España & the Canary Islands.

One morning Alyssa and I grabbed cappuccinos and croissants at a café near our hostel before meeting her friend Sara for a morning of shopping. Antonio Gaudi’s inspiring architecture can be found throughout Barcelona. His work, inspired by natural forms, is unlike any other and can be identified effortlessly. The Gaudi Museum was a beautiful representation of his work.


A delicious sushi and wok dinner with Sara's Spanish boyfriend Fran concluded our first few days in Barcelona. Erly the next morning, we traveled to Grand Canary Island in the south of Spain. The island is full of small resort villages nestled in the rocky, mountainous landscape. Sara, Alyssa and I spent the few days there on the beautiful beaches and near our hotel at the top of one of the coastal mountains. During the day, we packed sandwiches and soaked up the sun. At night, we joined the European tourists at the local pubs, enjoying the entertainment of DJs and live musicians. Back in Barcelona for Easter weekend we checked into a hostel in La Plaza Riel, visited the Picasso museum, Labyrinth Park, Razzmatazz dance club (with 5 levels, each with their own DJ) and Gaudi’s famous work-in-progress, the Sagrada Familia. We met for a lunch of seafood paella, before I was sent off to Italy for the next leg of my European journey.

Barcelona.

Barcelona has been a beautiful departure from overcast Copenhagen. The day we arrived, we spent the afternoon at the harbor, drank sangria and enjoyed the sun. The city's official language, Catalan (not Spanish), is a mixture of French and Spanish languages. Everyone speaks Spanish as well so I'm enjoying being able to use my Spanish education. Later that evening, we explored the area near Montjuic and watched the fountain light show.


La Rosa Negra provided a delicious late night dinner (typical of Spainards) and mojitos before dancing the night away near the beach.
Palm Sunday was spent in Antonio Gaudi's vast and beautiful Parque Güell that overlooks the city. Some of the most unique and impressive landscape architecture I have ever or will ever see!

these are a few of my favorite things...

Frederiksborg Castle.
the royal residence built for King Christian IV. largest Renaissance palace in Scandinavia. palace is located on three small islands in the middle of Palace Lake (Danish=Slotsø) and is adjoined by a large, baroque formal garden.



Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. (Denmark)
especially the beautiful yet playful children's wing, the views to Sweden and the architecture's use of daylighting.

Paris.

Alex & I arrived in Paris on a Saturday night and took a stroll down the Champs Elysees to the Arch De Triomphe. The city was bustling and we stopped to share a crepe and later some magnificent macaroons at Laduree on our way to the Eiffel Tower. We started off the next day with Musee d'Orsay before hiking up to beautiful Sacre Coeur. This cathedral on the hill full of artists and cafes ended up being our favorite part of our short trip. We ended the night with goat cheese, a baguette and a bottle of Bordeaux that we purchased from various shops on our way back down the hill. On our last day we saw Notre Dame and traveled the two blocks from our hotel to the gigantic Louvre. The architecture and the Mona Lisa were beautiful, but the museum was too crowded for comfort so our trip was short-lived. For our last French meal, we feasted on snails (delish!), wine, scallops, pasta and creme brule. Oui, oui! Early the next morning, we flew back to Copenhagen.

Day 6

Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Kunsthal (Koolhaus)
Netherlands Architecture Institute
In the afternoon, we listened to a lecture at Crimson Architectural Historians, went on
boat tour of the Rotterdam harbor, and had a final group dinner at Hotel Bazar with fabulous Mediterranean cuisine. 8:30pm began our 12 hour bus ride home to Copenhagen.

Day 5

Utrecht, Netherlands.
Van Nelle Factory, adaptive re-use
Utrecht University
Schröder Haus 1924-25 (Rietveld)
After exploring the university on our own, all of the students met at a café in Utrecht to have a drink, show our sketches from the day and vote on the best. Our group (1 of 11) won the sketchbook competition and we were each given an award-winning set of designer colored pencils. Woo-hoo!

Day 4

Amsterdam, Netherlands.
In the morning, we took a train from Rotterdam to Amsterdam where we toured a new housing development with the architects from BO6 Architects. We then walked through a charming new housing development on the harbor. Its too bad that the first thing people think about Amsterdam is legal marijuana because it really is a lovely city! Old Amsterdam was beautiful with its canal and cobblestone streets and historic row houses. I spent the afternoon and evening with some friends at the Anne Frank House, Rembrandt Museum and the Van Gogh Museum which is currently featuring a Gauguin exhibit.

Day 3

Neuss, Germany.
Rocket Station, industrial re-use

Langen Foundation Museum (Tadao Ando)

Insel Hombrich Landscape Museum (1 of 12 buildings)

We then headed to an art school in the Netherlands for a lecture on Dutch architecture. That night, we arrived in Rotterdam at our hotel near the Erasmus Bridge.

Day 2

First part of the day: Essen, Germany
Ruhr Valley industrial rehabilitation, Zollverein reclaimed coal-mining industry(Masterplan by OMA architects)
Zollverein School of Management and Design (Sanaa)


Ruhr Museum (Koolhaus)


Red Dot Design Museum (Foster)
Second part of the day: Cologne, Germany
Kölner Dome (1248-1880) This cathedral took 600 years to complete and the its size and amount of architectural detail is breathtaking. While there, I lit candle for Grandpa Bunny. That night we had an authentic German dinner of pork, potatoes and sauerkraut at Brauerei Schumacher in Dϋsseldorf. Yummm.

Germany & the Netherlands.

My 6-day study tour to northern Germany and the Netherlands was packed with culture, architecture and sketching. After many weeks with little sun in Copenhagen, we were able to see more of it on this tour with temperatures in the mid to upper 40s. Two of the Danish architecture professors and our bus driver, Sven, lead the group of 36 students.

Day 1
Early Sunday morning, we drove and took a ferry to Hamburg, Germany where we saw the plan for the city’s new harbor area development and got a guided tour. That night we traveled to our hotel in Dusseldorf.