around inside the Duomo
[x]-Grounds of Palazzo di Marfisa D'Este
[]-House of Palazzo di Marfisa D'Este
[x]-Palazzo Schifanoia
[]-Archeological Museum
[]-Casa Romei
[]-go to Pomposa
[]-reach the Po River
[]-learn some traditional Italian recipes from Gardenia.
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Places to visit outside Ferrara but in Italy (most of these I don't have full lists yet, and will have to update them with better plans at some point).
-------------------------------------
Venice
[x]-St. Mark's Cathedral
[x]-St. Mark's Piazza
[x]- The Rialto
[]-The Ducal Palace and historical museum
[]-The museum in the Jewish neighborhood
[] -Explore some "normal people" 's neighborhoods
[x]-Ride a vaporetto
[]-Ride a gondola
-------------------------
Florence
Florence
[x]-The Duomo, including Tower and Dome (if possible, climb again)
[x]-The Ponte Vecchio
[x]-Various Medici Palaces and Chapels
[x]-Santa Croce
[]-The Accademia
[]-The Uffizi
[]-See Michaelangelo's David.
---------------------------
Siena
[x]-Duomo
[x]-Pinacoteca
--------------------------
Verona
Verona
[x]-Casa di Giulietta
[x]-Roman Theater
[x]-Piazza Bra'
[x]-Giardini Giusti.
---------------------------
Comacchio
[x]-see the Po Delta and the fishermen
[x]-visit beaches
[x]-touch the Adriatic (the water was too gross to go swimming)
[x]-visit their version of the Boardwalk.
---------------------------
Sacile
[x]-visit Gina (intend to do again) and see around Sacile
[x]-visit Dolomites
[x]-visit the airbase where Gina works
[]-go skiing with Gina
[]-go skiing in the Alps or Dolomites somewhere awesome.
-------------------------------------
Bergamo
[]-meet the cousins.
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Padova
[x]-Scrovegni/Giotto Chapel
[x]-Basilica di San Antonio
[x]-Prato delle Valle
---------------------------------------
Ravenna
[]-Mausoleum of Galla Placidia
[]-Basilica of San Vitale
[]-as many of the other major sites of masterwork mosaics I can get to while there.
-----------------------------------------
Trieste Area
[]-visit Remy Franklin at the UWC and maybe travel around in the area with him.
----------------------------
Bologna
?
-----------------------------------------
Rome
...soooo many things to see (plus meeting with Rikako if she's still in the country). Will make list another time.
-----------------------------------------
Sicily
[]-go to Leonforte. Meet the family again.
[]-go to Taormina and see the Greek Theater, the Roman Baths, and the Mazzaro Bay
[]-maybe go to Siracusa, because it's supposed to be really cool
[]-get to the top of Mount Etna (the volcano)
[]-go to Palermo, visit the Cappella Palatina, figure out a few other things to see there
[]-not run into any problems with the Mafia or the regular dangers of being in Sicily... oh please Lord.
[]-maybe stay in a convent and see how the nuns live, since all of Sicily's small handful of hostels should apparently be closed by then.
--------------------------------------------
Beyond visiting Will and MK, there are a few other places in Europe that, time and money allowing, I'd like to go (like Prague and Vienna, for example). But since those are so variable and less likely, I will not make lists of them now. Being here is for primarily learning about Italy rather than all of Europe, and since I'm considering these short trips to be a valuable part of my education here, I've decided they're worth the time and money - with reason, that is. Farther trips to elsewhere in Europe are going to be harder than I anticipated, but oh well. Ok, so it's good to see all these goals laid out like this - between all these and homework and applications for things to do next summer (for both of which I have additional lists), I am officially not allowed to comment that I have nothing to do. Nope nope nope. So I should go and be productive now. Or at least pretend to be. Night!
1 comment:
Emmons! That's so fun that your family is going to come and see you! And I hope the trip (when it arrives) to see Will and MK is all kinds of fun.
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