Travels to Rome

We spent yesterday morning finishing up our tour of Florence.  Last on our list was the Gallerie dell'Accademia- the location of Michaelangelo's David and other assorted sculptures.  Sadly, we weren't allowed to take pictures yesterday, so I have nothing to show you.
The Gallerie was built to house David after the original sculture was moved from outside the Palazzo Vecchio.  There is a fake version out in the piazza now while the original is safely tucked into a climate controlled rotunda.  You have to meander your way through the museum to get there.  We lucked out and managed to come on a day when there were no lines.  That has been the great thing about coming in January/February.  The lines have been negligent.  Apparently in spring and summer it takes hours to get in to see these places.  I strongly recommend that you come in the winter and just pack a coat.
The David is cool.  For starters it is huge.  It is at least twice a normal man's height, if not more.  It is stunningly beautiful, of course.  The marble just glows almost.  The most interesting part though is the level of detail.  Michaelangelo clearly understood anatomy, right down to the veins.  You can see muscles and tendons and veins all carved into the marble.  It is pretty amazing.
The hall on the way is filled with his unfinished works.  I have to admit that they were a LOT more interesting than the David when it comes right down to it.  You can see how Michaelangelo started with this big hunk of rock and then the form emerged from it.  You can see chisel marks and everything.  Pretty cool.  I really wanted to reach out and touch everything, but obviously they frown on such things.  Oh well.  It was still pretty coll just getting to see it all.
We finished out the tour with a quick run through the Basilica of San Lorenzo next to the Medici palace.  It was my favorite of the churches we looked at.  Sadly, no pictures were allowed there either.
We snagged a quick lunch of lasagna and bread and then wandered back to this really nice waffle making lady we had met the day before.  They have waffle makers set up in front of the gelato store.  You can smell the cooking waffles for blocks.  The smell is devine!  We both ordered what we thought was a small one and went back to wait.  When the lady brought them to us they were huge!  She had made two waffles with a layer of chocolate in between.  This was topped with a scoop of gelato and a layer of whipped cream.  The whole thing was then drizzled with more chocolate.  It was a sugar overdose!  I think we managed to eat about a third of it before we gave up.  I'm not sure how anyone ever manages to eat the whole thing.  While we were letting it settle, a little brown, feather-footed pigeon snuck into the back of the shop where we were and started scarfing up crumbs.  It was bold and cocky and became our fast friend after we tossed it bits of waffle.  As we left he got a good running start and flew over everyone's heads out the door.  There are no squirrels, but a million pigeons in all the piazza's. 
It was about a two hour train ride to Rome, but we got here and to the hotel with no trouble.  Today we are off to the Roman ruins.  Hopefully I can post more pictures tonight.  Stay tuned!

Florence

After my last post Cate and I went out to Murano island and watched them blow glass.  We wandered the streets for a while and tucked ourselves in and out of glass shops.  I bought a few small things and chatted with a really nice man selling the glass his father blows.  It's fun having a face to put to the art.  Cate and I were really smitten with the chandeliers, but couldn't figure out a way to get one home.  It is probably just as well.  :)

We left Venice on Saturday about midday and took the train to Florence.  The train ride was very comfortable and allowed us to see a lot of the countryside.  We were so pooped though that I didn't get any pictures.  At some point we went through the mountains.  Every now and then we would pop out of a tunnel, see snow covered hills and then pop back into a tunnel.  Florence has been MUCH warmer than Venice though.  Venice was bitingly cold.

After a neurotic, harried taxi ride we made it to the hotel.  Our hotel (Plaza Hotel Lucchesi) is right on the Arno river and within walking distance of everything.  We wandered out for dinner Saturday night, but both ended up going to bed early.

Sunday it rained, but we slogged ahead anyway.  We wandered down to the Ponte Vecchio (a bridge with shops on it) and then on to the Uffizi, Palazzo Vecchio, Palazzo Pitti and a few other places.  We have done a LOT of walking and it seems that Italy is not handicapped accessible.  There are stairs everywhere.  It explains why Italians are all really fit!

This is a Michaelangelo sculpture in the Palazzo Vecchio.  Go, Michaelangelo!!

The dome of the Duomo is pretty much the iconic landmark of Florence.  It is higher than everything else and very noticeable.  It is also quite lovely!

 The Duomo is HUGE!  It is also spectacular.  White and green and pink marble cover every surface and everything is carved.  I think it was begun in the 1200's and finally finished in the 1800's.  The bulk of it was done in the 1400s.  Amazing that they could build like this back then.

