Week 12

On Monday, I had a field trip for my Drawing on Location class. We went to the Jago Museum. This museum is held in the Church of Sant'Asperno ai Crociferi located in Naples. This church was closed down until Jago reopened it to put his art on display. Now that it is reopened and many people pay to visit, it has opened up many jobs for locals. One of the famous sculptures being held there is called Pieta. It is a life size sculpture, that depictures a man kneeling down holding another lifeless body in his arms. The purpose of this work is to represent a moment of meditation and pain. It further demonstrates the pain a man can feel within a society that believes men should show no emotions. There were many other sculptures as well that were life size and contain fine details. Much of the art is a contemporary style symbolizing the good and bad within humanity. We spent a while in the Jago Museum and then headed back to Sorrento. That evening my friends and I went to get gelato at our favorite place, Raki.

The next day, I had a presentation for my Marine Biology class. I was presenting on Bugula Neritina, which is an aquatic invertebrate. I was able to connect my Marine Biology presentation to my research interest in cancer treatments. B. Neritina, produces a compound called Bryostatin-1. That compound is passed to each generation in B. Neritina, so it is easily extracted. Interestingly, Bryostatin-1 interacts with PKC singling pathways and inhibits signal transduction. Because of this, Bryostatin-1 is able to change the behavior and movement of cancer cells, making them act like normal cells again. Due to its anti-cancer effects, it is also being studied in organ transplant to prevent the white blood cells from attacking the new organ. It's also studied in trials to increase cognitive function in Alzheimer's patients. My presentation about B. Neritina went well, and I enjoyed connecting my research interest to my Marine Biology class. The next day, I had an Archeology field trip to the Mann Museum. This museum is one of the oldest and most important cultural institutions in the world. It contains many works and items that represent the richness and uniqueness of European heritage and cultural scene. There are extensive collections, and in just a few hours we didn't even see half of the museum. The collections are from Ancient Roma, Greece, Renaissance, and excavation sites throughout Italy. We spent most of our time in the Marbles, Mosaics, and the Secret Cabinet. The Secret Cabinet is the name the Bourbon Monarchy gave the private rooms in which there was an extensive collection of erotic or sexual items, mostly deriving from excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum. During the time this art was created, these images were not viewed as inappropriate, but as a part of life. Today these images are censored but during that period of time, it was quite normal. Any aspects of life, whether it be death, sex, or murder, was considered a part of life, and therefore it was considered okay to be displayed. The museum was very interesting, and I also enjoy learning about how various cultures and time periods effect the art. After a few hours in the museum, we all went out for pizza and then headed back to Sorrento. That night, Kathryn, Emily and I walked along the ocean and sat on one of the ledges and overlooked the water.

The next day we had our flight to Paris, France. We got into Paris late Thursday night, so we didn't do a whole lot of exploring. When we got to Paris we took the metro to our hostel and checked in. After we were all checked in, we headed out for dinner. So many places were closed since it was late, and we didn't want to get on the metro again, so we stopped at a small Italian restaurant for a quick meal, and went to bed. The next morning we started off the day at a French cafe called Maison Kitsune. Although it was early I still got a dessert with my meal. WHY NOT, I'M IN FRANCE! The dessert was 14 euros, but it was so worth it. I'm not sure what it was, but it was some sort of tart filled with a vanilla bean cream. For my actual breakfast I got french toast, which is so different from in the States. I usually don't like french toast because I don't like cinnamon, but I have heard it is so good in France. I got it and it was delicious. It didn't taste like cinnamon at all and it had some sort of greek yogurt sauce on top instead of maple syrup.

After breakfast, we went to the Louvre Museum, which was free for us since we are considered residents while on our VISA. The Louvre Museum was very beautiful, and contained a lot of art that was similar to that of the Uffizi. While we were there, we got to see many famous works of art, including the Mona Lisa. We spent a bit of time here, and then after we left and went back to the hostel. One of my friends, Kathryn, was sick so we brought her back some food. Luckily she was feeling better, so we then went to lunch. We had a reservation for a restaurant called Pink Mamma. It was so beautiful inside and out, and all the food was great.

After lunch, we went to see the Moulin Rouge which is located on Boulevard de Clichy. In the early years of the Moulin Rough, they would host extravagant shows which were inspired by the circus. Moulin Rouge is best known as the birthplaces of the modern can-can dance. After seeing the musicale in London, it was so beautiful to see the real Moulin Rouge. After the Moulin Rouge, we walked around that area for a bit and saw the Wall of Love located in Montmartre. The wall included the works "I love you" in 259 languages.

