The Churches and Basilicas of Rome

When thinking of Rome, many folks think of a skyline packed with domes of churches and basilicas, and they would be right. Yesterday was the Feast of St. Peter and Paul, a Roman holiday that celebrates these two early Christian sains. Since most businesses were closed but churches were open, we went on a morning walking tour of a few of the "big name" places we had not yet been in town. I wanted to share some of them with you.

Called the "only gothic church in Rome" by my guidebook, the similarities between Santa Maria sopra Minerva and what we think of as gothic cathedrals stop at pointed arches. Minerva is really more of a typical basilica than anything. It has a cruciform plan shape with side aisles and side chapels, and smaller sized circular windows in the clearstory instead of a cathedral's massive light-admitting windows. It was still pretty cool. Minerva is one of two main types of early Catholic orders in Rome, Dominican.

The second place we went to was Il Gesu, a 16th century basilica who's construction was funded by Cardinal Farnese (a name you may recognize as a person who would become one of the most powerful Popes in all of history). Gesu is a Jesuit church, the second "main type" of early Catholic building in Rome. It is interesting in many ways, but what I found fascinating is that many of these early churches were NOT supposed to be adorned as lavishly as they currently are. Many were originally design very simply to reinforce the humbleness of the Catholic Church. They would eventually be guilded almost beyond belief 100 or 200 years later, becoming the highly decorated buildings we see today. Jeffrey called this building "Baroque at its best".

Next we visited Sant' Ignazio, a baroque church built in 1626. The most interesting thing abotu this church is that fact that when built, the church could not afford to build a large dome. Instead, they hired Andrea Pozzo, a painter who was known for his perspective work, to paint what would look like a dome at the crossing of the nave and main cross axis. As you enter the church, it looks as though there is a vaulted space at this intersection. As you start to move into the basilica, you start to notice a perspective shift. As you stand directly under the "dome", this is what you see. Not a dome at all, but a cleverly asymmetrical painting that, from the entry, makes it look as though there is a dome. Very, very cool.

We went to a few more but the last one I'm going to let you know about was Sant'Agostino, another 15th century basilica. We spent a lot of time yesterday talking about the famous artist Caravaggio and Sant'Agostino has one of his more famous paintings, the Madonna di Loreto. Caravaggio was an extremely troubled man, suffering from major depression through his entire life. He eventually committed suicide by running a sword through his gut, but lived long enough to dictate to someone the entire event. His use of extreme light/dark contrast is extremely emotional and really, really creepy. Secretly, I kind of like it ;-)
PS Carin made it here yesterday SAFE AND SOUND! WOO HOO!

A Day of Work

Today turned out to be a fairly uneventful day in terms of site seeing. Ron and I got into the studio around 8am this morning and worked until 1pm, when we had a meeting with our professor to show the work we had done in terms of site documentation so far. I took a little nap from about 2-3:30pm and then Ron and I went out and did site measurements for about 2 1/2 hours. The heat was intense, but at this point I have gotten used to be always wet here in Rome...kinda gross, I know. Here is some info on the location of the site:

Here, you see Italia and Roma in large scale. My site, as I said, is on the Trastevere side of things (that's the left hand side of the river you see in the second picture here). From top to bottom in the second picture you see a few bends in the river. Count 1, 2, and just below the 3rd bend is the area where this satellite photo is taken.


It was pretty challenging measuring the site because it has an extremely irregular shape. Basically we found a curb we considered to be mostly a straight line and measure 8m off of that (we are doing everything in metric while we are in Europe...a new skill to learn). Then we pinned some fishing line into the asphalt (for future reference, regular push-pins go into asphalt quite nicely) and started measuring all of our funky angles off of that. It was hot and difficult, but we kept the mood light and in general had some fun taking pictures of one another as "scale figures" next to buildings to help us determine exisiting heights.

Tomorrow morning we are going on another tour with Jeffrey to a bunch of churches in the area that we have no yet seen. I get to finally see the only gothic church in all of Roma, Santa Maria sopra Minerva.

[As a side note, if something is in Bold that means there is a link to either their website or a Wikipedia entry I think is particularly interesting. i.e. the Santa Maria sopra Minerva above.]

It's located right next to the Pantheon, which I have tried to visit at least every couple of days. Its just so big and so famous and so amazing I can't keep myself away. This church is probably the one I've looked forward to seeing the most, after Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel and, of course, St. Peter's itself (which I have not yet seen, even though I've seen the Vatican museums...but I'll get there!).

