Hi everyone,
In case you're still looking here for info from me, I created a NEW blog called "Visual Tidbits for the Culturally Curious." In this blog, I talk about why visual culture is important and talk about at least one piece of art/cinema per week. It's really cool in case you want to learn a little about a lot, and it's a great chance for me to research and learn a lot about an industry that I love.
You can find the new blog here!
www.maryckhayes.wordpress.com
Enjoy!
Mary
Monday, February 15, 2010
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
The end of my travels...
Hello all,
Well, I have reached the end of my study abroad experience. It has been quite a run, and I've met fantastic people and seen some incredible things. I leave for home this Friday, December 19, and while I'll miss Barcelona a lot, I think I'm ready to go home and see my family and friends, and get back to normal life at school in California.
Here are a few more pictures of Barcelona that I've taken over the semester.
Inside Gaudi's Casa Batllo (amazing house! google it.)
More Casa Batllo
On the roof of Casa Batllo
Roof of Casa Batllo
My favorite thing in all of Barcelona: the lamp posts
You see these everywhere! If you're a citizen, you can pay 30 euro a year and use these bikes all over the city! Quite the deal.
Fountain in Ciutadella Park...some of the only green in all of Barca.
Gates to Ciutadella Park
Famous Gaudi Park
Inside Parc Guell (this is where America's Next Top Model was filmed at some point, in case you're a fan!)
More Parc Guell
Currently the background picture on my computer; cermaic/mosaic in Parc Guell (this type of art is everywhere in Barcelona, and I am newly obsessed with it)
Ceiling of some of the architecture in Parc Guell
Parc Guell
Mi calle! (My street!)
The front door to my apartment building. 29 Avinguda Sarria
Elizabeth, my best friend here, and I went to an FC Barcelona game. SO much fun and such an awesome cultural experience. Soccer/Futbol here is a completely different world than it is in the states!
My friend Jessica and I on the way to Tibidabo (<--a church and theme park on the top of a mountain...you'll see in the pictures to come)
On the funicular/tram up to the top of Tibidabo
Beautiful church on the top of Tibidabo
Theme Park/Ferris Wheel at the top of Tibidabo
Beautiful view
Stranded at the top of the ferris wheel with my girls!
Tibidabo at christmastime!
Inside the beautiful church. Entirely mosaic, and completely incredible.
Thanks so much for reading my lovely little blog over the past semester! I hope you've enjoyed the pictures and and my observations and stories! Can't wait to see everyone again over the next few months.
Hope all is well wherever you are.
Love,
Mary
Well, I have reached the end of my study abroad experience. It has been quite a run, and I've met fantastic people and seen some incredible things. I leave for home this Friday, December 19, and while I'll miss Barcelona a lot, I think I'm ready to go home and see my family and friends, and get back to normal life at school in California.
Here are a few more pictures of Barcelona that I've taken over the semester.
Inside Gaudi's Casa Batllo (amazing house! google it.)
More Casa Batllo
On the roof of Casa Batllo
Roof of Casa Batllo
My favorite thing in all of Barcelona: the lamp posts
You see these everywhere! If you're a citizen, you can pay 30 euro a year and use these bikes all over the city! Quite the deal.
Fountain in Ciutadella Park...some of the only green in all of Barca.
Gates to Ciutadella Park
Famous Gaudi Park
Inside Parc Guell (this is where America's Next Top Model was filmed at some point, in case you're a fan!)
More Parc Guell
Currently the background picture on my computer; cermaic/mosaic in Parc Guell (this type of art is everywhere in Barcelona, and I am newly obsessed with it)
Ceiling of some of the architecture in Parc Guell
Parc Guell
Mi calle! (My street!)
The front door to my apartment building. 29 Avinguda Sarria
Elizabeth, my best friend here, and I went to an FC Barcelona game. SO much fun and such an awesome cultural experience. Soccer/Futbol here is a completely different world than it is in the states!
My friend Jessica and I on the way to Tibidabo (<--a church and theme park on the top of a mountain...you'll see in the pictures to come)
On the funicular/tram up to the top of Tibidabo
Beautiful church on the top of Tibidabo
Theme Park/Ferris Wheel at the top of Tibidabo
Beautiful view
Stranded at the top of the ferris wheel with my girls!
Tibidabo at christmastime!
Inside the beautiful church. Entirely mosaic, and completely incredible.
Thanks so much for reading my lovely little blog over the past semester! I hope you've enjoyed the pictures and and my observations and stories! Can't wait to see everyone again over the next few months.
Hope all is well wherever you are.
Love,
Mary
Thursday, December 11, 2008
From London to Paris to the end of Barcelona...
