I am so sorry that I haven’t written in such a long time! After Marseille we had midterms so I stayed back to study. Midterms went well! I have all A’s so far but I’m still waiting for my grade on my Art History exam. Although midterms came so quickly, it was nice to get all academics out of the way to enjoy our spring break without having to worry about assignments.
To start off our 10-day break, we were required to all go to Prague for an academic excursion. The academic excursions are meant to give us a chance to take our learning outside of the classroom where our professors guide us around and continue their lectures. At first we were resentful because we wanted our freedom with our friends to explore the city on our own. We felt confined by our mandatory schedule and activities planned for us by our professors. But after we started relaxing and going with flow, we realized how much of a luxury it was to have everything organized for us.
There is so much that needs to be considered when traveling with just friends. We all have to agree on a destination, research flights and prices, research where to stay that’s located in a desirable location of a city we know nothing about, book taxi’s to the airport (most of us don't have phones), make sure we make out flight, figure out how to get from the airport to where we’re staying, find out where we are in the scheme of what we want to do/see, figure out the best things to do/see, get it done within a 2/3 day span, then figure out how to get home, book a taxi to pick us up from the airport, and then find something to eat if we arrive before Sunday because the dining hall isn’t open. It’s exhausting! On school trips, everything is taken care of for us. We can put our restless minds at ease and enjoy the opportunity presented to us.
If we weren't required to go to Prague, I don't think I would have made it there. I hardly knew anything about the city and its not the most easily accessible from our local airport. What a mistake that would have been! So far, Prague is my favorite city. It's incredibly gorgeous, has wonderful things to see, and its cheap!
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| View from Prague Castle |
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| National Museum right outside our apartments |
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| Old Town Square |
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| Prague's famous astronomical clock |
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| Statue in the middle of the old town square |
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| View of St. Vitus Cathedral from the Charles Bridge (which is filled with artists and paintings) |
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| View from Prague Castle |
On our first day when we arrived in Prague, we got our room assignments and settled into our apartments. The apartments were much nicer than any of us expected and were located is a very cool and trendy part of the city. At about midday, we met outside to be divided into groups for a walking tour through the historical center of the city lead by one of our professors.
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| The Modern Art professor taking us around on our walking tour |
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| Liz and I snuck away to get hot wine :) |
Having someone show you around who knows the area was such a treat. We’re normally scrambling around with maps trying to figure where and what everything is. We had a little free time for dinner and were then required to go to the Prague Státní Opera to see Madame Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini. I was looking forward to the opera because I used to love when my Papa Oscar and Grandma Renate would take me as a little girl. I also studied Madame Butterfly and Giacomo Puccini’s music in a class I took freshman year at Emerson. The Opera was lovely and I wrote about the experience for a cultural event assignment for my professor Chester Lee. I have him for Intercultural Communications and he's really growing on me. He's a funny, extremely intelligent, and fabulous little Asian man who has the most incredible shoe collection I've ever seen. Also, his favorite figurative saying as a professor is, "I give you rice-cooker, you must make rice!"
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| Opera Lobby |
The next day, we visited the Prague Castle Complex, Sternberg Palace, and the Convent of St. Agnes of Bohemia (the National Gallery's medieval art department) which were all guided by my Art History professors Rob Duckers and Dulcia Meijers.
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| Rob & Dulcia |
All were filled with Byzantine and early renaissance art from Florence, Venice, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. We had been previously studying this type of art so it was wonderful to actually see it in person and have our professors further explain the works' context and meaning. Our professors would point to a random painting and ask us to name where it was painted, when it was painted (give or take 50 years), and why we thought so. At first this was difficult for us but by the end of the day we could successfully analyze any painting we came across. Early renaissance paintings done in Florence referenced antiquity from the art of ancient Greece and Rome. Florentine artists painted their people very idealized like ancient statues and the artists were just beginning to successfully master depth. In the 1400’s when the artist and architect Filippo Brunelleschi devised the ground-breaking dome of the Duomo in Florence, he created an awareness of the single point perspective.
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| All lines of depth match up to a single point |
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| It helps to make the architecture more geometric and believable |
Single point perspective is classic in Italian renaissance art however, Flemish artists (from Belgium and the Netherlands) achieved depth through atmospheric perspective. The landscapes get smaller and hazier as they get further away.
Although both examples show depth, you can see how the techniques greatly differ. Towards the end of the day and after seeing and analyzing about a thousand paintings, I had a hard time staying focused. Not because I was tired of what we were learning about, but because Jack was coming to visit and I knew his plane had already landed!
When were dismissed from the lesson, I ran to go meet him. It was so nice to have him with me in Prague and I loved introducing him to all my new friends and professors. Since I still had a lot of required activities with my school, I brought Jack along so he could see what I was learning about. We were all required to go on a tour of the Old Jewish Quarter to see the holocaust memorial cemetery and the historic synagogues. It was kind of a sad tour to bring him on, but interesting and important nonetheless.
We finished the day with a trip to the Prague Castle Gallery (to analyze even MORE paintings) and then St. Vetus Cathedral which is one of the most beautiful cathedrals I've seen so far.
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| St. Vitus Cathedral |
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| Of course the guard wasn't allowed to smile |
At the end of the day, our teachers were kind enough to take us all out for some mulled wine to warm us up
It was a wonderful school trip and it meant the world to me that Jack came to experience it with me.
To end our trip, Jack and I went up the Eiffel Tower at night. This was my favorite part of the entire trip. The weather was wonderful and I loved the lights of the city and being there with him. I am so thankful that he came to see me and it was overall one the best times I've ever had.
To end our trip, Jack and I went up the Eiffel Tower at night. This was my favorite part of the entire trip. The weather was wonderful and I loved the lights of the city and being there with him. I am so thankful that he came to see me and it was overall one the best times I've ever had.
