DAY 5 March 26, 2008- Florence

We got up early and went to the Accademia to see the David, we didnt have reservations so we got there super early and waited in line... it was the begining of free entrance... for some reason they let us in for free.. We saw the David, walked to the Duomo (huge cathedral). Got croissants and meds (this was amy's most sick day and i definately needed cough drops). We saw the cathedral, then saw San Lorenzo (cathedral) and the Bronzino painting and mucho silver and gold in the basement treasury. Then we ventured to the Palazzo Vecchico, saw the second (copy) David and all the other sculptures that I learned about in art class... prolly my favorite spot on the trip (besides all the other awesome spots). We went inside the Medici Palace and then saw the Ponte Vecchio Bridge.... We then went to the Santa Croce cathedral where the tombs of Michaelangelo and Galileo are and then we went across the ponte bridge to teh Piazza de pitti and laid on the ground outside for a while (we had no energy and couldnt afford to go into the palace). We walked around the city, sat on cathedral steps (where these boys were trying to catch our attention and we ignored them so they called us bitches.... this was not the first or last time, but for some reason it really pissed amy off... it was kinda funny.) In florence, there are alot of young women who look homeless that realllly bug everyone for money. it was very frustrating.... especially since they all looked like they worked together and probably had a boss or something. really unfortunate. we then found the hostel and went to sleep.
pics: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050695&l=3fa03&id=9804527

DAY 4 March 25, 2008- Venice

We checked out of the hostel and locked our bags in the lockers and ventured across the water to the Correr Museum and Archaeology museum. We went on the search for this thick crust pizza Amy wanted and we found it eventually. We found a small park, enjoyed the green and then amy thought we should go to the very first jewish ghetto.
some funny qoutes to remember:
"Don't you wanna go there?"-amy
"You mean " you're jewish, youre going to the ghetto.""- aviva

"The jewish ghetto, its the first one. The word ghetto is italian"- aviva
"You mean its not a gay club?"- amy

"we're in the yellow?" -amy
"no we're in the mustard"- aviva
"i totally thought we were in the blue"- amy (refering to the color codes on the maps--- the colors became food like mustard and ketchup... can you tell we were always hungary?)

We caught the train to Florence, found our hostel, had dinner and crashed.

DAY 3 March 24, 2008- Venice

First thing in the morning we went across the water to the Doge's Palace and Prison, walked across the bridge of sighs and then visited San Marco Basilica. We then walked to San Salvadore and got lost on the way to Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari and saw some amazing Titian works. We got lost again and had good sandwiches for lunch. We went to Accademia museum (my insitute of archaeology id got me in for free, poor amy had to pay the huge full price... wasnt quite fair) There was a huge Titian exhibit, it was soo cool to see art that i studied in class. We had coffee and got lost trying to find the gardens. We had dinner and then waited for hours at the hostel for the internet.

DAY 2 March 23, 2008- Venice

We had our first italian b-fast (which is weird... like hard buns and chocolate cookies.) we then caught a intensly packed bus to the islands of venice! When we got there we bought 72 hour vaporetto (like the metro but on water) tickets covering our whole time there. We found our hostel (on the farthest island) and dropped our bags off... and then went off to explore venice... on easter sunday (insanely crowed and a bit rainy). We traveled across to one of the main islands and walked around San Marco and Dorsdoro and San Croce. We basically were completely lost for hours... but on small islands its no big deal... and it seemed like if you minused the tourists and the vendors and the gondola guys... there would be no one left... did all the inhabitants leave the islands for easter or just hide in their houses? We ended up in a park laughing at pigeons... it must be pigeon mating time because everywhere (italy and greece) the male pigeons are strutting thier stuff and spinning in circles... i took video of it... haha. WE found the famous rialto bridge and I bought souvenirs... a small classic venice festival mask and a tiny gondola hat. I had gooooood pizza for lunch and then gelato for dessert.... (some of you may know that i have not had ice cream in 14 months... the gelato in italy does not count and I am once again not eating ice cream... there had to be an exception) We found the famous snail staircase church in a back alley and wandered around some more... basically all we did in venice was wander the islands. Then I ran into Rachel Cohen from Deis... it was crazy!! It was really good to see her... Shes living with Nina and the crew next year so I will see them eventually.Amy and I got dinner (pestoooooo) and found the vaporetto back to the hostel... for my first hostel it wasnt that bad.. they gave us clean sheets (i still used the ones we brought with us) and a locker for our stuff... we were kinda bored and watched a movie on my ipod and then crashed and went to bed.
lots of venice pics: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050627&l=67669&id=9804527

