Weekend in Dubai

This Thursday and Friday, I went with Patty and Michael to Dubai to do the tourist thing. Dubai is probably one of the strangest places that I've been thus far. It's a totally car-based city, to such an extent that the malls don't even really have pedestrian entrances. The first day we were there we took the Dubai metro, we had to walk over a km from the "Dubai Mall" stop on the metro to the actual Dubai mall. When we got there, there was no way to get in without going through the entrance to the parking garage.

The malls are oddly spectacular though. Dubai mall is so big that we were there probably 2 hours and didn't see half of it. They had everything, even a Dean & Deluca and La Durée (a Paris-based macaroon shop). My personal favorite find was the pink stuffed camel store, Camella.





On Friday morning, while most of the population was at the Friday prayer, we went to Ski Dubai, an artificial ski slope and winter park in one of the malls. It was fun, although the snow report should've said that the conditions were slush to ice.



I went down a couple of times, but hearing the ice when I would turn was kind of terrifying, so I decided to call it a day quicker than I thought. But we had some good hot chocolate as an apres-ski treat.



Later that day, we got to walk around the city a bit. Here we are in front of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.



On Friday evening, we went for Korean food, the first time I've had it in recent memory. Delicious!



On Saturday morning, I headed back to Paris, where I have about 3 more weeks before heading back to Chicago. It was a great, relaxing break, and I can't wait to go back and visit again!

-Laura

Sheikh Zayed Mosque

On Tuesday, we drove to Abu Dhabi in the afternoon to look around. We went to the Sheikh Zayed mosque, the grandest mosque in the city. We thought we could go for the tour, but when we arrived, they told us that we could go right in and walk around. The mosque was spectacular, and we were able to get some great photos. I put a lot of them in black and white because the shadows are so dramatic and it really gives the building a timeless look.



Looking through the stained glass window at the exterior of the mosque...



One of the (many) chandeliers inside the mosque...






The best thing about the visit was when we were given an abbaya and sheila to wear when walking around. Our photos in the garb are fabulous. Here I am walking across the courtyard...



And in the lobby of the mosque



After our tour, we had wonderful Chinese food at one of the biggest hotels in Abu Dhabi. It was so good, and the hotel was really ornate and beautiful. Tomorrow, we're going to Dubai for my last two days here, and I am so looking forward to it. :)

A Week in the UAE

UChicago study abroad has a week-long break, so I took the opportunity to take a trip to the UAE to visit my aunt and uncle. They teach English at a University in Al Ain, in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The weather is great this time of year, like 80F/27C. The perfect temperature for relaxing outside.

Today, we did some sightseeing at the camel market in Al Ain, the largest in the Arabian peninsula. We walked around, and some of the traders let us into the pens to pet the camels.






Later, we went up to the mountains (right outside of town) for some scenery. We stopped at a hotel at the top of one of the mountains for a break, and I had lemon-mint juice, which was delicious, and so refreshing.





Overall, a great, relaxing day.

A Weekend in Milan

This weekend, a couple of my friends and I went to Milan for a nice break. Milan is sort of known as an industrial city, without the same sheer volume of sights as Rome or Florence...which makes it very manageable for a weekend trip. You can get to all the greatest hits in a couple of days without killing yourself.

Our first stop on Friday was Leonardo Da Vinci's "Last Supper". It's at this weird little church just outside of the city center, in what used to be a dining hall for monks. Unfortunately, Da Vinci didn't use the fresco technique, so the work started deteriorating the moment he finished it. Also, it probably didn't help that the church was bombed in World War II, leaving the painting in open air for 3 years. Because of all of this, visits to the Last Supper are really strange. You go in with a group of 25, and you have to go through a series of chambers that rid you of potential debris that could harm the work. You go in for 15 minutes, and then you are promptly asked to leave. The work was really amazing though, I must admit.

On Saturday, we went to the Duomo, one of the most beautiful cathedrals in Europe.



We wound up deciding to go to the top, which gives you an up-close view of the details in the architecture.








