Halloween in February

A picture from one of the most famous mask stores in Venice.  This mask wasn't even one of the most elaborate and cost 160E or roughly $208.  
Casey with her face paint and me in my mask.  

A woman suspended by a hot air balloon.  
My friends and I covered in confetti in San Marco piazza
Some sweet costumes

Carnevale

Abby, Casey and I.  You can kinda tell I'm wearing a mask. 
Me standing on the beach at Lido with only a sweater!
Beautiful city
My friend Casey, who got her face painted and me.
The crowd outside the train station.

First of all I was happy that I enjoyed Venice this time more than my first visit.  The winter is definitely ideal for a visit.  Carnevale is a huge deal in Venice, but that being said there isn't really anything to do.  The city is packed and we spent most of our time just walking around looking at costumes and shopping.  It was a great atmosphere, everyone is just hanging out in the city.  Saturday there was a mini show in San Marco with a woman suspended by a hot air balloon danced. I also heard there was a clown marching band, but I didn't witness this firsthand.  We also stumbled upon a dj outside in one of the piazzas.  Sunday we went to Lido, one of the islands of Venice.  We walked over to the beach and enjoyed some surprisingly nice weather for February.  We picked up seashells and even found a crab.  It was really relaxing and made me excited for warm weather.  

There's more where that came from

In front of the steps at the Grand Arch.
One of my favorite pictures,  taken by my friend Alex who loves photography.
Alex and I jumping in the gardens at Versailles. 

Tomorrow morning I'm heading to Venice for two days to enjoy their famous winter festival, Carnivale.  I'm not sure what to expect, but I've been hearing great things.  Be back on Sunday.

Paris Pictures

The bag I bought (as requested)  However, mine is black.  Its hard to tell but its a fold over bag in patent leather. 
Rain on the Louvre pyramid 
My friends and I on a boat ride on the Seine. 
Fountain at Versailles
Hall of Mirrors

Paris part 2

So Friday we went to Premiere Vision.  It was huge.  I got to see all the trends for Spring 2010 and I had to interview a vendor for an assignment.  We found a nice guy that worked for a company from Lake Como that specialized in making 3-D fabrics.  You put on your little 3-D glasses and the image would pop out at you.  It was really different idea and cool to talk to the guy.  

Friday night the school trip ended so me and my friend who were staying for the weekend went over to our Hostel in the Montmatre area.  That night we just walked around, went up to Sacre Coeur and went out to eat.  

Saturday was my friend Abby's birthday and we went to Versailles.  It was definitely a priority for me since I've never seen it.  We even got a student discount which was awesome.  The palace was amazing, especially the hall of Mirrors.  Afterwards we walked around the gardens and then went to the smaller palaces on the grounds and the Queen's hamlet.  Marie Antoinette built a tiny village of cottages which were so cute.  There even is a farm there with cows, goats, ducks, chickens and a pig.  It was really beautiful to walk around even though it was February.

Saturday night we went out for Abby's birthday to a dive fondue place. There was no menu, only a choice of red or white wine and cheese and/or meat fondue.  The wine was served in baby bottles and I probably ate a pound of cheese.  The place was packed and at one point a girl decided to get up and sing.  It was a really fun night.

Sunday we went to the Eiffel Tower in the morning but didn't go to the top because the line was huge.  After that my friends wanted to go to the catacombs which I have already been to so I went off by myself.  I walked over to the Hotel des l'Invalides which was built by Louis XIV for veterans and wounded soldiers.  Now it is a museum.  I went to the exhibit on WWI and WWII which was really well done and made me feel more educated.  After that I walked up the the Champs Elysees, had lunch and then went back to the hostel to get my stuff.  Then we just headed the the airport and came home.  

Paris Part 1

 The week in Paris was the crazier than I expected.  I've never walked so much in my life.  By Thursday my feet were so sore that they even hurt when I woke up.  Every day was really busy and I had 6 assignments to do while in Paris.  All that said, it was still a great week and I love Paris.

  The main reason for going to Paris with school was for Premiere Vision (PV) which is the most important fabric show in the world.  A fabric show is where buyers, designers and merchandisers go to see trends, color forecasting and to source fabric for upcoming seasons.  Going to PV as a student is a big deal because it is great experience of the real fashion industry.  We left Sunday night on a 12 hour train ride that was unpleasant the say the least.  The 5:30am passport check wasn't fun either.  We got to Paris at 9am. 

 On Monday we went to Colette, which is the most important concept store in Paris.  Then we went to the Louvre.  Since I had already been there I was able to skip the Mona Lisa and see all the Egyptian Art, the French and Italian sculptures and my favorite thing at the Louvre, the Winged Victory of Samothrace (below).  That night Robin and I went out to eat in the Latin Quarter for some delicious French food.  I had onion soup, lamb and creme brulee.

Tuesday we went to Texworld, which is a fabric show but lower end than PV.  Most people go to PV to see trends and colors and then go to Texworld to find vendors to work with.  Fabrics at PV run $15-20 per meter so only high end designers use those vendors.  Texworld was really interesting, we had to do a stand interview for an assignment and we talked to a denim company from Pakistan who sells to Seven, Replay, Zara, H&M etc.  Since I'm making a jeans line for a class it was really helpful.  After Texworld we went to Printemps which is one of the biggest department stores in Paris.  We had a tour, saw a presentation on trends and HR.  

Wednesday morning we had an appointment at Louis Vuitton on the Champs Elysees.  We talked to three

 different people, one person who showed us their art exhibit on the top floor which featured artist from South Korea, someone who explained the floor layout and display and then a person who designed all of the window displays.  The Stephen Sprouse collection is currently there and the neon flower window displays are amazing.  It was really enjoyable and one of the speakers was even an FIT alum who was really cool to talk to.  Afterwards we went to Marais which is a really cool shopping neighborhood where I got the most amazing bag.  It was one of my friend's birthday so a bunch of us went out to eat and I had the best duck of my life.  The waiter made me speak French which actually wasn't as hard as I expected.  Although sometimes I can only think of a word in either French or Italian and not the other one.  

Thursday morning we had free time so I went to La Defense which is the new part of Paris where the Grand Arch and all the skyscrapers are.  Afterwards I walked around Saint Louis, the smaller island which hasn't been changed in hundreds of years.  After a delicious lunch of stir fry I went to Shakespeare & Company which is famous bookstore.  I got a vintage copy of Wuthering Heights and An African in Greenland which was a staff pick and the next book on my to read list.   In the afternoon we had a tour of the Musee de la Moda to see the Sonia Rykiel exhibit.  

Fries part 2

Some more pictures from Belgium:

I'm leaving for Paris in two hours!  I'm going with my school, we have museum visits and appointments all throughout the week.  We are going to Texworld and Premiere Vision which are two fabric trade shows that are really important in the fashion industry.  We also have an appointment at the headquarters for Louis Vuitton.  The school is leaving Friday but my friends and I are staying until Sunday.  Its my friend Abby's (pictured above) birthday on Valentines day so we are going to celebrate while we are there.  I'd much rather celebrate a birthday than Valentines day anyways.  

Adventures

It started to look like a beautiful day and since we've all been getting cabin fever from all the rain we decided to venture out.  We've been wanted to go to Vaglia, a small town outside of Florence for a while now to see this:

So we figure out what bus to take and go along our merry way.  The bus ride was really beautiful, we went up into the hills and got great views of Florence.  So we get to our stop, ask some old Italian men which way the park is  where "The Man" is located in.  They point us down a hill so we start walking.  At the bottom on the hill was the parking area for said park but no directions how to get to the park itself.  So we start walking down the road, it was pretty much a highway without a sidewalk.  At this point I'm thinking, this doesn't seem right, but my roommates are convinced we need to walk down the road to get to the park.

About 20 minutes later it starts raining.  We are clearly going in the direction of nothing so we decide to turn around.  We make it back to the parking lot to see the entrance for the park right across the street, but the gates are closed.  The sign informs us that the park will not be open until May.  Why the website/ old Italian men failed to tell us this is a mystery.  Anyways it was pretty funny in the end.

Dali's Alice in Wonderland

Here are my favorite paintings from the Dali exhibit I went to on Saturday.  They are all based on Alice in Wonderland.

"We don't have cheese fries, this is Belgium"

The main square in Brugge.
Brugge
The Grand Place in Brussels.  

  I got to Belgium on Thursday.  After checking into our hostel that was really nice we went out to eat.  We walked around for a while and ended up going to a thai restaurant which was delicious.  We were sharing our hostel room with three Australians who we ended up going out with.   We went to Delirium which is a well known bar in Brussels and has over 2,000 kinds of beer. 

Saturday we did all of Brussels, we went to a chocolate museum, the main square Grand Place which was beautiful.  After that we had a waffle break.  Then we continued to see the pissing boy which is a big thing in Brussels but not that exciting. Then we went to the Costume and Lace museum which was one of my favorite things.  It was an exhibit about the new look of 1947 and they had a lot of great pieces.  After that we headed to the Justice Palace which was unfortunately under construction.  For dinner we went out to eat mussels in Brussels.  I have only eaten mussels one other time a while ago so I was a little nervous.  We ordered the fried mussels which were delicious.  Abby and I shared our food all weekend so I got to eat a wide variety of stuff.  We also ordered fries and onion soup.  I had a raspberry beer which was so good, I wish fruit beer was more popular in the states.  

Saturday we went to Brugge which is an hour away from Brussels.  It was such a cute little town.  Mostly we walked around and took pictures.  We also went to a Salvador Dali exhibit which made me like him a lot more.  I especailly liked his Alice in Wonderland  paintings. We ate delicious fries with a delicious sauce that I can't pronounce while sitting in the main square.  I bought some lace also which Belgium is known for.  While wandering around town we found a sweet used book and music shops.  It was like walking into someone's attic, there were books everywhere it was hard to walk.  I got a vintage copy of Sherlock Holmes for a euro and Abby bought a bunch of records.  After our day trip to Brugge we headed back to Brussels and ate Barbeque for dinner.  We had to leave our hostel at 6:30am on Sunday to catch our flight.  Sunday was pretty uneventful, except for a major creeper hitting on Abby on the train to Florence.  

Overall it was a great trip, Belgium is beautiful and who doesn't love waffle, fries and beer?  It was really relaxing to just travel with one other person.