No more Italian blog post titles, it just doesn't feel right in America.
Well, I'm home, as you may have noticed.
Rome was quite the experience. Though the crowds were a bit much for my tastes, and I found myself missing Florence more than once, there was so much to see. Much of the stuff in Florence was stuff I knew about from taking Art History and being an art enthusiast in general, but in Rome, the stuff we saw was what had been forced through pop culture and ingrained in our minds since we were children. The Colosseum, The Sistine Chapel, etc.
The first day, we took a bus, arriving a little before 1pm, and did a basic walking tour around Rome, stopping in a bunch of small churches and cathedrals along the way. My favorite was the Santa Maria sopra Minerva, wherein lay the bodies of Saint Catherine (sans head) and Fra Angelico. I bought a rosary there for my sister, and a monk blessed it for me. It was a very neat to see. We ended at a Bernini fountain depicting personifications of four rivers, and taxied back to the hotel. The next day we went to the Vatican, which, while housing some of the most famous art of the Western world, was absolute hell to walk through. I am truly glad I went and can say I've seen what is housed there, I will never go again. That evening, and the evening after, we ate at the restaurant where Alfredo was invented, which was pretty cool. The next day, we walked around Rome some more. First, we walked through the ancient markets, now just ruins, which was by far my favorite part of the Rome experience. Then, we saw Trajan's column, and then the outside of the Colosseum. A small group of us went to the Bourgeoisie palace to see statues by Bernini along with other great art of the time. There was a statue by Bernini of Apollo and Daphne which I absolutely adored. I was astonished by his ability to sculpt such fragile looking parts of the statue so perfectly; roots stretching out from her toes, thin leaves from her fingers, tendrils of her marble hair appearing to blow back in the wind. It was incredible to say at the least. After the second Alfredo dinner that night, we walked back, detouring through the Spanish Steps. The next day, it was bright and early off to the airport.
The flights home went well, even though we missed a flight, I think it ended up being a good thing. We hand planned for half of us to get a flight from Montreal to Toronto at 5 and the other half at 6, but with our flight from Rome landing in Montreal at 5:30, there was no time for either. We ended up all catching a flight to Toronto together at 7, and still catching our original flight to Pittsburgh. After a reunion with my mother and sister, during which I fell into fits of this strange hysterical laughter and sobbing at the same time (it's quite unlike me, I can assure you), we went to a hotel where I happily fell asleep at what felt to me in Italian time like 7am, but was really 1.
After spending the next day and night in Pittsburgh, where I had the most amazing Indian food as my first meal back in America, we left the next day at 10am back for Baltimore (stopping of course for a big American breakfast), and arrived back around 5:30pm, safe and sound.
Now I say goodbye to this blog, at least until next time I go to Italy, if I am so lucky.
Ciao!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Tempo di dire addio a Firenze
I haven't much felt in the mood to write as you may have noticed. I'm getting pretty mopey about leaving Florence (tomorrow morning). In fact, I probably wouldn't be writing in this at all on my last day if it weren't for the fact that I most likely won't have internet access for the last three days of the trip, which are in Rome. I'll try and be as chipper as possible in recounting the last six days however.
So, the Uffizi. In a word; incredible. The tour took 4 and a half hours, without sitting down once mind you, but it was definitely worth it. I didn't want to take a break that entire time. We began with Giotto and Cimabue's two different depictions of the Madonna Enthroned, which I'd always imagined in Art History were small enough to be held in one's hands, but were about twice my height in person. We walked through a room of Botticellis, including the famous Birth of Venus. I've always been impressed by Botticelli's unique style, but in person it really shines through. We saw many other great artist's works, too many to name here. We ended in a small room with a couple of Caravaggios and, more importantly, Gentileschi's depiction of Judith slaying Holofernes, a piece I'd been excited to see the entire trip, and one of the pieces that has moved me the most emotionally since arriving in Florence.
The next day, we went to the Medici Chapels. It housed some beautiful Reliquaries, and Michelangelo's "Dawn and Dusk" and "Day and Night". I feel like it's artistic sacrilege, but I like Michelangelo's work less and less the longer I'm here. Without the mystery and that shock the first time you see it, you realize there are better sculptors out there (at least in my opinion). I've absolutely fallen in love with the work of Giambologna, for example. But I find Michelangelo's works for a large part to be unfinished and static. At this point, I think of seeing his works as more of a bragging point ("Guess what? I saw like 50 original Michelangelos this summer") than I do artistically fulfilling. Fortunately, there's plenty of other amazing art to make up for that.
That evening, we invited David and Nadia, our program coordinators, and Steve, our professor, over to dinner. It was lots of fun, and afterwards, we went out for gelato, and me and a smaller group walked to the bronze boar. The story goes that if you rub the boar's nose, then put a coin in its fountain mouth, if the coin falls out into the grate below, you will return to Florence.
I got it on my first try.
The next day was a day trip to the seaside at Cinque Terre. It was incredibly beautiful, even if the sun was hidden all day by thick grey clouds. It didn't actually rain though, and we still were able to swim in the crystal clear water (and I mean that, I swam out to where I couldn't touch the bottom at all, probably around ten feet deep, and could see, without my glasses, straight down to the bottom with all the different rocks). David also read my palm for me, which was scarily accurate considering the only thing he knew about me before hand was that I'm a scorpio. I tried to look at the reading completely objectively, not telling him anything about me, but he asked no questions, simply stated things and was completely correct about all of them, down to the times in my life when they had happened (well, I suppose I don't know about the future stuff... yet). After upwards of 7 hours at the beach, I was exhausted, and slept for most of the three hour bus ride back.