I'm really stoked about tomorrow...I finally get to see my lovely wife after a couple of weeks of absence. She should make it to the Rome Center around 4pm or 4:30pm. Hopefully there will not be any delayed trains or mishaps, because we really don't have a way to contact each other. Its funny how we get sort of "addicted" to the cell phone life where everyone is always available (or, at least, their voicemail is available). It has been nice to have a room to myself in the apartment but there has definitely been something missing in my life, and she's on her way. Safe travels...

The Most Miserable and Most Rewarding Day to Date

Today I did something I've wanted to do for a long, long time. I visited the Vatican museums, perhaps the world's best collection of art from antiquity. I saw with my own eyes the Sistine Chapel, paintings by Raphael, Michaelangelo and a host of other important names, and scupture dating back as far as 50BC (maybe before). If I haven't mentioned it yet, all of my big "site seeing" tours have been guided by a man hired by my professor named Jeffrey. Jeffrey is an American who has lived in Rome for the last 28 years, and he makes his living giving tours to various groups who pay him. His knowledge of the history of the city is VAST and there seems no question he cannot answer.

The bad news from today was that we waited in the hot sun for 2 1/2 hours to get into the museums. As Jeffrey said, he has been here almost 30 years and has "never seen a line that long" before. It was miserable, I used up all my water way too early, we were late for our special "behind the scenes" tours (which turned out to be amazing...they accomodated our lateness) and at one point I thought I was going to pass out. The best bottle of water I've ever had in my life was had today when we finally exited the Sistine Chapel and went to the cafeteria to fuel up. All that being said, if I had it to do again, I would definitely do it (but I would bring WAY more water and sunscreen).

Of course, I took a hundred or so photos while in the museums and there is no way for me to share all of those with you here, so I'll pick out a few highlights. This photo was taken at our first "behind the scenes" special tour we got with Jeffrey as our guide. This is a spiral ramp designed by Bramante, a very famous architect/sculptor from the late 15th century. This "stair" as they call it (though it really is a ramp) was commissioned by the Pope as a sort of special entrance to the building to which it is attached. It was meant to be traversed on horseback, a fact that is accentuated by the fact that the ramp is very steep and a little difficult to just walk up and down. Nevertheless, once to the top you are rewarded with amazing views of the city and close-up views of part of the medieval crenelations in parts of Vatican City.

Another "behind the scenes" look we got was in this special hall of busts and heads - sculptures of all of the emperors of Rome prior to the Vatican's taking of the reigns of government (Rome has only been a unified, non-religious state since 1870). Here, we see heads of every emperor of Rome and, curiousely, after Marcus Arelius they start wearing beards. Someone asked Jeffrey about this and he said it must have be simply a fashion decision...he had no other knowledge of why that was true. He's got a bit of a sense of humor. Its nice.

The last photo I want to share is by Raphael, and extremely influential late 15th/early 16th century painter who tragically died at only 37 years of age. Like many celebrated painters from his time period, Raphael was at one time the Vatican architect, though many of his works have subsequently been demolished. There are a series of rooms in the Vatican called the "Raphael Rooms" with which I've been fascinated. This is a very large painting of his that I got to see today called the Transfiguration. You should click on the link here to find out more about the painting. Its much larger than I expected it to be, perhaps as much as 8 feet wide and 14 feet high. I don't know, I just really like it. I'm not sure why, but his style is so smooth and soft I find this particular piece really nice to look at. I'm so happy I finally got to see it in person.

The First Non-Visiting Somthing Cool Day

So today was, as my title indicates, the first day we actually didn't do "vacationey" stuff and just did work. How boring! We re-visited all 3 sites for our project we have to choose from and took a lot of notes, trying to make a decision as to which one we would pick. After visiting them, we came back to the studio and did some exercises to try and figure out who our partner for the project was going to be. For some reason, only 2 of us were interested in one particular site, on the "other" side of the river in Trastevere.

Historically, Trastevere was the Eutruscan side of the river. The Romans would eventually conquer them so that they could have control of both sides of the Tiber. The city wall was extended to both sides of the river, making the Tiber no longer flow on the edge of the city but right through the middle.

