(Porto, 11/11)

(Porto, 11/11)

Almost every building was covered in these beautiful tiles, known as azulejos in portuguese.

I tried to find one that had fallen off of a building, but I only found boring pieces. I kept an olive green one with ridges, prompting my friend to accuse me of hoarding trash. As they say, one man's trash is another man's azulejos.

(Firenze, 08/23/11)

Brunelleschi's Dome, Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. 

Built in the 14th century, the dome was an amazing feat of architectural genius. Of all the geniuses of the renaissance, architect Filippo Brunelleschi managed to design a structure that could support its own massive weight.

To get to the top, we climbed roughly 460 steps between the outer and inner dome.

Click the link. I promise it's interesting. And better at explaining cool things than I am.

(Salamanca, 11/05/11)

Casa de Lis café. The Casa de Lis is an art deco/art nouveau museum, but the best part is the stained glass. This beautiful window is in the cafe, which faces the setting sun. The atmosphere in general is cosy and relaxing, but it's especially nice at the end of the day.

They tell us not to take pictures, so these were sneaky. 

(Vatican City, 08/26/11)

My favorite part of this tiny country was the map room leading to the Sistine Chapel. The maps were painted onto the wall of various regions of Italy, and they were beautifully colored.

(Toledo, 09/02/11)

(Salamanca, 11/20/11)

The best times to take walks are sunday mornings and summer nights at dusk. This sunday, I took a walk through a tiny park near my apartment that I usually overlook.