martedì 28 giugno 2011
UC Berkeley, UC Davis, Sacramento: An Unusual Monday!
coming up so, I'm just very tired right now and the only thing that I can see is my pillow. Haha. Gnite World!
lunedì 27 giugno 2011
Santa Cruz: The House of Rising Sun!
Sooo Friday it was a great day spent with two great people, my friends Michelle and Vinh.
The plan was to leave San Mateo (yes, readers, I'm leaving in San Mateo with Michelle for the summer! Bless her little heart!) around 1.30pm to get to Vinh's house (San Jose) at 2.15, so that we'd have reached Santa Cruz around3.15...
Well Vinh was a little late......but yeah, we made it at the end!
The day was awesome and the drive to Santa Cruz was incredibly nice. Once we arrived there we enjoyed the last sun and listen to the concert of The Animals...yes, THE ANIMALS! "There is...a house...in New Orleans...The Houseeee of Riiiising Sun..."! I couldn't believe it was actually them, so cool! Afterwards, Vinh and I left to go enjoy the attractions (see picture haha) and Michelle got frozen on the beach. Bless her little heart! ;)
After the concert and some time spent on the beach, we headed to downtown Santa Cruz to eat pizza - again - while talking with British accents - again! too much fun:) The pizza was yummy, so delicious. Downtown was sooo nice, not too cold, not too warm. We ended up in a second-hand bookstore - which I loved. I bought a couple of books about films - obviously - and after that we headed back home. Such a great day, I won't forget it!
The plan was to leave San Mateo (yes, readers, I'm leaving in San Mateo with Michelle for the summer! Bless her little heart!) around 1.30pm to get to Vinh's house (San Jose) at 2.15, so that we'd have reached Santa Cruz around3.15...
Well Vinh was a little late......but yeah, we made it at the end!
After the concert and some time spent on the beach, we headed to downtown Santa Cruz to eat pizza - again - while talking with British accents - again! too much fun:) The pizza was yummy, so delicious. Downtown was sooo nice, not too cold, not too warm. We ended up in a second-hand bookstore - which I loved. I bought a couple of books about films - obviously - and after that we headed back home. Such a great day, I won't forget it!
lunedì 6 giugno 2011
San Francisco: The Discovery of MoMa!
Today Michelle and I took the whole day to enjoy San Francisco and one of the best things the city can offer: Art exposition at the SFMoMa! The exposition that we got to see was the incredible Stein's collection.You may want to read something more about Gertrude Stein, she was the one that mostly invested on the collection, with the help of her brother Leo Stein.
We got to the city around 12ish and we parket right next to the museum. We paid our ticket and we saw one of the best expositions I've personally ever seen! The Parisian Avant Garde was the main topic, and Matisse and Van Gogh were the main artists.
Given that I love cubism and expressionism, I felt chills when I got to see their pieces of art. Especially when I saw "Femme au chapeau" (Woman with a hat) by Matisse, wow, it was like a dream coming true! Being able to see right in front of you the paintings that you've studied for many years is simply inexplicable!Related article here.
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| Galloping Horse, Muybridge 1878 |
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| Personal Values, Magritte 1952 |
Dali' was there too, but Magritte will always be my favorite painter, not only for the fact that he was the father of Belgian Surrealism, but especially for his creative view of life - and his different ways to portray it. You may not know what something means, but your interpretation still won't be wrong. Certainly this can be applied to most of the Avangards, but I particularly feel it for Surrealism.
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| Fountain, Marcel Duchamp 1917 |
Oh, and how could I forget this! Even Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain" was there! Pretty interesting experience ;)
After a complete visit of the museum, Michelle and I went for a meal at Ferrari's, and then headed to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a windy day, nothing better to wear some flowers in our head...:)
C.
lunedì 2 maggio 2011
The Fabulous Las Vegas: We Survived!
After three days of intense partying, dancing, boobies, butts, and drinks...we are safe back to the Bay Area:)
The weekend was awesome, Vegas is something that goes over and beyond any kind of imagination. With this I don't mean that it's an awesome place where I' love to live and raise kids (obviously-.-), but a place where everything - and I mean EVERYTHING - can happen. In good..and in bad!