Hi all,
So about a month later, I realized that I haven't posted a blog since London which was four weekends ago. So I thought I'd update you a bit! I only have 8 days left in Barcelona, and it's all gone by so so quickly. Even though everyone says "Oh, it'll fly by..." you don't know til you've experienced it.
I went to London and visited my friend Meri who was studying there and she showed me an amazing time. I think London is one of my favorite cities that I've been to. Part of that might be that I was so bewildered that everything was in English and that people could actually understand me, but I think a large part was due to the art that I saw.
Meri is an art history major as well, so we got to be nerdy together in every museum, which was really fun. We saw the Tate Modern (and a special Rothko exhibit that happened to be there, which was incredible since he's one of my favorite artists), the National Gallery (which had about 1/4 of the art I've ever studied in it), and we saw a random Andy Warhol exhibit sort of on accident that blew both of us out of the water. The great thing about London museums is that, aside from special exhibitions, they're all free! While in London, we also strolled through Hyde Park, and went to Westminster Abbey, where I paid my respects to every British poet I ever read (since they are ALL buried there). I saw Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and the London Eye, and got to go out in London with one of my best friends, so it was definitely a winning weekend! It's always way more fun visiting someone in the city they've been living in, too, because then you don't have to plan anything and they're basically your free tour guide with inside tips!
Dali Exhibit near the London Eye
Andy Warhol Exhibit (amaaaazing)
Me & Peter Pan in Hyde Park
Beautiful Hyde Park in the fall
Westminster Abbey
Meri and I near Big Ben
Trafalgar Square, near the National Gallery
Buckingham Palace
Then I went to Paris the next weekend, and visited my roomie, Liz (who I'm sure I've talked about before in this blog), and had a blast there too. I had already been to Paris before with my family (I felt so spoiled walking around and recognizing things I had already seen!) and so there was no pressure to see any of the touristy stuff, which was nice, although we did have brie, a baguette, and a bottle of wine near the Eiffel Tower....no complaints here.
We saw some cool art in the Centre Pompidou and the Louvre (although it's a little too big for my taste, still incredible), and I got to go to a few of Liz's favorite parisian areas, had some great food, went to a fondue restaurant where they served wine in baby bottles, and saw a few of my other friends that are studying in Paris. We also went to a huge rave/all night dance party in Gent, Belgium, wore some crazy outfits, and danced the night away!
Seeing my first Basquiat!! My fav art history teacher would be so proud.
My favorite spot in the Louvre
Me, my bright red umbrella, and the Eiffel Tower...plus a baguette.
Our little lunch/wine rendezvous near the Eiffel Tower
Liz and I in Gent
The crazy concerts/dance party
I'll post one more blog about my last few weeks in Barcelona, when Meri, Liz, and my boyfriend John came to visit me, and post a few more pictures. But other than that, I hope you enjoy these ones!
Love,
Mary
So about a month later, I realized that I haven't posted a blog since London which was four weekends ago. So I thought I'd update you a bit! I only have 8 days left in Barcelona, and it's all gone by so so quickly. Even though everyone says "Oh, it'll fly by..." you don't know til you've experienced it.
I went to London and visited my friend Meri who was studying there and she showed me an amazing time. I think London is one of my favorite cities that I've been to. Part of that might be that I was so bewildered that everything was in English and that people could actually understand me, but I think a large part was due to the art that I saw.
Meri is an art history major as well, so we got to be nerdy together in every museum, which was really fun. We saw the Tate Modern (and a special Rothko exhibit that happened to be there, which was incredible since he's one of my favorite artists), the National Gallery (which had about 1/4 of the art I've ever studied in it), and we saw a random Andy Warhol exhibit sort of on accident that blew both of us out of the water. The great thing about London museums is that, aside from special exhibitions, they're all free! While in London, we also strolled through Hyde Park, and went to Westminster Abbey, where I paid my respects to every British poet I ever read (since they are ALL buried there). I saw Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and the London Eye, and got to go out in London with one of my best friends, so it was definitely a winning weekend! It's always way more fun visiting someone in the city they've been living in, too, because then you don't have to plan anything and they're basically your free tour guide with inside tips!
Dali Exhibit near the London Eye
Andy Warhol Exhibit (amaaaazing)
Me & Peter Pan in Hyde Park
Beautiful Hyde Park in the fall
Westminster Abbey
Meri and I near Big Ben
Trafalgar Square, near the National Gallery
Buckingham Palace
Then I went to Paris the next weekend, and visited my roomie, Liz (who I'm sure I've talked about before in this blog), and had a blast there too. I had already been to Paris before with my family (I felt so spoiled walking around and recognizing things I had already seen!) and so there was no pressure to see any of the touristy stuff, which was nice, although we did have brie, a baguette, and a bottle of wine near the Eiffel Tower....no complaints here.