The past two days, as well as today, have been free days, and I'm just trying to soak up the last bit of Florence. Saturday I tried to do some souvenir shopping, but gave up part way through. I'll have to pick up where I left off today. Yesterday, we had a Gelato Social at the studio, where everyone from the program brought in artwork and we watched a photo slideshow. Afterwards, Steve, two other students and I walked around Florence a bit. The student and I stopped at one point to watch some Italian street performers while Steve went back home. Because it was around 11 at night, it wasn't really prime tourist time, so the entire performance was in Italian, and I think we were the only non-Italians in the small audience which had gathered around. When we got there, the five classically costumed performers were having an argument with a man yelling out the window of his top floor apartment. With the absolutely minimal Italian I've picked up here, what I got from it was that the man wanted them to leave, and they were asking for two more minutes ("Due Minuti!"). At one point, the crowd started a cheer of "Basta!" (it means something like "enough", and has proven to be the most useful word of this entire trip) and we were more than happy to chime in. The man finally left his window, to the cheers of the audience, for what we thought was for good, and the performers continued. I was standing in the part of the audience right under the window, so had to look straight up to see the man, and in the middle of the performance, saw the other members of the audience point up at the window and start yelling in Italian. The people who understood Italian began to try to shuffle away, but to no avail, and as I looked up to see what they were pointing and screaming at, the freezing cold water from the bucket the man dumped out of his window landed right on us. It was a bonding moment between us and the Italians however, as other Italians who'd been hit expressed their sympathies and frustration to us and each other, or simply laughed with us, clapped us on the back or smiled. The audience was uproarious all over again, the performers finished their play (which did literally take only two minutes, and was made even funnier by the fact that they did it all in tiptoes and whispers as a mockery to the man yelling out of his window). There was a long round of applause, with many whistles and cheers, which I think was partially because of the good nature and performance of the actors, and partially because they were trying to rile up the man in the window some more by being as loud as possible. It was one of the more entertaining nights in Italy by far.
Sorry, no pictures for this one.
Today, I write my most likely last blog entry in Italy, pack up my things, finish up my shopping, and wander Florence for the last time. It'll for sure be a sad day, but I am incredibly appreciative of this opportunity.
Arrivederci, Firenze. And I say "arrivederci" because I know we will see each other again someday.
So, the Uffizi. In a word; incredible. The tour took 4 and a half hours, without sitting down once mind you, but it was definitely worth it. I didn't want to take a break that entire time. We began with Giotto and Cimabue's two different depictions of the Madonna Enthroned, which I'd always imagined in Art History were small enough to be held in one's hands, but were about twice my height in person. We walked through a room of Botticellis, including the famous Birth of Venus. I've always been impressed by Botticelli's unique style, but in person it really shines through. We saw many other great artist's works, too many to name here. We ended in a small room with a couple of Caravaggios and, more importantly, Gentileschi's depiction of Judith slaying Holofernes, a piece I'd been excited to see the entire trip, and one of the pieces that has moved me the most emotionally since arriving in Florence.
The next day, we went to the Medici Chapels. It housed some beautiful Reliquaries, and Michelangelo's "Dawn and Dusk" and "Day and Night". I feel like it's artistic sacrilege, but I like Michelangelo's work less and less the longer I'm here. Without the mystery and that shock the first time you see it, you realize there are better sculptors out there (at least in my opinion). I've absolutely fallen in love with the work of Giambologna, for example. But I find Michelangelo's works for a large part to be unfinished and static. At this point, I think of seeing his works as more of a bragging point ("Guess what? I saw like 50 original Michelangelos this summer") than I do artistically fulfilling. Fortunately, there's plenty of other amazing art to make up for that.
That evening, we invited David and Nadia, our program coordinators, and Steve, our professor, over to dinner. It was lots of fun, and afterwards, we went out for gelato, and me and a smaller group walked to the bronze boar. The story goes that if you rub the boar's nose, then put a coin in its fountain mouth, if the coin falls out into the grate below, you will return to Florence.
I got it on my first try.
The next day was a day trip to the seaside at Cinque Terre. It was incredibly beautiful, even if the sun was hidden all day by thick grey clouds. It didn't actually rain though, and we still were able to swim in the crystal clear water (and I mean that, I swam out to where I couldn't touch the bottom at all, probably around ten feet deep, and could see, without my glasses, straight down to the bottom with all the different rocks). David also read my palm for me, which was scarily accurate considering the only thing he knew about me before hand was that I'm a scorpio. I tried to look at the reading completely objectively, not telling him anything about me, but he asked no questions, simply stated things and was completely correct about all of them, down to the times in my life when they had happened (well, I suppose I don't know about the future stuff... yet). After upwards of 7 hours at the beach, I was exhausted, and slept for most of the three hour bus ride back.
The past two days, as well as today, have been free days, and I'm just trying to soak up the last bit of Florence. Saturday I tried to do some souvenir shopping, but gave up part way through. I'll have to pick up where I left off today. Yesterday, we had a Gelato Social at the studio, where everyone from the program brought in artwork and we watched a photo slideshow. Afterwards, Steve, two other students and I walked around Florence a bit. The student and I stopped at one point to watch some Italian street performers while Steve went back home. Because it was around 11 at night, it wasn't really prime tourist time, so the entire performance was in Italian, and I think we were the only non-Italians in the small audience which had gathered around. When we got there, the five classically costumed performers were having an argument with a man yelling out the window of his top floor apartment. With the absolutely minimal Italian I've picked up here, what I got from it was that the man wanted them to leave, and they were asking for two more minutes ("Due Minuti!"). At one point, the crowd started a cheer of "Basta!" (it means something like "enough", and has proven to be the most useful word of this entire trip) and we were more than happy to chime in. The man finally left his window, to the cheers of the audience, for what we thought was for good, and the performers continued. I was standing in the part of the audience right under the window, so had to look straight up to see the man, and in the middle of the performance, saw the other members of the audience point up at the window and start yelling in Italian. The people who understood Italian began to try to shuffle away, but to no avail, and as I looked up to see what they were pointing and screaming at, the freezing cold water from the bucket the man dumped out of his window landed right on us. It was a bonding moment between us and the Italians however, as other Italians who'd been hit expressed their sympathies and frustration to us and each other, or simply laughed with us, clapped us on the back or smiled. The audience was uproarious all over again, the performers finished their play (which did literally take only two minutes, and was made even funnier by the fact that they did it all in tiptoes and whispers as a mockery to the man yelling out of his window). There was a long round of applause, with many whistles and cheers, which I think was partially because of the good nature and performance of the actors, and partially because they were trying to rile up the man in the window some more by being as loud as possible. It was one of the more entertaining nights in Italy by far.
