Photos of Spring Break

currently not able to upload photos in the apartment, can get to the page but they wont upload, neither here nor on facebook, so will have them up later after i go to studio or school tomorrow and do it there.

Spring Break- Day 9- Friday March 12th

Last day of our trip, had to check out at 10 so we did that and then headed to the bus station so we could catch a bus to the airport because we didnt know how long it was going to take. Made it to the airport, and just like every other flight there was very little people in line at security and it didnt take long for us to get through and to the gate. Only real problem was that about 30 min before we were to board the plane they changed and moved a different flight to board at the gate we were at and they borded before us and then we went through the gate and boarded the plane. Flew back to Rome and then took a bus from the airport to the train station and then took a train back to florence and was finally back from spring break.

Spring Break- Day 8-Thursday March 11th

Went back down by the waterfront today, There was a pretty cool pedestrian draw bridge crossing next to a marina. There were a ton of boats there and a museum and a mall on the other side of the bridge. The museum had a really cool facade that was curved reflective glass that when you stood under you could look out and see the cafes outside and out onto the marina behind. From there we walked back across the bridge and there was a school of fish swimming under the bridge, dont know what they were. Then continued on to the Contemporary Art Museum designed by Richard Meier. It was smaller than we thought it was gonna be, only 2 temporary galleries and a small permanent gallery, each on its own floor. After that we didnt know what to really do so we got some sandwiches and just hung out back at the hostel with some of the other people, most of them were leaving friday as well as us, played some more cards and compared things between the countries.

Spring Break- Day 7-Wednesday March 10th

Today is our day where we plan to hit all of the Gaudi buildings in Barcelona. Our first stop was at Casa Battlo, which was designed based off of a story involving a dragon, i dont remember all of it. We didnt go inside, but instead continued on to Casa Mila which was down the street a few blocks. We went inside that building, which was really cool, there was a display area showing info on his other buildings. Then went to the roof where there were some nice views of the city and also some changes in levels all over the place. From there we went to Park Guell which was at the north part of the city and up the hill a little. Walked around for a little bit, had lunch up there then walked back down the hill toward the station so we could head over to the Sagrada Familia. Its still under construction but we were able to inside and walk around. It was really intricate and huge. They have 8 towers constructed but they still have plans to build it a lot higher with an observation deck on the top. It should be completed in 2015 but i dont know if that is the whole thing or just open for use. After we walked through the Sagrada Familia there was a museum/work area in the basement that was Gaudi's workshop where he built the plaster models that were used to design the building. He felt that it was easier for him to make the models than it was to draw the design, so the building is being built off of those models. There were also drawings there from parts of the church as well as the design for the front facade which depicted the stations of the cross. We then hoped back into the metro and went over to the Tore Agbar and some of the other building in that area just as the sun was setting. We also stumbled upon what appeared to be filming of a movie, a very low budget movie, no clue what they were really doing. After that we headed back to the hostel and sat there in the common room again and played some cards with some of the other people staying there.

Spring Break- Day 6-Tuesday March 9th

Barcelona. Well not quite. After sleeping in the airport we got on our flight for "Barcelona" which actually flew into Girona which was about 60 miles north of Barcelona and a bus ride a way. When we finally got to Barcelona, 2 1/2 hours later because there was a snow storm there the day before and the roads were packed with cars stopped because they didnt know what to do or how to drive in the snow. At the bus station we bought a 4 day metro pass for Barcelona, similar to the one in Berlin, but no discounts on places, we had international student ids for that. So we headed off to find our way to the hostel. The metro in Barcelona was so much easier to figure out that it was in Berlin. there were like 5 different trains at each stop in Berlin, but Barcelona had 1 rail for each station, if there were 2 trains at the same station they were on different platforms. Made it to the hostel, except the room wasnt ready so we went out and just walked around for a bit, it was nice to be in a place that wasnt constantly freezing, though it was still cold out, and the sight of palm trees everywhere helped out. Well after we wondered around for a bit we headed back to the hostel and boy was it a small room, we got spoiled in Berlin with that room. After we put our stuff in the room we headed out to the Barcelona Pavilion, one of the main reasons we went to Barcelona. Spend a good amount of time there and when we left headed a short ways away to a tv tower by Calatrava and the rest of the 1992 Olympic Complex. From there we took the subway to check out some other buildings, and ended up at one of Barcelona's beaches. It was really windy, but so cool to be at the beach even if it was getting dark, the waves were huge, but didnt get to go in, plus would have been freezing. After walking around the completely empty beach front and seeing a few other buildings we headed back to the hostel, grabbed a sandwich from a store, which had amazing cookies by the way, and hung out at the hostel for the rest of the night.