So, everyday (day time) we went visiting and enjoying the strip and the different casinos. We visited the Luxor, and there we also took an awesome anduseless unusual video of us flying over Vegas on a magic carpet (something like this ;))
The whole afternoon was spent around the Strip, and around 5ish we went back to the hotel to get ready for the night...;)
That night we went to celebrate my birthday with a yummy buffet at the Luxor; after eating like porks we headed to the LAX to get free drinks (for girls ahha ;)). Quite soon it got really overcrowded though, so we decided to change location. We moved to the Cathouse, and that was definitely awesome! Many people there were there, but much more space as well. We danced on the tables and admired perfect butts. Haha.
Around 3am we decided to head back to the hotel, the next day would have been another great one :)
On the second day, Josh and I went to visit his grandparents (who live on one of the Vegas' hills) for a while. We ate something together and talked about our crazy journey. They were so nice! Afterwards we met up with the others on the Strip. We went visit the Cosmopolitan (totally go see it if you want to see the stereotypical Vegas life, swimmingpools, beautiful women and men, money and waste. Also, go enjoy your night at Marquee if you have the chance. It's supposed to be crazy. And f***ing expensive. At least for us, poor university students. Haha -.-)
For the night we kept in touch with a promoter of Tao, a nightclub based in the Venetian. That was AWESOME. Not to sound like a weirdo, but it was full of half naked beautiful women (taking a bath...Haha. For a while i wished my boyfriend was blind. Haha O_O) and the atmosphere was totally sexy. Totally Vegas. Sex, drugs and rock'n'roll. Waw O_O
(Just a quick thought about it: I really don't know if something like that could exist in Europe. Not the nightclub itself, but a WHOLE CITY like that. As I see it, people would get crazy if some kind of Vegasland was created somewhere in Europe. You may argue that Amsterdam, London, maybe even Milan, have something in common with that. But it doesn't, believe me. Especially in terms of money. I've never seen so much money at the same time in the same place. So much of "everything". And legal. Money, Amusement, Prostitution, Lights, Alcohol, and probably Drugs. People would get crazy, I strongly believe that.)
Anyways, after a great night spend in and out from Tao, we headed back home around 4ish I believe.
Some sober, some not :P
The following day was mostly a day to recover from the previous night, so the evening was pretty chill and spent around the city. We went to the Bellagio (set of several movies: Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Thirteen, The Hangover...;)), enjoyed the shops and all the lights around us:)
We headed back pretty early (around1am probably). We scheduled to wake up at 7am, go enjoy the Strip for the last time (believe me, you would never stop walking along it!) and to leave the city around 12pm. That way we would have made it back to the Bay by 11pm.
..And so the last day arrived, and it's when I had to say goodbye to my friends Isa and Elisa:) They'd have taken a bus from LV to SF, reasy to fly back to Italy the day after. Wawww many tears!
My crew and I went for another couple of things before leaving the city: unmissable picture in front of the Vegas sign, and Wedding Chapels! Josh and I (well...mainly because of ME) wanted to take some pictures in front of them (yeah...not inside..yet. Haha). We ended up visiting a couple of them, and we stopped by the the Little White Wedding Chapel (which is supposedly the most famous one). There are many of them, but you gotta go to the "Old Town Vegas" to find them. Fremont Street is very cool, I wish we could have spent a little more time over there.
Well, after all this...what to say: Vegas is great!!! So glad I turned 21 in such a crazy city, it's definitely something that I will never forget!
C.
The weekend was awesome, Vegas is something that goes over and beyond any kind of imagination. With this I don't mean that it's an awesome place where I' love to live and raise kids (obviously-.-), but a place where everything - and I mean EVERYTHING - can happen. In good..and in bad!
So, everyday (day time) we went visiting and enjoying the strip and the different casinos. We visited the Luxor, and there we also took an awesome and
The whole afternoon was spent around the Strip, and around 5ish we went back to the hotel to get ready for the night...;)
That night we went to celebrate my birthday with a yummy buffet at the Luxor; after eating like porks we headed to the LAX to get free drinks (for girls ahha ;)). Quite soon it got really overcrowded though, so we decided to change location. We moved to the Cathouse, and that was definitely awesome! Many people there were there, but much more space as well. We danced on the tables and admired perfect butts. Haha.
Around 3am we decided to head back to the hotel, the next day would have been another great one :)
On the second day, Josh and I went to visit his grandparents (who live on one of the Vegas' hills) for a while. We ate something together and talked about our crazy journey. They were so nice! Afterwards we met up with the others on the Strip. We went visit the Cosmopolitan (totally go see it if you want to see the stereotypical Vegas life, swimmingpools, beautiful women and men, money and waste. Also, go enjoy your night at Marquee if you have the chance. It's supposed to be crazy. And f***ing expensive. At least for us, poor university students. Haha -.-)
For the night we kept in touch with a promoter of Tao, a nightclub based in the Venetian. That was AWESOME. Not to sound like a weirdo, but it was full of half naked beautiful women (taking a bath...Haha. For a while i wished my boyfriend was blind. Haha O_O) and the atmosphere was totally sexy. Totally Vegas. Sex, drugs and rock'n'roll. Waw O_O
(Just a quick thought about it: I really don't know if something like that could exist in Europe. Not the nightclub itself, but a WHOLE CITY like that. As I see it, people would get crazy if some kind of Vegasland was created somewhere in Europe. You may argue that Amsterdam, London, maybe even Milan, have something in common with that. But it doesn't, believe me. Especially in terms of money. I've never seen so much money at the same time in the same place. So much of "everything". And legal. Money, Amusement, Prostitution, Lights, Alcohol, and probably Drugs. People would get crazy, I strongly believe that.)
Anyways, after a great night spend in and out from Tao, we headed back home around 4ish I believe.
Some sober, some not :P
The following day was mostly a day to recover from the previous night, so the evening was pretty chill and spent around the city. We went to the Bellagio (set of several movies: Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Thirteen, The Hangover...;)), enjoyed the shops and all the lights around us:)
We headed back pretty early (around1am probably). We scheduled to wake up at 7am, go enjoy the Strip for the last time (believe me, you would never stop walking along it!) and to leave the city around 12pm. That way we would have made it back to the Bay by 11pm.
..And so the last day arrived, and it's when I had to say goodbye to my friends Isa and Elisa:) They'd have taken a bus from LV to SF, reasy to fly back to Italy the day after. Wawww many tears!
My crew and I went for another couple of things before leaving the city: unmissable picture in front of the Vegas sign, and Wedding Chapels! Josh and I (well...mainly because of ME) wanted to take some pictures in front of them (yeah...not inside..yet. Haha). We ended up visiting a couple of them, and we stopped by the the Little White Wedding Chapel (which is supposedly the most famous one). There are many of them, but you gotta go to the "Old Town Vegas" to find them. Fremont Street is very cool, I wish we could have spent a little more time over there.
Well, after all this...what to say: Vegas is great!!! So glad I turned 21 in such a crazy city, it's definitely something that I will never forget!
C.
sabato 30 aprile 2011
Las Vegas: My 21st Birthday in Sin City..!
It doesn't happen every day to hear "Last weekend? I was in Vegas...". And if I think that I am here right now, with the only intent to celebrate my 21st birthday....WAHHHH!!I SOUNDS AWESOME!
My crew and I left San Jose last night (April 29th) and got here early this morning. We rested for a wee while, and now we are ready to go explore this incredible (outrageous, unbelievable, incredible, rich and so on) city and what it has to offer. Umm. Yeah. Sounds nasty.
Next stops: The Strip, New York New York, Monte Carlo, Bellagio, the Parisian, the Venetian, The Cosmopolitan, Cesar's palace...and Chippendales maybe? ;) ahah!
...I'll see you in three days, hopefully we won't wake up in a room with a tiger and a whining kid ;)
C.
