Sunday, August 8, 2010

Summer Travels

Normally for me summer is laying by the pool with a book, hanging out with friends and family, and preparing for my next year in the classroom. This summer was a little different. I basically travelled around the world. In the beginning of the summer I took some courses for professional development in London. We had a brief stop in Beijing to check off some touristy stuff before heading to London. After London it was on to the land of gelato, Italy. Stops in Florence, Venice, and Rome proved to me why I love all my Italian friends (food, love for life, and pride). Next up I took a quick trip home to South Carolina to get filled up on love before heading back to China for another year. My time at home was very relaxing and filled with friends and family.


The Forbidden City

My courses in London were amazing. I did a program through TTC and it was amazing. I realized I was totally in the right profession because I was a geek and loved both courses and networking with teachers from around the world. Internationally teachers are different. They have passion and dedication to the learning. Innovative ideas and changes to old practices were pushed and it made me that much more passionate about teaching.







In London we had class everyday from 8-5 so we didn't really get to do much gallivanting around town. The first day we did some touring. We hopped on the tube and went all around town. I have to say the thing I loved most about London were the accents. It was also way more diverse than I was thinking, but then again that could have been that I had been seeing mostly all Asians for a year.



London Eye in the Background


Big Ben and Me


Guards at Buckingham Palace

From London we were off to Italy. We arrived in Rome. We were in London just long enough to get used to hearing English. It i amazing how not knowing the language I quickly reverted back to body language to get by in Italy. We took the train to Florence and were there for 2 days. We saw the Duoma and much more, but decided not to wait over 5 hours to see the David. It was a wise decision...this way we had time to climb to the top of the Duoma (967 stairs in a tight spiral) and eat lots of gelato. We also did some shopping at the street vendors. The first night Jess and I went to this amazing dinner at La Escalareta, a restaurant that overlooks all of Florence. We got there right as the sun was setting and it was so beautiful. The food was amazing, I loved the platters of cheese and meat. Coming back from dinner we walked around the town and fell in love with the Florence culture.


Bird's Eye View from the Duoma


Nutella Gelato...I'm in Heaven!


Breathtaking


The Top of the World

After Florence we were off to Venice. We took another train and arrived to a hot city of Venice. It was cool to ride through to city on a boat, but crowded and hot. We stayed at a place right near St. Pedro's square and it was great. The restaurant at the hotel had amazing lasagna. The streets of Venice were hot, but we quickly adjusted to planning our walking in alleyways with the ever important shade. We spent three days roaming around and checking out the people, places, and history. We went to a fun wine bar and had great food and wine there. We learned that when a restaurant advertises AC, it isn't always the case. AC can mean giving you thick menus that you can fan yourself with. Of course Jess and I had to go on a gondola ride. It was nice, but expensive. Our gondola had been doing it his whole life, and learned from his father who learned from his father. I asked if he was going to teach his son and he said, "No, I have a daughter." I didn't realize women couldn't do that, but when I looked around I never did see a woman in the famous black and white striped shirts.

Carnival Masks


Canals of Venice



Being Silly at Dinner


Really Cool Architecture


Pizza anyone?

Rome was the last stop. The history was amazing. I couldn't believe how well all the ancient buildings stayed intact. We saw everything we wanted to see, but paced ourselves. We covered the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Stairs, Coliseum, Vatican City, other random churches, and much more. Of course there was an ungodly amount of gelato consumed as well. The line for the Vatican city was rediculous. Fortunately our hotel had tickets, so we didn't have to wait in the line. I did however have to wear jeans and running shoes to get in. I looked oober touristy, but it was a small price to pay in order to see the Sistine ChapelSistine Chapel, the amazing Basilica, and more historic pieces at the Vatican museum. It was breathtaking to crick my neck up while listening to the story of Michelangelo painting the ceiling. It looked so real and lifelike. I loved the fact that the reason all these paintings were done was to bring God closer to the "lower" people that couldn't read or write. Pictures portray a lot, they aren't just for little kids. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the Sistine Chapel or Basilica because I followed the rules that were posted everywhere saying NO PHOTOGRAPHS...I'm just saying.


Basilica


A Bridge I Liked


Churches Galore


Inside Vatican City


Fresh COLD Water


Vatican Museum Stairway


Trevi Fountain



Columns was a Major Theme


Great Sculptures


Vespas


Pantheon

We spent one day going to the Coliseum and ancient ruins. We started out at the area next to the Coliseum (I am blanking on the name). We walked the path the people back in the day would have used to get to the city. It was neat to think of who else had their feet on the same path I was taking. The architecture in Italy is amazing. So many churches with such detail, but what impresses me the most is how good they still look. After thousands of years, you can still see what they are. We made our way to the Coliseum and it was HUGE. For some reason I thought that it would be open in the middle, I guess I saw Gladiator one too many times. After reading about it, they built it up in the middle for one of the leaders families. I did learn one interesting thing about the fighting, I thought it was only for gladiators but apparently not. At least one emperor ordered his guards to toss unsuspecting spectators into the arena, for various reasons. The victim may have previously angered the emperor. Or, the victim may have been a complete stranger but the emperor disliked the way he was behaving in the Coliseum of Rome. Sometimes the emperor's motive was simply to amuse himself by randomly selecting a spectator to meet his death in the arena. It's crazy to me how they were so ahead of their time with all the architecture and art, but how barbaric they were.


The Coliseum


Ancient Ruins

No comments: