Rome, Italy

One weekend 7 of us decided to go visit Rome. We left on February 14, which was Valentines Day and we spent it at Girona airport having a bocadillo sandwhich and a Mahou beer, to February 18. It was exciting to go see another city in Europe outside of Spain. In that short amount of time we were able to see many things: St. Peters, The Vatican, The Colleseum, The spanish steps, and many piazzas and palazzos throughtout the city. One of the most exciting things we got to saw other than the amazing architecture was seeing the Pope speech on Sunday afternoon outside of his window. I was able to catch him on video and that is shown below.

My favorite new building in Rome had to be Richard Meier's, Museo dell'Ara Pacis. We only got to see it from the outstide because we were running out of time, but what we saw from the outside was amazing. Somehow in this old city he made this very nice buiding fit into place. I think the best part about the building was the entrance way from the perpindicular street. It had a fountain at the bottom next to the road and a wall of water that ran off of that towards the building. Then it had steps that brought you up to where the water started, which was in front of the entrance. On the facade that faced the street he used mainly glass, but had light shelves along the top. Through the glass we got to see an ancient part of Rome. I don't know what it was, but Richard Meier built around it and the Museo dell'Ara Pacis surrounded it. The material and pavements that he used here were marble for the floor and stone for the walls. They went well together because they were roughly the same material. He continued to not only use large blocks for the the building, but also for the water wall, and the floor pavements. Front of the building Two of the materials used

The water wall that leads down to the fountain

Sevilla, Spain

Sevilla was our final stop on our trip to southern spain. This was the first time I got to see a Calatrava bridge and it was amazing. The picture belows is take from the center looking towards the huge tower that connects all the cabels to the other side. In Sevilla there was bridge after bridge, but the above one was def. the most interesting. On the way to this bridge, we walked along the water. The pavement along the water was not as nice as the other cities. Throughout the city yes, but at this particular area not at all. It was just plane squares rotated to look like a diamond, but there was no significance to them. There was no hidden path in the center or on the sides, like there are in Barcelona. It was just plain and boring. If there was no bridges to get to, then this walk would of been never ending and very boring. We were along the water, so that made it very enjoyable, but the pavement itself was not enjoyable or interesting, just bland. That is seen below.

Granada, Spain

The third stop on our trip to southern spain was Granada, Spain. Here we got to visit the Alhambra. We were able to see it from afar and from up close. Not only did the interior of the Palace have gardens and courtyards, but there were actually exterior gardens. That was one of the things that I really enjoyed because it was somthing that we really have seen much of. Going through all the different courtyards in the exterior garden I noticed many different pavements, water features, trees and hedges.

This pavement that I saw inside of the courtyard was one that I have seen a lot on this trip. It is a lot different then the pavements in Barcelona. Barcelona pavements were more like tiles and 4in. by 4in. while at the Alhambra they were more of stones places strategically with mortar surrounding them. This is seen in the picture below.This pavement that I saw inside of the courtyard was one that I have seen a lot on this trip. It is a lot different then the pavements in Barcelona. Barcelona pavements were more like tiles and 4in. by 4in. while at the Alhambra they were more of stones places strategically with mortar surrounding them. This is seen in the picture above.

The pavement above I saw around the city of Granada and yet again it was nothing like Barcelona, but in fact just like inside of the Alhambra. It was a different pattern, but was constructed in the saw way by having stones with mortar around them.

Cordoba, Spain

The next city that we visited was Cordoba. The best part about this city was that our hotel was right next to the river and literally 20 feet away from the Great Mosque. The mosque that everyone architecture at catholic learns about. Well you get to see it here and it was just like you would imagine...Amazing. Inside it was very cold compared to the temperature outside. Possibly because of the dark materials that they chose for the inside. The pavement that I noticed was these huge marbel blocks that either got smaller or larger around the Mosque. Also inside of the courtyard of the Mosque there was another pavement, but one that I would see later in Southern Spain also. This pavement was seen around the trees and areas of walking. It basically was rocks that had grout in between them. The grout was actually the flat layer and all of the rocks were raised above. It was very intresting because it would also make patterns.

Madrid, Spain

Something that I never noticed until coming to Barcelona was the type of pavements that are laid out through a city. They all have different materials, textures, and styles. On our trip through southern spain that was something that I really began to notice yet again and it began to really interest me. The first place on our four city excursion was to Madrid. It was very nice because we flew in from Barcelona and got picked up by a huge bus just for ourselves. Then we got to our hotel and yet again is was amazing and our teachers really hooked us up. After we got settled we began to go around the city, of course trying to get something to eat. My favorite food from Madrid without a doubt was the bacon cheeseburger. This was no ordinary cheesburger though. There was a fried egg on top and it made the sandwhich delicious. Then after the amazing meal. We headed around the city. I noticed at Placa Mayor the very interesting pattern of pavements that were inside of the placa. There was about four different colors and it seemed to make a walking pattern. The white pavement looked as if it would lead you somewhere or direct the flow of traffic, but no one really followed this.

Also on our trip to Madrid we were able to see buildings such as the Caixa Forum which was still in the process of being finished. Now I did not notice an interesting pavement of pattern on the floor but actually on the building itself and the one right next to it. On the top of the Forum there was this very different material that is a rustic color and had holes or boxes cut out of it in all different patterns. This was very interesting as well as the building next door. The building next door had vegetation, but this vegetation was not below or in front or in back of the building. In fact, it was on the side of the building. A person could see this from very far away and notice that is was very abnormal. Something that caught the eye and then directed you to look directly at the Caixa Forum. I felt this was planned very well.