We saw some cool art in the Centre Pompidou and the Louvre (although it's a little too big for my taste, still incredible), and I got to go to a few of Liz's favorite parisian areas, had some great food, went to a fondue restaurant where they served wine in baby bottles, and saw a few of my other friends that are studying in Paris. We also went to a huge rave/all night dance party in Gent, Belgium, wore some crazy outfits, and danced the night away!
Seeing my first Basquiat!! My fav art history teacher would be so proud.
My favorite spot in the Louvre
Me, my bright red umbrella, and the Eiffel Tower...plus a baguette.
Our little lunch/wine rendezvous near the Eiffel Tower
Liz and I in Gent
The crazy concerts/dance party
I'll post one more blog about my last few weeks in Barcelona, when Meri, Liz, and my boyfriend John came to visit me, and post a few more pictures. But other than that, I hope you enjoy these ones!
Love,
Mary
Monday, November 3, 2008
Milan, Florence, Rome, & Amsterdam, oh my!!
Hello all!
I am just back from my fall break! I got back by train this morning at 8:30am, took a midterm at 3:45pm, and have been catching up with email, facebook, pictures, and tv shows ever since! So I thought I'd do a little description of my amazing vacation and post a few pictures!
My roomie Elizabeth and I started took an overnight train to Milan, and spent the whole day there. It has an absolutely beautiful Duomo (cathedral), which is the heart of the city, and an amazing castle that reminded me a bit of Ireland. The city itself is quite pretty, and fairly small. And the shopping is....amazing. If I had a trillion dollars, I would immediately go shopping in Milan. We took a sight-seeing bus around the city, since we didn't know anyone there to show us around, had some incredible gelato and pizza, and then got back on the train to Florence!
Milan's Duomo exterior
Prada in Milan...I was afraid to go inside because it looked so chic.
Me outside of the castle in Milan!
Elizabeth's last name is "Cinque" which means "five" in Italian. Her name was everywhere!
When we got to Florence, we went immediately to the apartment of Elizabeth's friend from Santa Barbara, Bran, who is studying in Florence. Over the next few days we saw everything I had on my nerdy Art History checklist, except for Michelangelo's David, which was closed on our last day in Florence. We saw the Duomo, the Uffizi, the Arno River, the Medici Palace, San Lorenzo's Basillica, climbed to the top of the Duomo for some incredible views of Florence, and shopped around at the San Lorenzo market! I splurged on a leather jacket for myself, and bought a few christmas presents for my family and friends. But the city of Florence was really laid back, a bit touristy, but just lovely. And everyone spoke English...everywhere! Through all of Italy and Amsterdam, there was never a language barrier problem, which was a bit surprising. But I think I was just so excited to see everything I had been studying and finally see what all the hype was about!
Duomo in Florence
Elizabeth and I on top of the Duomo with all of Florence behind us!
Inside the Medici Palace, which I know waaaay too much about for my own good. This family essentially started the branch banking system that we still use today, had control of Papal and governmental funds and therefore essentially ruled Italy and beyond until the end of the 15th century. And this is where they lived!
One of my favorite statues that I studied sophomore year, "Judith and Holofernes" by Donatello, 1460.
My favorite spot in Florence: outside of the Uffizi Museum right on the Arno river at sunset.
Elizabeth, Bran, and I outside of the Bronze Baptistry doors in front of the duomo.
Then we were off to Rome! We were a little discouraged by the torrential downpour that hit as soon as we got there, as well as the horrible public transportation, but as soon as we saw the Pantheon, things were looking up! Afterwards, we found my mom's old dorm that she stayed in when she studied in Rome in college...the Hotel Tiziano. We even ate gelato at a place next to her old favorite cafe across the street. Kind of a cool concept!
We eventually saw the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Arch of Constantine, St. Peter's Basillica, Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and had more gelato, pasta, and pizza than I thought possible for one person to eat (that goes for all of my stops in Italy)!
Outside my mom's old dorm in Rome!
Elizabeth and I in the Colosseum
The Arch of Constantine with a bit of the Colosseum in the background!
St. Peter's!
St. Peter's interior...pictures don't do it justice.
After Rome, we headed off to Amsterdam to meet up with some of my best friends from Santa Clara, Liz and Meri. It was great to see them and few of my other girlfriends who were in Amsterdam for Halloween weekend. We saw the Van Gogh Museum, which was incredible, as I'm a huge fan! We also went to the Anne Frank House, a very emotional but very cool experience, and walked around Vondel Park. Amsterdam is home to the nicest people I have ever met in my life. Literally from the moment Elizabeth and I stepped off the train to the minute we left, every single person we met including perfect strangers were more than willing to help with directions or pointing us towards cool places to see. We saw the red light district, which was a bit surreal and kind of creepy, but an Amsterdam experience to say the least. And overall had a fantastic time with fantastic people!