My partner's name is Ron and he's pretty young (I'm his senior by 11 years) but he can draw pretty well and he is definitely a hard worker. He's really easy to get along with so I think we'll have a good next several weeks working together. Here are just a few pics of what the site looks like today:


This is a view from the "outside" of the site. The site is the big empty space behind all the scooters, next to that big brown wall. You can see some of the partial buttressing walls on the left of the photo right above the white umbrellas.


This is a vew "inside" the wall. It looks like it used to be some sort of garden or something. Just to the right of the exact center of this photo you can see a small white circle. That looks like one of those scales for weighing meat or vegetables or something. I'm not sure what used to happen inside this wall, but that's what we're here to investigate!

Sunday: A Day at the Beach

Today I took my first trip to the coast of Italy and it was unbelievable. 90% of us caught a train this morning to Anzio, a small town that originally grew up on the fishing industry along Italy's west coast. The train ride took about an hour going there (though it took almost 1:45 coming back!) and the train only cost €2.90!

This is a view of the port where all the boats park. Anzio also has a huge beach (of course) where I spent a little time, but I spent most of my time in the shade walking through charming little streets who's architecture reminds me of southern California a little bit, or pictures I've seen of coastal Spanish architecture. The beach was packed with people, many of whom look like they spend plenty of time in the sun!










There's a cute little lighthouse on the beach you can see in the 2nd picture above. Also, perhaps more importantly, there is actually something of historical significance in the same picture. All along the beach here you can see remnants of the Nero's Villa, an ancient summer getaway for the last Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Its in amazing condition considering its 2000 year age. Everything here is so old!

My First Lazy Saturday

Its hot outside and its siesta time, so I doubt there's going to be too much I have to say today. But we did go one great place today.

This morning we got together as a class and we went to the Musei Capitolini Centrale Montemartini. (If you click on this it will take you to the Google translation of the Museum's webpage). It is in an old industrial space they have converted into a museum gallery space. It was originally the first public electricity plant in Rome, named after Giovanni Montemartini. Now it is the second exhibition centure of the Musei Capitolini, and contains an outstanding collection of classical sculpture from the excavations carred out in Rome at the turn of the 19th century.


The greatest thing about the museum is that the industrial machinery left behind forms a striking backdrop for the classical sculpture. Rather than have a white painted wall or even a fresco behind a piece of sculpture, here the freshly painted metal, gears and springs somehow make the marble of the sculptures appear much softer and organic. Clarity through Contrast. I love it.


...I think I'm going to go to sleep now. It is siesta after all. See you 2morrow.

A Quick Rundown of Some Recent Adventures

We have been seeing so many things in the last 5 days I've been here its been really incredible. Today I thought I would keep it simple and show you 3 of my favorite sites (other than the Pantheon) I've seen in the last 72 hours.

One might think this was an actual building, right? Well, not really. Actually the Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II was designed in 1895 by Giuseppe Sacconi to honor the first king of Italy. The program for the building was for a quote "equestrial statue with suitable backdrop". Sacconi took this to the extreme and created one of the largest equestrian statues in the world (his mustache is 3 meters long or about 10 feet) and a mammoth "building as backdrop" that required demolishing an entire medieval neighborhood to be built. Wow.

This is a picture of the Piazza del Campidoglio on the Capitoline Hill, the seat of Rome's local government. This piazza and surrounding buildings were redesigned by Michaelangelo in the mid-1500's. It is seen as one of the most beautiful piazzas in all of Rome with its world famous paving pattern and surrounding well-stocked museums. You can find other great pictures on wikipedia here...but the one above was taken by me. That makes it just a little more special ;-).


This is Santa Sabina all'Aventino, the first Dominican Basilica in Rome, dating from about the 5th century. Its a beautiful church, who's simplicity is uncharacteristic of most basilicas I've seen so far in Rome. The entrance to the main space still has the original 5th century hand carved wood doors...wood doors that have lasted more than 1500 years! It has a wonderfully simply painting in the main apse. I just really love how this church has not been over adorned or painted...it has a quiet power to it.













In conclusion, from the top of one of the 7 hills of Rome where this church is located, I took this panoramic view of the city (stitched together in Photoshop with the Photomerge command). The picture doesn't do the view justice...it was breathtaking.