Sorry, no pictures for this one.
Today, I write my most likely last blog entry in Italy, pack up my things, finish up my shopping, and wander Florence for the last time. It'll for sure be a sad day, but I am incredibly appreciative of this opportunity.
Arrivederci, Firenze. And I say "arrivederci" because I know we will see each other again someday.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Si tratta di quel tempo ancora
It's just getting harder and harder to find time to write in this thing with so much to do in so little time. With less than a week left in Florence, and then just a short few days in Rome before heading back to America, I'm trying to soak up all I can. So I left you off at Venice...
Venice was a beautiful city, to say at the least. It was so strange upon arrival, truly unlike anything I'd ever seen. There were no "roads" like we'd imagine them, many a large walkway to accommodate the huge amount of people milling around, but no cars, Instead, there were waterways everywhere, with boats zipping up and down. The bus-stops were docks, where you got on a boat that would have a certain number of stops. It was both so like an American bus station, and at the same time so different. Our first day in Venice, we visited the Peggy Gugenheim gallery. It was a refreshing break from the ancient and Renaissance art and churches we've been seeing this whole trip (though don't get me wrong, I love them too). We spent the night walking around the streets of Venice, and I spent a half an hour just staring off a bridge onto the water way, which was beautiful. The next day, we visited another modern art gallery, the Gardinia. It had a pavilion for different countries which participated, which was really neat. We then went to Murano, an island known for its glass. The next day was a free day, and I opted to go to the Arsenale, the other half of the modern art gallery we visited the day before, while the rest of the IUP group went back to Murano. I had the experience of taking the bus alone, which worked flawlessly. I arrived right as it opened, toured around for two hours, became hopelessly lost (it was gigantic, multiple buildings and everything), and then arrived at an exit. Assuming there was no more, or that if there was, I would never find it, I left, only to run into David, our tour guide and one of the program coordinators. At this point the sky was black with an approaching storm, and when I told him I was leaving, he looked up at the sky, making a sound of disapproval, then back to me questionably, mumbling something about hurrying and being careful. As we parted ways, I ran into his wife and the other program coordinator, Nadia. When I told her, she threw out a string of "no"s, and proceeded to usher me back to the gallery, speaking to the ticket taker in her native Italian to convince them to let me back in, which they did. I spent the next three hours puppy dogging behind Nadia and David, on the way discovering many works I missed my first time around. That evening, we returned to Florence.
The next day in Florence was a free day, and another IUP student and I opted to see the Boboli Gardens at the Pitti Palace. Within 15 minutes, my shoes broke from the steep uphill climb. I held out for another three hours in discomfort before going back home. The gardens were truly beautiful though, and it was hard to imagine what it would be like to be a Medici and live in a palace such as that.
The next day, we hiked uphill to San Miniato (stopping halfway to enjoy a beautiful aerial view of Florence), where we toured a Benedictine church/monastery, as well as a beautiful cemetery. The cemetery was incredibly peaceful, the only sounds were those of the occasional shuffling of feet in the stones, and the birds singing. I decided after walking around for a while, to sit off in a shaded area and meditate. It was one of the best sittings I've had in a long time. I stopped at 5:15 to go catch the monks chant at 5:30, which was both an eerie and incredible thing to witness. This was one of my favorite trips, and by far my favorite church we've visited.
Today, we made a day trip to Sienna and San Gimignano. Sienna was interesting, but nothing truly stuck in my memory. San Gimignano however was a truly exceptional town. It was walled it, very medieval in appearance. We had gelato from a gelaterria voted best in the world two years running, and I see why. I won't get too detailed, but just know that I and several other students returned for seconds. If you go, get the raspberry. Then, I and some other students walked to a "panoramic point", an area meant to overlook the countryside, ideal for photos. It was beautiful, and I opted to stay for a while while the rest wandered off to other places. I then looked around the town until it was time to go.
Tomorrow is the Ufizzi!
Some pictures to sum it all up:
Venice was a beautiful city, to say at the least. It was so strange upon arrival, truly unlike anything I'd ever seen. There were no "roads" like we'd imagine them, many a large walkway to accommodate the huge amount of people milling around, but no cars, Instead, there were waterways everywhere, with boats zipping up and down. The bus-stops were docks, where you got on a boat that would have a certain number of stops. It was both so like an American bus station, and at the same time so different. Our first day in Venice, we visited the Peggy Gugenheim gallery. It was a refreshing break from the ancient and Renaissance art and churches we've been seeing this whole trip (though don't get me wrong, I love them too). We spent the night walking around the streets of Venice, and I spent a half an hour just staring off a bridge onto the water way, which was beautiful. The next day, we visited another modern art gallery, the Gardinia. It had a pavilion for different countries which participated, which was really neat. We then went to Murano, an island known for its glass. The next day was a free day, and I opted to go to the Arsenale, the other half of the modern art gallery we visited the day before, while the rest of the IUP group went back to Murano. I had the experience of taking the bus alone, which worked flawlessly. I arrived right as it opened, toured around for two hours, became hopelessly lost (it was gigantic, multiple buildings and everything), and then arrived at an exit. Assuming there was no more, or that if there was, I would never find it, I left, only to run into David, our tour guide and one of the program coordinators. At this point the sky was black with an approaching storm, and when I told him I was leaving, he looked up at the sky, making a sound of disapproval, then back to me questionably, mumbling something about hurrying and being careful. As we parted ways, I ran into his wife and the other program coordinator, Nadia. When I told her, she threw out a string of "no"s, and proceeded to usher me back to the gallery, speaking to the ticket taker in her native Italian to convince them to let me back in, which they did. I spent the next three hours puppy dogging behind Nadia and David, on the way discovering many works I missed my first time around. That evening, we returned to Florence.
