Come and Support!

i know i've been back for a while now, and i'll finishing showing pictures at a future date, but here's something that's coming up THIS WEEKEND!

Come support the talents and efforts of PATRICK BALLESTEROS and friends (Ja Tecson, James Landas and Andrew Boquiren) as they exhibit their art and photography at the KUTTING ROOM in Santa Monica....

therme vals

so what did i do with steve and his mom? just got one of the bests spas in switzerland! what else? it's actually a very beautiful place. Therme Vals (http://www.therme-vals.ch/?__locale=en) was revamped up by Peter Zumthor, a native of switzerland. he does amazing things with simple materials like wood, concrete, glass and metal. you can see how he plays with light in this building too. it was so serene to walk in the building.

and don't me started on our seven course meals,

the views from our rooms,


the rooms,


the beds and the chopard toiletries,



the chocolates made fresh daily that were placed in a silver bowl,

and the terry cloth robes...

it was really an amazing time. and to be able to share it with special people made it even better.

zurich

scheduling at sci-arc has always been, how do i put this, fluid. sometimes things happen, sometimes they don't, sometimes there are a million things happening at one time. the whole studio was supposed to go to therme vals on tuesday and that's where i was supposed to meet up with steve and his mom, but when that field trip got canceled i decided to get to zurich, where steve and steve's mom,marie, were at, a day early. steve was going to get in that evening, i was going to get there in the afternoon, but marie had arrived early that morning. so i thought, since i'm here and marie's here we should hang out and get to know each other a little bit better.


so while i was trying to enjoy the view, i was on my cell phone trying to call marie. it was seriously a race against time. i didn't know how long these views would last before we would enter a tunnel and i would lose all connection. so i got to know the staff at the golden arch hotel (which sounds like a mcdonalds, b/c there was a mcdonalds attached to it) prettty prettty prettty well. i called atleast 10 times asking to be transfered to marie's room.


anyways to make a long story short, we met up at around 2pm, walked around zurich, which i would still like to explore, had tea, shared some chocolates, and exchanged stories. she's a pretty amazing woman. 4 kids, 5 grandkids, she's got a master's degree in public health and she's traveled the world. i have to say that i was kind of nervous to hang out the whole day with her, but it turned out to be a pretty cool day and i'm glad we got that time.

later that evening we met steve at the zurich hauptbahnhof... and this was just the beginning of my adventures with steve and marie...

it's been a while since i've actually posted, this thiing called school got in the way... j/k. but it got busy... these are just a few images from the tuscan countryside of siena... it really was beautiful.

i kinda miss it now...



a famous town bath, you're not allowed to go in b/c you'd probably get something nasty...





a monkey grinder!!! this town, has the best gelato ever! grapefruit champagne... YUM!!


scootin' in siena!


scooter posse


the duomo in siena. one of the most beautiful that i've seen. it was just so different from all the other ones that i've been in.


here's the group minus jonathan. we think he was below us roaming the piazza below. not totally sure why he wasn't there... you all know who i am, but from left to right is leili, ross, kari, steph, jody, lisa and yoolee


yoolee is the best model ever. it just comes naturally to her...

surprising outburst

it's one of our last days in florence and going to the batisteri is a definate must see. we go inside to rest our feet after another long day of sight seeing and kari, yoolee, lisa and i are all enjoying the gold leafed walled and intricate frescoes when all of a sudden...

someone totally cut the cheese!!!