The Red Light District (with streets literally lit in red)
Canal near our hostel
And now that I'm back home in Barcelona, I could not be happier! As much fun as I had on break, I am exhausted and ready to get back in the swing of things around here. I have 2 more travel weekends planned, one to London and one to Paris, and then I'm in Barcelona for the last whole month!
I'll be updating as much as I can with new adventures, and I hope that everything back in the States is going alright for everyone.
Love,
Mary
I am just back from my fall break! I got back by train this morning at 8:30am, took a midterm at 3:45pm, and have been catching up with email, facebook, pictures, and tv shows ever since! So I thought I'd do a little description of my amazing vacation and post a few pictures!
My roomie Elizabeth and I started took an overnight train to Milan, and spent the whole day there. It has an absolutely beautiful Duomo (cathedral), which is the heart of the city, and an amazing castle that reminded me a bit of Ireland. The city itself is quite pretty, and fairly small. And the shopping is....amazing. If I had a trillion dollars, I would immediately go shopping in Milan. We took a sight-seeing bus around the city, since we didn't know anyone there to show us around, had some incredible gelato and pizza, and then got back on the train to Florence!
Milan's Duomo exterior
Prada in Milan...I was afraid to go inside because it looked so chic.
Me outside of the castle in Milan!
Elizabeth's last name is "Cinque" which means "five" in Italian. Her name was everywhere!
When we got to Florence, we went immediately to the apartment of Elizabeth's friend from Santa Barbara, Bran, who is studying in Florence. Over the next few days we saw everything I had on my nerdy Art History checklist, except for Michelangelo's David, which was closed on our last day in Florence. We saw the Duomo, the Uffizi, the Arno River, the Medici Palace, San Lorenzo's Basillica, climbed to the top of the Duomo for some incredible views of Florence, and shopped around at the San Lorenzo market! I splurged on a leather jacket for myself, and bought a few christmas presents for my family and friends. But the city of Florence was really laid back, a bit touristy, but just lovely. And everyone spoke English...everywhere! Through all of Italy and Amsterdam, there was never a language barrier problem, which was a bit surprising. But I think I was just so excited to see everything I had been studying and finally see what all the hype was about!
Duomo in Florence
Elizabeth and I on top of the Duomo with all of Florence behind us!
Inside the Medici Palace, which I know waaaay too much about for my own good. This family essentially started the branch banking system that we still use today, had control of Papal and governmental funds and therefore essentially ruled Italy and beyond until the end of the 15th century. And this is where they lived!
One of my favorite statues that I studied sophomore year, "Judith and Holofernes" by Donatello, 1460.
My favorite spot in Florence: outside of the Uffizi Museum right on the Arno river at sunset.
Elizabeth, Bran, and I outside of the Bronze Baptistry doors in front of the duomo.
Then we were off to Rome! We were a little discouraged by the torrential downpour that hit as soon as we got there, as well as the horrible public transportation, but as soon as we saw the Pantheon, things were looking up! Afterwards, we found my mom's old dorm that she stayed in when she studied in Rome in college...the Hotel Tiziano. We even ate gelato at a place next to her old favorite cafe across the street. Kind of a cool concept!
We eventually saw the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Arch of Constantine, St. Peter's Basillica, Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and had more gelato, pasta, and pizza than I thought possible for one person to eat (that goes for all of my stops in Italy)!
Outside my mom's old dorm in Rome!
Elizabeth and I in the Colosseum
The Arch of Constantine with a bit of the Colosseum in the background!
St. Peter's!
St. Peter's interior...pictures don't do it justice.
After Rome, we headed off to Amsterdam to meet up with some of my best friends from Santa Clara, Liz and Meri. It was great to see them and few of my other girlfriends who were in Amsterdam for Halloween weekend. We saw the Van Gogh Museum, which was incredible, as I'm a huge fan! We also went to the Anne Frank House, a very emotional but very cool experience, and walked around Vondel Park. Amsterdam is home to the nicest people I have ever met in my life. Literally from the moment Elizabeth and I stepped off the train to the minute we left, every single person we met including perfect strangers were more than willing to help with directions or pointing us towards cool places to see. We saw the red light district, which was a bit surreal and kind of creepy, but an Amsterdam experience to say the least. And overall had a fantastic time with fantastic people!
The Red Light District (with streets literally lit in red)
Canal near our hostel
And now that I'm back home in Barcelona, I could not be happier! As much fun as I had on break, I am exhausted and ready to get back in the swing of things around here. I have 2 more travel weekends planned, one to London and one to Paris, and then I'm in Barcelona for the last whole month!
I'll be updating as much as I can with new adventures, and I hope that everything back in the States is going alright for everyone.
Love,
Mary
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