Home Sweet Riva San Vitale

It is finally time to end our first travel trip of the semester. It has been a busy two weeks and such a fantastic time. This next trip from Marseille to Riva San Vitale will be the longest so far with Google Maps giving a six hour estimate without any stops. So at just a quarter past 8am we were off.

After about two hours on the road we stopped at a monastery called Le Thoronet Abbey. Most of us were still tired and a bit groggy and had absolutely no idea where we were. Hans gave us two hours to explore the grounds. Construction dates back to 1176. It is a very uniform style of architecture and austere. It is clean in the sense there is nothing luxurious or superfluous present. It was interesting to see but probably could have done without the stop.
 

Interior of main church

We were on the road again shortly after noon. Even though it was a long drive it was the most beautiful drive that I have ever experienced. We drove along the coast in the South of France and then into the southwest of Italy. Most of the highway was elevated and went through many different tunnels. The mountains met the sea and created beautiful vistas all along the route. I was completely blown away many times along the way. We even passed by Monaco and saw it perched at the base of a mountain opening up to the sea. Following a couple stops for lunch and bathroom breaks and at the Italian-Swiss border we were finally in Riva San Vitale at about 8pm. Now was time to eat dinner, move in, and relax.

One of many picturesque views

After a restful night and not having to set an alarm clock and not having to be anywhere it was time to explore my new home. Following brunch and a quick trip to the ATM I was ready to set off. Everyone had already left so I wandered around on my own a bit. It was some type of holiday in Riva so there was a market set up along the main street right outside the Villa Maderni where I am living. It was interesting to walk down and see almost the whole town there. I went to Lake Lugano which is only about a five minute walk away. This area is so beautiful and I'm gonna love living here. Today, Monday February 1, Hans gave us the day off to get everything together so Tuesday we start studio and get into a routine. My blog posts will be a lot less frequent and I'll probably only post if something interesting comes up. Look for more updates in the future!

Villa Maderni

View out of the third floor window

Lake Lugano

First Foray in France

After a wonderful time in Spain it was time to go to France. Time to mark another country off my list. I have to say though, being in France at this time is near the equivalent of post-9/11 America. But we didn't hit any speed bumps heading into France, just a single file line and cursory check and we were off. We made it Marseille, France in the early evening around 4:15 or so. We got our rooms and were free to explore on our own until dinner at 8pm.

Monumental Staircase at Gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles rail station

We decided to wander around and check out the monumental staircase outside of the Gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles railway station which is right outside of our hotel. From there, a small group of five of us decided to see a few sights we wanted to view. The first such one was the Bibliothèque de l'Alcazar by architects Adrien Fainsilber and Didier Rogeon. It is a beautiful modern library (opened in 2004) that is in the space of an old theater dating back to 1857. It had a large open center atrium space with central skylights. The program was located around this space. It seemed to have pretty good circulation. It was a nice start to seeing architecture in France.

Bibliothèque de l'Alcazar interior

Following the library we made our way down to Vieux Port which is the old port of Marseille dating back to 600 BC. It is the main popular destination in Marseille. Even though it was night there was a lot to see. We just explored the area a bit before making our way back to the hotel for dinner and preparing ourselves for the day to come.

Ferris Wheel at Vieux Port

The next day, actually today at the time of this writing which is miracle in itself but I digress, we started with Cité Radieuse de Marseille by architect Le Corbusier. It is a housing complex design developed by Corbu. It is currently undergoing a restoration having originally been completed in 1952. We've learned about this building quite a bit in school. Upon seeing though, I wasn't greatly impressed. Le Corbusier's Five Points were clearly evident though. Also, there wasn't much we could see because it is mostly private residences. That changed when a group of four of us split off to explore and this nice woman asked us in Frenglish if we would like to see an apartment. We jumped at the opportunity. Seeing the apartment completely changed my attitude of the building. It was narrow but it was two stories and stretch the width of the building. Most of the unit was original too. It was a wonderful space and I am so grateful that she let four foreign strangers into her apartment for a tour. Merci beaucoup! 

Cité Radieuse de Marseille

Interior of one of the apartments

Once we finished that the housing complex, we made our way to Vieux Port for lunch and then made our way to the Villa Méditerranée by architect Stefano Boeri. It is an exhibition/conference/multipurpose building located on the waterfront. There are a lot of beautiful spaces on the interior with a giant cantilever punctuating the exterior. It was a beautiful building all around but seemed very empty. I'd say that the space, when not in use, is most likely misused. But in the end it is good architecture.

