Some WAY ATF blogging….this is a picture of a water supply cover in Genova, Italy. The company that makes these is Fonderie Silvestri. I started seeing them everywhere! They make the covers that go over storm drains and stuff too I guess. I just thought it was cool to see the Family name.
Epic Slowmo (by msw184)
This is a video my friend Mark made. He has a camera with a slow motion setting on it, and as we traveled around Italy he took several slow motion videos and he put them together in this montage. The music he put with it is perfect. This is just another piece of evidence documenting our epic adventure…just in slomo…for dramatic effect. Thank you Mark for another awesome video.
Fun times in Italy.m4v (by msw184)
SUMMER TIME FUN IN ITALY!!!!
A friend of mine that I traveled with this summer made this little video! It really brought a smile to my face and made me want to go back. Honestly, the people I got to travel with this summer were so awesome. I had such a good time! I’m really glad that I met them and create such amazing memories.
Dawg Pound Rock at the Leaning Tower of Pisa (by judeo18)
I believe I shared this once on my fb account but I decided it would be a nice throw back on the ole atf travel blog…we did the dawg pound rock again on the roof of our villa but that video hasn’t surfaced yet
So you’re not supposed to take pictures in the Sistine chapel…but I was a ninja (a pretty terrible one) and took a few pictures with my phone. I was scared to try an take a better picture because the Italian guards in there were pretty intimidating…for what its worth though it was a bit disrespectful of me to take the picture. I just couldn’t help myself. The paintings on the ceiling were absolutely amazing (obviously), but the experience of being there was a bit exhausting. The chapel isn’t that big and there were hundreds if people in there crowded in thick masses. It was impossible to really enjoy the paintings because you were constantly being shoved around and all the tour guides were chattering in italian and waving around sticks with flags on them. Asian tourists some how managed to snake around all over the place like little camera bugs…which is quite a spectacle. Every 4 minutes or so the hushed whispers turned in to gentle roars and the scary Italian guards would simultaneously silence the crowd. It was pretty hot in there too because there were so many people. Needless to say, it wasn’t the reflective awe inspiring moment I had hoped for, but it was really exciting to finally see the ceiling that I’ve studied and read about for so many years.
Since I did such a miserable job blogging while I was traveling…I decided that I should blog after the fact. I have a lot more time on my hands now and I want to record my memories a little better than I did. It’s a little weird being back home and not having an agenda. I got so used to running around and doing stuff constantly and Mississippi life is just cruise control. I’m not complaining at all its quite lovely, but it’s a bit of an adjustment.
I am obviously not the blogging sort. Blogging is a serious commitment! I did want to have one post about my lovely time in Nova Scotia though. I spent the week in Lunenburg with amazing architects! It was an experience of a life time! I am so grateful to have been a participant of Ghost 13. Especially because it’s likely this is the last Ghost lab. It was certainly an epic finish to Brian Mackay-Lyons’s tradition. Brian has for several years hosted a design build program called Ghost Lab where students, teachers, and professionals come together and collaborate on a design and then build the structure on Brian’s beautiful land. This year instead of the design build he had a conference to discuss the nature of design build for the future with the discussions focusing in place, craft, and community. All the speakers had such compelling work and insightful dialogue to share with the group. It was an amazing experience! I had the chance to spend a lot of time talking to Glenn Murcutt and it was wonderful! I am still awe struck by the whole event. I wish it didn’t have to end.
So I am currently in Paris and it is wonderful! I caught a train this morning at St Pancras by Kings cross at 6:50am and arrived in Paris two hours later. The train ride was nice but I was so cold! Any way my train brought me into Paris Nor station which was a bit intimidating for me because the moment I got off the train it was like a swarm of French speaking madness! I think 6 gypsies bombarded me almost instantly…I understand now why no one cares for them haha! On a side note…Parisian hobos smell every bit as gross as a NY hobo and they are just as abundant. My initial impression on Paris was that it was huge because the metro map seems so crazy but it is actually really simple to figure out. Honestly I can’t imagine being okay here right now without the experience of living in NY. I haven’t felt unsafe or worried yet. My host in Paris is great! His english is really good and he literally gave me a whirlwind tour of Paris today to help me understand where I need to go. I’m extremely exhausted though because I didn’t sleep last night because I was so worried about missing my train! I can’t wait for tomorrow!!!
I am sitting through my first layover in Miami. It’s actually the longest layover I’ve ever had. I’m sure I’ll eat those words later. The flight from NOLA to here was really quick. The pilot joked around when we were taking off and said “thank you for choosing American Air this is a nonstop flight to Detroit…” i am pretty sure my heart stopped for a second. After we landed I went to a currency exchange station and gave them $500 and I got 350 euro. That hurt my feelings a little. The dollar got it’s butt stomped by the euro! My flight doesn’t leave till 6:25 so I’m sitting in a wine bar sipping some Cabernet and reading. Not so bad.
So the first strange thing I will embark upon this summer is CouchSurfing. People say couchsurfing all the time.
Question: “Hey where are you staying when you go to Starkville?”
Answer: “Well I’m not sure…I will probably just couchsurf…”
Typically, when one says they are couchsurfing, they are referring to the couches of well known friends.
Well I recently asked a friend where she would be staying while we were in London and Paris and she responded that she would be couchsurfing. Either she is globally popular (which I don’t doubt that she may be) or she is referring to a growing community of travelers that literally lend there couches, air mattresses, sleeping bags to couchsurfers. Naturally, my instinct was to google it. Sure enough there IS a growing community of travelers that literally lend there couches, air mattresses, sleeping bags to couchsurfers. If you go to couchsurfers.org you will see what it’s all about. It’s pretty cool. So I decided I wanted to experience this phenomena and couchsurf too. I have confirmed hosts in London and Paris. I’m actually really excited. My hosts seem like they are friendly and they are willing to show me around the city. My host in Paris was even helping me look up flights and train tickets on French websites to help me save money! This whole thing has really lifted my spirits about the nature of people. I’ve recently come to believe that you can’t trust anyone, but these total strangers were excited for my travels and supportive of my adventure. It makes me smile to think that people may not be so bad. I hope this experience is as positive as I think it will be.
