A Turkey Thanksgiving

Today I had the most unconventional Thanksgiving of my life to date. It started with a trip to the Grand Bazaar in the morning, where we saw a number of over-priced Turkish goods and even more pushy salesmen. This afternoon we went on a boat cruise (number five of the semester) of the Bosporus, which is the straight running down the middle of Istanbul that divides Europe from Asia. This evening, we had a big "Thanksgiving" dinner of Turkish food at a nice restaurant. It certainly wasn't conventional in any way, but we did go around our tables listing things we're thankful for. After dinner a handful of us went out with our professors to see the "European District" of Istanbul, which is an upscale touristy area that blends a European-style city center feel with traditional Turkish shops and goods. Once we got back to the hotel, a few friends, the professors, and I ended the night with an old Thanksgiving episode of "The West Wing", a favorite TV show of ours, which provided a nice dose of both Thanksgiving and America.

With my friend Lauren on our boat cruise

A view of the Hagia Sophia from the Bosporus


About to eat a Turkish dinner on Thanksgiving

It was a wonderful day, even though it was so different. I'm very thankful for our Europe Semester community and our makeshift "Euro-family" celebration. Of course I miss my real family and have been thinking of the celebrating that's going on in California. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone at home! I'm thankful for you and am looking forward to seeing you in the next couple of weeks!

A Whirlwind Tour of the Ancient World: Rome, Athens, and Istanbul

After two weeks in Florence, we headed to Rome for five days. Seeing the Coliseum, various ruins, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and the Vatican were real highlights. We also attended mass at St. Peter's Basilica, and saw the Pope because it was a holiday!

The Pantheon

The Trevi Fountain

The Coliseum

St. Peter's Basilica

We got a whirlwind tour of Athens during our six hour layover. It was enough time to get a great tour of the Acropolis.

In front of the Parthenon

Yesterday we arrived in Istanbul. Today after class we took a tour of some of the major city sites, most notably the Hagia Sophia. It is a beautiful city, but definitely very different from the European cities we've seen so far. I'm looking forward to understanding Turkey's culture and sites better in the next two weeks.

The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul

Florence and then some

For the past two weeks we've been relatively stationary in Florence. We have class every weekday morning and afternoons are spent seeing museums and churches on our own. I've seen at least two museums or churches every day and still haven't even scratched the surface! Obvious highlights include Michelangelo's David, the Duomo and its famous bronze doors, and some of da Vinci's unfinished works. I've also especially been enjoying class. We're beginning to recap on all our major semester themes, and focusing on the big picture has reminded us how much we've seen and learned in the past few months.

Florence

Ponte Vecchio

The Arno River

We've also taken a few class day trips. Our first was to Siena, which is a beautiful medieval town that holds some of the earliest works of the Renaissance. Our other one was to Ravenna, where the church of San Vitale holds the famous Byzantine mosaics of Emperor Justinian and Queen Theodora.

Siena

Mosaic of Justinian in Ravenna

This weekend I took an overnight trip to Venice with four friends. It's probably the most beautiful city I've ever seen. Highlights included looking at the city's beautiful unique architecture, checking out all the blown glass Venice is known for, and seeing da Vinci's Vitruvian Man. More than anything, it was great to get away with just a few friends and feel independent enough to navigate the train system on our own.

Venice

On Wednesday we're moving on to Rome for five days, and from there we're headed to Istanbul, Turkey. I'm stunned that there are only three weeks left! It's flown by, and I'm not entirely sure I'm ready for it to be over!

Prague and Four-Day: A Novel

Last week we left Berlin and headed to Prague, Czech Republic. Prague was definitely among my favorite cities. It was absolutely beautiful, and every single building looked like a monument to art nouveua. Some of the highlights included exploring the Prague Castle, visiting the historic Jewish Quarter, and seeing the Alfonse Mucha museum, where I got enough art nouveau to satisfy me possibly for the rest of my life.

Prague

We stayed in Prague for three nights, and then on Saturday spent a long day on the bus driving through the Alps to Italy, via Austria. Saturday also happened to be Halloween, so most of us dressed up like other students on the trip. I dressed up as our TA, Kristin. That was pretty much the extent of the festivities.

The Alps

Me dressed up as Kristin, and the actual Kristin

We arrived in Italy around dinner time, and officially began our four-day weekend. The program does not provide plans or accommodations for four-day, and we were let loose to do whatever we wanted until Wednesday evening. I headed to Orvieto by train around midnight on Saturday night/Sunday morning. Orvieto is a medieval town in central Italy where I have a couple of friends studying for the semester. After an interesting all-night train ride involving irate train conductors, a lack of seats, and an extreme range of temperatures, I arrived in Orvieto at 8 on Sunday morning. I'm staying in a room above a restaurant right in the middle of town. On Sunday my friend Erika helped me get oriented and showed me the cathedral the town is known for. Yesterday I had the morning to myself while Erika was in class, so I explored on my own with my camera. In the afternoon Erika and I went on a tour of the "underground city"- Orvieto is situated above a huge complex of manmade caves, some of which date back to the Etruscans, 800 years before Christ. It was one of the most interesting tours I've ever been on. We spent the rest of the evening with our friend Danielle, a fellow Westmont student studying in Orvieto. Exchanging stories about our respective semesters abroad was really a highlight. This morning I climbed the town clock tower and got an incredible view of the town and surrounding countryside. This afternoon after a gelato break with Danielle, Erika showed me the inside of the cathedral. Interestingly, most of the town shuts down from about 2:00 to 4:00 every afternoon for "repozo", which seems to be an extended naptime. Having an enforced chance to do nothing has actually been a huge benefit this weekend, and thankfully most gelato stores stay open, which provides a very convenient excuse. What else is there to do, after all?

Orvieto

With Erika on the Steps of the Duomo

Tomorrow I'll be leaving Orvieto around noon and arriving in Florence around 3. The Europe Semester group is meeting up at dinner and then spending the evening in a semi-formal exchange of four-day stories. I'm looking forward to that a lot. After being surrounded by EuroSem students 24/7 for over two months, being away for just a few days has been surprisingly weird. But it's been extremely nice to have a break and see some other friends, and having a few days with Danielle and Erika has been absolutely wonderful.

Erika, thanks a million for helping me get to Orvieto and being such a wonderful host! Love you lots!