After enjoying the streets of Paris, we had a ticket to climb the Eiffel Tower, and it was about an hour away from where we were, so we headed that way. We arrived to the Eiffel Tower around 5PM, so we were able to see what it looked like during the daylight. We soon started climbing it, and got to the halfway point. We wanted to go to the very top, but when we booked our tickets that option was full. Even though we only went halfway, we could see over the whole city of Paris and we were up higher than any other buildings around. It was 674 steps that we climbed, and then you have to take the elevator to get to the summit for safety reasons. Every hours, for 5 minutes, the Eiffel Tower lights up. We got to see it at 7PM while we were on the 2nd floor. It was so beautiful to see and everyone was cheering. Even though I had never met some of the people around me, it was so cool to see people from all over the world cheer and be excited as we climbed the Eiffel Tower together. After the 1st "light show," we decided to head back down so we could see it again from the ground level. Once we descended, we walked back and found a bench within the grounds where we could see the whole Eiffel Tower and watched it light up again at 8PM.

After the Eiffel Tower we went to a nearby French restaurant. Our waiter was so kind and even brought us out some free fries. I ended up getting a Vegetarian Risotto which was so good. After eating we ended up ordering dessert as well and I got Creme Brulee, which is my favorite dessert! Everything was so good, and by the time we were finished, it was late, so we headed back to the hostel.

The next day we woke up early and headed to The Palace of Versailles. Palace of Versailles is a former royal residences that was used by many kings. When Louis XIV reigned, it was transformed into the extravagant complex we have today. Marie-Antoinette also had her living quarters there in lavish decorations. There are about 2,300 rooms in the palace, but some of the most famous are the Hall of Mirrors, King's State Apartment, The Royal Chapel, Marie-Antoinette's Private Chambers, The Queens Apartment, and the Royal Opera. These are just a few rooms that we saw, but there were many more! I loved the Palace of Versailles, and it was so beautiful to see. The decorations of Marie-Antoinette specifically were so pretty. She has a lot of green and pink pastel decorations with statements of gold. While we were at the palace we got to get the Laduree macrons, which are the original macarons and the most famous. They are very expensive, but I got 6 macrons. 3 of the flavors I have had before, but the other 3 were holiday specials. I got Raspberry, Chocolate, Caramel, Montelimar Nougat, Christmas Spice, and a Cookie Butter flavor.

We spent a few hours at Versailles, and then after that we went to lunch at a Cafe called Positive Cafe. It was a French style flexitarian restaurant. It got Vegetarian Pad Thai, which is always a favorite dish of mine. After lunch we walked around the streets for a bit until it was getting closer to the evening time. Once it got dark we went to Angelina's, which is famous for their signature hot chocolate. Their hot chocolate is composed with 3 different African cocoa from Niger, Ghana, and Cote d'lvoire. The line to get inside wrapped around the building since they don't take reservations, but they had a hot chocolate trolly outside where you could get Angelina's hot chocolate to-go. Although it wasn't the same experience as the dine-in option, it was still amazing! It was the best hot chocolate I have ever had. *I have always wanted to try the hot chocolate in the Polar Express, and this tasted exactly what I expect the polar express hot chocolate to taste like.* It was much thicker than normal hot chocolate, and although it was rich, it had a slight bitter taste as well. I can't even describe how good it was. We all got a cup and walked down the street where all the stores had their Christmas lights up. We were singing Christmas songs and just enjoying each other's company under the Christmas lights. After we had our drinks, we went shopping for a bit and I got a red dress and a fuzzy white and gold jacket! After shopping, we went and got a quick dinner before our boat tour. So many people told us to try the McDonald's in Paris, so we did. It was much nicer inside that the ones in the States, and the food was better as well. After we ate it was time for our boat tour on the Canal Saint-Martin and Seine River, near the Eiffel Tower.

The boat tour started at 9:00PM and lasted for about an hour or so. It was so beautiful to see the city at night from the Canal. I enjoyed just admiring the view with my friends. We were on the outside of the boat so we could have the best view, and it was definitely worth it. While on the boat, we ever got to see the Eiffel Tower light up again at 10:00PM. The boat cruise went from Parc de la Villette to the Musee d'Orsay, and everywhere you turned, there was a beautiful view to see. While on the tour we also saw a replica of the Statue of Liberty. It sits on the Southern end of Ile aux Cygnes and it was build there to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. After the boat tour was over, we went back to the hostel and the next day we headed back to Sorrento. When we got back to Sorrento, we all took a nap because we were up since 4AM. After a good nap we went grocery shopping and cooked dinner together!