Fall Break Travels so far: Brussels, Amsterdam, and Cologne

Hello everyone! I am in a hostel in Cologne right now typing this on their free internet, woot. Max Charlie and I have been traveling through these cities looking at things like the Victor Horta museums in Brussels, the Van Gogh museum and Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, and now we are in Cologne and have just spent the rest of yesterday shopping and exploring around here.

Staying in hostels has been a very interesting experience, one that I am glad that I have got to experience, but definitely a culture within itself. We have been staying in four to eight person rooms, with very different kinds of roommates. The only thing that matters however about these people is whether they snore or not, as we found out in Amsterdam with two of the loudest snorers I have ever heard.

Anyway, I can not type anything much longer than this but when I find an open computer and American keyboard, I will be sure to update. I miss all of you, love you, and wish that everyone, at least just once in their lives, went to Amsterdam. It is a beautiful place.

Liz

Actual Cellphone Number

Haha, so I typed my cellphone number in wrong – it is: (01133) 642392181

Today I had a structures class in the morning after catching the bus at 8:45am which is getting to be a lot easier. I look forward to our cheap (2.80E) student lunch everyday. I still haven’t really ventured past the cereal, pasta and rice dishes for food except for some homemade crepes made from scratch a couple of times. Lunch makes up for everything.

So how is everyone back home? School getting to be busy? Life getting a little more beautiful now that it’s autumn? Take care, you’re in my prayers.

Liz

Oktoberfest, Sketch Trips, and Nabbing some Studio Space

Hello! Sorry about not writing for such a long time. I’ve haven’t been as wise with my evening time with the internet as I wanted and I’ve also been dreading just sitting down and writing. But now, now that I’m situated in my little studio space (hot commodity – took some fenneggling to obtain) I will begin to recount my adventures from the past two weeks!

So I wrote this in a word document a week or so ago, so I’ll add it and then expound:

“…Wow I don’t think I’ve ever slept so little in my life than I have this weekend, but it was all completely worth it. Oktoberfest. Thousands of people. One amazingly beautiful city. Some great friends. Lovely Beverages. Now for the gruesome details.

 

On Friday, after getting out of my first studio class (we checked out the site of our semester long design project) I went to mass in Notre Dam Cathedral while some friends got dinner before we had to board our bus to Munich. It was absolutely amazing to be able to participate in a ritual that, no matter what the language, you can understand and feel connected to so many other strangers and friends and family across the oceans – in one of the world’s most beautiful churches! After meeting up with my friends afterwards, we got onto a Eurolines bus for what we thought would be a thirteen hour bus ride…”

And that’s it. To make a long story shorter, the bus was 15 hours to Munich and we got there around 1pm on Saturday. We went to Oktoberfest after dropping off our stuff at our hotel (by us and we I mean myself and about 13 other U of I students) and walked around. All the beer halls were completely full so we couldn’t get in, so Max, Charlie, Rosie and I walked around Munich and ate a traditional German meal (I miss home!!!) and a lot of beer and schnitzel. It was a great evening, until we had to pack 6 people into a 1 person hotel room. Despite not a lot of sleep, I went to mass in the morning at the Church behind the Glockenspiel and then met up with everyone at the hotel and celebrated Charlie’s birthday with a Litre of beer at 11am in the morning at the Hofbrauhaus. Mom and Dad you should be so proud, I knew which beers were good and which ones we shouldn’t waste time drinking – thanks for drinking the different beers at dinner all those years, Dad.  Haha

We spent the rest of that Sunday enjoying the walking around Munich and took a lovely nap in the English Gardens. That city is so beautiful and so alive and FRIENDLY after being in Paris where casual street conversation is not only something I don’t understand but doesn’t ever happen. Thank God for the German language.  We left Munich and began the night trip home to arrive in Versailles at 8am Monday morning, just an hour of time to shower at Max and Charlie’s and get ready for class at 9:30am! A really great weekend.

 

Whew! So this past week was our intensive sketching program with Michael Plautz – I really enjoyed this even though I was a little tired for the first part of the week. Beginning Thursday we took a bus to Tours and Orlean to sketch their Cathedrals. We all stayed at a student hostel in Tours – all 43 of us, and the teachers, and I felt like I was back in the dorm system. Except that there was only one really disgusting shower at the end of the hall for the entire floor. The weather was colder than I thought it was going to be so I ended up having to purchase some warmer clothes, only to realize that by the time we arrived at Poitiers (Notre Dam de la Grand and the Mediacenter by an architect that I can’t think of right now but is super amazing) and the castle at Chambord the weather was brilliantly sunny and warm. Chambord was amazing – it was a beautiful castle designed partially by Leonardo da Vinci with many, many turrets upon the turrets. The roof of the building had a completely different landscape. It was the most challenging sketch location on the trip. We came back home on Saturday and enjoyed watching the Rugby game in front of the Palace and going crazy when France beat New Zealand – giving them a chance of being the world champions. It was BlancheNuit at the gardens  – but I don’t really want to go into detail, if you would really like to know about it, please email me!

Today and yesterday is when real school began. By real school I mean now I actually have hardcore work to do. We have an initial design deadline on Thursday and  today was the day that studios really opened up. I’m typing this in my particular little studio space. It was a challenge trying to get because only about 30% of the french students in the school get studio space and all American students also have to get space. This makes for some tension but this year things apparently aren’t as it was in the past so after a bit of massaging and moving stuff around with two fifth year students named Beatrice and Cyrielle, I managed to nab a window desk and some desks for Max and Charlie. So thankful to these women that we’re working with.

 Well, to end this catch-up email, I just want to say I miss everyone. Especially because this past Sunday I saw Colleen, one of my best friends and my roommate for my life in college, and shes about a lonely for her family as I am for mine, so we reminisced and felt a little better – until she had to go back to Paris to her host family. We will be seeing more of each other.

 

Oh! I lost my cellphone on the Sketch trip and had to get a new one. If anyone would like to get ahold of me the number is: (01133) to get into France (6422181) my cell phone number.

If I’m not picking up, I’m normally with Max and Charlie or my roommate Klaudia and their numbers are: Max 642346087, Charlie 642346063, Klaudia 642493895.

I love you and miss you all. You’re all in my prayers. Please wish me luck with all this work I have to do!

Love,

Liz

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox