Wednesday, February 5, 2020 | Written by Blanca
Going to art museums is by far one of my favorite things to do, ever—I consider it in an exalted vanguard that is otherwise occupied only by eating, sleeping, and walking up and down the same streets five times in a row to observe the architecture and experience the genuine atmosphere of the whichever city I happen to be visiting at the time.
It might be due to the fact that I had to self-study virtually the entire curriculum of AP European History for the AP exam during my junior year of high school, but I hold a special place in my heart for European art, particularly for the softness of plein air Impressionism and Rococo and the awe-inspiring glory of Italian Renaissance paintings. Oh, how I miss the days of patronization when oligarchs would commission pieces even more expansive and impressive than the very obscene amounts of money with which they were doing so. Visiting art collections, however, assuages this longing a bit, but for some reason, it wasn’t until this past weekend that I realized that being in Europe presents the most prime location and opportunity to see European art.
As a frequenter of art museums back in the states, I’m no stranger to seeing a diverse range of art forms and styles, and European art is no exception. But while triptychs at the Met, a Gutenberg bible at the Morgan Library & Museum, and Monet’s Houses of Parliament in the Fog at Atlanta’s very own High Museum of Art—at which I’ve stared for so long on many an occasion that I can actually see the silhouettes of houses of parliament despite the fog—are all adeptly crafted, they pale in comparison to the treasures that are on display in the very places in which they were made.
Take the art I saw in Venice, for instance. In retrospect, this shouldn’t have been a surprise. Venice was a driving force in the Italian Renaissance, and the Venetian School of painting trained the likes of Titian and Tintoretto. In fact, paintings by both were on display in the Scuola Grande di San Rocco in Venice, which I visited on my last night there. The Scoula was established as a confraternity in the late 13th century, and craning my neck to view the expanse of Tintoretto’s finest works on the ceiling of the Salone Maggiore, I could almost hear music, religion, and discussion that had filled the halls centuries before.
I also visited the Gallerie dell’Accademia on my final day in Venice, an art museum housed in the Scuola della Carità and the collections of which boast numerous pre-19th century Venetian masterpieces. There, in Venice, where composite altarpieces were first introduced, the polyptychs were more detailed than any I’d seen, their reds and blues seemingly more vivid than in paintings that are housed elsewhere. I’ve also craned my neck to see my fair share of ornately decorated ceilings in American galleries and private collections alike, but looking up, the gilded Baroque ceilings of the Gallerie dell’Accademia gleamed even more mesmerizingly.
Perhaps it was the generally enchanting environment of Venice that made me feel this way, but experiencing key parts of European culture, in Europe and in the very place from which they originated, was an incredibly riveting experience, one that was so much more immersive than seeing similar pieces in other collections. While still from the same eras and by the same artists, artwork imported and put on display in other countries feels a bit far removed, almost foreign. A Titian in Isabella Stewart Gardner’s private collection in Boston is simply a beautiful painting (and a masterful one, at that), but seeing a Titian in the very city where he trained made me feel as though I could understand the places from which he drew inspiration, making a connection between the art and the cultural influences surrounding it.
While I’m in Europe this semester, I’m planning to continue to take advantage of my location to experience more history and culture in the places from which they originated. Wherever else I might travel in the future, I hope to do the same, and I highly recommend it!
As I exited the Gallerie dell’Accademia that day, I passed by a bust of Napoleon, who conquered Venice in 1797. Had I at any point, while observing the winding canals and elegant palaces, stood in the same place as Napoleon had, surveying his conquest, over 200 years before? Maybe not, but the thought of having the same experience as those in Venice’s history was thrilling enough.
in the world is in Spa, and the race happens to be at the beginning of the fall semester every year, so I wanted to go. My mom made it happen, and my dad got to come too, so that was an unforgettable experience. Lastly, Tromso—it was by far the most expensive trip that I planned, as well as the furthest distance from Metz (and therefore the most difficult to get to). After traveling for 20 hours, a couple of friends and I got to see the Northern Lights on both nights that we were there. They are absolutely stunning I could not recommend them enough if you have the ability to go see them.