Villa Méditerranée

Following that building, we went to the see the CMA CGM Tower by architect Zaha Hadid. It is the tallest building in the city. It is a very interesting facade that curves as it goes up. We could not enter the building. And apparently we weren't allowed to be on the sidewalks outside the building either as our entire group was yelled at at least once. One security guard even had the nerve to tell us to take pictures in the street. It was infuriating really. I believe they were in the wrong. But it's whatever because we all got our pictures anyway.

CMA CGM Tower

After the fiasco we endured, we were on our own. A group of five of us trekked up to the top of the huge outcrop by the old port. It was harrowing bus ride up skinny side streets to get there. I was sure we were gonna crash into someone but somehow we didn't. At the top is Notre-Dame de la Garde which is a Roman Catholic basilica. The locals view it as the watchful protector of Marseille and refer to it as the Good Mother. It is a small but beautiful neo-Byzantine style church. 360 degree views are possible from the site with the major vistas being the Mediterranean Sea, Marseille, and the mountain range behind the city. It was an overcast day so we couldn't see the sun but the sunset produced some nice colors against the clouds. It was a wonderful end to the day and our first travels across Europe.

Notre-Dame de la Garde

Overlooking Marseille

Descending the hill was less treacherous but anxious all the same. We ate at a cheap but very delicious Middle Eastern restaurant and decided to call it a night. We leave tomorrow at 8am and it is finally time. This was our last real stop of this travel trip. We will be in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland at the Steger Center by this time tomorrow. We have a couple stops along the way to break up the six hour plus bus ride but other than that it is home free. It be nice to unwind, unpack, and relax. I've loved this travel so far but I am so looking forward to Riva at this point. Au revoir!

And that's all she wrote on Spain

Today is our last day in Barcelona it is a bittersweet moment. It is a great and beautiful city with much to offer but I am getting a little weary of being on the road so much would like time to be in one spot and unwind. We started off the day with a taxi ride to the Barcelona Pavilion by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. It is a building that we learn about every year in school and it is ingrained into our heads to the point that we can draw the plan in our sleep. It was actually a bit underwhelming in person though and I guess that’s why they tell you not to meet your hero buildings. We as we explored it more and I took like 500 photos, I began to appreciate it more and be less underwhelmed. It was a great experience to see this building that we had heard so much about and I’m thankful for that.

Barcelona Pavilion

Next, we trekked farther into the park, up a large hill, past the dominating presence of the Catalonia National Museum of Art to the Joan Miró Art Museum. It was good piece of architecture but the art sort of bored me. I’m pretty arted out at this point. The building was good and I can appreciate it but I didn’t like it all that much. It did some interesting things with light wells and light in general but that was pretty much it.

Roof at Joan Miró Art Museum

Hans let us free following the museum and we did our own things after lunch. A small group of three of us wanted to see the Olympic Park from the 1992 Barcelona Games. We trekked back up the mountain side to the top to find this old but really wonderful track and field/soccer stadium among the other buildings in the park. There were multiple water features and ample open space. It was all around a great use of space and nice area with beautiful views. After plenty of pictures, it was time to make our way back to the hotel to prepare for the evening’s main event.

Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys (Olympic Stadium)

After a walk down the hill, a short taxi ride, an endless search for a Lionel Messi jersey, and another walk we were back at the hotel. From there, we met up with the rest of our group and set off on the metro to Camp Nou, the home of FC Barcelona who was playing Athletic Club Bilbao in the second leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinals. I was so pumped for this game as it was my first professional soccer game that I attended. It was an intense match where Barçe didn’t show up until the second half when they were trailing 1-0. The real club showed up and put on a spectacle ultimately winning 3-1 and advancing to the semifinals. It was a lot of fun and a great way to take in the culture. It was a long, crowded metro ride back to the hotel but it was worth it. It was the perfect way to end my visit to Barcelona.

Camp Nou, home of FC Barcelona

Tomorrow we leave for Marseille which is in France. This will be my fifth new country that I’ll have visited. I know zero French so that is going to be a bit of a challenge. I do know that vino is the same in every language so it all should be fine. Stay posted! 

Just another day in España

Day two in Barcelona was primarily dedicated to the Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí. But before seeing all of what Gaudí had to offer we started smaller by navigating the narrow market streets. This is where we came to the Mercat de Santa Caterina which was a fish market. It was built on the site of an old monastery where the foundation is still visible. The construction of the market was thought provoking. There were curved roofs and curved columns that all played to together. And each façade was different where one was modern and another was an old style arching system. It was a good first stop and made me want to buy some fish.