The next day in Florence was a free day, and another IUP student and I opted to see the Boboli Gardens at the Pitti Palace. Within 15 minutes, my shoes broke from the steep uphill climb. I held out for another three hours in discomfort before going back home. The gardens were truly beautiful though, and it was hard to imagine what it would be like to be a Medici and live in a palace such as that.
The next day, we hiked uphill to San Miniato (stopping halfway to enjoy a beautiful aerial view of Florence), where we toured a Benedictine church/monastery, as well as a beautiful cemetery. The cemetery was incredibly peaceful, the only sounds were those of the occasional shuffling of feet in the stones, and the birds singing. I decided after walking around for a while, to sit off in a shaded area and meditate. It was one of the best sittings I've had in a long time. I stopped at 5:15 to go catch the monks chant at 5:30, which was both an eerie and incredible thing to witness. This was one of my favorite trips, and by far my favorite church we've visited.
Today, we made a day trip to Sienna and San Gimignano. Sienna was interesting, but nothing truly stuck in my memory. San Gimignano however was a truly exceptional town. It was walled it, very medieval in appearance. We had gelato from a gelaterria voted best in the world two years running, and I see why. I won't get too detailed, but just know that I and several other students returned for seconds. If you go, get the raspberry. Then, I and some other students walked to a "panoramic point", an area meant to overlook the countryside, ideal for photos. It was beautiful, and I opted to stay for a while while the rest wandered off to other places. I then looked around the town until it was time to go.
Tomorrow is the Ufizzi!
Some pictures to sum it all up:
Me in Venice
Me at the Pitti Palace with a view of Florence behind me
San Miniato Monastery
The IUP group minus two in San Gimignano
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Devo fare in fretta
Wow, has it really been that long since I updated? Unfortunately I have to make this fast because I leave for Venice in less than an hour!
So, we left off at the Academia. After that, we had a Renaissance Dinner at a Medici Palace, which was incredibly cool. I'm pretty upset I didn't write about it sooner, because it was too long ago and I'm too crunched for time to explain it in great detail. But there were games and dance and music, and a 5 course meal, and of course an amazing atmosphere. It was very fun.
The next day, we went to the Bargello, the National Museum. It was my favorite thus far, altogether very impressive. I was happy for that, as I was a bit afraid I was becoming desensitized to great art, and this was almost a reawakening. Though I have to say, I discovered there that I much prefer the sculpture of the artist Giambologna than I do Michelangelo, which feels somewhat like a betrayal to being an artist, but it's true. His sculpture is much more engaging, and moving. Michelangelo's is BEAUTIFUL, there's of course no doubt, but Giambologna's is just mind altering.
That night we went to a cooking class, where the woman kept forgetting I'm a vegetarian and therefore I couldn't eat two of the courses. Of course, there was still plenty of food, and she brought out this huge chunk of fresh cheese to make up for it, and I left absolutely stuffed. The menu was garlic bread, bruschetta, risotto (made with chicken stock, so unedible to me), lemon chicken with a side (or meal to me) of sauteed vegetables, and finished by tirimisu. It was all delicious.
The next day we went to Pisa, and now I have forty minutes, so I'll just tell you, it wasn't altogether that impressive. The tower leaned... yay? The cathedral was of course ornate as always, but not uncommonly so. We did visit a cemetery there, which was fascinating, and David showed us his favorite demon in all of Italy, the "Mickey Mouse from Hell". On our way back from Pisa, we stopped by Lucca. There was something eerie about that whole city to me, it had a completely different feel from Florence or any city I'd been to in the US. We saw the strange facades of churches, before entering one particularly unsettling one. From the second we walked in until the second we left, my hair was on end. I can't really explain it and don't know why. It was the first church that didn't appear to be there for the tourists. It emanated spirituality. There, we saw the mummified body of David's favorite saint, Santa Zita.
Wednesday was a free day, I went to the Archaeology Museum on my own, which was truly cool, but I really must go get ready so as not to miss the train to Venice. I'll see you all in three days!
Some pictures blah blah blah:
So, we left off at the Academia. After that, we had a Renaissance Dinner at a Medici Palace, which was incredibly cool. I'm pretty upset I didn't write about it sooner, because it was too long ago and I'm too crunched for time to explain it in great detail. But there were games and dance and music, and a 5 course meal, and of course an amazing atmosphere. It was very fun.
The next day, we went to the Bargello, the National Museum. It was my favorite thus far, altogether very impressive. I was happy for that, as I was a bit afraid I was becoming desensitized to great art, and this was almost a reawakening. Though I have to say, I discovered there that I much prefer the sculpture of the artist Giambologna than I do Michelangelo, which feels somewhat like a betrayal to being an artist, but it's true. His sculpture is much more engaging, and moving. Michelangelo's is BEAUTIFUL, there's of course no doubt, but Giambologna's is just mind altering.