DAY 1 March 22, 2008

Alix had come for the weekend and left this morning... we had a great time... I showed her around london and we saw a bunch of hare krishnas (they are awesome!) She continued on to paris while Amy and I caught our flight to Venice... The flight was delayed because of the hail in London, and they had to de-ice the wings of the plane. We landed late (like 930pm) and took a crazy bus ride to our hotel on the mainland. We actually got off at the right stop, and had our first italian meal! such good pasta. We then got to sleep.

Back!

Hey all, (whos ever reading still) sorry i have not written in a while, I have been touring italy and greece for the past two and a half weeks! It was an amazing trip and because I know my awful memory, Amy and I took notes every night before we went to bed so that I could write them all down in the blog to be forever remembered. So.... here the posts come!

(oh ps... when Alix was here housing was done back at Deis and thanks to our awesome proxy we got the last 5 person grad apartment... top floor but what ever... me and dad have had that experience of carrying my crap to the top floor before (without an elevator.... sorry dad). anyway its Zack, Me, Alix, Emily and Jamie (girl). Its gunna rock... exactly what we wanted!!! Yay!!!!

St. Patty's Day

So, I was feeling alittle bit cranky today and didnt think I would enjoy going out for pattys and to top it off amy's sick and cant go out like ever again and thats a bummer. So tonight I went out with some of the fifth floor americans and their friends from home. It was ok... we ended up back in Ramsay's basement and they played games while we found.... Inspector Gadget!!! So amazing... i swear when i was a kid that show made sense... now its just ridiculous... Ahhh..... st pattys day and inspector gadget... what a combination.

Stonehenge Salisbury Sarum

So yesterday I went to Stonehenge!!!! It was great. And not disappointing like some people say it will be. Maybe thats cause i am an archaeologist and can appreciate it all, every bump and groove. I got up super early, went to the International Students House to be picked up and then we drove in this minibus to the site. We had this guide (there were 11 of us). the guide was the same guy who dropped us off at our halls of residence from butler! so i kinda knew him. he was the first guy i heard say "cheers" and he calls everyone "pet". its great. So we got to Stonehenge... you cant approach the stones because so many people would visit and the stones were getting dislodged from the people stepping near them. So they have made this path around the site where you listen to an audio guide tell you everything you would want to know. I walked around for about an hour and then we got back on the bus to the town, no excuse me, city of Salisbury. The thing is that this city isnt big enough to be called a city but because it has a cathedral, it is automatically a city. I thought that was ridiculous. there are other towns bigger that are still towns because they dont have a cathedral. anyway, the guide gave us a tour of the city and then I saw the cathedral (has the tallest spire in the uk!) and got lunch... Then i took the big hike up to the archaeological site of Sarum, where the town used to be in like the medieval times or whatever. It was awesome. the walk was long... like 45 minutes but way worth it for this archaeologist. It was the ruins of this castle on this hill. It had like 3 moats. I made best friends with this horse that was on the site... the site is also fields i guess, there were sheep and cows and horses just wandering around. Then I walked back to the city and caught the minibus, just as the rain started, back to london! It was a great day. I was by myself for most of it, I didnt know anyone on the trip, but it was nice to have some alone time. I think if i went with friends i wouldnt have had such a great archaeological time of it all.

Links to more pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2048490&l=d72e4&id=9804527
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2048494&l=1dcaa&id=9804527
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2048518&l=33c7b&id=9804527

PICS:

The opera! and Alexandras bday

So yesterday was Alexandra's bday and it was a day full of frustration! No, it was fine. She went with some people out to dinner and I met her at the opera! The English National Opera Company's Madame Butterfly. It was amazing. we had the very last seats in the very last row but it was awesome. The only prob was that the opera was not in italian... which was alittle disapointing.... it was in english... so strange. anyway, then she wanted people to meet us at a nice pub but we walked for an hour in the wrong direction only to finally find the bar closed. Then we walked back home. it took forever. and the whole night i really wanted a margarita and so when we got to Potions, it was closed too. So we went home and ate cake...

