There's Something About Florence

So technically it has been three weeks since I've gotten back from Florence and aside from sleeping a fair amount, family celebrations, and unpacking and repacking to head back to school, I haven't done that much. But the entire time I have had the last three days of Florence hanging over my head waiting to be posted. Since I am heading back to school tomorrow, I think it is finally time to acknowledge that, yes, I am back in the States and say goodbye to Florence with these last few days. So, Wednesday. I spent the entirety of the day essentially working on my 3000 word paper for my Renaissance art history class (It is about a lunette at the Medici Villa of Poggio a Caiano which depicts the Etruscan deities Vertumnus and Pomona.) I almost finished the paper, and plan to finish it way before the 5pm deadline of Friday so that I have time to enjoy my last couple of days in the city. Then, in the evening, we had the Cecil studios show, for my drawing class, where each of our drawings were displayed. The process is so intricate and time consuming that we only did two real drawings but seeing them all together was really great. The rest of the students in our program as well as all the host families were invited.

After the show the whole group, including our families and professors, went to Centopoveri, the restaurant where we had our first dinner. The lasagna there is to die for and the whole experience was a lovely bookend for the trip. Thursday morning, I once again worked on my paper and, with only a few hundred more words to go, headed to my Italian final. I then finished my paper and headed out to enjoy the city in the few hours before dinner. I walked around with my friend and we were able to really enjoy the city in all of its Christmas-y beauty.

After breathing in the city for a few hours (and one last gelato) it was back home for dinner and packing. Friday, after a very short fifteen minute oral exam (my last final in Florence) a few of the girls and I went to the indian restaurant near my house, where I had, once again, the very tasty curry chicken. Then Laura and I walked around a bit and went to the Christmas market in front of Santa Croce.

Where we had mulled wine and looked at the cute stuff the vendors were selling, There were a lot of really cute hand made things. After the christmas market we headed back towards Linguaviva, making sure to take a short detour through the Cathedral.

We were sad that we had no way to get in touch with Niles then who of all people should we run into? Niles. He always pops up when we wander the city. Instead of heading home right at that minute, seeing as I was pretty much packed, I headed up the hill with Niles and a friend of his to San Miniato for the final bookend of the trip, just so I could see all of Florence for one last time.

Monday and Tuesday were our last day of classes. Monday, was also my first Monday since September where I had the morning off (because I finished at the Uffizi last week.) Even though I am going to miss the Uffizi, it was really nice to have a slow and relaxing morning. It was quite nice to be free until 1pm, when I had class. Then, in the evening, we had our final studio session and we finished our drawings. The show is on wednesday.

Tuesday, my morning wasn't quite so free. We had our paper presentations (we have a final paper in my art history class and the presentation was 15 minutes on our research so far. I think it went pretty well.) and we started at 8:30,, which meant I was out of the house by a bit before seven. I was actually pretty early but the sleepiness was totally worth it because when I got here... (backside of the Duomo coming from my house)

... the eight-o-clock bells started chiming. There were barely any people around and because I was still fairly early I just stood and listen to the bells until they were done. I started to really miss (or realize how much I going to miss) the city in that moment. Then as I came around the other side of the cathedral, I stopped to take a photo of the massive Christmas tree in the piazza. One of the best things about being here right before Christmas is seeing the city all decked out; it feels even more amazing seeing it so cheery... it also helps when there are Italian Santa's running around everywhere.

Wednesday was my last day working at the Uffizi gallery. It was an amazing experience and even though I wasn't able to speak the language perfectly it was incredible to work within the offices of such a prominent gallery. Then we had lunch with the program president, which went an hour over schedule so I ended up missing my italian class but our discussion was so good and the food was so great that none of us cared. Thursday, we had our last on-site visit for my art history class. We visited the Medici chapels at San Lorenzo.

One was designed (redesigned) by Michelangelo. It had a really lovely Pantheonesque ceiling.

Today we visited Palazzo Vecchio, the old government center of the city, which includes the hall of the Cinquecento, where the council used to meet.

The hall also has a number of statues around the room, including a number by Michelangelo which were initially intended for the tomb of Pope Julius II.

Palazzo Vecchio also has apartments of the Medici from the Ducal period. One of the rooms, which up until recently was still a place for marriages, houses the statue of Judith beheading Holofernes.