Later that day, we went to Teatro Della Scala, probably among the most famous opera houses in Europe. The visit to the Museum was 4 euros, and it said in the brochure that you could look out onto the opera house itself if there weren't rehearsals going on. When we got there, a dress rehearsal of Puccini's Tosca was going on, but the guards let us stay. We heard one of the most famous arias in the whole opera rehearsed. It was amazing...well worth the price of admission (and maybe even cooler than forking out 100 euros to see the real thing).

We then did a little shopping (it is Milan, after all), and spent the rest of the weekend enjoying delicious Milanese food (Osso Bucco, Truffle Risotto,etc). I'm so looking forward to going back to Italy in March, people there are exceptionally friendly, and the scenery is beautiful.

On the plane ride out of Milan, we got a wonderful view of the Alps, which just topped off the entire weekend.



That's all for today, I have a 10-page paper standing between me and vacation. :)

Musée de l'Orangerie

This afternoon, we had a bit of a break, so I decided to meet up with some friends and go to the Musée de l'Orangerie, near the Louvre. The most beautiful thing about the museum is definitely the Monet Water Lilies, which were painted for the museum itself. There are two round rooms with the works, and they're absolutely gorgeous.



Here's a good view of the room itself.





Beautiful, right? The museum also has some other great artists, like Cézanne and Renoir. Here's a Cézanne still life.



And another Monet...



That's all for now! I'm going to Milan tomorrow, so I'll be sure to update when I get home. A la prochaine!

Bruxelles and Amsterdam

This Thursday, our program took a day-trip to Brussels to see the EU Parliament. It was actually really neat! We got to sit in on a session, and it was a lot rowdier than I was expecting. They were talking about "ending the war on bananas"- obviously a very important issue.



After our "official visit" was over, we had some time to look around and explore the city. Brussels is really beautiful, and has a nice quaint charm that Paris definitely doesn't have.

Here's the town square, where the old "guilds" used to be.






I was also able to do a bit of shopping, for Belgian lace and of course, chocolate. We went to Wittamer, which specializes in Champagne infused truffles. They were absolutely delicious! I wish I had bought more of them.

That evening, I took the train to Amsterdam to meet my parents for the weekend. I actually hope I can go back to Belgium at some point during this program, it was a great time, with lots to do and see.

Amsterdam was also a really interesting experience. The red light district is just like Bourbon street- except for the fact that prostitution and pot are legal. Girls rent out windows, and sit in the windows to draw in clients.

In addition to strolling around the seedier Amsterdam, we got a chance to squeeze in some culture too. We went to the Anne Frank house, Rijksmuseum, and Van Gogh Museum (my personal favorite!)

The city is really neat, with canals dividing a lot of the streets.




We also got a chance to see the flower market. If I didn't think I would have been arrested at customs, I might have tried to bring back black tulip bulbs, but oh well.



It was a wonderful trip, but with midterms coming up next week, I have to return to Paris and hit the books a bit.

Afscheid from the Netherlands!

Week in Paris

Since my parents have been here, we've been trying to catch up on the Parisian sites that we missed during our last brief vacation in Paris. On Tuesday, we went to the Catacombes, a mass grave near my dorm. It was creepy as hell, but ridiculously cool.




They essentially dug up a bunch of cemeteries and someone "artistically arranged" the remains. Apparently Robespierre was buried here once, but whether he's still down there is unclear.



After the Catacombes, I went to Montparnasse tower, which has a great view of Paris from the top.



It was cold up there, but I got some decent photos.



Then, on our last night in Paris, my dad took my mom and I out to the Hemingway Bar in the Paris Ritz Carlton. It was great, with lots of pictures of Hemingway (he once managed the bar) and delicious drinks (we only had one to avoid having to take out a second mortgage).




I had a pear martini, which was beautiful (and tasty!).



I left on Thursday to go to Bruxelles and Amsterdam, so I'll put up those when I get the chance.

Au Revoir!