Day 053 | When in Rome.

I wasn't exactly in Rome, but it was close enough.

From Turkey, we headed to Prague in the Czech Republic where we were expecting to meet up with a few of the girls studying in Rome. They weren't arriving for another couple of days so we decided to head to the palace in the morning and do a bit of sightseeing and derive-ing. The morning the girls were to arrive, we thought we'd get an early start and hit up some sights before they arrived so we could meet them back at the hostel. We were sitting in the breakfast room eating our strangely textured cornflakes when we hear someone say "Oh... people I know." We all look up and Matt Harenchar was standing there. It took a few seconds for us to realize it was him. Apparently he was there with Dean and Ryan and they had sent him down to see if we were there. A few minutes later, the other boys show up and after a little catch up talk, we agree to meet back at the hostel later that afternoon to get together with the girls. 

I totally forgot to mention our roommate -- of course in a hostel, you risk sharing a room with a complete stranger. We walked into the room the first day and was a little skeptical about who this mystery guy was. He had army colored clothes laid out on his bed and we could only assume what kind of guy he was. Turns out he was a pretty cool guy. A fellow photographer, I might add. We invited him to have dinner with us and we ended up hanging out with him the rest of the trip. 

So back to the first night with the Rome kids...

I think speaking for all of us, we made up for having neither the time nor energy to go out in Turkey. Also, from the moment we met up with the other boys, the rest of the trip became a blur. We took the most amazing tour of my life -- the Staropramen Beer Factory. But besides that, I highly recommend the venison sausage dogs and the sugar swirly rolls in the Old Town Square. 

Day 050 | Almost Asia

I'm going a little out of order, but don't worry about that.

The day was February 27th, an early Friday morning at 5:30am. Jenna, Mauricio and I headed into Plaza Universitat to catch a cab to meet Mootz and Scottski at the terminal. We arrive at the airport and Mootz and Scottski had already been there for thirty minutes. We checked in, found the gate, ate some breakfast, and flew to Istanbul. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until Jenna realized she didn't have a bag. Like a good sport, she kept on trucking and we headed to the hostel in our own private van.

We got into the hostel around 16:00 and decided to take it easy. Our hostel was in an awesome location, just at the base of the Blue Mosque. We walked around for a bit and headed toward the Grand Bazaar. That market was riveting. Searching for the perfect souvenir and bargaining your brains out was thrilling, yet stressful at the same time. To relieve some of that stress, we decided to embrace the culture and get a traditional Turkish bath. It was quite an experience, and almost a turning point in the trip even if it was only the first day. On the way home, we made a friend while shopping for a scarf for my mother. He gave us the low down on the city and invited us to share some a little bit of shisha and go dancing with him.

The next couple of days were the most jam-packed site-seeing days of my life. We saw the Tokapi Palaca, Ayasofya, Basilica Cistern, Blue Mosque during prayer time, the Million Stone, a ferry ride to Asia, tried everywhich way possible to get onto the fourth largest suspension bridge in the world to walk to Asia, walked back to pass the other palace to get to the Istanbul Modern museum, and walked back across the bridge to go to the Spice Bazaar, only to go back over the bridge to see the tower, and walk the lively street, Iskital, all the way up to Taksim, and walk back down because we passed 360. But we couldn't find 360 so we walked back and forth a few hundred times to finally find it and walk up eight flights of stairs and sit and a one drink because the place is so expensive, and then finally headed back all the way back across the bridge and through the town back by Ayasofya and the Blue Mosque to our hostel. It was a long two days.

On a lighter note, let's not forget to mention the amazing cuisine this country offers. I think I went to heaven everytime I took a bite out of every meal I ate. My favorite, by far, was at the restaurant Turquoise, just down the street from our hostel. It was a bit of a splurge, but well worth it. I ordered the Sac Kamura, which was lamb, okra, shallots, some other vegetables and an incredibly delicious sauce to top it off, served on a hot plate. Jenna and I shared a glass of Raki, which is a local spirit, similar to anice, that they usually mix with water to create a cloudy white looking beverage. Definitely not my first choice, but it was worth trying. We also stopped by a little shop to raid them of all their pastries.  

I'd say it was good beginning.

And Prague-- well, that's an entirely different story...

Day 063 | Rivers

In Bilbao and Girona, the river is used extensively by the residents, however, the way in which they are used is very different. In Bilbao, most people walk along the riverside and make use of the large spaces designed for benches, playgrounds and what not. It is very successful because it encourages community interaction. The river is Girona is very different because people mainly use the river to cross over from one side to the other. The building along the water are also turned in the other direction with their backs to the water, creating a defined edge. Unfortunately, I ran out of time to walk around the city so I'm not really sure how well that works out for everyone.