Spring Break- Day 5- Monday March 8th

Last day in Berlin, checked out of the hostel with our bags packed and headed out. First stop was to the Velodrome which was the building for the cycling events during the 1936 olympics in Berlin. It was located right around the corner from our hostel so we figured we had to check it out. It was closed, but had been converted into an ice rink and had an ice show there coming up. Then walked over and saw the GSW Headquarters...just an interesting building we had marked down to check out. Then took the subway and walked to the World Cultures Building which was basically a model of the TWA terminal at JFK. Walked under a tower that was just around the corner from the building then headed off again. From there we went around what we are assuming is the police headquarters for Berlin, across the river and checked out a red and green tile/scale firestation for 2 seconds then headed over to the train station to continue on the route we planned for the day. Only problem was that we were way ahead of schedule and we didnt even get to go into Frank Ghery's DZ Bank/Whale building becuase it was closed everytime we tried to go in, either too late or there was an 'event', So we made our way around the city a little then saw that we still had 4 hrs until we had planned on being at the airport and saw a movie theatre and figured we would go watch a movie. Well all of the ones in that theatre were in German only but the one back at Potsdammer Platz played movies in their original version so we headed back there and watched Men Who Stare at Goats because the choices for english movies in berlin isnt the greatest at 3 in the afternoon. After the movie we headed over to the airport, we were still a little early, but sitting there for a couple hours wouldnt be as bad as the layover we were set to have in Frankfurt-Haun that night. So we arrive in Frankfurt-Haun at arond 1130pm but our flight for Girona, Spain doesnt leave till 630...that leaves us a night in the airport. Only problem is that Frankfurt-Haun is like a shed in the middle of nowhere, and everything was closing up when we got there. So like everyone else that was staying in the airport overnight, there was about 100 people total, we slept for a few hours in the airport...just picked a corner and used our backpacks and towels as pillows and tried to get some rest. It was funny seeing people sleeping all over the place, there were people behind counters, in chairs, under the security counters...pretty much everywhere you could get a 'personal' space to lay down.

Spring Break- Day 4- Sunday March 7th

Today we got up and took another long train ride out to the Olympic Stadium from the 1936 Olympics. We also went out there because close by was a building by Corbusier, but the highlight was the stadium. It had been redone for the 2006 FIFA World Cup and a new roof was designed and built onto it. Other than some restorations the stadium is very similar design to how it was for the Olympics. Around the side was the swimming pool with what looked like an elevator for the diving platforms. Behind the stadium was an open field with a stadium that was on the site before the stadium was built for the olympics. It was cool to get to go into the stadium and pretty much walk anywhere, we went from field level on one part all the way up to the top in another section. After the stadium we made a few stops to look at some buildings we had studied before. Unite d'habitation by Le Corbusier, is not the first unite d'habitation he build(thats in Marseilles, France) but it is very similar to it. That one could be seen from the stadium, our second stop, the AEG Turbine Building, was by train and a longer walk than it should have been(happened a lot where we took a longer route than necessary). This was not that exciting, other than that we studied it before and was huge compared to how it appeared in pictures, but we couldnt go inside because I can only assume they are still using it as a factory. We then went back into Potsdammer Platz by Renzo Piano and wandered around there for a little while, had lunch at a restaurant where everything has potatoes in it...different, but not bad. Walked around a bit more found a casino that was hosting the European Poker Tour(EPT) and turns out that 4 people tried to rob the place on the 6th, ya a day before we were there, didnt realize that until i was writing all this down and saw something on CNN's website about dumb theifs. So after we walked by the casino we made our way over to what we believe was the Berlin Pavilion by Mies Van der Rhoe for like 5 min then passed back through Eisenman's memorial then headed back to the hostel to plan out our last day in Berlin.