Hello everyone!

I am back from my first study/travel break to Copenhagen and Milan. I had a FANTASTIC time in both places with the people I went with. Copenhagen was my favorite because the people there were very friendly and spoke english(danish also sounds a lot like english-they are similar!) Also, we saw many, many buildings and were able to walk more places.

Admittedly, I liked Copenhagen a lot more than I thought I would. I much prefer historic architecture to modern architecture, so when I heard that Copenhagen was very "modern" I was a little hesitant about going. But I was very wrong! Copenhagen is modern in the sense that it is very neat, clean, and geometric. They don't necessarily have a lot of skyscrapers and metallic buildings, but the style of architecture is very postmodern-it's different and sort of avant-garde. We stayed at a hostel where the furniture looked like something you would find in a cutting edge art museum! We were in Copenhagen for three-four days and explored lots of the buildings and did lots of sketching. Some of the buildings/monuments we saw were...a glass Opera house on an island right off the coast, the Marble church, the main square(where the queen lives), the Denmark Art and design museum, the Little Mermaid, the National Gallery of Denmark, Rosenborg Castle and the King's gardens, the Old Stock Exchange, and Christiansborg Palace. On average I did about four-five hours of sketching every day, walking around to different places and drawing all that I could. Still, I wish I had done more ;) The weather was very cold and foggy...not so good for sketching, but it gave the harbor and coast a nice look. One night my friends and I carved pumpkins at a bar. A few of us also stayed at a REALLY fancy hotel(because we suddenly couldn't find housing for the last night)....so that was fun. Overall I really enjoyed my time in Copenhagen and am so glad I went.

Then we headed to Milan, Italy. As you can imagine, no one else thought to veer that far off course! But we found a cheap flight there and it was well worth it. We had less time in Milan, but I still got a lot of sketching in and saw a lot of wonderful places. One of the buildings we saw was the Duomo cathedral(by far one of the most amazing buildings I have seen....ever.) It is the most massive cathedral I have ever seen, with every square inch carved with ornate stone detail-figures, flowers, animals, etc. The whole building looks like a big ornamented castle. It is very wide and tall-right in the middle of the main square of Milan. You can even go to the top of the cathedral and walk in and out of the structure, touch the buttresses and spires, and get a really great view of Milan. I went up at night, and it was absolutely magical. We mainly explored the main square and the buildings around it....some of the other buildings we saw were the Palazzo Reale, S. Babila, a modern art museum, and Castello Sforzesco(a huge fortified castle and courtyard). There weren't as many buildings to see in Milan, but I enjoyed the different atmosphere, the food, and hearing the Italian language. I did an intense sketch on the art museum. I noticed that by the end of the trip my sketching had REALLY improved, which is what I was hoping for. It really is important to just practice, practice, practice.

So...I had a wonderful first study/travel break, and I look forward to the next one(Barcelona!!)

The Friday after we got back there was a studio party at the school...put on by the french architecture students. It was a halloween-themed party, so everyone dressed up in costumes, zombie-like attire, makeup...I really enjoyed dressing up. At the party I met up with my french friends(the people I worked with for the first project) and I met some new people. They had a big brass band and they played Beach Boys music! Everyone was swing dancing to the music and having a good time.

The next night I went to the "Cyrano" movie theatre to see Tintin in 3D. That's right-in french! I actually understood a lot of the french, and learned a lot more words and the correct way to say things, etc. The french theatre is different from the US because people basically gather in a huge mob(with no breathingn space) until they are let in. I don't know if it was just that night, or if it really is that way in general, but it was crazy! Also, the seats are 100% cushion on top and bottom and very comfy :) The theatre space was nice and large.

Then...yesterday I spent the whole day in Paris. I met up with a french friend in the morning who showed me around Paris a bit, we had lunch at a cafe, then I went my own way and explored some buildings I hadn't seen before. I taught myself to use the metro system-so now I know how to go anywhere and everywhere in Paris! Before I would just take the train into Paris, pick a good stop to get off at, and then just walk everywhere, but the metro makes life so much easier...you can go from one side of Paris to the other in a matter of minutes, so it really saves on time and it keeps you less tired! I saw the Chateau de Vincennes, the Place des Vogues, and the place where the Bastille originally was(now there is just a monumental column). I hadn't known that the Bastille burned down...but now I do!

Later that night our group went to the Stade de France for the US vs. France soccer game! It was a pretty short game...France beat the US 1 to 0. We met other American people there, which was cool. I thought it was awesome to see a sports game in France...overall the french are a lot quieter and really intent on watching the game. It was a really fun, great day in Paris.

And tomorrow I am going to go to church with my host family. We are going to the same church that I went inside when I was walking through the neighborhood a while ago...it is such a beautiful church, and I had no idea they went there! So I am very excited for that.

Until next time.
Au revoir!
~Diana