Tomorrow I go to Stonehenge! hopefully.... as long as its not cancelled because it may be only me going.... we'll see.... Im an archaeologist... i will get to stongehenge if its the last thing i do!

Note to myself

When compiling these entries at the end, add one here that is saved in word.

Warwick Castle and Stratford-apon-Avon

Today, I got up super early to catch a bus to Warwick Castle and Stratford-upon-Avon. (Stratford is the town, Avon is the river). It took about 2 hours to get to Warwick, and the very expensive entrance fee was paid by Butler. (Thank you Butler!) We got to explore, including the dungeon, which was kinda disapointing because the real dungeon was under this grate which was on top of a ditch where the prisoners were actually held. I would not like to be in that situation. Then Kathy and I explored the inside, including the chapel and royal chambers. There was even a wax figure of the queen you could get your picture with, of course for a fee. Then we started to climb the 600 steps around the castle wall. My god. It was amazing tho. We made it through all the spiral staircases which were very tiny. I kept saying, "you can do this, Maya temples are way worse." Its true. Spiral staircases with railings beat crumbling, tiny steps straight up a Maya pyramid. Then I bought my arial view postcard, at each castle/cathedral I seem to buy an ariel view postcard, since it is the only view I cant seem to get with my camera, and its a cool souvenir. We got on the bus (Kathy and I were on the wrong Butler bus for a second. No big deal except we screwed up the roll call for a second.). We then went to Stratford and explored the birthtown of Shakespeare. I didnt get to meet him tho (sorry mom no impersonators.) There was one guy pretending to be a statue and then jumping at people and freaking them out. WE didnt go into the house he was born at because once again it cost a fortune but you cant take pictures in there anyway and we got to see the outside. I did pay 50 pence to see his grave tho. It was pretty awesome. We walked the river, saw the royal shakespeare theatre and the swan theatre. Not alot more to do there but take pictures of old houses and walk the river, which was great and perfect for the two hours we had there. Then back onto the bus for the ride home. (I got our fantastic 3 pound pizza, which was the best deal in town, except now (gasp) they raised the price to 3.50! Everyone is upset which is kinda funny.) Pics to follow:

Earthquake! (and fire alarm)

Last night there was an earthquake!! I barely felt it but my bed definitely moved... just a tad... like if Caitlyn (my big fat cat) had jumped on the bed.... I kinda thought maybe there was a big rat or something. I really thought the bed might be breaking and I got up and kicked it for a second. Then I thought I had imagined it. Then at 330am there was a fire alarm... which I almost fell back asleep and it woke me up again.... When we were outside I heard someone say something about the earthquake and I knew I wasn't crazy!

Trip plans

So Amy and I spent like 3 hours yesterday making our Italy and Greece plans. Its so complicated, but we did it. By the end we were hysterical. So, we fly to Venice on March 22, stay 3 nights, train to Florence on the 25th, stay 2 nights in Florence, train to Pisa for one night, then train to Rome for three nights there. Then on March 31 we train to Bari and then ferry to Patras, Greece. On April 2 (happy bday dad) we travel to Athens by train and stay in Athens for three nights. We then take a ferry to Crete for beach fantastic times until we fly back to London on the 7th. Wow. We have all the traveling booked (hopefully). All for 530 dollars. Not bad. Now we have to book the hostels. One issue with the trains is that the Eurorail is primarily for non Europeans (basically Americans) and we were supposed to buy the train tickets while still in America, because they only ship to an American address. So we shipped them to Amy's mom's house and shes gonna send them here (hopefully thats no issues with that). Hostel search now! I am so excited! This trip is just over two weeks long, which is soooo much, but it will be awesome! yay!! and Marcey may meet us in Venice which would be awesome!