It was great to actually see the inside of the building I have been walking past these pas few months. At the start of the semester we had a neighborhood walk in which we walked to a number of site and wrote a reflection. Now at the end of the semester, we have another. We walk along the same route and reflect on it. On my first neighborhood walk, I had a kind of excitement. The fact that I was in Florence was still sinking in and the prospect of being able to explore a little bit was exciting. The neighborhood walk was great because the places we were going felt like new territory for us. Today, during this walk, I felt calmer. Both Piazza San Marco and Santissima Annunziata are on my bus route and the Synagogue and Sant’Ambrogio are a couple blocks from my house. The places felt familiar and my walk was essentially the way I walk many days, just one street over. I’ve gotten used to those places as the semester has progressed and they incite any of the original excitement that I had at the start of the semester. That being said, taking the time out of my day to really observe places that I would at this point, partially, overlook, and allowed me to have an almost objective appreciation for them. The initial feel I got from San Marco was that it was a hub of activity for young people, but now, it felt more like a relaxing piazza, with trees that are bare from autumn and fat pigeons milling around. It also is the spot of the best espresso I’ve had yet (it was an incredibly smooth, not bitter espresso). Santissima Annunziata still holds the title of my favorite piazza in the city; I can’t say why exactly, but it probably has something to do with the uniform loggias around the square and the two fountains. (Since going to Rome, I take note of the fountains that I see).

I was excited to note that the earliest loggia, designed by Brunelleschi, was now uncovered. (I actually saw as they were removing the restoration scaffolding a few weeks ago.)

The Synagogue and Sant’Ambrogio had less of an effect on me. I went into the Synagogue for services earlier in the year, and was as impressed by the interior as I had initially been with the exterior. And as for Sant’Ambrogio, I walk past it every single day. More than anything, at this point, Sant’Ambrogio isn’t so much a church as it is the marker that shows I am a couple blocks from my front door. It marks, what I suppose could be called, the central area of my neighborhood. Being so close to it has changed it from a cute little church to a landmark near my home. I was also able to walk past a park near my house, which I never actually visited because the playground always seemed to be full of screaming children, but I still seemed like a lovely little area of green to sit and read in.

Over the weekend, I essentially stayed at home. I was in some desperate need of me time, and while I initially intended to actually get some work done on my final paper, that didn't happen and I instead, aside from doing some homework, vegged out. But it was okay, because last weekend was still fairly busy, so it was good to just relax. Monday, it is December. And we are all completely stunned at the realization that we have less than two weeks left. But the good thing about December? Finally, all the Christmas lights they've been putting up around the city are on! I've been walking home from studio, it's almost the same amount of time as taking the bus and more relaxing (and I walk the darker portion with a friend) so I really got to see all the lights tonight.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Today, we started off by taking our bus to the Medici Villa of Poggio a Caiano, which i actually wrote a paper on for one of my classes (the paper that I finished at 3AM before our Rome trip.) It was fun to actually see the place after having researched a little bit of its history and what it meant to Lorenzo il Magnifico. He bought it off of his brother-in-law's father in 1474, but didn't actually start building his new villa until 1485. The property is just far enough outside of Florence that you could reach it by horse in a matter of hours, so you could get fresh air and enjoy nature. Unfortunately, it was only a third of the way built when Lorenzo died and building didn't commence again until 1512 when the Medici family returned from exile.

The interior had some pretty incredible decor.

Pontorm's Lunette After our visit to Poggio, we made a quick stop in Carmignano to see a Pontormo painting of the Visitation.

Then on to the winery, where we would be having a wine tasting with our Thanksgiving lunch. But first, we had a tour which included where they make their wine and olive oil (but sadly there were no olives this year because of bad weather conditions). The grape crop was smaller than usual as well. Racks of drying grapes.

The wine cellars; during WWII part of the cellars were walled off along with some of the rare wines, which essentially saved their collection of vintage wines from being stolen.

Then, after an amazing lunch, with an appetizer, first course, second course, and dessert as well as wine, we had a chance to buy some wine and enjoy the view from the top of the hill.

Since I am still horrendously behind on this and because (at this point) I have one week left, I am going to lump all of these days together and just point out some highlights. First off, between Rome and Thanksgiving, which is what all of these days are, it was back to the old routine. It has started to sink in how little time we really have left, but it hasn't quite hit us in the face. So we are simply starting to really try to appreciate being here and just sort of breathing in the feel of everything. Thursday the 20th, we went to a monastery outside of the city. In 1527, the Medicic family was exiled from Florence one last time, and during the siege of Florence a couple of years later, most of the convents and monasteries outside the city were destroyed to prevent troops from finding space to rest. The monastery we visited today was one of the few that survived because of a Last Supper painted by Andrea del Sarto.

In addition to this fresco, there were a number of fac-simile (reproduction) drawing studies that we were able to look at. Then we had a free weekend, which is always a nice change of pace after weekends with busy trips. Friday (21st), I went out with Kasha for a large portion of the day and I went with her to get a tattoo. She got a really pretty lotus blossom. I bought a macaroon instead because the tattoo was out of my price range.

