Siena and other stories

Wow- I sat down today to finish writing about Siena, and realized that I actually went there almost one week ago. Sorry this took so long.

I took the bus from Florence to Siena last weekend with Sarah, one of the girls from SNC. It's such a nice place, and the city was much smaller and quieter than Florence (especially for a Saturday) which made for a nice change of scene. The first thing that we decided to do was to eat (of course...), so we went and got a pastry and cappuccino at a local shop.

We then walked to the Piazza del Campo, the large, bowl shaped piazza in Siena. Piazza del Campo is famous for the running of the Palio, which is a famous horse race in Siena. Each of the districts enters a horse and they race against each other in late summer. It's not like races in the US though, the jockey's ride bareback, whichever horse to cross first wins (with or without it's jockey), and anything goes in this race - kidnapping has not been unheard of... Crazy...

The main palace, Palazzo Pubblico sits at the head of the piazza. The Torre del Mangia, a tower built as tall as the dome of Siena's cathedral (to show the equality of church and state), is connected to the palace. We climbed up to the very top for a view of the city - 400 step, and a few were so tight that absolutely nothing could be carried up other than a camera out of it's case, and you had to duck so you didn't hit your head. The view from the top was worth it though. So we were standing there, taking pictures right underneath this enormous bell, when all of the sudden the bell rang. I think that I jumped about five feet in the air, it was so loud and unexpected - but pretty funny. We then went through the rest of the palace. It was beautiful, most of the ceilings were ornately painted, and they had frescoes, old paintings and other items everywhere. One of my favorite things to see there, was a fresco next to it's underdrawing (found during removal and restoration of the fresco). I've never seen the two parts of a same fresco hanging side by side.

We had a delicious lunch at a restaurant by the cathedral. We had mixed bruschetta (traditional tomato topping, some cabbage mixture, an amazing onion and cheese topping, and something that looked a bit like raw fish to me - honestly, I wasn't brave enough to try it and Sarah wasn't sure what it was) and each had the most delicious bowl of ribolitta! Ribolitta is a traditional Tuscan soup, originally a peasant dish, made of tomatoes, cabbage, spices, stale bread, and whatever other vegetables that people want to put in it. It was so good and filling!

Next, we went into the cathedral. Three things really interested me about that cathedral. One, everything was striped! It actually made me feel sometimes like I was in the middle of some optical illusion. Two, the entire floor is marble, but arranged in different colors to create ornate scenes and symbols. Third, the statue of St. John the Baptist. I'm starting to really like Donatello, and I walked up to this statue, looked at the style, and immediately guessed that it was Donatello's work - turns out that I was right! We also went into the crypt of the church. We didn't know what to expect, but basically you can see the remains of the wall of the original church that was there (the cathedral was built on top of a preexisting, smaller cathedral). It probably wasn't entirely worth it, but I did really enjoy seeing the frescoes that have been undamaged by years of light and pollution. The colors, especially the reds and blues, were so bright, and they were so detailed - some of them could have been oil paintings. It was nice to some frescoes as they were originally intended.

That was pretty much our day - we walked around the city some more, then got on a bus back to Florence as it was beginning to rain. It was tons of fun though!

I have a few other stories from the past week (since it's been so long) that I wanted to share also. I finally went into the Uffizi gallery, I had been waiting to get my Museum Pass. My Renaissance Art Class was there this week! The most famous piece in the gallery is the Birth of Venus, by Botticelli, but the pieces that I got really excited when I saw were the three Maesta's that they have there (by Giotto, Cimabue, and Duccio). I wouldn't have thought it, but seeing them all in the same room was really impressive.

I also am beginning to understand Italian better! I was in the supermarket the other day, and some woman suddenly asked me for help. Basically, she was trying to figure out which type of tomatoes were which price. I couldn't really speak to her in Italian well, but I could understand what she was saying to me! We managed to figure it out (with me muttering to myself in English) and I said goodbye and started to leave. She then thanked me, first in Italian and then in English (I guess she heard me talking to myself!). Not that important overall, but I was definitely excited that I am at the point where I can finally understand some of the language - not bad for one month.

One month - it's official now! Honestly, I am starting to get homesick, especially wanting to be around to see everyone in the family when they get together, but I am also having the best time. I love this city so much! Often I walk along the street and see parent's picking up their kids from school, tourists trying to find where they are on a map, someone sitting on a bench reading a newspaper, or hear cheers coming from the inside of pubs whenever soccer games are on, and I just know that I really wouldn't want to be anywhere else for the next few months.

I think that's about it for now - but if I forgot something I'll try to put it back up.

Siena pictures!

View of beautiful Siena and the Duomo!

The inside of the Cathedral - beautiful, but I did feel like I was in the middle of an optical illusion.




























Climbing the 400 steps to the top of the tower for a view of the city! (This staircase was both the way up and down)

Rain, Gelato and Klingon!