So Much To Say (So Little Time)

Wow it has been an amazing couple of days. So far in the last 3 days I have seen the Jewish Ghetto, the Pantheon, Piazza Farnese, Piazza Navona, Piazza del Campidoglio, Palazzo Spada, Palazzo Farnese, Musei Capitolini, the Roman Forum and a host of other palazzos, piazzas and just downright cool stuff. It has truly been unbelievable, and I'm only really 4 days into my trip. I'd have to say amoung the highlights (and there are many) was being in the Pantheon at 1pm on the summer soltice.














The Pantheon was unlike anything I've ever experienced before. I guess I could say I have waiting my entire architectural career to see this buidling, and it did not disappoint. The stonework in general was amazing, the architectural detail was stunning and the occulus (the big hole in the ceiling) was a lot bigger than I thought it was. Its funny how you study something for years and years and then when you finally see it, it is both familiar and completely fresh and new. The Pantheon is the best preserved example of architecture from Roman antiquity and, while it has changed greatly over the millenia (how many buildings can you say THAT about?) it is somehow as relavent today as it ever has been.

Though I've seen a lot, here are just a few more pix of the Pantheon...some of my favorites.

One more thing...today, Italia played the Czech Republic in the World Cup. The entire Campo de Fiori was PACKED with people at the different bars and local establishments watching football (soccer). The best thing is every time Italia scored a goal the entire Campo absolutely erupted with cheering, horns and screaming. I have never experienced another sporting event first hand that was as intense and amazing as this.

At any rate, tomorrow I will fill you in on some more of the sites I've been able to see over the last couple of days.

CIAO!

Feeling HOT, HOT, HOT!

I'm realizing one of the most important things I'm going to have to do this summer is learn to stay in the shade and drink more water than I've every drunk before. My mom will know what kind of statement that is...let's just say I tend to be a "heavy drinker" of the clear stuff anyway. Though the temperature is quote "not that bad", it has been close to 30 degrees celcius on average (that's about 85) and humid like you wouldn't believe. I am (excuse me, this is kind of gross) sweating like crazy all the time, except when I go to bed at night. Thankfully a good breeze comes through my window every evening and I also recently was given a fan by the owner of the apartment in which I'm living. It helps a lot.

As many of you have been wondering about it, I thought I would take this opportunity to give you a quick tour of my apartment. Like most indoor spaces its a bit difficult to photograph, but in general the size feels quite generous, even with (eventually) 9 people living there.





















The living/dining area is featured in this series of photos. You enter the front door and walk down a small hallway into the main living/dining area (you can see the entry hall sort of in the middle of the 4th picture) . We have 2 small futon couches, a small tv and stand (which I can't figure out how to operate), a large dining table with adjacent shelf for dishes and other kitchen wares, 2 small refridgerators and a full kitchen. The ceilings are about 15 feet high (maybe higher) and the entire floor is covered with a red tile. It all feels very Mediterranean.

My bedroom is small but comfortable, with 2 single beds and a loft with a 3rd bed, a sort of closet with some shelves for storage, a small desk and an adjacent bathroom complete with the smallest shower I have ever used (yes, it is smaller than the one I used in the Yellow Hostle). The shower is also kind of funky in that you enter on the corner and there are 2 small doors that meet and seal with a magnetic strip and rubber seal. I am discovering that in Rome, in general a lot of stuff can be crammed into a very small space when needed. The landlord has been asked to remove the ladder up to the loft while Carin and I are in the bedroom so we can push the two single beds together...with the ladder the configuration is impossible. If he doesn't come and do it I may have to do a little remodelling myself ;-).

The other 2 bedrooms in the apartment have 4 beds each and each room has access to their own bathroom. None of us spend much time in the apartment except to sleep, both at the end of the day and in the early afternoon for "siesta". Here, Italians work from 9am-1pm, then take about 3 hours off for siesta, then work again from 4pm-7pm. Its a good system, especially in this weather. An afternoon nap does wonder to recharge you for another several hours of hoofing around in the hot sun.

Yesterday we did a tour of the Jewish Ghetto of Rome, and today I did my first guided walking tour of the city. I'll write more about that tomorrow as I'm writing this during my siesta time and I sure could use a little breather. We're doing more walking around this afternoon, visiting the 3rd of 3 potential sites for our studio project, a "Museum of Memory". I'm learning more and more every day about what will be expected for the project and I'll tell you all more about it when I have a very clear understanding of what we plan to accomplish.

I'll see you tomorrow!

