MY NEW TATTOO!

Hiya! This post is going to be a little different from the previous ones! I want to talk about something really means a lot me which is my new tattoo!

Now, I am not the kind of girl that just gets a tattoo just becasue… I really thought about it for a LONG time, I would say I waited a year to get it, just to make sure that I really wanted it. So the 7th of February I went straigth to the tattoo studio and got it. It took roughly 10 minutes and it was a little painful because it was on the ribs.

Getting ready!

Done!!

I decided to get an airplane because for me it’s the symbol of travel. Travel for me means everything. My life as a travel of growth but not only. It’s the symbol of my life in America and in Edinburgh away from my home-town. Travel as personal growth and around the planet. It really has a deep meaning to me, that’s why I decided to get it inked to my skin forever.

Ask me questions about my new tattoo! –> https://ask.fm/ElenaPederiva

Love it!

I really love it and I will never regret it! xx

BARCELONA, SPAIN!

Hola! As you know, I am really passionate about travelling. So last week since I am currently in spring break I decided to go for a little adventure with one of my friends. We decided to go to Barcelona since neither of us ever saw it before. I always wanted to visit it but I never had the occasion before and finally here it is!!

We left Edinburgh April 12th at 6am from the airport and in almost 3 hours we were in the sunny Barcelona! After getting a little bit lost and all we finally found our hostel and lest there our bags and stuff we went straight to see Casa Batllò, La Pedrera and La Sagrada Familia. Since I studied these masterpieces last year I was pretty excited to see them finally live, not gonna lie! 😉 Loved them!! ❤

La Pedrera!

JAckie and I in front of Casa Batllò!

In front of La Sagrada Familia!

On the roof of La Pedrera!

After that we went to spend the evening on the beach. It was sooo nice, everyone was enjoying the sun and relaxing. Then we went to have dinner to a nice restaurant and we went to sleep pretty early because we were pretty tired from te flight.

On Thursday we had a booking to see La Pedrera inside so we had all this tour inside which took us a hour and a half. It was soooo beautiful!! After that we decided we wanted to spend the rest of the day on the Barceloneta beach where I got pretty burnt I gotta say haha worth it! 😉

Barceloneta beach!

The water was really cold!

On the beach we got to know some guys which invited us to join them to a pub crawl that night! So we went back and had dinner and prepared for the night. During the night, with a group of 50 people from all around the world (mostly americans), we went to 3 bars and 1 nightclub. It was pretty fun and at the end we were sooo tired that we left at 2am to go to sleep because we had a long day!!

The day after our original plan was to see Parc Guell and its surroundings but we found out that the tickets for it were sold out so we changed plans adn went to the Arc de Triomf and the near Parc de la Ciutadella which we found out it ws huuuuge and it also had the Zoo attached.  We liked it so much that we didn’t wanna leave haha we had a long walk through all the park and then sat on a bench for few hours.

During the evening I really wanted to have a typical spanish dinner so we found this amazing place where they made paellas. OMG best paella EVER. It was huge, I couldn’t even finish it but I really enjoyed it. After that we went to Plaza de Espana to see a cool show with lights and a fountain. We soon got back to the hostel because we had to get up at 4am to go to the airport.

At the end, we managed to reach the airport and flight back to Edinburgh.

Ask me questions about my trip to Barcelona! -> https://ask.fm/ElenaPederiva

Overall I REALLY loved this city and I will go back to visit more for sure!! If you ever plan to go to Spain I really recommed to visit Barcelona, you will fall in love with it.

Hasta la fiesta siempre! xx

 

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND!

Hey all! Instead of just writing an article about Edinburgh and saying how much is beautiful and blabla I decided to write the TOP things to do in Edinburgh that I think are worth trying while you’re here. I lived here foe almost 9 months now, so everything is based on my own experience! 🙂

TOP things to do in Edinburgh:

Edinburgh Castle

Situated at the top of the Royal Mile on top of Castle Rock, Edinburgh Castle is the most beautiful and touristy attraction in my opinion, and the most iconic building in the city.