That night we went to a cooking class, where the woman kept forgetting I'm a vegetarian and therefore I couldn't eat two of the courses. Of course, there was still plenty of food, and she brought out this huge chunk of fresh cheese to make up for it, and I left absolutely stuffed. The menu was garlic bread, bruschetta, risotto (made with chicken stock, so unedible to me), lemon chicken with a side (or meal to me) of sauteed vegetables, and finished by tirimisu. It was all delicious.
The next day we went to Pisa, and now I have forty minutes, so I'll just tell you, it wasn't altogether that impressive. The tower leaned... yay? The cathedral was of course ornate as always, but not uncommonly so. We did visit a cemetery there, which was fascinating, and David showed us his favorite demon in all of Italy, the "Mickey Mouse from Hell". On our way back from Pisa, we stopped by Lucca. There was something eerie about that whole city to me, it had a completely different feel from Florence or any city I'd been to in the US. We saw the strange facades of churches, before entering one particularly unsettling one. From the second we walked in until the second we left, my hair was on end. I can't really explain it and don't know why. It was the first church that didn't appear to be there for the tourists. It emanated spirituality. There, we saw the mummified body of David's favorite saint, Santa Zita.
Wednesday was a free day, I went to the Archaeology Museum on my own, which was truly cool, but I really must go get ready so as not to miss the train to Venice. I'll see you all in three days!
Some pictures blah blah blah:
IUP group at the Renaissance Dinner in Medici Palace
Statue of Poseidon/Neptune in the Borgello
Megan and our Instructor in the Cooking class
David showing us his favorite demon
David's favorite Saint, Santa Zita.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Disegno in Academia; un sacco di sguardi
Just got back from the Academia, and I'm just going to outright say it because I can't hold it in any longer: I GOT TO DRAW MICHELANGELO'S DAVID! Too much excitement to hold in. But we'll start from the beginning...
I left you off with saying we were going to the Academia today. We met out front at 12:45, when we had scheduled with them, and were able to skip the giant line. One the way, I detoured to some street vendors and bought two scarves. The important parts of that are these: Firstly, there was no English spoken by me or her, it was all in Italian; secondly, I haggled and got a euro off each scarf. That's not much, but I'm proud of myself; not many people can say they've successfully and comprehensibly haggled in a language they've never ever studied and weren't exposed to until a week prior. Fortunately for me, it's an easy language to pick up the basics of, though unfortunately I think I'll experience the same thing I did coming back from Germany last summer, that of walking into stores/restaurants in America and instinctively beginning to talk/order in another language. And I know I'll be responding to everything with "si" instead of "yes" for quite some time, I'm sure much to the chagrin of my friends back home. But I suppose back to the point- we went to the Academia.
We had to check our purses through the same things they use in airports, and walk through metal detectors. Apparently, some guy a while back went into the Academia with a sledgehammer and started pounding on David's foot, breaking it into pieces. So, better safe than sorry for them I guess. We saw some paintings and stuff, but I'm just going to skip over those and get to the David. After the initial room of paintings, we entered a hall, flanked on each side by unfinished statues by Michelangelo, and ending in David. Our tour guide, also named David, the same one I've mentioned in previous posts, I think was being intentionally cruel by stopping us at each statue that flanked the hall, as our eyes darted constantly back and forth between David and the David. At the very last unfinished statue he gave the longest lecture, but finally, we got to the David. He gave us it's history from creation to present say, punctuated by the screams of "NO PHOTO" by the guards as people (some idiotic enough to leave on flash) attempted to sneak pictures. My feet were sore by the time it was over, but it was so worth it. After the tour, we were allowed to go back and sketch the David, which a handful of us did for a couple of hours. Many people stared at us, a couple pointing, and one little girl saying "They're really good artists!", which absolutely made my day. Periodically, David (the tour guide, not the statue) came in and gave us advice. Remembering his belief in the Zodiac, I asked him if he could tell our signs based on the way we drew. He said probably not, but continued to tell us that when he taught college art, he would ask everybody what their sign was the first day and use it to help them in a way they'd like and understand. At this point, I'd drawn everything in my sketch but the hands, which were posed awkwardly on the statue and disproportionately large, because when it had been sculpted, it had been meant to be seen from way underneath. I asked Tour Guide David, who himself is a Capricorn if I remember correctly, if he had a Scorpio method for drawing hands, at which he laughed and got to work. He showed me one method which I didn't like but respectively listened to, and then said "But here's the Scorpio method" and showed me one which made much more sense and I liked much better (weird, right?). We finished up our sketches and headed out...
...into torrential rains. Our professor emailed us before this trip and said "Say goodbye to clouds in Pittsburgh, because you won't see them again for a month!". Apparently he was wrong. I had no umbrella (why bring one? We weren't supposed to have clouds, let alone monsoons) so trekked home in the rain. It was actually quite enjoyable though, but now I'm soaked and have a fancy "Renaissance Dinner" to go to.
Oh well.
Some photos to sum it all up:
I left you off with saying we were going to the Academia today. We met out front at 12:45, when we had scheduled with them, and were able to skip the giant line. One the way, I detoured to some street vendors and bought two scarves. The important parts of that are these: Firstly, there was no English spoken by me or her, it was all in Italian; secondly, I haggled and got a euro off each scarf. That's not much, but I'm proud of myself; not many people can say they've successfully and comprehensibly haggled in a language they've never ever studied and weren't exposed to until a week prior. Fortunately for me, it's an easy language to pick up the basics of, though unfortunately I think I'll experience the same thing I did coming back from Germany last summer, that of walking into stores/restaurants in America and instinctively beginning to talk/order in another language. And I know I'll be responding to everything with "si" instead of "yes" for quite some time, I'm sure much to the chagrin of my friends back home. But I suppose back to the point- we went to the Academia.