Well, its been almost another full week here in Italy, and filled with lots of drizzle and rain. Not the ideal weather, but not so bad that you can't go outside either. When it stops raining it is so nice and warm here, around 55 degrees. (I keep thinking about the weather in Wisconsin right now!)

Valentine's Day in Florence is celebrated pretty much the same way that we celebrate in the states, lots of flowers and candy vendors advertising for the day. I went with my roommates that night to a bar for drinks and aperitivos, and then we got some gelato late that night. It was fun, but not much else to say about that.

My classes are going well. In Renaissance Art we went to Santa Croce (which has a museum with Cimabue's Crucifix and a beautiful Fresco of the Last Supper, and also has the graves of people such as Galileo and Michelangelo). For Women and Religion we went on a walking tour of the city, and ended up at the Baptistery by Santa Maria del Fiore. The interior has the most beautiful gold mosaic that I have ever seen! It depicts a scene of the last judgment, portraits of the prophets, and scenes from the Bible. I still can't believe that these are my classes here - although I have been getting a lot of homework which isn't as much fun. For any fellow trekkies, I did find out that my Italian professor (who is a linguist and speaks about 10 languages fluently) speaks Klingon! That pretty much made my day when he mentioned that!

Someone pointed out a gelato shop to me that is right around the corner a little while ago, and I have been back a couple of times since. One of the workers recognized me when I went in yesterday - I'm not sure if that is a good thing, or if it means that I need to stop eating so much gelato...

I also found a beautiful little park up in the hills by San Miniato! It has enough trees and grass to really remind me of my many walks through the woods in Memorial Park at home, but the view of the outskirts of Florence is unbelievable. I also met some tourists from Hungary, who asked me how they could get to San Miniato. They were so nice, and seemed genuinely interested in just talking for a few minutes. They told me that they came to Italy for a long weekend to see the art, and that they were really enjoying the warm weather (it was snowing back at their home). They wanted to know where I was from, and seemed really interested to learn that I was in Italy as an art student. It was so nice talking to them, and as a plus, I was able to point them in the right direction!

I think that's about everything for now. I'm hoping to spend tomorrow in Siena (an easy day trip from Florence), so I will tell you about that soon!

Flickr Update

I put a few more pictures on Flickr of the Piazzale Michelangelo and San Miniato al Monte (the basilica on top of the hill). Hope you enjoy them!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mia065/

Two Things...

I just have to say that I walked up to San Miniato al Monte this morning - the basilica up on the hill with the cemetery. It's literally one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life. Today, I actually went inside the basilica - it's very dark and quiet in there, but there were so many beautiful paintings on the walls, and even an unfinished tempera painting that I found fascinating to look at. If anyone ever comes to Florence - make the walk for the view of the city and to look at the basilica!

Also, something that I was thinking the other day about how we always study the same things in history classes in the US, and that most of that history is directly related to the US. It made me realize how narrow my view of past world events are. I was thinking about this, because since I came here, I have heard so much about the Florence flood of '66. The flood was one of the most disastrous events in Italy, and happened so recently that it is still fresh in everyone's mind. Yet I had never heard of it until I arrived. It was the first time that the Arno flooded since the Industrial Revolution, so in addition to the lives and homes lost (which would have been bad enough) so much history and art of the city was severely damaged. Just one more thing to make me realize that what is important to us in the US, is not what is important to everyone in the world.

Carnival of Venice

Sorry it's taken so long for a update. I'll be honest, I just really haven't felt like writing lately - but here we go! This should be a nice long update...

I know that I mentioned the Chocolate Festival this weekend in the Piazza Santa Croce. I don't think that I've ever seen so much chocolate in one place at one time. It was like chocolate as a work of art. There where more chocolate animals than I could count, "rusty" chocolate hand tools, nails, horseshoes, etc..., chocolate covered fruit, hot chocolate.....the list goes on and on! I did have some hot chocolate, "cioccolato calda", which here is basically melted chocolate mixed with cream - so rich, but so delicious!

I went to Venice this weekend for the Carnival with the other girls from St. Norbert (Sarah, Beth, and Caressa) and Caressa's roommate Abbey. What an amazing weekend! We took the train out of Florence, which passed through many tunnels. I later realized that the tunnels were actually going straight through the mountains. There was snow everywhere! This may sound crazy, but seeing the snow made me both homesick, and more glad that I was in Italy at the same time. Talk about mixed emotions, all from a little snow!

We arrived in Venice at about 4:30 on Friday, and took the water bus to the stop by our amazing apartment. Venice is a city with no roadways, all transportation is via a series of water canals and boats, including buses, taxis, police, and deliveries (FedEx!). All of the "roads" are actually just walkways. This was a love/hate relationship with me - I will walk just about anywhere within reach, but I'm not really fond of boats. It ended up being really fun though. That night, we went to a market, and made a nice dinner in our apartment, before walking around the city at night in the rain, and doing some mask shopping.

