a visit to Antwerp

When I found out we were moving to Eindhoven I wrote a buddy from architecture school who is from and currently living in Antwerp. We took the train on Saturday morning for a day in the city with HC. It was great to see a familiar face and to get such a personal tour of the city! We are just a 2 hour train ride away so there will definitely be more visits in the future. Such a lovely historic city with modern additions and insertions into the city fabric. On our way to the new MAS we found a hidden gem which displayed a satellite view of the Antwerp port which you can walk on. We didn't realize that it's the 4th biggest port in the world, and this display shows this monster port as it dwarfs the city.

arriving at the amazing Antwerpen train station

at the market

iphone camera does not compare...

with my beloved canon s90!

the cathedral, HC's favorite building in Antwerp,
rises out of the old city

truly unique side aisles

old city of Antwerp in the foreground,
port of antwerp extending to the feet up there!

loving the satellite view

some great beer to finish our day

Thanks again, HC, for your hospitality and a great time! 

lisbon- uncropped.

in order to get these out quickly i'm letting go of the urge to crop, adjust levels and color, resize. the uneven images are making me itch. but, here you go. lisboa!

i just spent a great few days wandering the streets of lisbon with good friends amber and dan, here from MN. since they are both great sketchers and had just attended the Urban Sketchers annual symposium before i arrived, we spent our days meandering, eating and sketching. 

pre-ink

post-ink

after recently coming from rome, it was very refreshing to be in a bright, vibrant city with [seemingly] few tourists. prices were great- especially on food- and it makes it a little hard to go back to the land of CHFs. oh well. i think howie will be jealous when he hears about all the seafood we ate and how delicious it was. i'm drooling a little now just thinking about it! 

Jeronimos Monastery, Belem

we squeezed in a visit to the azulejos museum and it was too bad we didn't have more time there. besides the fantastic tiles filling my love for geometric patterns, color and ceramics all in one, the monastery that houses the collection is a beautiful space where one could spend some time. 

azulejos beauties

another highlight was sketching around belem at the tower, monument to the discoveries and the monastery ***, which was literally sandwiched in the day by two visits to the pasteis de belem shop for coffee and the most magnificent egg tarts. 

to die for!  (for shelley)

i'll be dreaming tonight of armillary spheres and azulejos…

traveling? vacation? life??

i'm sorry to have left you all for so long, but i have been 'on the go' since mid-may. (and still going!)  i apologize for the emails that have ended up in my black hole of an inbox... i'll get to the bottom of the pile soon! a couple weeks ago, howie and i ended our 3 week summer break spent entirely in italy. it was an amazing trip and a much needed break from IMD for both of us. we spent enough time away that it seemed strange to arrive in lausanne and find our apartment there just as we'd left it. (although a new bathroom ceiling, finally!)

i am not even sure what kind of a whirlwind adventure this has been, or has it just become my life this year? i admit its a little sad to be traveling so intensely that i've been out of touch with everyone (especially because that is what helped get me through the first part of the year) but having family and friends visiting has been amazing and great opportunities to connect and strengthen relationships. i've loved being able to pack up in a small bag and leave most of my possessions behind... leave the laptop behind, too. its amazing how good i've felt just focusing on me, whoever i'm with, and where i am. forget the blogs to read, junk email, news, facebook... its so easy to slip under the radar.

i promise i will share with you- soon!

feeling small at the Palatine, Rome

summer vacation!

19 nights at hotels: booked!
1 teeny manual car: booked!
1 easyjet flight back from rome: booked!

let the summer fun begin!   wait... its only May 5th.

ok, maybe i'm a little too excited about our summer trip to italy but i finally finished booking all of our hotels, etc. so its been on my mind. other reasons to be excited:

1. i get to see howie for 3 weeks straight with NO school!

2. we have a pretty sweet itinerary that was developed with the gracious help of our "real-life" italian friends.

3. this is the biggest trip that i've planned entirely on my own. ok, with a little help, but mostly on my own!  usually howie is the trip planner but now that he is crazybusy, its my job. and

anyway, the exciting part:

Venice + Vicenza (Palladio!)
Agriturismo in Tuscany + Siena
Perugia + Umbria
Naples + Amalfi Coast
Rome!

and now that we know where we're going, its time to plan our agenda and balance food, architecture and fun :)  (of course any food or other recommendations are more than welcome!)

positano, amalfi coast, italy [source anonymous]