GEEZ!!! have some respect!!! it's the house of god!




so we looked around for the culprit and spotted a lady covering her face and nodding her head in disappointment at the man next to her who sat with his arms crossed and a slight smile.

there was nothing else we could do but laugh...

a pretty amazing experience

i got a chance to explore the city by myself. it was nice to get away from everybody. you know get some andrew time and not have to worry about people needing to go to the bathroom or not wanting to go to a certain place b/c they're too tired or whatever. you know what i'm talking about... anyways...

it was late afternoon and i headed to one of the highest hills in florence. i got hot from climbing stairs, dodging cars and scooters, and when i got to the top i found out there was more to climb. there was this church at the top of the hill...



it was very unassuming. not as fancy as the duomo, but still nice. i went inside the dark church and heard the most amazing sound... monk chanting. it was like dream. as i made my way down to where they were i realized that i had stumbled upon a mass. and the thing that i didn't realize til i left was that it was being conducted in latin! it was strange, they conducted mass behind this fence. it didn't really make sense to me. i guess we were in the small chapel of the church.



i felt refreshed. it was nice. so i got outside and got this view...



another beautiful tuscan sunset...

the best steak EVER!!!

this was seriously the best steak ever! the guy come down and showed us the 1.5 kilo (3.3 lbs) steak and then cooked perfectly... brown on the outside with the grill marks, seasoned with salt and fresh ground pepper and i know this sounds gross and i don't even usually eat steak this way, but it was totally BLOODY!! YUMM!!! it was totally good...



so if you're ever in florence stop by osteria de benci. it's right on via de' benci. pretty close to some pretty cool bars and a mexican restaurant... (btw, the mexican food, really isn't mexican food. i ate there and it was alright. it doesn't really compare with the mexican food back in la, but a good effort. it certainly hit a spot)

Via De' Benci, 13/R
Florence, Italy
055 2344923

Florence

after having traveled norther italy, we finally stepped into the city where the renaissance began... FLORENCE... i had visions that it was going to be this amazing place filled with art, culture and endless amounts of "great" architecture...

i was traveling with the people in my studio, and with the way things were going this trip was going to be a stressful one. we got lost in the morning. there was an unusal fog floating around the autostrade which made for difficult navigation. but lucky for me, i don't drive stick and i didn't have to navigate so i slept in the back, waking up to take a bathroom break or listen to someone's ipod trying to learn italian. btw, i'm not to sure about the berlitz method or brand, i didn't learn too much from them. plus they're a little bit difficult to follow.

anyways we get to florence and the hotel is nowhere to be found. florence has an interesting address system. certain colors stand for a private residence and businesses, but you can also have the same number on the same streets too. odd. so finally we just park, a few of us go search for the place. we find out that the hotel is actually located in this office tower on the fourth floor, next to an attorney's office and some other random things.

the area we were staying in was kind of shady, but alright. it's a good thing that we were in a group and that usually means that no one walks alone. which is good, so people can watch your backs especially around the gypsies around the area.

here are just a few of the images from florence...

the view of the florence duomo. gruesome and grotesque, but pretty amazing...

lisa and i at the top of the duomo with the city as the back drop...

view of the uffizzi and the tuscan hillsides...

Monte Generoso!!!

while being in europe is a highly academic experience (seriously!) sometimes you just need to get away and go outside, especially when the weather is so good outside your window. since we were still on a traveling kick since munich and doing things on the fly, a few of us decided that we would go to the top of monte generoso for shits and giggles.

me, lisa, kari and john on the summit of monte generoso

taking a look at vico morcote from the top of monte generoso

all roads lead to: GREAT VIEWS!

you can't tell right now but the von trapp kids are on top of this hill...


another place for amazing views, and of course animals!!! what is it with me, foreign countries and animals?


this one is for you steve!

dachau

here are a few images from dachau. the camp that other concentration camps were modeled after...

http://www.kz-gedenkstaette-dachau.de/englisch/content/

MUNCHEN (munich)

"PROST!"

our instructor was back in the states this last week, which meant "WHEN THE CAT'S AWAY, THE MICE WILL PLAY!" we weren't that bad, but kari, lisa and i ended up going to MUNCHEN (Munich, Germany) for the last day of oktoberfest.

apparently according to my german resource, who told me on the 1st of october (thanks steve! =)) that oktoberfest is actually from mid-SEPTEMBER to early OCTOBER. so Oktoberfest is some what of a misnomer. this year it was extended a couple of days b/c there was a german holiday, so good thing for us!

our little beamer... now he's all thrashed up...