We had to check our purses through the same things they use in airports, and walk through metal detectors. Apparently, some guy a while back went into the Academia with a sledgehammer and started pounding on David's foot, breaking it into pieces. So, better safe than sorry for them I guess. We saw some paintings and stuff, but I'm just going to skip over those and get to the David. After the initial room of paintings, we entered a hall, flanked on each side by unfinished statues by Michelangelo, and ending in David. Our tour guide, also named David, the same one I've mentioned in previous posts, I think was being intentionally cruel by stopping us at each statue that flanked the hall, as our eyes darted constantly back and forth between David and the David. At the very last unfinished statue he gave the longest lecture, but finally, we got to the David. He gave us it's history from creation to present say, punctuated by the screams of "NO PHOTO" by the guards as people (some idiotic enough to leave on flash) attempted to sneak pictures. My feet were sore by the time it was over, but it was so worth it. After the tour, we were allowed to go back and sketch the David, which a handful of us did for a couple of hours. Many people stared at us, a couple pointing, and one little girl saying "They're really good artists!", which absolutely made my day. Periodically, David (the tour guide, not the statue) came in and gave us advice. Remembering his belief in the Zodiac, I asked him if he could tell our signs based on the way we drew. He said probably not, but continued to tell us that when he taught college art, he would ask everybody what their sign was the first day and use it to help them in a way they'd like and understand. At this point, I'd drawn everything in my sketch but the hands, which were posed awkwardly on the statue and disproportionately large, because when it had been sculpted, it had been meant to be seen from way underneath. I asked Tour Guide David, who himself is a Capricorn if I remember correctly, if he had a Scorpio method for drawing hands, at which he laughed and got to work. He showed me one method which I didn't like but respectively listened to, and then said "But here's the Scorpio method" and showed me one which made much more sense and I liked much better (weird, right?). We finished up our sketches and headed out...
...into torrential rains. Our professor emailed us before this trip and said "Say goodbye to clouds in Pittsburgh, because you won't see them again for a month!". Apparently he was wrong. I had no umbrella (why bring one? We weren't supposed to have clouds, let alone monsoons) so trekked home in the rain. It was actually quite enjoyable though, but now I'm soaked and have a fancy "Renaissance Dinner" to go to.
Oh well.
Some photos to sum it all up:
Me in the freak Florentine rain/thunder/lightning storm
My sketch of Michelangelo's David (complete with its right hand drawn by David in two styles to let me choose from)
Tutto è in italiano
Sorry to not have posted in a while, it's been a busy few days!
I left you off Wednesday evening, a free day where we ate dinner and meandered around Firenze, and now onto more tours!
On Thursday, we visited the Church of San Marco, an old monastery which houses frescoes by Fra Angelico, including one of his more famous ones of the Annunciation (When the Angel Gabriel tells the Virgin Mary that she is to bear the son of God). We were allowed to take pictures up to that point, but I didn't get the memo that we weren't allowed afterwards and managed to snap a couple of blurry photos of the Annunciation before being yelled at in Italian. I still think it was worth it. The fresco was one of my favorite religious works of the time period back when I learned about it in high school art history, and seeing it in person is much more impressive. The colors are brighter and richer, the faces dynamic, he even painted in some sort of glitter into the wings of Gabriel. You can almost feel the emotion radiating from the fresco, it's obvious that Fra Angelico cared deeply about his pieces and, more importantly, their religious significance. Our tour guide, though I have no idea whether or not he's religious, very outwardly cared for this piece, and it was apparent that he was on some level emotionally affected; there seemed to be some sort of light in his eyes when he was telling us about the piece that isn't there for many others. It was truly an exceptional work. We also got to peek in at the frescoes in what used to be the small rooms of the monks. There was a statue in the garden that caught my attention as well, of a young, toned, saint-like man casting down a ragged, old, witch-like woman; it was representative of Christianity "triumphing" over the Pagan religions.
The next day, we were scheduled to climb to the top of the Duomo. Unfortunately, I am incredibly claustrophobic, and would have panicked to no end in those tiny Medieval staircases. Instead, my professor walked to the Ponte Vecchio, and had a small discussion about its history. Afterwards, we met back up with the people who did climb up the Duomo, exchanged stories and pictures and then all headed over to the Baptistry next to the Duomo. This was my first big speechless, awestruck moment of the trip. The entire ceiling is covered in Gold, with mosaics and paintings of significant Biblical moments, including a twenty foot high Christ as Pantocrator. I looked up, and just stopped dead in my tracks. I was dizzy by the time I left from trying to see every little detail, from the more traditional descent from the cross, to an image of Satan consuming the souls of the damned. I can't even imagine what it must have been like to see it back when it was first built, it must have been overwhelming. The floors too were tiled in patterns, but strangely enough of the zodiac. A small group of us talked to our tour guide about it afterwards. He talked about the zodiac being the oldest and most consistently accurate means of telling about one's self, to which I said something to the effect of "well, I think a lot of it is in people's heads, don't you?" To this, he gave me a wide eyed look with a resounding "Noooooooo". We spoke about the zodiac for a while, with him saying he could tell what people were by observing them, to which I asked what I was, and he said he didn't know me well enough. I'll asked again in a week or so, and maybe if he guesses correctly, I'll look into the zodiac a little bit more.
That night, the IUP group all went out to a not too memorable dinner (at least food-wise, conversation was good as always). Then, four went to a bar, the professor and one other back to the apartments, and me and two others to roam the streets of Florence. There's so much to see in such a small space, you walk everywhere without even realizing what you're walking through. It was nice to just walk for a couple of hours without a destination, in order to see where we were walking, not just where we were walking to. We got back home at a little past midnight, and I slept like a rock.
We went to the Duomo museum the next day, which was one of the more impressive collections we've seen. We saw an uncountable number of statues, as well as paintings and mosaics. My favorite was a statue of Mary Magdalene by Donatello. It represented her after the death of Christ, as a starved, ragged, yet serene and sacred hermit. There was a tangible energy around the statue, as if it were a person.
