architecture – Page 2 – French Californian

August 17, 2015

Hannah Wilson

Travel Diary: Park Güell, Barcelona

My summer travels began with a short trip to Barcelona with Erik and Natalie. Since I have so many photos I’d like to share, I’ll be splitting this up into a few parts, so stay tuned for more!

Barcelona had been on my and Natalie’s travel wish list for years now – in fact, we had originally planned to go last summer, but instead went for a road trip through Normandy due to issues with my visa. Even though it wasn’t our first choice, I had an amazing time last summer driving through country roads and little villages in apple cider country and exploring Mont Saint Michel, which is magnificent.

This trip, on the other hand, was much louder, more colorful, and definitely sunnier. We didn’t do a ton of planning for Barcelona, so we missed some of the architectural gems (like Casa Batlló and Palau Guell), but taking it easy meant less stress, less sweat, and more time to relax and eat yummy Catalan cuisine.

Barcelona wouldn’t be Barcelona without Gaudí. He quite literally shaped the city with his weird and wonderful architecture. One of the highlights of our trip was Park Güell, a multileveled outdoor complex with open spaces, stone arches and passages, a shady covered colonnade, colorful tile mosaics, gardens, and structures that look like gingerbread houses. Having seen pictures, I half expected this place to feel like a cheesy theme park, but it was impressive! Despite its whimsical vibe, the place demanded respect.

September 30, 2014

Hannah Wilson

Road Trip Day 3 – Mont Saint Michel

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My best friend Natalie and I decided to take a quick 4-day road trip through France, more specifically, Normandy. What follows is an account of the events, sights, and stories that took place. This is the final instalment – you can see day 1 HERE and day 2 HERE.

After waking up in our cute and comfortable Airbnb room, we decided we couldn’t leave Bayeux without seeing the famous Bayeux tapestry, which is recognized as an official piece of world heritage by UNESCO, and for good reason. It’s a major source of historical, cultural, and artistic information. I strongly recommend following the free audio guide because it guides you through the crazy (and sometimes funny) story being depicted. I usually bypass the audio guides at museums, but this one was truly entertaining, and essential in my opinion.

Next, we hopped in our car, and headed toward MONT SAINT MICHEL! After getting lost, of course. My favourite part of the drive was seeing little glimpses of the mont from a distance. The land leading up to the fortress is mostly flat grassy land, so the Mont really stands out on the horizon. It was incredible, really. The closer we got, the more it made me feel like I was headed towards Hogwarts! Too bad I didn’t get sorted into a house upon arrival… (I was hoping for Gryffindor). I wouldn’t be surprised if Hogwarts was inspired by the Mont.

August 20, 2014

Hannah Wilson

Wandering Wednesdays

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Last week, I took a 4 hour-long walk through Paris, which is about 3 miles, according to the google map I made for myself. The objective: photograph some specialty pastry shops for a blog I just started writing for (here’s an article I wrote for them). I did end up finding the pastry shops I had intended to visit, but a couple of them were closed for the summer holidays (damn you, August!). More importantly, I thoroughly enjoyed wandering somewhat aimlessly through smaller streets. I made sure to wear comfortable shoes so that I had no reason to cut my day short.

The weather was absolutely crazy, the bipolar kind of crazy. Every 30 minutes, there would be a sudden shift between sunny and stormy, and vice versa. I think I managed to capture the extremes in these photos. Since I took so many photos that day, I’ll just include half of what I captured; the other half will come next wednesday!

P.S. Two things I learned from editing these photos: I really LOVE doors and windows. Something about the possibilities that lie within, I suppose…

April 30, 2014

Hannah Wilson

Wandering Wednesdays

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Did you know that in French, one walks in a street, and not on one? I think that’s quite poetic. To be in a street suggests that the road, the buildings, the trees, the people, are surrounding and enveloping you. You’re not just present in a place, but part of it.

If you couldn’t tell by the large title image, I’m starting a recurring series called Wandering Wednesdays. I can’t say that I’ll have pictures of miscellaneous Parisian street scenes every single week on Wednesdays, or that I’ll literally be doing the wandering specifically on Wednesdays, but it made for a good title, so I’m sticking with it! And when I do have some lovely pictures to post, I’ll post them on Wednesdays!