Mercat de Santa Caterina

We wandered around some more before coming back to the Pablo Picasso museum. It was weird in the way that the front entry was in one of the narrow alleyways. It was readily apparent where the museum was. It provided some old century architecture and catacomb like elements on the bottom floor but overall I wasn’t impressed. Nothing really special stood out to me but it was interesting to learn a little about Picasso. But I was ready to move onto Gaudí’s buildings.

Courtyard at Picasso Museum

The first building we went to explore was the Casa Batlló. It was like it was out of some dream. Its façade and even most of the interior appearance was curved. It was so intricately designed and the details are so painstakingly defined. It was beautiful in its eccentricity. It was a crazy building but seems like it would’ve been nice to live in. Moves that Gaudí used were on display here and it worked elegantly.

Casa Batlló

The final stop on the Gaudí tour was his masterpiece. It is the building I most anticipated to see. It is the Basilica de la Sagrada Família. After walking through a park to get to the building, its sheer size was just enormous. It hit me all at once. It towers over everything. This building commenced construction in 1882. Gaudí, its architect, died in 1926. And it still isn’t even finished yet! They hope to have it finished in 2026 in time for the 100 year anniversary of Gaudí’s death but I’ll believe when I see it. You can really tell the older sections from the newer ones. The older ones are generally darker. Upon entry into the church, I was in awe. And that feeling never left until I was gone. It was probably the most beautiful building I have ever seen. From the stain glass windows to the high central nave to the giant columns, there was nothing there that wasn’t absolutely gorgeous. I was so happy to have seen this building and hope to return when it is completed.

Passion Façade of Sagrada Família

Interior of Sagrada Família

Following the Sagrada Família, we made our way back to the hotel and to dinner. It was a long day that required a restful night of sleep and relaxation. The next day promises to be just as busy and walking intensive. 

Just at Home in Barcelona

We have finally come to the major portion of our first trip, Barcelona. After a surprisingly pleasant and relatively short trip from Zaragoza we got to our hotel at about 11:45am. After getting our rooms settled and a talk from Hans about the dangers of pickpocketing that Barcelona has in store we had the full day to ourselves. A group of five of us went to lunch and ate down by the waterfront. It was gorgeous outside. The sun had come out and the temperature was in the mid-60s.

Barcelona waterfront

Without much of a set gameplan today and a lot guaranteed to be seen in the coming days, we decided to wander. We set our sites on the La Rambla which is a large outdoor pedestrian mall/street. It was interesting to see the locals and tourists all interacting in one destination. There were also many side streets that branched off from the main one. We circled around and walked up and down without really having a destination. It was nice to just go with the flow.

Side street off of La Rambla

Serendipitously, we came across some intriguing points of interest. The biggest one was the Palau de la Música Catalana which is a concert hall located near the main La Rambla street. It was such a beautiful building. It was very ornate inside and out with what looked like a modern addition onto it. We had missed guided tours by half an hour so just looked around.

Palau de la Música Catalana

We headed to a park following the Palau and some coffee. There was a triumphal arch called the Arc de Triomf. We decided that it was time to sit and sketch. After about 45 minutes and each of our sketches in various degrees of completeness it was time to go. We walked down the Passeig de Lluís Companys, a wide pedestrian promenade, on the way back to the hotel. It was a nice, little park with ample open space. We ended the night with dinner at a hotel restaurant about a 15 walk away. It was pretty good and nice way to end the first night in Barcelona.

Arc de Triomf

Tomorrow we go see some of Antoni Gaudí's buildings. We are also going to see my most anticipated building and I am super excited! It will be a lot of walking so bring it on. Look out for the next entry.

The New and the Desolate of Zaragoza

Day two of Zaragoza came in slowly. A heavy fog and cool temperatures around the low 40s hung in for most of the day. Originally we were promised 60 and sunny. It made it hard to see some of the things we wanted to see but we did our best. The first (and only Hans-led stop) of the day was to the site of the Expo 2008 on the far end of the city. I was initially excited to go see the Expo site but ended up being disappointed. While there was a lot to see and a lot of it was interesting, most of it was abandoned and empty.