My crew and I left San Jose last night (April 29th) and got here early this morning. We rested for a wee while, and now we are ready to go explore this incredible (outrageous, unbelievable, incredible, rich and so on) city and what it has to offer. Umm. Yeah. Sounds nasty.
Next stops: The Strip, New York New York, Monte Carlo, Bellagio, the Parisian, the Venetian, The Cosmopolitan, Cesar's palace...and Chippendales maybe? ;) ahah!
...I'll see you in three days, hopefully we won't wake up in a room with a tiger and a whining kid ;)
C.
lunedì 25 aprile 2011
My Video To Promote Study Abroad :)
This is a video that I've created for a visual communication class. I decided to focus on a topic that I consider really important for me, which is Studying Abroad. I chose ISEP as my organization, since it's the one that allowed me to come here in the U.S.
Useless to say how grateful I am.
Study Abroad, if you don't do it now, WHEN!?? :D
Hope you'll enjoy :)
*** WATCH ME! ***
C.
Useless to say how grateful I am.
Study Abroad, if you don't do it now, WHEN!?? :D
Hope you'll enjoy :)
*** WATCH ME! ***
C.
Day 3: Yosemite National Park and Long Hike Up to Yosemite Falls!
After an entertaining night (thanks Nizar for the show...jeez, I've never heard anything similar to that in my whole life O_O Snoring, farting...jeez, welcome to the guys' floor O_O ), we finally got up and had a really good breakfast.
We left the cabin around 9.30 (and guess what.....WE WERE 2 HOURS LATE!dahha) and we headed to the entrance of the Yosemite Park.
The weather was extremely foggy and cloudy, really low temperature and annoying drizzle...arrrgh.
After about an hour though, it improved. There was a kind of "sun" keeping us "warm". We saw the Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls (check this out: http://geoimages.berkeley.edu/Waterfalls/YosemiteWaterfalls.html ) and...yeah, the plan was to hike to the Top of Yosemite Falls.
Seriously.
NEVER AGAIN.
Dahahha no okay, I'm kidding. It was actually one of the most amazing experiences ever.
Just an advice, if you'll ever do it: DON'T DO IT WITH THREE ATHLETES, as long as you're not one of them O_O
Isabella, Elisa and I were literally dying while trying to keep up with those three Gods. Hahah.
The hike took about 6 hours round-trip, and during the last 45 minutes the thing go really difficult: Hiking through the snow with flat Converse IS NOT THE BEST (and most clever, I know) THING IN THE WORLD.
...But the effort was worth it! The view was amazing, and so was the satisfaction cos we made it:)
After enjoying the scenery for a while, we headed back ( I wanted to cry knowing that we had to do the same way backward O_O).
The return was quicker, and when we arrived to the car the immediately left to San Jose, because our rental car was due at midnight.
It was definitely a great experience, moving from two completely opposite places in less than 36 hours is totally something that you want to do at least once in life! Dry Desert v. Rainy Forest....aww, AWESOME!
C.
Day 2: From The Boiling Hot to the Cool Snow
Alright so...Day 2.
AS USUAL, we left late. Damn schedule.
After rising Ali from the dead (we found him in this position - see picture), we slowly went back on the road - with the GPS set on Yosemite National Park as our final destination.
The driving from Death Valley to Yosemite was nice, we got to see some very good-looking sceneries.
After nine hours on the road, we finally arrived to the cabin where we'd have spent the night.
Everybody from the I-House was there, and it was pretty nice to meet them. We spent the night eating, chatting, rosting smores, and drinking (again, NO, DAD, not me) on the pier.
It's hilarious what can come out form certain discussions among international people when everybody's a bit buzzed...humm..."happy" hah.
Once I finally lied on the bed, I fell asleep in 0.2 sec :)
C.
AS USUAL, we left late. Damn schedule.
After rising Ali from the dead (we found him in this position - see picture), we slowly went back on the road - with the GPS set on Yosemite National Park as our final destination.The driving from Death Valley to Yosemite was nice, we got to see some very good-looking sceneries.
After nine hours on the road, we finally arrived to the cabin where we'd have spent the night.
