BROOKLYN FOR A DAY

Last week I took a crazy thirty-hour trip to Brooklyn with my friend Kim. We took a bus Tuesday night at midnight, got into the city right before six in the morning, took the train to Brooklyn and started our day. Kim lived in Brooklyn for two years, so she took me to some really cool places - we did so much in one day. We really covered some ground. 

We walked around different parts of Brooklyn and looked at the gorgeous buildings, street art, and gardens. I had the most amazing dulche de leche doughnut at Dough. We made our way to the Brooklyn Art Museum to see the Swoon exhibit. I had some time to explore Williamsburg by myself. I wandered into a few shops, took a break at a cafe (it was unbearably hot at times), made my way to Bushwick Park to see the Manhattan skyline, but mostly walked and looked around. The whole trip was such a whirlwind that I'd just stop at times and think to myself, wow, I'm really here right now.

When we met back up we went over to Dumbo. I wasn't familiar with that part of town, so I was delighted when I saw where we were and Kim told me the name stood for "Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass". It was really neat there.

We rode Jane's Carousel, ate dinner, then headed back to Manhattan to walk The High Line. That was another thing I didn't know about before this trip. And I think it was my favorite thing that we did. It was so neat to be able to walk and see the city without worrying about crosswalks and cars. It was getting dark by the time we were walking it, and a storm came through. We waited it out and by the time we started walking again most everyone had left. It was a really perfect way to end the day.

Here are a handful of photos from the Swoon exhibit at the Brooklyn Art Museum. It was really affecting and gorgeous. These pictures don't even come close to doing it justice. The tree in the middle was so big, and everything was just placed around it so perfectly. 

By the time we had to get back on the bus at midnight, I was maybe the most tired I have ever been. And I couldn't believe the amount of things we managed to fit into eighteen hours. I'm really, really happy that I agreed to come along on this crazy trip when my friend first asked me. It was a little bit out of my comfort zone - or a lot. I am no good without sleep. So the idea of riding a bus for six hours through the night before having a full, busy day in New York City concerned me a little. But I really wanted to do it. Because when else am I gonna do something like this? 

FLORENCE: MUSEUM OF ZOOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY

This is one of my favorite places we went to in Florence - I've never been to a natural history museum like this before so this was my first time being overwhelmed with taxidermy. All the huge glass cases made it feel so old-fashioned and science-y. My favorite section was definitely the birds - there were so many different kinds and it was awesome to see the colors and feathers up close. There are some crazy birds.

This museum is famous for its wax anatomical models from the 18th century - they were used for teaching medicine and were copied from actual corpses. They are detailed. Also they had hair. I can't say it was my favorite part of the museum but it was pretty cool to see.

MY TRAVEL JOURNAL // FLORENCE AND PARIS

I've kept a travel journal on every trip to Europe I've gone on with my dad. I collect bits and pieces, tickets and labels, throughout each day and spend a little time each night before bed and writing about the day we've had. I usually didn't write much for every day, but I'm glad I wrote down the little details I did. Looking back through the journal even two and half months after our trip, there are so many little things I don't think I would have remembered.

You can see all the photos from the trip I've shared so far here.

CINQUE TERRE // DAY TRIP FROM FLORENCE

We took a day trip from Florence to Cinque Terre, five villages along the coast of the Italian Riviera. When I researched day trips we could take, I saw photos of these places, and I knew we had to go and at the same time couldn't believe there was a possibility of being there in real life. So we signed up to take a tour there and did it. We drove to the coast on a huge tour bus, which was nice and comfortable until we started driving up the tiny, winding roads that go up the mountains - right along the tiny metal guardrails that would definitely not stop a bus from rolling down the side of a mountain.

But we made it! We started at La Spezia, then took trains to four of the five villages. It was all truly incredible. We walked up hundreds of tiny steps to look out to the sea, we sat on the beach, we wandered through the little towns crowded with colorful houses. We ate focaccia and gelato for lunch. One of my favorite parts was all the amazing plants, like that massive jade plant! They were all over. I also really appreciated this dog. He was walking around like he owned the place and then sat down to smell the coastal air. He is for real living the life.

Another favorite part of the day was the bus ride - we drove along the same motorway for most of the trip and saw several different towns. My favorite was Pistoia, a town that grows all sorts of trees - you could see the farms, with more kinds of trees than I can name growing in rows in endless fields. We also passed Carrara, the city with the famous marble quarry- Michelangelo used Carrara marble to carve David and other statues. It's definitely not like I knew of these towns before we drove by them. It was also a day of learning things I might not have ever known otherwise. And that's always a good thing.

LOVE LOCK BRIDGE // PARIS

Though this is a famous bridge in Paris, somehow neither my dad nor I knew about it before this last trip. We came across it during a morning walk. I'm glad we didn't know about it. It was kind of magical to come across with no idea it even existed.

PARIS ON FILM PART II