The castle is situated in top of an hill which offers you a view of all Edinburgh. Inside you can explore some of the oldest and most important buildings of the city, including St Margaret’s Chapel, The National War Memorial and the Half Moon Battery. The regal Crown Square is a real highlight, where you will find the magnificent Grand Hall and Scotland’s Crown Jewels – including the famous Stone of Destiny. Don’t try to steal it, since there are always two guards on the big reinforced door! 😉

https://www.edinburghcastle.gov.uk/

 

 

National Galleries of Scotland

Edinburgh is home to three of the National Galleries of Scotland: the National Gallery on the Mound, the Portrait Gallery on Queen Street and the Gallery of Modern Art on Belford Road. Offering a mixture of permanent art collections and exciting visiting exhibitions, a visit to the galleries is a great day out for art lovers.

The Scottish National Gallery

In the heart of Edinburgh, the Scottish National Gallery hosts some of the world’s finest art by the likes of Rembrandt, Monet and Raphael.

Scottish National Portrait Gallery

This beautiful red sandstone building can be found in the New Town, and is home to over 3,000 portraits of men, women and children from Scotland and beyond.

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art

Just a short taxi ride from the city centre, the Scottish Gallery of Modern Art has three main spaces: Modern One hosts the gallery’s permanent collection, Modern Two has ever-changing exhibitions and displays, and an expansive park full of fascinating sculptures. It’s a must for any modern art fan in the city. This is the gallery I liked the most (just because I studied most of the art inside in the last years), there are a lot of rooms to visit and some of the art could be surprisingly interesting! 🙂

https://www.nationalgalleries.org/

 

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Enjoy a gentle stroll through Edinburgh’s stunning botanic gardens and enjoy the sights, sounds and scents throughout the changing seasons. Have a stroll through the charming outdoor gardens, or journey through a warmer climate and discover exotic plants in the Glasshouse.

You can also enjoy a light bite in the gardens restaurant, cafeteria or coffee shop and purchase plants and gifts in the modern gift shop.  A top tourist attraction for all ages.

http://www.rbge.org.uk/

 

Edinburgh Zoo

A fantastic day out for all the family, Edinburgh Zoo is only  a short bus ride from the city center and home to over 1,000 fabulous animals, including the UK’s only giant pandas. The Zoo is situated in beautiful parkland settings and includes fabulous flamingos, cute koalas and cheeky chimpanzees.

There is a jammed packed schedule of talks every day, given by expert keepers. I went there with my best friends, and even if the weather was cloudy and foggy, and half of the animals where not visible for this reason we really enjoyed the zoo!

http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/

 

Camera Obscura

This is the oldest visitor attraction in Edinburgh, delighting visitors since 1835.

Serve your own head up on a silver platter, visit the room where little and large become interchangable, and pick the people of Edinburgh up in your hand in the city’s 150 year old Camera Obsura show.

I REALLY liked this attraction here in Edinburgh. Is real fun and there are a lot of activities to do. If you have a family and have a little of spare time I really suggest to go here!

Get involved, play and touch everything! Will you find your way out of the magical mirror maze? Will you manage to stay on your feet in the Vortex Tunnel?

http://www.camera-obscura.co.uk/

 

Edinburgh is the most beautiful city, you don’t believe me? Come and visit! 😉

 

MOVING TO SCOTLAND!

Moving somewhere is always a big step in anyone’s life, especially if you’re young and you always lived with your parents. For me, it was a little bit easier since I’ve already experienced some living by myself in a foreign country while I was in America 2 years ago.

The view of the city from the window of my university!

Deciding to move here it hasn’t been easy at all. First, I had to apply for the university I liked (which took almost a year for the whole process through UCAS – I can write a post about it if anyone is interested), then I had to sort out my accomodation and then I had to mentally prepare myself to what my life would have been in a couple of months.