Everybody from the I-House was there, and it was pretty nice to meet them. We spent the night eating, chatting, rosting smores, and drinking (again, NO, DAD, not me) on the pier.
It's hilarious what can come out form certain discussions among international people when everybody's a bit buzzed...humm..."happy" hah.
Once I finally lied on the bed, I fell asleep in 0.2 sec :)
C.
Day 1: Death Valley, Deadly Amazing.
SOOO...What would you do if you knew that you were going to face a boiling day in Death Valley?
Buying beer, OF COURSE.
And this is exactly what my drunk group decided to do. You gotta survive in the desert, somehow! Haha.
So after breakfast (with beer) we headed to first see the sand dunes ( http://www.nps.gov/deva/naturescience/sand-dunes.htm ) , and that was AMAZING. And hella hot too O_O
Afterwards, we went to the camping site to make sure to have a place for the night - and the guys built an amazing tent, ready to be taken aways form the wind anytime-.- aahha no okay, I'm just kidding. It was great....
Then we went back on the road, heading to Dead Waters and the Devil's Golf Court O_O
http://digital-desert.com/death-valley-national-park/
http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/North_America/United_States_of_America/California/Death_Valley_National_Park-752056/Things_To_Do-Death_Valley_National_Park-Devils_Golf_Course-BR-3.html
It was so damn hot and I felt like passing out after a while!
..After a long day spent in the middle of the desert, we went back to a oasis that we previously saw. There, we had dinner, I discovered that my credit card had been locked (yes, they thought somebody stole it and used it in 33 different states in the USA...wahah...THAT WAS ME, HELL!-.-), chilled and talked for about an hour.
We went then back to the camping then - it was night already - and a loooong night began..
So there was me, Josh, Ali, Niza, Elisa, Isabella, Mr. Bacardi, Mr. Beers and Ms. Vodka. (lol Dad, don't worry, I was just watching. SERIOUSLY.)
After recalling for the whole night our friend Vilok (Vilok!Vilok!..it was a joke like Akuna Matata... I know it's weird, but I can explain if you want) and started stalking due to the alcohol level (again, NOT ME, DAD), I went to bed. Wrecked. Hhaha:)
[the details for the night are censored - just know that Elisa and Ali got lost in the camping site o_O]
...Ready for Day2!
C.
Buying beer, OF COURSE.
And this is exactly what my drunk group decided to do. You gotta survive in the desert, somehow! Haha.
So after breakfast (with beer) we headed to first see the sand dunes ( http://www.nps.gov/deva/naturescience/sand-dunes.htm ) , and that was AMAZING. And hella hot too O_O
Afterwards, we went to the camping site to make sure to have a place for the night - and the guys built an amazing tent, ready to be taken aways form the wind anytime-.- aahha no okay, I'm just kidding. It was great....
Then we went back on the road, heading to Dead Waters and the Devil's Golf Court O_O
http://digital-desert.com/death-valley-national-park/
http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/North_America/United_States_of_America/California/Death_Valley_National_Park-752056/Things_To_Do-Death_Valley_National_Park-Devils_Golf_Course-BR-3.html
It was so damn hot and I felt like passing out after a while!
..After a long day spent in the middle of the desert, we went back to a oasis that we previously saw. There, we had dinner, I discovered that my credit card had been locked (yes, they thought somebody stole it and used it in 33 different states in the USA...wahah...THAT WAS ME, HELL!-.-), chilled and talked for about an hour.
We went then back to the camping then - it was night already - and a loooong night began..
So there was me, Josh, Ali, Niza, Elisa, Isabella, Mr. Bacardi, Mr. Beers and Ms. Vodka. (lol Dad, don't worry, I was just watching. SERIOUSLY.)
After recalling for the whole night our friend Vilok (Vilok!Vilok!..it was a joke like Akuna Matata... I know it's weird, but I can explain if you want) and started stalking due to the alcohol level (again, NOT ME, DAD), I went to bed. Wrecked. Hhaha:)
[the details for the night are censored - just know that Elisa and Ali got lost in the camping site o_O]
...Ready for Day2!
C.
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