Saturday was nicer, weather-wise (overcast, but no rain!). We walked across the famous Rialto Bridge and to the market (complete with many dead fish - yuck! - we were right on the Adriatic Sea), and then around the rest of Venice, taking time to stop in many of the fun shops with clothes, boots, Murano glass, and the famous Venice masks. We ended up in Piazza San Marco, were the stage for the festivities was slowly being uncovered. The piazza is named after St. Mark's Basilica, which is an amazing building. It is really interesting, because over a period of centuries, elements kept being added on, creating this crazy, colorful, yet really interesting compilation of styles of art. I think that it is one of the most beautiful buildings that I have ever seen! St. Mark's is famous for it's golden mosaics, a few of which we saw when we walked through the entrance of the basilica. We also saw Doge's Palace, the Campanile (belltower), and the clocktower (with the world first "digital clock"). We then got back on the water bus, and just spent some time riding down the Grand Canal and taking photos on our way to Giudecca, a large island just off of the historical center. We were actually looking for the "Art and Chocolate" exhibit that we saw advertised, but it ended up not being open while we were there. After returning to the main island, we walked back past the Bridge of Sighs, and into the heart of the carnival. There were a bunch of people gathering at the main stage, so we decided to stay and see what was going to happen. Some man came out and announced that weather permitting, the performance (a play of Arlecchino Servitore Di Due Padroni) would be taking place in a half an hour, weather permitting, but first, some workers from the recently closed steel factory would be performing their own interpretation of "Full Monty". Sure enough, three men get up on stage, start dancing, and stripping down to their underwear - that was pretty much the last thing we expected to see, but it was really funny! Anyway, we stayed for the beginning of the performance, and then headed back to the apartment for the night.

Sunday was absolutely beautiful! Sunny and warm. After checking out of the apartment, we walked around some more and did some shopping. We went back to the piazza to watch the Flight of the Angel - a tradition where a woman "flies" down from the bell tower to the piazza.

I don't know if I was just tired from the weekend or what, but yesterday was really the first crummy day I've had since I arrived in Italy. I started to get really homesick - I was tired of the crowded streets, pollution, not being able to communicate, etc... I couldn't find what I wanted at the market, got really lost trying to buy some schoolbooks, missed my class because of a broken apartment door latch - anyway, I did get through it and today has been much better! My Renaissance Art in Florence class took place at the Cathedral and Baptistery, and inside the Museo dell'Opera (the Cathedral/Duomo Museum). It was so amazing to be standing in front of the pieces that we were discussing, rather than just looking at slides (although it was hard to take notes!).


***I updated my photo page! http://www.flickr.com/photos/mia065/

Classes Start

I think that I'm finally starting to get used to living in Florence! I never really thought about the size of the city before, I mean, compared to New York, LA, or Chicago, Florence is nothing. But it is still about 15 times bigger than any city I've ever lived in. It's been a bit of an adjustment, but I really love this city a lot, and it's so beautiful. I finally made the hike up to Piazza Michelangelo, across the river, which offers an amazing view of the city, surrounding hills, and mountains. Amazing!

My classes started this week also. I'm taking Italian, which means that my vocabulary has expanded from about ten words to forty - a definite improvement! I'm also in Florence Rennaisance Art History, Religion and Women, and World Ethics - all of which seem really interesting right now. In a couple of the classes, we take many "field trips" out around the city, sometimes not even meeting in the classroom. For example, next week my Art History course is meeting at Giotto's belltower, and then we are having class at Santa Maria del Fiore (the cathedral most commonly known as Il Duomo) and the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo (looking at the art galleries). My Religion and Women class even takes a day trip to Rome in April - wow! I'm still trying to get one final class added in so that I have a full course load - tomorrow's project!

I've started to interact a little bit more with the locals also, mostly at store's and markets. Nothing seems as simple here as it is back in the states, such as buying groceries, getting stamps and finding a post box, It's always a bit nerve wracking to not be able to communicate as much as usual, but most people speak a bit of English, and I am learning the art of gesturing! Hopefully I'll catch on to Italian quickly...

Today I walked back up to Piazza Michelangelo, and then past it and higher up to the gorgeous San Miniato al Monte. I walked around the outside which is a graveyard - and the most unique graveyard I have ever been it. I found it so fascinating and relaxing. There were old and new family crypts, some actually graves and headstones, and mostly just hundreds of vaults all around the walls, some old and some new with fresh flowers. The church was amazing to look at too but unfortunately I didn't bring my camera with me or have time to go inside, as my goal was mainly just to get outside, walk around, and relax a little bit. I will definitely be going back when I have more time to spend there.

Tomorrow, the chocolate festival starts in Piazza Santa Croce (yum!), and this weekend, I'm going to Venice with four other girls for the carnival. After that, my next goals are to get in a library and find the best gelato stand!

I want to thank people for reading - it's nice to hear that people are enjoying this blog and makes me a little more motivated to keep writing! Hope everyone at home is doing well!

Photos

Okay - I finally have photos up on Flickr! The web address is:

www.flickr.com/photos/mia065/