This, perhaps was the hardest thing for me. Finally, being able to move out from your parents house is a huge step of your life and for me it was (still is) a big deal!

My friend Jackie and I visitng Scotland’s national aquarium!

Now, why Scotland? Why Edinburgh? Seriously, I could stay here years to explain to you why I made this choice but I will help you understand  better in a couple of points here and in my next posts.

First. Have you ever looked at pictures of Scotland? Of Edinburgh? I mean, it’s amazing! I came here 6 years ago for a week to explore this beautiful country and what can I say? I fell in love with it! Beautiful.

Second. Opportunities. When I was choosing which university was perfect for me, I realized that in Italy I had no possibility to find a course that I liked. So that’s why I looked into foreign universities.

Third. Costs. Some of you my not know that in Scotland, for EU students like me, tuition is free. This means that SAAS -student awards agency for Scotland- pays your fees as long as you get your degree in Scotland and with good grades. That was perfect for me, so why not do it? You only live once, right?

There are other million reasons but these are my top 3.

I’ll write soon more posts about Edinburgh, Scotland, how my life is going, how univeristy is like in the UK, my experiences and – if you want- I can explain the process on how I got here and what you have to do to get into an university.

Comment down below if you have any question or just to let me know what you think! 🙂

xxx

AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS!

Last month I went on a trip in the Netherlands. I visited a lot of cities like Sneek, Leuwaarden and Groningen, but the best city  I went to was Amsterdam.

Amsterdam is really an amazing city and when I got there I already knew I would love it! The first thing you see are the many canals that are a feature of the city and they kinda reminded me of Venice (obviously different but it has something similar haha).

After having a walk in the city center and main streets we took a boat that gave us a tour of the main canals and sights of the city: I really liked it and I highly suggest it if you will ever go to Amsterdam (one of my fav spots was where the Amsterdam city hall and opera house were located, and the Hermitage Museum on the Amstel River). 🙂

Then we went to eat at one of the many italian restaurants that are on the main street. The food was pretty good knowing that we were in the Netherlands and not in Italy. 😉

After that, we spent some time going around Amsterdam without  a clear destination and at the end we decided that we had to see the red light district (we felt like it was a “typical” Amsterdam thing so we had to see it)!

Red light district

After walking a little bit we were sooo tired so we stopped in a random irish pub and stayed there until 1 am. We found out that night that danish people are very friendly haha.

During the night we stayed at this hotel: http://www.hotelcasa400.nl/en/index.html (I loved it)!

The next day we could decide what to do. So my friend and I decided to go to the Madame Tussauds Museum (I knowww, maybe we should have gone to the Van Gogh Museum but oh well.. 🙂 ) I always wanted to go to that museum so we decided that the day to visit it was arrived!

We took some crazy pictures and had a loooot of fun!!

 

When we got out we were starving so as soon as we saw a ‘Subway’ sign we went in! We ate and then I proposed to go to this huuuge park that I saw on the map: Vondelpark.

I’m really glad that we decided to go there because the park was sooo beautiful! We didn’t even walk till the end of the park because it was too big! So we just sat on a bench near the lake and we spent 2 hours there. Then it was time to go to the airport so we took a tram and once we got at the hotel we took our bags and went to the airport to return in Italy!

I realy really enjoyed this vacation and if you ever thought to go there I really suggest to take a canal cruise around Amsterdam (or with the bike!! but be careful with the bike – I almost got killed at least 3 times haha) 🙂

Let me know where YOU want to spend your next vacation! 🙂

xoxo

 

MADRID, SPAIN!

Last week, my class went on our senior trip and we decided to go to Madrid!

We were all excited to take the plane, but once we got in it we were all so tired that we fell asleep! Once we landed in Madrid we went to the hotel and left our bags there. Then, we went straight away to the Prado Museum, it was pretty cool, but I was way too tired to have the strength to look at all the rooms!!

