Spring Break I : 2 Caitlins, Christine, and Barcelona

I have finally lived a huge dream of mine. I have walked the streets of one of the most beautiful cities in the world -- Barcelona. A world of art, architecture, and literature. One of my favorite novels, The Shadow of the Wind, takes place in this magical city. It is easy to see how so many people could be inspired by it.

There are so many things to do, see, and be amazed by in Barcelona.

 The first place that Caitlin, Chris, and I went to was Antonio Gaudi's masterpiece, The Sagrada Familia. The church that has been under construction since the latter part of the nineteenth century. The outside is a dark, dripping, gothic mass with spires, and bell towers all engraved with different scenes and images all to do with the life of Christ.

 The inside, however, is a beautiful spectacle of dancing light, colors, and textures.Windows, columns, spiral staircases, and statues all work together to form a beautiful scene that looks like it was made of clouds. Interestingly, it is easy to see the differences between time periods, artists and architects with in the church. The front has an older, more classical approach. While the back looks much more modern. It was easily, one of my favorite parts of Barcelona.

Next, we took a hike to the infamous Park Guell, another Gaudi masterpiece. This park was once a real estate venture, after it failed it was converted into a public park, free for all to admire.

The park has tons of beautiful mosaics and wondrous architecture. We went on the most perfect Spring day. But, naturally, there were tons of people.

One of the most famous landmarks of this remarkable park is the coolest mosaic iguana. Good luck trying to get a picture with it, you'll be waiting a long time.

The park would be the perfect place to take a book and find a nice quiet spot with the most beautiful little spots.

After that, we checked into our hostel, The Hipstel (a great hostel in a great location, if you're ever looking for one) and went to bed, we did get to the airport at about 3 am that morning, we deserved some sleep.

The next morning, we started off with Dunkin' Doughnuts! We needed too, it had been too long. There are none in Rome, no Starbucks either... what's with that?!'

Then we decided to make the most of the short amount of time we had and got on a hop-on-hop-off bus. We embraced the tourists and proudly sat, camera at the ready.

We decided to spend some time in the absolutely amazing Gothic Quarter of the city... and went to Starbucks.

We went to dinner with some friends that were also in Barcelona. Then we headed back to the hostel for some more shut eye.

The next day was quite rainy, so we decided to spend it in Casa Batllo, another Gaudi work. The casa was, literally, two blocks away from our hostel. I was so excited to see this house, I wanted to live there, totally my style.

 This ceiling made me think of Casper, it's supposed to be in the same theme as the rest of the house, the ocean. The stained glass in the front window looked like it was made of sea glass and was even more beautiful than what you see from the street, the colors change depending on which side you're looking at the window from because of the way the light changes.

One of my favorite parts of the Casa Batllo was the inside, almost like a courtyard. All of the light from the top skylight poured into the windows and filled the house with the most beautiful light.

The view from the roof is great, but the roof itself was so stunning, the mosaic tile work was stellar and made to look like the spine of some kind of scaled sea dragon. 

Before leaving, we made sure to sign the guest book, leaving our mark on the remarkable house.

Our last stop was to The Cathedral of Barcelona. The medieval, Gothic architecture and stained glass were really stunning.

We made our way to the airport to make our flight to LONDON! Look at those happy faces.

Benedict XVI

A feww weeks ago, as I prepared to start my homework, I read something that I couldn't believe. Pope Benedict XVII is stepping down. I didn't even know The Pope could resign. This is only  time in history that this has happened under these circumstances... CRAZY!

 When we arrived in Rome and saw St. Peter's Basilica and roof of the Sistine Chapel for the first time we all joked about a Papal Conclave. After joking, we all agreed not to talk about it anymore because that meant that we were hoping for his death. As some of my classmates put it, we get the best of both worlds. A new pope without the death of his predecessor.

Today, my friends and I were lucky enough to attend Pope Benedict XVI's last papal audience. We hurried to collect tickets from the Swiss Guard next to St. Peter's Basilica a few days ago, and today, we made our way to St. Peter's square prepared to see the Holy Father for the last time.

 

He arrived via the Pope mobile and gave the audience plenty of opportunities to see him, snap a picture, and wave.

We sat next to a group of German men and women who could not be more proud. The sea of people grew larger and larger, and you could feel the excitement, the sadness, the faith.This experience was once in a lifetime. As we all said farewell to a man we all grew to know and care for. We sang together, prayed together, cheered together, and listened his final address to the people of the Church.

I have felt like St. Peter with the Apostles in the boat on the Sea of Galilee: the Lord has given us many days of sunshine and gentle breeze, days in which the catch has been abundant; [then] there have been times when the seas were rough and the wind against us, as in the whole history of the church it has ever been - and the Lord seemed to sleep. Nevertheless, I always knew that the Lord is in the barque, that the barque of the church is not mine, not ours, but his - and he shall not let her sink. It is he, who steers her: to be sure, he does so also through men of his choosing, for he desired that it be so. This was and is a certainty that nothing can tarnish. It is for this reason, that today my heart is filled with gratitude to God, for never did he leave me or the church without his consolation, his light, his love... Yes, we are happy for the gift of faith: it is the most precious good, that no one can take from us! Let us thank God for this every day, with prayer and with a coherent Christian life. God loves us, but He also expects that we love him!