Mission Phase 1 Complete

Greetings all from Rome! I almost can't believe it but somehow I made it here in one piece, my luggage did not get lost, I found my hostel on the first night, and now I am completely moved into my apartment on the Campo de Fiori. What a wild ride. I thought I'd take just a moment to give you the brief run-down on how things went.

My first flight was to Vancouver, B.C. It was delayed a little over an hour, but I eventually got on a prop-jet "puddle jumper" for a 58 minute smooth flight. Nothing too exciting. It was nice to see the Vancouver airport again, having seen it briefly when Carin and I went on that Alaskan cruise a couple of years ago.

My second flight was -- hold your breath (I know I did) -- 9 hours and 45 minutes long from Vancouver, B.C. to London's Heathrowe airport. The wildest thing about that (other than the length) is that we took a northern route that took us over upper Canada, the Hudson Bay, Greenland and the North Atlantic. Translate: the sun never really went down. I could always see light out the window and since we were travelling toward the next day, I landed in London 17 hours after I took off. Excitingly, I was served 2 meals on the plane as well. You just can't get that kind of service from an American airline (I flew Air Canada).

London was pretty interesting. At least I can say I've been to the airport. I unfortunatley had a 5 hour layover there and to make matters worse, my luggage was not transferred to my next flight because I changed carriers (I flew British Air to Rome). That meant I had to go through customs (which was a breeze), pick up my luggage, exit back to the checkin area, check in and re-check my luggage. To boot, British Air does not let you check your luggage until 2 1/2 hours before your flight, so I had to hang outside security for 2 hours waiting until I could check my luggage. I just went outside and enjoyed some fresh air and gray London sky.

The best part of waiting in Heathrow was the people:

If you can't tell, that's everyone in the airport staring at whatever television they could find watching Australia play Brazil in the World Cup. Talk about your phenomena that people in the U.S. barely participate in. You can see the TV on the left side of this pic, a player from Brazil sporting his canary yellow shirt. I like the guy to the left of the TV scratching his head. I'm not sure if he's looking at the game or at the board trying to figure out where his flight is going.

The other cool thing about London's airport is that the gate assignments for the flights are very organic. You don't know until 40 minutes until your flight which gate you are supposed to be at. That means there are these huge lounges throughout the airport (seen above) in which people wait until they actually go to their gate, where they only wait 15 minutes or so before boarding. I thought it was cool.

Finally, my plane came and I had a smooth 2 hour flight to Rome. Since I landed in the dark I didn't get to really see much. After picking up my baggage (all the while panicking it was going to get lost) I quickly caught a train to the city center and walked to my hostle. My room was a 4 bedroom with 1 guy from New Zealand and 2 women from Chicago in it. You won't see many co-ed hostles in the U.S. that's for sure. The room had a tiny bathroom and the smallest shower I've ever used in my life...literally about 30" square. It was so tight I had problems putting my hands above my head to wash my hair. Not for the clausterphobics in the family, that's for sure.

Today I caught a city bus (only €1!!) from the hostle to the Campo and FINALLY found the school, picked up my keys and walked up 3 very tall floors to move into my apartment. What a relief. I spent the next 45 minutes or so unpacking and making the room "mine" (eventually to become "ours" when Carin gets there) and relaxing.

So to review, I took a car, 3 planes, a train, a bus and a lot of walking to get here. It was a great trip though and I'm really excited to be here. I've already walked up to the Piazza Navona (just a few blocks away). Its amazing to finally see some of the places I've studied about for so long now. Tonight many of us are meeting for dinner. In the morning we'll all go through a brief "orientation" and we'll start getting to work. WOO HOO! Thanks for reading all the way to the end of this post...its been a busy couple of days for sure! Much, much more to come...

Why is Tomorrow So Far Away?

That's right tomorrow is the day. Today I did the last of my shopping for Italy (over $100 worth of art supplies, a couple power convertors and yet another book) and I'm starting the packing process. I've tried to be as organized about this as possible...I don't know, though. I've never left home for 2 months before (the previous record being a little over a month when Carin and I drove cross-country to Portland). There's a lot of extra stuff you have to think about when you know you can't just go to the 24 hour pharmacy any time you want to pick up extra contact solution or some baggies. You never know what you're going to need.

That comes to the more personal side of it, I think. I've always been a "fly by the seat of your pants" kind of guy, knowing that resources, directions or whatever I needed was just a few steps away (the middle of the Arizona desert was a little taste of being "far from familiar", but not like Italy). I therefore have not always been the best planner, knowing that whatever I forgot would be available to me. Now its not like I'm going to a 3rd world country or something here, but there is something to be said about the extra work that goes into leaving home for 2 months as opposed to a couple of weeks. But I ramble...