Aragon Pavilion

What Expo 2008 had going for it though was that it now acts as a park of sorts. The entire Spanish population of rollerbladers must of been there. Besides a handful or less of shops that were open, the only building the remains open was the Aquarium. It was actually very depressing though to walk through everything. There were photos here and there from the Expo which showed the area at its height of activity and use. Compared to what it is like now creates a stark contrast. It is a cautionary tale of what happens when so many buildings for one purpose go up all at the same time with no concrete post-event life established. It is similar to post-Olympic Greece or post-World Cup Brazil. These buildings are left to rot and decay and be forgotten.

Now that I've gotten that rant out of the way let's move on to the buildings themselves. I can't say I really had a favorite since I never entered any of them but I have ones that stood out to me. The first one was the Bridge Pavilion by Zaha Hadid. It is, though clumsily done in some parts, a large undertaking that stands out in the Expo site. It dominates the landscape. The second building that intrigued me is the Spain Pavilion. The exterior is surrounded by these thin columns that appear to be wood but on closer examination are actually terracotta. I wish more was done to help this site live up to its potential.

Bridge Pavilion

Spain Pavilion

After returning to the hotel and being let loose on our own a small group of us went in search of lunch. We found a nice little tapas bar and ate there. It was very good and it was great to try a traditional Spanish dish. Next up, we went to the Aljafería Palace. It is an Islamic castle from the 11th century. Unfortunately, it was closed for the day by the time we got to it so we stayed and sketched some. We then made our way back to the hotel passing by the Plaza de Toros, a bullfighting ring, on the way. It too was closed but the exterior seemed like a mini Colosseum.

Spanish Tapas

Aljafería Palace

Plaza de Toros

 Today seemed like one of the shorter full days that we've had so far which is nice. I loved Zaragoza and it is one of my favorite cities that we've been to. It is so pedestrian friendly and the shops are so quaint and there is so much architecture to see. After we leave here though the next couple of days are going to be crazy. We leave for Barcelona in the morning and I am very excited.

¡Hola Zaragoza!

Zaragoza sure is beautiful! After finally arriving to the city that I hadn't heard of previously I was pleasantly surprised. What was supposed to be a two hour bus ride turned into a four plus hour debacle. Originally when we got on the bus in Madrid it was too small. Half of our luggage was loaded in the back of the bus which was actually illegal. We drove to the bus depot to change to a larger bus and we were on our way. The trip from Madrid to Zaragoza was a lot like traveling across the American Southwest or even West Texas specifically. We made it to the city at about 1 pm after leaving around 8 am. After a short lunch that consisted of hamburgers we met up with Hans.

The first stop of the day was the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar. It was a beautiful church that had much to offer in the way of architecture. We took approximately 90 minutes to roam and sketch before meeting as a group. We have the chance to go to mass the next day but I decided against it since I am neither Roman Catholic nor fluent in understanding Spanish. After that we went to another church which was next door. It was called the La Seo Cathedral. It too was immensely beautiful. It was huge but also small. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures of this church but hopefully some of my classmates did! This was the end of he instruction from Hans for the day so we left to our own devices.

Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar

Three of us decided to walk around a bit. We went to the Ebro River and the Puente de Piedra (Stone Bridge). The sun was setting and it cast beautiful light. We then started our way back to the hotel in a roundabout way. We stopped by the Teatro Romano completely by happenstance much to our delight. It was a cool sight to see. We continued onward to our hotel only stopping once for pastries before taking a break before dinner.

View from Puente de Piedra

Dinner was fantastic! We ate at the place next to/attached to our hotel and everything was setup upon our arrival including bottles of wine. The appetizer was a rice and chorizo dish followed by a haddock topped with pimento cheese cream sauce and couscous and ended with fruit for dessert. It was such a great dinner! I also sat at the table with Hans so I benefited when we ordered an extra bottle of wine! But seriously, it was fascinating to learn more about my professor and have a great conversation with him. It was a fun time!

Following dinner, I had grown tired of everyone calling it a night at like 9:30pm and me hanging out in my hotel room room alone (especially worse since it was Saturday) that I wanted to go out. I couldn't get anyone to go so I just went. We were around the corner from a large market/street/nightlife area so I just wandered. I stopped at this one place and went in. My waiter didn't speak English but I was so impressed with myself that I ordered what I wanted correctly. I got churros with chocolate and a glass of red wine. My Spanish teachers would be applauding me!

Yum yum yum!

It was a pretty fun evening and tomorrow seems to have more in store. Zaragoza Day Two and the first full day is upon us and it should be an interesting one. Stay tuned!