Dear friends! God guides his church, maintains her always, and especially in difficult times. Let us never lose this vision of faith, which is the only true vision of the way of the church and the world. In our heart, in the heart of each of you, let there be always the joyous certainty that the Lord is near, that he does not abandon us, that he is near to us and that he surrounds us with his love. Thank you!
 -- Pope Benedict XVI

Grazie, Benedetto.

I'm Practically Diane Lane : Tuscany

Tuscany: It's magical, beautiful, and the food is mighty fine.

Our trip to Tuscany was a mandatory school trip. Instead of rushing to get to the Termini train station at the crack of dawn, we were lucky enough to step out of our dorm onto a huge bus, worry free. It was great, still early, but easier to sleep. We slept a lot.

First stop on the tour was the city of Siena. Siena was stunning. It was the quintessential Tuscan city. There were hills, dusty brown buildings, and the most striking church I've seen in a while, a huge black and white striped building made to reflect the crest of Siena.

The next stop was my absolute favorite day in Italy! San Gimignano was the most beautiful Tuscan town, complete with medieval towers and walls. It was situated on a beautiful countryside with rolling hills sprinkled with farms and vineyards. To start our day, we went to mass at a smaller church. To our surprise, the mass was in English with about ten other people. Then we were free to go off on our own and enjoy this tiny treasure.

Naturally, we found gelato, it won several awards for being the best in the world. I got a scoop of cinnamon and a scoop of almond. It was absolutely amazing.

After our adventures in San Gimignano, we headed deeper into the hills. This time we were off to a castle near Florence. Castello del Trebbio is a beautiful vineyard where we got to learn about the castle's history as well as the process of making wine.

After wine and a delicious Tuscan meal, we were all ready to relax and make our way back to Siena for a good night's sleep.

Orvieto was the final place we went on our fantastic trip to Toscana. Orvieto is where the feast of Corpus Christi originated. The Cathedral is beautiful and extremely ornate. It houses a piece of fabric which is said to have the blood of Christ on it, the blood that poured from a piece of consecrated Host.

The town was also very scenic ans picturesque. The interesting thing about this city was it's location. It is high above the surrounding area, situated on a tall plateau. We were given much more time to explore the narrow, winding streets and take advantage of the shops all over the town center. By the time we got back on the bus it had begun to rain, signaling a good time to make our way back to Rome.

Top of the World

On this beautiful and relaxing weekend in Rome, two friends and I decided to take the hike to the top of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica. For someone who is SERIOUSLY afraid of heights, this wasn't a decision that I was super excited to make, but I did it and there is no better view of Rome, that's for sure. There were a few moments when we were climbing the tiniest little spiral staircases and the part of the walkway in the dome that tilts, that I seriously questioned why I was up there.

 

I am so happy that I went up there! It is truly one of the best experiences I've had in Rome, despite being so scared and being so exhausted when we got to the top!

Reggia di Caserta

This weekend, some friends and I decided to go to a little town close to Naples known as Caserta. Caserta is home to the Reggia di Caserta, a beautifu palace with sprawling gardens which is marketed as Italy's answer to France's Versailles.  We took the morning train from Rome, and anticipated a beautifully sunny day as we were told by weather.com... Weather.com lied.

We got to Caserta and found that not only had it been raining all day, but it probably wouldn't stop while we were there. Worst nightmare. So much for seeing the infamous gardens. We decided that we wouldn't let the weather win.

We walked inside and were immediately greeted by huge arched ceilings and beautiful architecture.

We decided that we wouldn't let the weather beat us, we were going to see the beautiful gardens, its fountains, its waterfall and the marble statues enhancing it... Not a good choice. As you can see it began to POUR when we got outside. Determined to get our money's worth, we trudged through the ankle high puddles and the TEN minute walk from the door of the palace to the beginning of the gardens.

 As soon as we got to the foot of the gardens we took some pictures and went inside where we knew it would be somewhat warm. When inside the palace, it is easy to see why they call it Italy's answer to Versailles. I felt like I was in France, not near Naples. The Architecture is not like anything else I have ever seen in Italy, other than its clearly Mediterranean orange-y color. It was beautiful and was perfectly suited as the dwelling place of the sister of Queen Marie Antoinette. My favorite part of the palace wasn't its gleaming, gilded ceilings,  or the beautiful paintings that adorned the walls. My favorite thing, or things, were the clocks that Marie Antoinette gave to her sister. They were golden birdcages with little birds inside, but the bottoms of the cages were clock faces. They were really pretty and signature Marie Antoinette decadence.

Even with the rain and the slight fever that followed, the trip was really interesting and an exercise in Italian Language and I am really glad I went.

A Little Homesick

It took a full month, but here we are. I am homesick, I want to snuggle with my dogs in my big bed while watching American TV. It seems ridiculous to say that I'm pining for something and somewhere familiar but unremarkable. I miss my family too, and they are pretty remarkable. I just round out that my littlest nephew is reading and I'm going to miss the other one's first reconciliation and first communion. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm doing what I've wanted to do since I was little, I'm fulfilling a goal that I set for myself, I just have to remember that this time in Europe is going to go by so fast and I'll be Rome-sick in America before I know it.

The Jersey Shore, that is.