Some pictures to sum it up:
Today, we visit the Academia, and hopefully I can report back soon.
Ciao!
I left you off Wednesday evening, a free day where we ate dinner and meandered around Firenze, and now onto more tours!
On Thursday, we visited the Church of San Marco, an old monastery which houses frescoes by Fra Angelico, including one of his more famous ones of the Annunciation (When the Angel Gabriel tells the Virgin Mary that she is to bear the son of God). We were allowed to take pictures up to that point, but I didn't get the memo that we weren't allowed afterwards and managed to snap a couple of blurry photos of the Annunciation before being yelled at in Italian. I still think it was worth it. The fresco was one of my favorite religious works of the time period back when I learned about it in high school art history, and seeing it in person is much more impressive. The colors are brighter and richer, the faces dynamic, he even painted in some sort of glitter into the wings of Gabriel. You can almost feel the emotion radiating from the fresco, it's obvious that Fra Angelico cared deeply about his pieces and, more importantly, their religious significance. Our tour guide, though I have no idea whether or not he's religious, very outwardly cared for this piece, and it was apparent that he was on some level emotionally affected; there seemed to be some sort of light in his eyes when he was telling us about the piece that isn't there for many others. It was truly an exceptional work. We also got to peek in at the frescoes in what used to be the small rooms of the monks. There was a statue in the garden that caught my attention as well, of a young, toned, saint-like man casting down a ragged, old, witch-like woman; it was representative of Christianity "triumphing" over the Pagan religions.
The next day, we were scheduled to climb to the top of the Duomo. Unfortunately, I am incredibly claustrophobic, and would have panicked to no end in those tiny Medieval staircases. Instead, my professor walked to the Ponte Vecchio, and had a small discussion about its history. Afterwards, we met back up with the people who did climb up the Duomo, exchanged stories and pictures and then all headed over to the Baptistry next to the Duomo. This was my first big speechless, awestruck moment of the trip. The entire ceiling is covered in Gold, with mosaics and paintings of significant Biblical moments, including a twenty foot high Christ as Pantocrator. I looked up, and just stopped dead in my tracks. I was dizzy by the time I left from trying to see every little detail, from the more traditional descent from the cross, to an image of Satan consuming the souls of the damned. I can't even imagine what it must have been like to see it back when it was first built, it must have been overwhelming. The floors too were tiled in patterns, but strangely enough of the zodiac. A small group of us talked to our tour guide about it afterwards. He talked about the zodiac being the oldest and most consistently accurate means of telling about one's self, to which I said something to the effect of "well, I think a lot of it is in people's heads, don't you?" To this, he gave me a wide eyed look with a resounding "Noooooooo". We spoke about the zodiac for a while, with him saying he could tell what people were by observing them, to which I asked what I was, and he said he didn't know me well enough. I'll asked again in a week or so, and maybe if he guesses correctly, I'll look into the zodiac a little bit more.
That night, the IUP group all went out to a not too memorable dinner (at least food-wise, conversation was good as always). Then, four went to a bar, the professor and one other back to the apartments, and me and two others to roam the streets of Florence. There's so much to see in such a small space, you walk everywhere without even realizing what you're walking through. It was nice to just walk for a couple of hours without a destination, in order to see where we were walking, not just where we were walking to. We got back home at a little past midnight, and I slept like a rock.
We went to the Duomo museum the next day, which was one of the more impressive collections we've seen. We saw an uncountable number of statues, as well as paintings and mosaics. My favorite was a statue of Mary Magdalene by Donatello. It represented her after the death of Christ, as a starved, ragged, yet serene and sacred hermit. There was a tangible energy around the statue, as if it were a person.
Some pictures to sum it up:
Fra Angelico's Annunciation
Me and the Ponte Vecchio
The Baptistry ceiling
Donatello's Mary Magdalene
Today, we visit the Academia, and hopefully I can report back soon.
Ciao!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Benvenuti a Firenze!
Disclaimer: This post is kind of all over the place, as I started in Monday afternoon once we finally got internet, then held off until Monday night, then still didn't finish, then lost internet Tuesday, and now have it back today, Wednesday. And of course, as I'm writing this, it appears to be freaking out again, so maybe you won't see this post for a while. Bear with me.
------
Wow. Where to begin? I arrived safely in Florence obviously, even though we lost our professor and one of the 8 students in Chicago (they got here the next day, no worries) and had to navigate the airport on our own in Switzerland. We took taxis to our apartment, and the Florentines are CRAZY drivers. They aren't the fast driving yet structured drivers I saw in Germany last summer, the lanes in Florence have no meaning, nor do the speed limits (are there even Speed limits? Not sure) And the roads are packed with cars, vespas, and Italians peddling away on rusted bicycles, which are also locked onto every dumpster, road sign, jutting pipe, or to other bicycles so nobody can ride them away. Our apartment is in the heart of old Florence, right next to the Duomo/Brunelleschi's Dome (can't quite see it from our windows, but it's our reference for everything). The first day we relaxed, unpacked and walked around a tad bit before completely crashing from the flying/jet lag. Then we met the other schools and our professors/tour guides at 9am the next morning at the Train station, to learn how to use it, then walked to other places we would need to know about, such as the open market and the studio.
The open market was quite the experience. Huge stands selling everything from pastries to peaches to pig's brains. We had learned a little basic Italian and practice ordering lunches. I bought "Un Panino" and "Due etti celiegie" (A sandwich and 200 grams of cherries). The studio is beautiful on the outside, plain on the inside. You must be buzzed in at giant automatic green wooden gates, walk through a path of flowers, and through a small hall to the studio. After we were in the studio we were given a safety lecture, which continued on to the next day. The lecture taught us to cross the street in groups, not go out at night, not to buy anything from vendors without stands or shops, keep our valuables safe, and not believe beggars.