I would like to think that I did quite a few things well during this semester. I managed to travel tons – almost every weekend – and got to see many things that I never would have thought I’d be able to see. I was able to take 13 credit hours (I have been taking 14-16 every semester before this one) and still be able to do this traveling and be social. Another thing I did well was being social: I’m an introvert, and therefore being social is usually a problem, but I was able to be pretty social among the group of students at Georgia Tech-Lorraine. Lastly, I don’t think I got lost at all this semester—I had limited data and though a couple of wrong turns were taken, I always made it to the end destination relatively quickly.
with Verizon and had very limited data. Second, plan your trips decently in advance. There were multiple occasions where I had to make last second plans to go to a city that wasn’t my first choice because all of the trains were sold out to get there. Another reason to plan bigger trips in advance is that planes are cheaper when tickets are bought in advance. Third, talk to people outside of the group you’re with. I struggle with this because I’m such a shy person, but I heard some really cool stories from people who talked to locals. Lastly, do focus on school some on the weekends. While I did well enough, I rarely did anything school related on the weekends, and therefore caused a bit of unnecessary stress for during the week.
Region in Northern Italy on Tuesday. After that, we have one more class on the following Tuesday. In my circuits lab, I have my final exam on Wednesday. It’s worth 35% of my grade, so I need to do well on it. In thermodynamics, we have three more classes with three more evaluation periods and then a final exam slot, which is essentially three evaluation periods put together. I was hoping to not need to come to the final to get an A, but it’s looking more and more likely that I will need to go. In my probability and statistics class, we have a couple of classes left, one homework assignment, and then the final exam, which is also 35% of my grade, so it’s a similar scenario to circuits. In French, we have a couple of review classes and then a final exam. 
as them. Today, we did the Porsche and Mercedes-Benz museums and then tomorrow morning, we will do the Porsche factory.
search further north. This is where I found Tromsø. Tromsø is located in the Arctic Circle and is home to the northernmost university and is the northernmost city in the world – and is one of the best places to see the Aurora borealis. I decided that this was where I wanted to go. However, I made the mistake of waiting to see who all else would want to come along, and therefore didn’t actually book the trip until late October, which made the trip more expensive than anticipated. However, it was still cheaper than being able to see the northern lights at any other time due to living in the southern United States. Two people ended up coming with, so we packed our bags and headed to Tromsø.
a short nap. Once we were rested up a little bit, we took the cable car up Fjellheisen, a mountain on an island adjacent to Tromsø. This provided magnificent views of the city and is the cheapest way to potentially see the northern lights. We lucked out: while overlooking the city lights, a bit of northern lights came out to play. After taking the best hand-held pictures we could manage, we headed back to our Airbnb and called it a night.
that was where we headed next. The Chasing Lights Minibus Tour took us to a different adjacent island, Ringvassøy, and set us up with tripods, thermal suits, a stew dinner, and a fire. Because we were away from the city, we could see the northern lights even better when they decided to come out, and luckily for us, they came out dancing. At about 11 PM, after we had been out in near zero-degree weather for three hours, the Aurora borealis came out so strong that we were able to see more than just the usual green color. We saw red and yellow dance around as well. Thanks to our knowledgeable guide, we knew that these were the strongest that the northern lights could be, and it was absolutely stunning. Not too long after this, we got back on the bus and 
headed back to the city and then back to our Airbnb, which we arrived back at 3 AM.
same building, most of us haven’t met. However, for the first time, the French professor at Georgia Tech Lorraine, who has classes with both graduate and undergraduate students, planned an event for the two programs to come together and mix so that graduate students and undergraduate students could meet. She thought this event could be beneficial to both groups, as some graduate students are coming to the Atlanta campus in the spring and needed information on housing and things to do in the city, and undergraduate students could hear about graduate programs. Professor Serafin introduced the idea to her French class, which I’m a part of, and there was a general interest from our group. She sweetened the idea with free pizza so we could get some of our friends to come, and we promised we could get some more undergraduate students to come, and so Professor Serafin went ahead and planned the event. 
rotated after about two minutes. While this ended up seeming like a really short time, both sides were able to introduce themselves and share some valuable information with the other. After about thirty minutes, there was about five minutes of free for all, so you could meet new students or pick up on a conversation that was cut short by the two minute timer. After all of this, we could continue to mingle and eat the pizza that just arrived.