Inside the Prado Museum

In 5 days that we stayed in Madrid we had loooong walks around the city and had delicious food like Paella and Nachos!

We visited some cool museums like Reina Sofia Museum and Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum! I really liked this last one because it had some surrealist and pop-art paintings!

We even went on a cableway above Madrid’s city, it was amazing (and a little bit scary)! 🙂

We also visited the most famous places in Madrid like Palacio Real, Plaza de Oriente, Puerta del Sol, Gran Vìa, Plaza Mayor and El Escorial.

Plaza de Espana

We really had fun and had a lot of time to party and hang out around the city!

I will definetely go back to visit Madrid again, maybe when it’s not raining! 😀

If you’re never been to Madrid, I really suggest to go visit it because it’s really worth it!

xx

GRADUATION 2k15

At the end of any high school student’s career one of the most awaited moments is graduation. The feeling of living that moment is far more important than having that piece of paper in your hands but it’s the knowledge that all your years in high school had come to an end and it’s time to say goodbye to your friends and move to college.

Even if this moment can be very sad with many tears it’s also a reason to smile and be happy because life goes on! 🙂

For me, it was one of the most incredible experience. Not because of the ceremony itself but because of all the feelings that caused me.

I had the opportunity to meet great people that became really good friends and now I couldn’t think a life without them.

I will be forever grateful to the people that gave me the opportunity to get to know so many people and such a great colture.

Soon more articles!

xx

ISTANBUL, TURKEY

Istanbul is a transcontinental city in Eurasia, straddling the Bosphorus strait between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. Its commercial and historical center lies on the European side and about a third of its population lives on the Asian side.

I visited Istanbul during my cruise trip around the Mediterranean Sea. I was impressed by this city because its beauty and its colture.

We visited a lot of things here, the Basilica Cistern, Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque.

Basilica Cistern

In the Mosque all the women had to wear something to cover our head and legs to respect all the believers inside the Mosque.

Inside the Blue Mosque

Inside Aya Sofia

We also had the opportunity to try some of the local food which was very delicious!

I am really grateful to had the opportunity to visit such a beautiful city and can’t wait to visit it again to discover new places and food!

xx

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL

Israel is one of the few countries that I ever visited in Asia. The country is situated in the Middle East at the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea.

When I was 8 my family wanted to go there to visit the major towns and famous places. I remember that at the airport the security was very high and my family even had to have a conversation with a security guard to understand our intentions. We landed in Tel Aviv and we stayed there in a hotel.

Tel Aviv

In the next days we travelled all over the country visiting Jerusalem and Betlem, where Jesus was born.

The Western Wall

One day we even went to swim in the Dead Sea, the lowest place on earth.

We stayed a lot in Jerusalem where we visited  the Dome of the Rock, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Western Wall and the Old city.

I really enjoyed this trip and even if it wasn’t a “vacation” type of trip, I feel like a learned a lot about these places. This was definitely one of the few trips that made me think.

And you? Which trip was the most spiritual for you?

Let me know!! xx

VAL DI FASSA TOTEM

Our teachers asked us to design a “totem” that would be something that introduces people to our valley. This totem has to be simple but at the same time has to mean something so people can understand more about our colture, language and territory.

I started this project by drawing a tree and reducing it in just few simple lines. The shape of my totem is a triangular pyramid. Two of the sides are the same while the third one is different with a particular interactive window. This window can be opened and people can trow dolomia rocks in it that are prepared for this mean.

So, with wood and rock I created a design that resembles our territory and colture, including specific informations of the 7 town located in the valley.

I built the model in the carpentry and it took me about 10 hours.

I am really satisfied of this project because I really think it could be used to introduce people that don’t know our valley and wish to know a little bit more.

At the end I created a digital picture that can show how the structure would look like in reality.

Hope you like it!

xx