So anyway, nothing happening here, writing essays. Almost done with essay number 2. I keep procrastinating. Painted my nails, almost did my laundry (elevator is out of service and i am not dragging my laundry up 5 flights although i did that sophomore year). and I watched some movies. But its getting done.... this is why I allot more days for each essay then i should need. and this isn't due until the 19th anyway. no worries. I have to start the next on tomorrow.

Stuff coming up this weekend! I am going to Stratford on Avon and Warwick Castle on Saturday with the Butler program. I can't wait. I also booked my Stonehenge trip for the 9th!

I should do some more writing before dinner, but i didnt get lunch today (im saving money) and i am starving! the hunger is distracting....besides the world and the internet. But i actually unplug the internet so that I can get work done. It works pretty well!

back to work!

CORNELL HERE I COME!

"Dear Aviva,

This is to let you know that I have processed your application and
contacted Prof. Golden. You will be accepted into the 2008 Field Class
in Iroquois Archaeology as soon as I receive the $50 application check.

I look forward to working with you this summer! Please let me know if
you have any questions, or need any additional information.

---K.J."

If you are curious:

http://www.archaeological.org/webinfo.php?page=10037&entrynumber=883

http://www.sce.cornell.edu/ss/courses/on/special/iroquois.php

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/June07/fieldArch.da.html

Reslife is ruining lives

So they gave out housing lottery numbers and it is my year for the bad. Last year i basically won the lottery so this is my year for a horrible one. yep 1942.. fabulous. zacks, alix also have bad numbers, jamie (boy) has a bad number, but jamie (girl) maybe has an ok number 15somethingsomething. marcy also has a sucky number. ickick... hopefully emily p-o has a better one. but i think we could get a grad with jamie (girl)'s number maybe. ahhhhh....

Marcy visited!

So my mom asked me if I was too busy to post this week, but really its just because nothing interesting has happened. I wrote a paper and am in the process of writing 4 more (in the next 3 weeks). I hope I can pull it off. Well, I have no choice.

Brandeis approved my Cornell Iroquois dig which is awesome and I sent my app into Cornell and they are waiting to for the check and for my reference before they accept me. funny bit from the email:

"It was funny to read that you are staying at Ramsay Hall at UCL -- I
spent the spring semester of my junior year at UCL as well (although not
as an archaeologist!) and I stayed in Ramsay Hall myself. I think my
room number may have been 382, which may have been completely
obliterated by remodeling! Anyway it, was odd to see the 20 Maple
Street address. I had a very good time in London, and I hope that you
do as well."

So funny!

Anyway, I met up with Marcy in London yesterday. She and a friend came in to see the city from Geneva. I hung out with them for the afternoon. Erin, Marcy and I split a box of 18 cookies... so good (we couldnt finish the last 5). And then they came to karaoke at the union which was a blast. I'm meeting Marcy for brunch is a few minutes. She was supposed to continue traveling but she is heading back to Geneva early to get some down time.

Then at 3 this morning we had a fabulous fire alarm.... yep 3 in the morning. It was horrible.

Cambridge (not in MA) and Ely Cathedral

Yesterday, I took a Butler trip to Ely Cathedral and then the Town of Cambridge. At the beginning Becca was all upset because they told us we were traveling in a "coach" and she wanted a horse drawn coach, if they were going to say that. It was hilarious. Also we smelt toast and felted cheated because they didnt give us any. The Cathedral was beautiful, but they are starting to all look the same. Also it was freaking freezing and we found the huge ancient heaters in the cathedrals and huddled around them. I bought a couple postcards and then we ventured around the town of Ely to find lunch. We ended up eating reallly cheap and reaaaallly good from a bakery. I wish I could find bakeries in London that were that cheap. Then we got back on the bus and went to Cambridge and saw the universities. I was kinda disappointed because I was expected a Cambridge University but there isnt really. There are like 10 colleges in Cambridge that make up the University and no buildings to take a picture of that were Cambridge University. Just St. Johns University or Jesus College or Christ College (yes and they were located across the street from each other on the street called Jesus Lane). So we wandered around Cambridge taking pictures of the buildings which were awesome and kidding around about the names of the streets and places. Behind Jesus College there is Jesus Gardens that include a part called Jesus Ditch and Butt Green. and on Jesus Lane there was a Quaker meeting house named Jesus Lane Friends Meeting House. You would think they would relocate. And great tshirts in the window of this shop... "make tea, not war" "I love your mum" "I'm bringing sexy back, do you take refunds?" also an poster saying, legit, that someone lost a reindeer. All in all a ridiculous day. We laughed alot. the best part is "punting". In Cambridge and Oxford they have this activity which is rowing along thier rivers in these little rickety boats that you move along with a long pole and bump into the walls and other boats. this is called punting and is a huge deal at these schools. well we feel in love with the verb to punt and started inserting it into where the verb should be in all our sentences. "I'm gunna punt his ass" and "How you puntin' ?" The best was the cute British boy advertising renting our your own punt or taking a tour and he said "Hello, fancy a punt?" It was too funny. The day was just hilarious. I also bought earrings at a craft fair, they are pretty flowers made out of femo like clay.