Saturday, I got some pretty water miso soup... Tuesday, 25, we went for our last class visit to the Uffizi. I actually managed to take a photo of the third floor view of Ponte Vecchio.

Then, we were actually able to look at on of the only completely undisputed panel paintings by Michelangelo, the Tondo Doni. (Last time we were at the Uffizi there were so many tourists in the room you could only look at it from the doorway.)

I also noticed, on the second floor of the museum, an absolutely adorable painting of a musical little angel by Rosso Fiorentino.

Wednesday (26) I had my studio class, but I was so unbelievably exhausted so went home for a much needed nap to rest up before our busy Thanksgiving Day excursion. But just for an update, here is my drawing at this point. It is a cast of Bernini's St. Theresa in Ecstasy...

Last day in Rome. Our time in Rome whizzed by, it was hard to believe we were leaving later in the day. But we still had a very full day of things to do. After packing up all of our stuff and leaving the hotel, we headed to the Capitoline museum, which has an immense collection of ancient art.

Giant hand of a colossal sculpture.

The original bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius on horseback, which used to be in the piazza outside the museum (there's a copy there now). And some examples of ancient art that I was particularly struck by.

Then, in addition to some really amazing ancient art, I was able to see a couple lesser known Berninis, including his Medusa.

And we also went to a space behind the museum, but still connected to it, which gave us an awesome view of the forum.

After a couple of hours in the Capitoline Museum, we had about four hours of free time. I decided to stay in the museum, namely to see a Tiepolo exhibit (Tiepolo was a Venetian Baroque master). Most of the pieces in the show were preparatory sketches and studies, but they were lovely and simple.

There was also a cafe in the museum, and it had a large terrace with an amazing view of the city.

Then I left the museum. While part of me wanted to go see some other museums, what I really wanted to do was simply meander around the city and just enjoy being there. I wandered through some of the side streets for about an hour, but since my feet were starting to hurt and because I didn't have my sketchbook with me, I decided to find a nice spot to just sit and relax. I settled on Piazza Navona. A found a perch next to one of the fountains and read for a little while and just observed the people around me. It was sunny and gorgeous out, and it was so great to just relax in this incredible piazza.

I think one of my favorite things about Rome is the fact that it is so big and there is so much to see. Even though it is busy and crowded, it didn't feel like there were throngs of tourists everywhere. There were a lot of tourists, but it seemed like most tourists would want to see the sites, which takes up a huge chunk of time. So most of them wouldn't have time to wander the residential streets and relax in the piazzas for extended periods of time. One of the other things I loved about Rome, aside from its abundance of fountains and very strong connection with water, was the incredible mix of styles. Florence is primarily renaissance with some older medieval areas; all the ancient parts are outside of the city. But Rome has 2000 years of history and architecture all built on top of itself. Roman columns protrude from nineteenth century buildings and romanesque churches have incredible baroque facades. There is a certain disorder to the city that makes it such an interesting and beautiful place to explore. As one last hurrah before we set off as a group, I decided to make one more stop to Goilitti, where I got banana and strawberry sorbet. At two, we got on a bus, suitcases in tow, and headed to the Villa Borghese for our final stop. Villa Borghese was originally owned by a man who was a great collector of art (there are some very amussing stories on how he acquired some of his pieces, which include having the original owner jailed until they gave up the piece.) He is also credited with "discovering" Bernini and Caravaggio, two of the greatest baroque masters. My main source of excitement for going to the Borghese was because of the Bernini sculptures that are there, some of his most famous pieces; Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius Fleeing Troy; The Rape of Persephone; David; and Apollo and Daphne. There were also a few of his lesser know pieces, including the unfinished Truth. I cannot begin to describe the awe inspiring experience of seeing these Bernini pieces; all I can really say is the delicacy with which they were executed is mind-boggling, you can actually see the indents that the fingers make on flesh and the subtle wrinkles in aged skin. He uses texture and finish to describe the surfaces; some things, like hair, are etched with fine lines, while skin is finished to a polished luster. I actually got a little teary-eyed looking at them and two hours was definitely not enough time. But we left at five and took our bus back to Florence. And, as one final Roman kick, we watched gladiator on the bus, before finally coming back home. It was an incredible and art-filled weekend. I will be going back someday.

This morning we had an optional visit to Villa Farnesina, a suburban villa (it used to be on the outskirts of the city, but since then the city had grown.) It has a lovely little garden with lemon trees and has ceiling frescoes by Raphael, which coincide with the villa's idea of being of place for being in love.

