I'm still alive.  It's been a month since I've really posted anything, so I thinks its about time to fill you in.  School has been quite busy, but I've still found some time to travel.     

I spent the first weekend of October in Burgandy on a sketch trip.  The other program participants and I traveled with Michael Plautz, a practicing architect in Minneapolis and former participant in the Versailles program, to various sites in Troyes, Fontenay, and Dijon to practice a number of guided sketching exercises.  We also visited Mt. Beuvray and Autun.  We stayed at a hostel in Dijon so I came home with a 2 year supply of mustard (moutarde).  I actually don't even like mustard, but they know what they're doing in Dijon.  As this was a class field trip, history lessons were incorporated into our site visits.  In Autun we were able to see ancient Gallo-Roman ruins dating to the 2^nd century AD.  And I have to say it's really a lot of fun to learn about architecture and history outside of a textbook.  Because this was a sketch trip I focused more on sketching than photography.  But nonetheless there are a few photographs posted.

The following weekend I spent in Barcelona studying a precedent building for design class.  This semester we are designing a mediatheque, or rather, a contemporary library, for a site in the 15^th arrondisemont of Paris.  Before starting our designs, we were required to analyze a contemporary example.  My group and I were assigned Villa de Gracia Biblioteca in Barcelona.  While we were there we visited a number of other sites of architectural interest.  And it just so happened that my birthday was that weekend.  So even though it was a long trip for a short weekend, it was a lot of fun.

As for last weekend, well, I stayed in studio.  We had midterms and mid reviews this week, so I had quite a bit of work to do.  But it's all over now which means we are beginning our fall travel break.  Tomorrow morning I head to Scandinavia with four others for ten days.  The plan is to fly tomorrow from Paris to Oslo, Norway for one night.  The next morning we are driving through Norway and the fjords to Bergen. We are then returning to Oslo and flying to Stockholm, Sweden.   From there, we are taking a boat to Helsinki, Finland, where we will end our trip.  We are required to complete a number of sketching assignments, but the trip will be very appreciated especially after such a busy week.  Keep your eyes open for pictures.