Day 030 | Ensanche + Exiample

The field trip to Andalucia has really allowed me to understand the scales of many different cities in the short time period of one week. Starting in Madrid was nice because coming directly from Barcelona, it allowed us to see the difference and similarities between the two cities. The Salamanca district designed by Castro gave the same feeling as the Cerda blocks. I liked the Salamanca blocks a little more becuase even though Cerda chamfered the corners of every block to open up the space, Castro added a little bit of green to the intersections. 

Day 039 | Field Trip 1.0 Andalucia

08 Feb 2009

IMAGE TO BE SCANNED

Plaza Mayor

Madrid, Spain

Reina Sofia

Madrid, Spain

Caixa Forum

Madrid, Spain

09 Feb 2009

Cordoba Bridge

Cordoba, Spain

10 Feb 2009

Mezquite de Cordoba

Cordoba, Spain

View from the Mirador

Gypsy Quarter, Granada, Spain

11 Feb 2009

Jardines

La Alhambra, Spain

View from the Generalife

La Alhambra, Spain

View from the Generalife

La Alhambra, Spain

12 Feb 2009

Cathedral of Seville

Seville, Spain

13 Feb 2009

Water and Gardens in the Alcazar

Seville, Spain

Watercolor in the Alcazar

Seville, Spain

14 Feb 2009

Derive Bus Sketch to Merida, Spain

Roman Circuit Power Sketches

Merida, Spain

Museo Nacional de Arte Romano

Rafael Moneo

Merida, Spain

15 Feb 2009

Derive Bus Sketch to Madrid, Spain

Day 024 | A derive through the Eixample.

There's no messing around when it comes to getting a project done. I successfully completed my first project with plenty time to grocery shop, do other homework, and hang out with the dog. 

A few days back, when the weather was much nicer, I went on a little derive with Jenna and Mauricio. We started at the ice cream shop, of course, and moved along Gran Via to Passeig de Gracia, all the way up to Diagonal, and then some. We wandered the streets admiring and criticizing the various styles of architecture in the city. As the sun began to go down, we kept running into things, places, or spaces that kept us from turning back. After stumbling upon a playground and seeing Jenna and Mauricio almost die on the creaking swing set, we decided it was probably time to head home. After what seemed like miles of area covered by our meandering, we mapped out our route of travel and it appeared that we had only walked a small portion of the Eixample (Catalan for "extension").

The rest of the week went pretty smoothly. No complaints there. 

A few words of advice: Don't get the "Alex" from Chupitos. It's a disgrace to the name.

Happy 8th birthday Milo.

Placa Virreina

Sant Joan

Day 017 | Rough Ends

Week 2 definitely had its ups and downs.

In a nutshell, we lost all power in our studio, some kids got mugged and violently handled, studio curfew moved down to 19:30 until we get a security guard, our apartment almost blew away in the wind, and I think I broke our washing machine... again.

On a lighter note, I've decided to tackle the tricks and trades of skateboarding with my newest instructor, Mike Mastriano, or purchase a pair or roller blades with Mike Iskandar. And even better, I've fallen back in love with my pencil.

Below are the beginnings of my sketchbook that cost way more than any sketchbook should ever cost.

MACBA_in one line.

MACBA_elevation in one line.

MACBA_axon.

PICASSOMUSEUM_sequence of space.

SANTA MARIA DEL MAR_section perspective.

Later turkeys.

Day 001 | Flight + Arrival

Friday 09 January 2009

After a spontaneous run of Red Lobster cheesy bread, nose piercings and being kidnapped by Candice, Jonathan and Robert, I finally made it home to finish packing. With only two hours of sleep, I left my house at  5am to catch my 7:50am flight which ended up being delayed for a good twenty minutes. A six-hour turbulence-filled plane ride brought me to the Big Apple. I lucked out and didn't have to walk to a different gate for my flight to Barcelona. I sat down, turned on my computer, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see some guy sitting maybe ten feet in front of me trying to get my attention. After ignoring him, he approached me asking to borrow my computer to send a quick email. Being the kind soul that I am, I let him do his business and continued to have a very intriguing conversation with this perfect stranger. We parted ways and boarded the plane.

Business class with the most awesome flight attendant was definitely the way to go. We arrived ahead of schedule and ventures off to find the horse statue where we would meet the others from our group. After waiting for almost two hours, we finally decide to leave them behind and take a taxi to studio. We ended up getting a flat tire due to the weight of our bags and therefore had to unload the car and stand in the rain while the driver fixed his wheel. We finally made it to studio and turns out my flatmates had left us at the airport and were already in the apartment.

After unpacking a bit and settling in, we venture off into the city to find a vodafone store and grocery store. After circling a few blocks multiple times, we finally found a store and made our first purchases as residents of Spain. Next we headed to the grocery store, which to my surprise, felt like home. On one shelf were packets and packets of Pancit Canton and jars of bagoong and ube. There were even customers speaking tagalog. Who woulda thunk.

Later turkies.