After our visit to the villa, we went off on our own. We walked along the Tiber River as we meandered towards the Trevi fountain. It was so great to actually walk along the river; in Florence, there are parts along the Arno where one can sit, but the Tiber has walking and biking paths that run alongside it. It was amazing to just walk along and smell the fall air.

Then we walked through the Jewish ghetto, which is actually a really pretty part of the city. Finally, we got to the Trevi fountain, super ready to make our wishes... and were sorely disappointed.

This is NOT what dreams are made of... Even though though it was under restoration there was a small pool near the front of it that people could make wishes in, but it was a little depressing so we left in search of food. We ended up getting burgers at an Irish Pub near the "Wedding Cake" (a building built to honor the first king of unified Italy) and, in front of which there was a demonstration. We had to pull our aspiring photojournalist away from it (one of our professors told us the demonstrations sometimes get violent) before we got our very tasty burgers. After a quick shopping spree and a nap back at the hotel, we headed out again for a class meeting at the church of San Clemente, which had 2000 years of history in one spot, with the Renaissance church on top, the Medieval basilica below, and even lower, an ancient Roman household (although, no one really knows what it was, it may have been where coins were minted).

After that visit, we head off on our own was more and made a stop to take some nighttime photos of the Colosseum.

Today was all about the Vatican. First thing this morning, we walked to Vatican city. While Rome has far more Domes that Florence, Michelangelo's dome on St. Peter's has a similar presence as Brunelleschi's in Florence; you can pick it out from almost any point in the city (so long as you have a good view).

St. Peter's

Prior to going into St. Peter's, we took a tour of the necropolis, which is underneath the Cathedral.The Necropolis is a Roman burial city, which was excavated, very quietly and secretively so as not to attract Hitler's attention, during the the second world war. initially, the archeologists were simply attempting to find the tomb of St. Peter but were nonetheless impressed by the condition in which they found the Roman city of the dead. It was pretty cramped inside, but it was amazing to see the 2000 year old tombs, as well as the tomb of St. Peter, which was found and identified. The relics of St. Peter were also found, which was announced in 1968. Photos were not allowed, the experience was completely surreal. After the Necropolis, we went into St. Peter's.

Michelangelo's Pietá

One of the most incredible things about St. Peter's is its size, it is absolutely enormous. But even when standing inside of it you can't really see how big it is because everything is big. The proportions are all normal so it feels like its size is normal. But it is huge; there are markings on the floor that show at what point other large Cathedrals would fit inside of it. None of them come close. The Cathedral is filled to the brim with amazing decor. Michelangelo's dome and Bernini's baldacchino.

Note, the baldacchino is as large as a three story building, if that gives any indication of the monumentality of everything.

After our visit to St. Peter's and an amazingly terrible piece of pizza, we headed to i Musei Vaticani (Vatican Museums). There are a large number of museums within the Vatican, which house an immense number of famous works, ancient, Renaissance, and Modern. Apollo Belvedere

The Laocoon, which was unearthed in the presence of Michelangelo and had a huge impact on his style.

Nero's bathtub, about 25 feet in diameter, made of red marble. The floor is actually Roman mosaics which were installed into the Vatican.

Corridor of Maps

Raphael's School of Athens

And of course, the incredible Sistine Chapel ceiling.

We spent a couple more hours in the museums, namely by walking towards the exit and looking through the museum of drawings and paintings, then headed out. The stairs towards the exit were really cool.

And we got one last amazing view of the Cathedral as we made our way back towards the hotel.

Today we headed off to Rome. As soon as we arrived, we dropped our stuff off at the hotel and set off to site see. Our first stop was the Forum and the Palatine hill. We met our guide in a piazza on the Capitoline hill and as we walked around the government center, we got our first view of the center of the ancient rome.

Another view of the forum.

And the triumphal Arch of Titus inside the forum, depicting the Roman siege of Jerusalem.

After walking through the lower part of the forum we made our way up the (ancient) Palatine hill, where the palace of the emperor was, as well as the pre-Roman huts which were believed to be where Rome was founded by Romulus and Remus.

After a quick lunch, we then made our way to the Colosseum. The Arch of Constantine and the Colosseum.

And from under the Colosseum

Inside the Colosseum

While we were in the Colosseum, are guide explained its significance; basically, it was made for entertainment purposes, but the entertainment was essentially propaganda; attendance to games was mandatory for all citizens. However, it was entertaining and bread and wine was distributed. There was peace (within) so long as the people of the Republic were well fed and kept entertained. After leaving the Colosseum and our guide, we went on a walk through Rome, where we were able to visit the Pantheon, the house of all gods, and get the best gelato that I have ever had (from a famous gelateria called, Giolitti). View inside the Pantheon.