Paris (day 4)

Our last day in Paris we got up, dropped our bags off with the front desk of our hotel and took the metro to the section of Paris called Montmartre, which is the highest point in Paris and where the old windmills and the moulin rouge is. We got off the metro at the moulin rouge which after the movie was rebuilt and no longer looks really old. We walked up the hill towards the other moulin which still has the original windmill. We walked to the Sacre Coeur which was amazing. the view of Paris from there was great. I saw a cute park nearby and we went inside but we couldnt take pictures inside. It was beautiful tho. We then took the metro to the Tuileries Garden and relaxed in the sun. We ate lunch, went back to the hotel, got our bags and by 1 were at the bus. The bus ride was fine. But it was harder to get back into the UK then to get into France. In France, they even searched random people at a checkpoint. At the border, we had to get off twice and scan our bags and passports. We made it back home exhausted (after taking the chunnel again!) It was an awesome trip!

Paris (day 3)

So on day 3 we got up early again and took the metro to the Musee d'Orsay. (I had a fantastic croissant again.... mmmm french food.) This is my favorite museum ever. It was amazing. Basically every french impressionist had their own room full of their most famous works. it was amazing. I wanna live in there. Renoir had his own room plus other rooms with his stuff in it. My favorite painting of all time was there (Young girls at the Piano, Renoir) and rooms of Monet. A whole wall of the waterlillies and the dega ballerinas and Renoir dancers. Amazing sisleys and sezanne. the van gogh portrait and that great painting of the room and the bed.... weird perspective... know which one i mean? It was awesome. It was heaven. I was stunned. and the main hall was magnificent. there was a huge exhibit of this guy named Carpentier who had made amazing furniture. I took so many pictures of furniture so dad can have inspiration for his furniture making. they were fantastic. I bought note cards with Renoir paintings on them for mom and me to share.... but I dont wanna send them out. Maybe frame them. We then had lunch and walked the seine river in the day time to the Notre Dame. On the way I bought my souvenir from a vendor by the river. Its this pocket mirror with the top is this beautiful painting of the Eiffel Tower and the river. I like it. I needed a little trinket as a souvenir and I found it! We walked past the Louvre to the Notre Dame and it was awesome. Smaller from the outside then I thought but great. We didnt have time to go up into the towers (which also cost money) but my camera had a super zoom and I got some good pics of the gargoyles. we also didnt go into the archaeological crypt which would have been awesome... but I was traveling with people and we all had to make compromises, it just means I'll have to come back! We then took the metro to the Eiffel Tower and walked down the great lawn in front of the tower. It was breathtaking. We got on a really long line and went up to the top!!! I took video on my camera of the ride up.... its like a roller coaster! It was soooo tall. We were there at the right time of day, because we got to see the sunset on the top of the Eiffel Tower! It was great! We went down when it got cold and went to dinner. I had another good French salad.... the best part of France is the foooood! especially compared to England's food. We then took the metro back to les halles and my suggestion to have our desert be wine and cheese was the best idea of the day! It was fantastic to be sitting in a cafe in Paris, enjoying French wine and cheese. It was awesome! But we were so exhausted on top of tipsy and we took the metro home! Another amazing and packed day!