 The museum had a bunch of the original carvings that had been pulled off and replaced with copies.  The weather is hard on them.  I liked this one of the cows and sheep.

 The museum also had a bunch of models that had been carved to show possible facades.  These models were at least 5' tall and were carved in intricate detail.  Imagine this much work for just a sample to show what it might look like.

The streets all look like this.  It is like a Disney set.  This is actually one of the wider streets.  Most of about one car wide.  Cars, buses, bikers and walkers all seem to zoom in and out of each other.  So far we haven't seen anyone get hit (although we do seem to hear a lot of ambulance sirens).  I understand that Rome is worse.  Won't that be exciting?



We are off to see Michaelangelo's David today and then will train down to Rome.  If the Rome hotel has wifi I'll post more soon.  As I have taken approximately eleventy billion pictures, I will inundate you with more once I get home.  Internet is really slow here. 

Italy is GREAT!!

Venice

After a much delayed flight out of New York, we finally arrived in Venice.  I must admit we were a little crunchy.  The last leg of our journey was about 9 hours long.  I was pretty happy to get off the airplane! We took a bus into Venice proper and then walked ourselves and our luggage about 10 minutes to the hotel.  It turns out there are a LOT of stairs in Venice!  Our hotel is on the left in this picture (look for a yellow building with flags).  I took this standing on one of the three bridges that cross the Grand Canal.  This is Venice's main street and it stays busy.  We even saw a UPS boat zip by us today!  There are no cars in Venice, so if it is going to be delivered, it is done by boat and by walking.

After a quick clean up and short nap, we set out to explore.  I have no idea what canal/street this is, but I thought it was pretty and interesting.

After much walking, we finally found Piazza San Marco (Saint Mark's Plaza).  The story is that St. Mark's body was smuggled out of the Holy Land in a barrel and settled in the cathedral in Venice.  This is San Marco.  Part of it is undergoing restoration, but what you can see is amazing.  A lot of Venice is under restoration.  The water and humidity are hard on architecture and art.

The marble and mosaics are unbelieveably gorgeous.  The cathedral itself is dim, but when you look up the ceiling is all gold and glittery.  The floor is an undulating quilt of marble patterns.  Wave after wave of different patterns is underfoot.  I thought the colors in the outside columns were amazing.  You couldn't take pictures inside unfortunately.

For my chickeny friends- there was a gorgeous mosaic of peacocks along one aisle.  Go, poultry! 

Today we took a field trip to Vicenza to see the Teatro Olimpico.  This theatre was built during the Italian Renaissance (1500's) by architect Andrea Palladio.  The internet is slow here, so I'll post more pictures of it later.  It was beyond breathtaking.  Cate and I were both speechless when we walked in.  After seeing pictures of it for years, it was mind blowing to see it in person.  Cate got a picture of my stunned self.  (Much like Forrest Gump my eyes are always closed in pictures...) 

We took a water bus ride this evening to see the houses along the Grand Canal.  It is FREEZING, but stunningly beautiful.  I have no idea what the domed building is, but thought it lovely.  This is my favorite picture of the canal.

After our boat ride we wandered the streets for a bit and finally found a hole in the wall restaurant covered up with locals.  The food was amazing.  We shared spaghetti and lasagne and finished up with gelato.  I may be ruined for Ragu and ice cream when we get home.  The pasta here is truly phenomenal.  Thankfully we are walking all day or I would come home shaped like a globe!

I posted this one for my friend Brad who teaches theatre with masks.  Canival is just around the corner here and lots of shops have these masks displayed.  These are our favorites.  Everything is just glittery!

Tomorrow morning we are going out to the glassworks on Murano island.  We expect to fall in love with everything we see.  thankfully it is really hard totravel with glass or I would likely come home with a suitcase full.  Tomorrow afternoon we are off to Florence.  Stay tuned for more pictures!

Let the countdown begin!

In approximately 8 days I will be on a plane for Venice, Italy to begin a two week Italian Extravaganza.  My friend Catherine and I will be completing a site survey for a new study abroad class exploring Italian art and architecture as it relates to modern theatrical practices.

We land in Venice the morning of January 27th.  From there we will day trip to Vicenza to see an Italian Renaissance theatre.  After a couple of days in Venice we plan on migrating to Florence with a possible day trip to Parma along the way.  After Florence we train down to Rome for a week long stay.  Sites will include a Roman theatre, the Pantheon and the Vatican (among other things!).  Our final leg is down to Naples and Pompeii.  All in all we will be there 12 days and will cover the country from north to south.

My plan is to post pictures daily, along with a travel blog of our adventures.  Please check back in!