Anyway tomorrow is the big day...I depart from Portland at 4:40pm PST. I don't land in Rome until 9:45pm on Sunday with time changes and everything.
For those of you who have been wondering here's a little "world time zone" image I stole from the internet. According to the map, Rome is 9 hour ahead of the West Coast, making it only 7 hour different from the Midwest (sorry Mom, but this time I'm sure)! And there you have it.

Talk to you tomorrow.

4 Days and Counting

Time is getting really close here. I've taken care of the bulk of the preparatory stuff I had to do prior to departure: health insurance, putting newspapers, gym memberships and the mail on hold, getting Euros, etc. Right now I'm trying to figure out how I'm getting from the airport to the place I'll be staying on the first night: the Yellow Hostel.


I found this place online. Its not too far from where I'll eventually be staying (ie I could probably walk it if I really had to). Since I am unable to get into our apartment until Monday and I arrive Sunday night, I figured it was best if I didn't spend my first night in Europe on a park bench somewhere. This place got really good reviews and seems like a nice spot to get some Z's and some breakfast in the morning.

[HERE] are some of the reviews I read about the place in case you are interested. CIAO!

The Summer...In a Nutshell

Ok so you may be wondering "what the heck" is actually going on for Carin and I this summer. So, in a nutshell, here it is. I leave Saturday June 17th and head through Vancouver, B.C. and London on my way to Rome. I stay in Rome 6 weeks with my architecture program, at which time the entire class heads to Istanbul, Turkey for 2 weeks. Carin leaves Wenesday June 28th and catches up with me in Rome/Isanbul at that time. After the program is over, we spend 5 days together in Barcelona, Spain.

In Rome, I am working at the Palazzo Pio through the [University of Washingon - Rome Center], and we are staying in a 9 person, 3 bedroom apartment just a couple buildings down from the school (Carin and I are in one bedroom, 4 grad women are in one bedroom, and 3 undergrad woman are in one bedroom). Both places are located on the Campo de Fiori, a public piazza located directly south of the Piazza Navona right in the heart of Rome. If you have Google Earth, click here to add [UW-Rome Center] to your "My Places". You can always ditch it later if you change your mind. Click here if you want [just a map] of the area.

Went shopping yesterday for a "European Wardrobe"...a few new shirts and shorts to get me by when its hot and sticky outside. There is no air conditioning in either the studio or the apartment...its all natural ventilation. Here's to a great Mediterrnean climate. Hopefully us flabby Americans will be able to adjust relatively quickly to living without A.C.

7 Days?

Could it be but one week until I leave? Today we are having a BBQ at the house for some friends of ours...mostly the couples. We had an "end of the school year" BBQ Wednesday night for my friends from school that turned out to be a real success. Lots of "thank-you's" and "that was cool's" from people. That made us feel good.


Here is the newest in the long lineage of Erik's computers. Nicknamed "Neo", this Dell Inspiron E1705 was specially budgeted for this summer to 'replace' the laptop I unfortunately had in my backpack when I crashed my bike. It works, but only off batteries...no 'plugging in' to recharge unless into the docking station (which is NOT going to Europe with us).

Just another lazy Saturday...

Weapon of Choice

After much deliberation here you have it...the Eddie Bauer Mt. Baker Large Size Duffle, complete with shoulder straps, wheels and a funky handle that's fun to use. Sorry for the cheese...I'm trying to get into showbiz. But seriously, this baby seems like its going to be a great size and shape for the Great Adventure. Way to go Target!

We'll see how this bag works out. Purchased in the last week or so, it will be my weapon of choice for the European Excursion. And it was only a hundred bucks...what a deal! Eight days and couting...

Soul of a New Blog

Its up. Its running. This is really going to happen. T-minus 9 days until I head to the other side of the Prime Meridian and begin a 2 month adventure that is going to take me all over the place. The quickest way for me to share what I'm about to partake in is to provide access to my "draft" schedule the instructor's provided. You can download it here [draft schedule].

I hope you enjoy this blog as much as I'm going to! I look forward to attempting to post every day I'm in Europe, and I'll always try and include as many photos as possible. Thanks for stopping by. Don't forget about me and I won't forget about you.