The last thing we did before going our separate ways for dinner (we were each given 50 euro for the weekend for dinner) was visit a piazza which is at the site of an ancient stadium. The piazza (called Piazza Navona) has three fountains in it, one of which was designed by Bernini, and was beautiful. It's also one of the most expensive area of Rome in which to live, but definitely not without reason. It will definitely be a hangout spot for the weekend.

It seems like everything between break and now has been fairly calm. Sunday, I went back to Galleria Palatina to do some sketches for class, and I also had some time to actually go through gli apartmenti, the apartments which are still decorated as they were a couple hundred years ago. (which was after the Medici were gone, during the reign of Napoleon)

Monday, we started drawing from the casts, I'm drawing a copy of Bernini's St. Teresa in Ecstasy, which is great because Bernini is the coolest.

And of course, this week I am struggling to finish a big research paper for my art history class; as usual, I am doing almost everything in the last few days because decent time management is still not the best practiced one of my skills. But I did end up finishing it late Wednesday night (actually thursday morning.) Also, fun things are happening in Florence because Christmas decorations are going up! So everything is starting to look really pretty.

Once again, a fairly uneventful week. Saturday was a "big" shopping day. I finally got a decent sized purse (I originally intended to buy one in a shop, but decided I didn't want to spend 100 euro, so I went to San Lorenzo market where I haggled. I also got a whole bunch of scarves. Sunday, I went to Boboli to read some of my homework, but of course, just ended up reading my book. Not completely productive, but lovely nonetheless. It was a gorgeous day and even though the gardens were crowded (first Sunday of the month is free) it was still relaxing.

Tuesday morning, we went to Galleria Palatina in Palazzo Pitti and walking over there at nine in the morning, I got to see Ponte Vecchio almost completely empty. There were only a few people on it (I could count the number of people on one hand) so it was really cool to see it almost deserted.

The gallery was also very cool.

Thursday, we visited m favorite church in Florence, Santissima Annunziata, where I also noted that they were uncovering the foundling hospital (which is in the same piazza). Anyway, SS. Annunziata has a miraculous image of the virgin as well as a number of incredible family chapels, and of course the baroque decor that I love so much.

And, big news, in my drawing class we finally finished the drawings we've been working on since the second week of class. Only about a month working on the same drawing. Totally no time at all... I am really happy to be done with it and glad that I was able to reach of point where I was happy with. Next week we move downstair to draw from casts.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Today, I went to Prato with my dialogues class. Prato is a small town outside of Florence and by train, it takes about fifteen minutes to get there. We went to the Datini household, or the house which belonged to the Merchant of Prato. It's also where the Prato archives are. The Datini couple of one of the most well documented marriages because he was always traveling, so they were constantly writing letters to each other. Margherita, the wife, was actually able to read and write (a family friend taught her when she was thirty, so today we can really see the husband/wife relationship at the time. They never had any children, so when they died, the fortune they'd amassed was given to the city. It was so big that the city still uses it as civic funds today. We also visited the Cathedral of Prato, where the Belt of the Virgin is held. It's a fairly small Cathedral, which makes it all the more impressive that it is the house of such an important and famous relic.

And of course one cannot visit Prato without trying the famous Prato cookies, which are literally called ugly cookies, but they are quite tasty despite their ugly appearance. In the cookie shop.

After Prato, it was back to Florence, where Laura and I recited some terrible poetry at the Duomo then headed to Margarita Friday. Then back home for a lovely, calm, Halloween dinner.

Most of this week was just getting back in the groove of classes and work, which after I actually found a little bit easier after this break than others; moving my energy to school instead of building it up from a week of vegging. But anyway, aside from writing a paper for one of my classes about some of the stories in the Decameron, most of the week was fairly uneventful. Aside from writing the paper, which I was able to work on in this really cute coffee shop called La Cité, I also got to finally see the show that was up in the Uffizi, which was curated by the friends of one of my professors.

I also went back to Galleria dell'Accademia with one of my classes. It was cool to be able to see David in silent aesthetic appreciation then to go back and see him while discussing the context in which he was made.

Then, Thursday night, the whole group went to the Opera. Prior to the Opera, some of the girls and I went out for dinner where I had a fabulously tasty cheese and pear tortellini. The restaurant was also really cute and inexpensive.

Then we made our way to the opera house, which was recently built, so we're the first of the ACM groups to go to a performance in that building. It reminded me of the Guthrie, so it was a nice little taste of home.