so we took the beamer and made our way to munich. and like any trip with me, we got lost. it was raining and super foggy but after we crossed the border into germany there were clear skys. germany is really an amazing place, granted we only went to munich, but everyone was really friendly and helpful. after a couple of hours on the road we were itching to just rest up a little bit and head out to oktoberfest.

ummmm....BRATWURST!!

we were supposed to head out to the castle that was the inspiration for the disneyland castle, but that was a no go since our little detours started adding up and we were probably about 2 hours behind schedule. we got a hotel that was probably in the gayest part of munich, which was totally cool. i guess the two guys that where linked arm in arm made sense.

our beer wench

anyways so we head out to oktoberfest and right when we step out, there is torrential rain! it was so crazy but we didn't let the downpour stop us from getting to the beer and sausage! dude we were so hungry that that's all we could think about. FOOD!

too drunk to care...

to get there we took the subway to kind of stay dry. it was the most amazing thing though. being stuck in the tiny resort town of vico morcote i felt to isolated from everything. like i couldn't get out. we're stuck in this place were no one can really visit us, but anyways we i got down into the subway station and suddenly i felt to connected to the world again. and as lame as this is going to sound i felt alive. maybe it was the rush of the crowd, the sound of the subway zipping by, the sounds of cars, street lights, civilization, my heart was racing... i think we were talking about this in film class but it was a really strange, but exciting feeling...

party!!!

anyways to make a long story short... we had some pretty good beer, paulaner (it's made in munich) had some amazing rotisserre chicken (crispy on the outside, with a blend of nine herbs and spices on the inside... the colonel had nothing on this chicken!) and met some new friends. birgit, uli, bastien and a whole slew of others that i don't remember b/c, well... we were drunk from the 2 liters of beer that we drank individually!

PROST!!! not sure what number beer this is...

i'd have to say that germany is a place that i would definately go back to, wonderful people, pretty good food, and some amazing sights...

one thing the swiss are really GREAT at...

C-H-O-C-O-L-A-T-E!!!

maybe i'm a hopeless romantic...

while we were in verona sitting on some church steps just people watching a couple of us started playing "GUESS WHO'S AN AMERICAN." people passed by and soley based on their outward appearance we decided if they were americans or europeans, and sometimes we just made up stories for them. most european have pretty good style, suits with caramel colored shoes, dresses with high heels, basically just really put together. most of the americans were tourists and were pretty easy to spot, but i've got to give credit to some of them b/c they really stepped up and were dressed impeccably.

after really getting into it, we spotted the couple above. they were strolling down the street, in their sunday best, holding hands (the right way, interlocking, not hands clasped together) just enjoying the late afternoon. it seemed like their weekly routine, but they never got bored of doing it b/c they loved the city, and it was a way for them to remember how they met, and how they fell in love, raised their children and built and amzing life for themselves. like they came full circle.

but looking at them reminds me of one of my favorite movies, notting hill, when william and anna sneak into the private gardens and they see the park benches with inscriptions on them. anna says:

""For June who loved this garden from Joseph who always sat beside her." Some people do spend their whole lives together. "


as lame and sappy as that sounds, sometimes it is true...

attack of the BIRDS!!!

after tiring day of drawing and hiking, we awoke to the soft sounds of rain tapping on the rooftop of the villa. sitting down at the breakfast table with my toast and orange juice, it felt really relaxed. it could have been that i wasn't fully awake yet but life up here seems to go at a slower pace.

so after the group headed up to the studio to pin up our drawings, but something caught our eyes before we could pin up... BIRDS!!!

they were flying through the rain, like a dark cloud, changing shape and then heading towards our windows!!! so what else did we do but take out our cameras and start taking pictures. something like this would never happen in la. it was pretty amazing...

one of our studiomates was telling us to close the windows b/c if one of the birds got into the house, that it is bad luck. and the only way to reverse it was to have another bird into the house. so has anyone heard of that before. it's new to me!






it did feel like the Hitchcock film "birds" but it was just too amazing...