Top Ten

Before I headed out the door today I put on my trusty Reefs. These are the flip flops I purchased (actually I'm pretty sure my parents footed that bill) for Study Abroad last year. I wore them through rain, I wore them to hike up the island of Capri, I wore them on Paul's rocky hill off the Acropolis hill, I wore them with skirts, with jeans,with shorts, I wore them while looking at the work of grand masters and while exploring iconic European architecture. They never once let me down or left me with sore feet so it is only appropriate that I wore them today. One year ago today I left for my grand adventure. I have compiled a list of some of my favorite memories:
1. The Acropolis, Athens Greece. The architectural icon, in all its glory was enough to move me to tears. Had I not been experiencing a mild form of shock, I would have taken more pictures than I did. It was remarkable to walk on such an important sight and was a realization of one of my life's dreams.

2. Piazza San Marco, Venice Italy. We took a walk through the city and ended up at the main square on our very first afternoon in town. It was a place I instantly fell in love with....despite a ridiculous and constant swarm of pigeons. One of my most comical memories is of the time a smaller group of us were taking pictures in the piazza and we watched a pigeon land on a man's backpack. At first we thought it funny simply because the man was unaware of the pesky pigeon's presence, then we had to laugh because the pigeon pooped on him. The man discovered the visitor when it stepped onto his shoulder and he turned his head to face it! He was slightly irked when he caught sight of us laughing at his expense! Basically I love this piazza. We walked to it every day and night (45 minutes each way) and spent time listening to the competing live orchestras at the upscale restaurants whilst coming up with our signature killer dance moves.

3. The Blue Grotto, Capri Italy. I won't recount my irrational "we're going to die" anecdote but I will say that this short trip around the island to the cave was breathtaking. The speedboat driver's leathery skin was not so breathtaking, but the view and the beautiful blue water were incredible.


4. The Louvre, Paris France/The Vatican Museums, Vatican City, Italy. I do not remember how long we spent in The Vatican Museums but I know our time in the Louvre neared ten consecutive hours. These museums house two of the world's most incredible collections, their hallways stretch on for miles and miles. Wandering the grand galleries of these historic establishments was so enriching and fulfilling as an Art Historian. I could have stayed longer and seen more but I could not say enough about all I did see. The pinnacle for me was seeing the premier collection of classical sculpture such as the Apollo Belvedere, the Laocoon, and the Belvedere Torso. At the Louvre, I think there were far too many moments where I felt overcome by paintings to recall a select few that stood out to me.

5. Giolitti's Gelateria , Rome Italy. Best gelato in the city, enough said. Well maybe I'll add a bit. This gelateria had a bit of an old fashioned feel to it. Employees wore striped vests, the atmosphere was pure chaos at times because of the sheer number of patrons. Needless to say, we walked there every day at least once! My favorite combo was white chocolate, rasberry and milk chocolate. They have made their mark in the Western Hemisphere when they opened a NYC location!

6. Me Time, Madrid Spain. I'm not going to lie, once or twice I got tired of being constantly surrounded by girls. I love, love, love the girls that I met and became friends with but on one particular day in Madrid, I did not mind accidentally getting separated from the group. I would also like to add that I was never lost or left behind from our group for the duration of the trip....not everyone could say that. On the day we visited the Prado I wanted to spend a little extra time going through some of the galleries and as a result I was unable to meet back up with a few of my friends as planned. After wandering for a bit within the musuem I could not find them so I made my purchases at the gift store and left the musuem. I decided to walk back to another art museum to purchase something I had not been able to the day before. I got some lunch, picked up a few souvenirs and began making my way to the metro. On my way I ran into Brianna and her parents. I scored a ride back to the hotel with them. She was glad to see me because someone had called her looking for me and a few people began to worry. It worked out perfectly really, I knew my way around, I used my Spanish effectively to make the purchases and order my lunch and enjoyed a bit of down time to myself!

7. Versailles & Le Petit Trianon, Versailles France. If I could I would walk through the gardens of this luxurious palace every Sunday afternoon. I loved touring Versailles and taking in the brocade walls and hall of mirrors. After experiencing the palace and a small portion of the gardens. Caroline, Mollie, and I made our own trip back to Versailles one Sunday afternoon to visit Marie Antoinette's personal estate which includes classical cupolas, perfectly manicured gardens, windy trails, a farming village, a couple of small residences and one with a scaled back replica of the main hall of mirrors. To walk around was absolutely enchanting, in spite of a nagging bladder for the majority of the time. I could have easily lived in such a style myself back in the day.

8. The National Archaeological Museum, Athens Greece. This was the first museum we went to and what a way to start off! I was beyond thrilled to be visiting a museum that had so much personal meaning and relevance to my work and my family. My great grandfather was a prominant archaeologist for the University of Athens and contributed to some of the finds featured in this musuem. In addition to that connection, I researched and wrote my senior thesis on a death mask which is one of the crowning jewels of this particular connection. I was quite moved to be amongst these pieces that I have such a passion for in my school studies.

9. Gondola Ride, Venice Italy. I think in general we have a very romantic notion of handsome men in stripy shirts, serenly rowing the vessel along, perhaps even singing some melodic Italian tune. Well our gondolier was a far cry from any of these things except for the stripy shirt. He was a Casanova type who made us all a bit squeamish, we asked him if he sang and he blurted out a few terrible sounding notes. He did however safely manuever our gondola and told us "stories" as we took a night time ride under the Rialto and through the canals of Venice. We found out the next day from our fellow study abroaders that we were terribly ripped off but at least we had six of us to split the exorbatant price between. Despite all of that, it was a lot of fun. We shared some good laughs and close quarters in that gondola!

10. New Friends, Greece-Italy-Spain-France-England-Provo. I was lucky enough to enjoy the company of five other really great girls. We got to know the ins and outs of each other fairly well. I enjoyed the constant company and energy of some people I may have otherwise never met. Thankfully we get to enjoy those same associations from time to time here in Provo. We wear different clothes and don't share hotel rooms anymore but I love these girls and am so glad we shared this great adventure together!