It's hard not to believe the beggars. I see people in layers of clothes, sleeping on the sidewalk in the dead summer heat with paper cups clutched in their hands. I saw a man with his knees bent completely backwards, holding a bowl, saying "help, help, help". I saw a man bowing in the middle of the sidewalk, unmoving as people almost stepped on him and kicked him. A woman with a puppy and "4 bambini". They are one of the most interesting parts of the city to me. My first drawing in Florence was of the woman with 4 bambini.
I think I also had my first Italian cannolo that day. It was incredible. All of the food here is incredible. I had pasta with no sauce, just vegetables, and it was one of the most delicious things I've ever tasted, that wouldn't happen in the US. The old man who sells the cannoli is very nice and very close to our Florence home, so we've tried to go to him as much as possible for water/etc. You can't drink the water from the tap here, as it may have lead (hasn't stopped me from chugging a glass in desperation a few times, it's very hot here and the bottles of water don't always last). And of course, a lot of wine is consumed. Someone always brings a bottle to dinner if we make it, and it's usually the only option other than tap. We learned that wine became popular in Italy during the dark ages when they found one didn't get ill from the water if they mixed wine with it. I don't know if this works for lead poisoning too, but I have tried.
That evening, we took a bus (Horrible, hot, packed like sardines, and standing trying not to fall, to sum it up in a few words) to the countryside, to a fair where they had vendors selling handmade goods, and livestock. I fell like it was our first real Italian experience, because other than the ones of us from the program, it was pretty much all Italians.
Monday was our first "real" day. We had Art History lecture at 8:30, then walked to the Church of Santa Maria Novella and the Church of San Lorenzo. Both were incredibly beautiful. It's such an odd feeling being able to see pieces you've learned about years ago in person, and many memories were brought up. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photos inside of either, but the architecture is beautiful enough on the outside that it made up for it. I saw a fresco inside Santa Maria Novella that I had to research in high school art history. In fact, a lot of things from high school art history came flooding back to me as we toured.
Tuesday we had a free day for the first time since arriving, and we (I and the other 7 IUP students, as well as 4 New York students) decided to take the train 1 1/2 hours to the beaches at Viareggio. We arrived, walked about 1/2 of a mile to the coast, only to find out that the beached were all private there. We walked along side the coast for about a mile (all private beaches) getting not so helpful advice along the way. Finally, we found a Coast Guard station that pointed us to the small end of the beach (Literally about 15-20 feet across) reserved for people who are not staying in the hotels. It had a fair amount of people in it, especially considering we saw less than 10 people on the entire mile of private beaches. There was a small area of water in front, right next to a wall of sharp rocks, so we stayed out for a while, laying on the beach. While sitting around, we were harassed by 3 men carrying boxes of sunglasses, bracelets, and purses, trying to tell us about their "special price, just today". Our replies started with "No, grazie" (no thank you), to "No, Basta!" (No, enough!), to "No! No! VA VIA!" (No! No! GO AWAY!). Eventually an Italian ran over when he saw 11 girls all screaming in broken Italian at three men who were yelling back "Special price!!!" and told them to leave. We eventually caved and decided to go swimming, and found out we are allowed to swim in the water in front of the private beaches (thank goodness, because the public beach water was black and murky and the private was green and clear enough to see down to our feet). We soaked up the incredibly salty water of the Mediterranean ocean, with a beautiful view of mountains and Viaraggio in the background. I grabbed my camera and told everyone that I would take pictures of them in the water. I did, when two Italian men noticed, and as I was taking a picture of one of the New York girls, came up, one asking if he could get in the picture. When the girl gave him permission, he jumped in, and hoisted her up in his arms. Four of the IUP students headed back to Florence, and I and three others stayed in the water). When back on the beach later, the two Italian men who spoke English and their friend who did not, came and talked to us and the NY girls, eventually "proposing" to two of the girls with rings made of beach trash, and then discussing Bachelor parties with the one American male student with us. Eventually, we left back for Florence, arriving at close to 8:00pm (or 20:00 as the Italians so efficiently call it).
Because we arrived back at 8, and still had to change and shower, we (the four IUP students who had decided to stay later at the beach) had our first true late Italian dinner (the Italians eat late, and so far we've eaten around 7 or so, an early dinner for them). We got lost looking for a restaurant we'd eaten at before, and by time we arrived at 10:15, they were closing up. We looked around a bit, and stumbled upon a cafe, and I'm glad we did. The waiter was super friendly, often coming out to talk with us and give us advice on the city. We all split some Bruschetta for appetizers, then two had potatoes tortelli in meat sauce, and I and the other had Spinach and ricotta Gnudi in cream sauce. I had a glass of the delicious house wine as well. The waiter asked if we wanted Dessert, to which the three girls said yes, and the one guy said no. The waiter to him instead offered a shot of "Grappa", a liquor made with residue from making wine, to which he accepted, the waiter then told us about the best Grappa shop in town, and what other liquors he recommended, writing them all down for us, and telling us funny stories about times he and his friends had overdone the Grappa. I had the best Tiramisu I'd ever eaten, which probably wrapped up one of the best meals I'd ever eaten. We talked to the waiter some more, when at 12:15 (I've noticed it's much easier to eat slower here, as the food is so good nobody wants to scarf it) the restaurant was closing, and it was time to go.
Some pictures to sum it all up:
Some pictures to sum it all up:
The Duomo, right by our flat and our landmarker for every direction
One of many people begging for money on the streets of Florence
Me at the country fair we went to
The Church of Santa Maria Novella
The beach and the Italian man
The best Italian dinner yet
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)