yeeeah, sorry about the lack of contactery. I've found the lack of internet has caused me blogging suckery.
So i suppose the biggest thing to update on is fall break! which was marvlous. So for starters, as is characteristic of Italy, there was a strike. we got an email the night before we were supposed to go saying that there was a general public worker strike, which means that there is no predictablity about what will be running and what won't. So the school suggested you either change flights or go to the area of your airport the night before and stay in a hotel nearby...both of which myself and my travel buddies (kelly and rachel) could not afford. so we decided it was the best plan to take a really early bus the day of our flight to pisa (where we had to fly out of). so at the ripe hour of 6:40 in the morning we were on our way. (eeeeewwwww). now, our flight was not actually until 8pm...so we had some time to kill.
we, of course, decided to do the regular pisa tower/cathedral/baptisry stuff...which took about two hours. fun fact:there is nothing else to do in pisa. we ended up eating and sitting for the rest of the day. the only other noteworthy thing was the discovery of Dragoon beer. delicious.
From Pisa we headed to Barcelona....or should i say Girona...the silly silly city outside of Barcelona that our flight arrived in/we were staying in.
We got in late so we knocked out in anticipation of waking up early to get into Barcelona proper the next morning.
Barcelona....was magnificent. We were sort of on a Gaudi quest. We saw the Casa Mila...and our favorite La Segrada Familia.if you have never seen pictures of the Segrada Familia you should look it up. its the most incredible place. after months of going into beautiful old churches it was very strange to go into a much more modern space that was for the same purpose. the two things that stuck out to me were the sculpture, which varried in style, but was all very stylized and surprisingly potent, and the light.
Unfortunately we only had one day in Barcelona, and then we headed off to madrid.
In madrid we had the great fortune of staying with Benito, Josefa and Fernando's papa. He was incredibly generous to let us stay, and we happened to get in on the same day Fernando was passing through. He was able to help us out with maps and suggestions and general laughery. Twas lovely. We had a longer time in madrid so we were able to do things at a slightly more relaxed pace. The highlights were El Prado, the Riena Sofia, and catching up with friends who were styudying there. all three of us have freinds who we got to see. In my case my roommate and good friend alex was there!
I got to see El Grecco....the best painter ever (YEAH I SAID IT)...once again. which pleased my heart stringss.
AHHH, I have to go to class. but malta.
so malta was quite interesting. it was the most different looking place i've been so far. the landscape and houses were totally different from all the other european places i've seen. our (not so clean) hotel was right on the water...which was the most gorgeous bluey green color. yes, yes we did swim. it was marvelous. after all the toury walking seeing we had done before we were pretty mellow in malta. we mostly just walked around our area and explored.
when we came back we were all happy to see florence once again.
its strange to come back to a foreign city and feel like you've arrived at home. (not home home....but you know).
well its off to the Spanish Chapel for me! I'll try and update more frequently! eek!
Monday, November 28, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
MORE MORE
Oh boy. So i have internet access pretty much only tuesdays and thursdays. Which explains my unfortunate blogging patterns.
But updates!
This past weekend my two sculpture buddies Kelly and Lea and I went back to Castel Franco di Sopra(the beautiful town where Ben is living) for a pizza party. Two things to elaborate on here. One, Italian transportation is the worst. Ended up in the wrong town and maaaaybe hitchhicked to the right one! Two, when i saw pizza party i am talking homemade pizza..(down to the flour the dough was made with). There was also homemade wine and people representing about 10 different countries. It was most certainly a night I will always remember. It was actually my second venture to Castel Franco (the first one I also got on the wrong bus and walked about 4 km to get back on track).
Castel Franco is maybe the most beautiful place I've ever seen. The house where Ben is working is actually outside the town itself. It sits on top of a hill overlooking miles of truly perfect Tuscan countryside. We're talking rolling hills, some body of water out in the distance and terra cotta roofs all the way. When I went there the first time Ben and I did a fair amount of walking around and chatting with the other american couple who were WOOFFing there for the week and Giordano, the owner of the house and a seriously interesting guy. He and his fiance erica made us dinner and the three couples had dinner that probably should have been in a movie.
Now wait for it ladies and gents, this weekend is Padua and Venice....for the Venice Biannele....for those of you who don't know it is THE LARGEST ART FAIR IN THE WORLD. I am so excited. SO EXCITED! I leave tomorrow with Kelly and Lea.
One last side note of interest is our discovery of a Jazz Club (which we intend to become regulars at). They have a different thing going on every night and it is one of the best night time activities in Florence in my opinion. (also they serve ABSURD Chianti wine).
But updates!
This past weekend my two sculpture buddies Kelly and Lea and I went back to Castel Franco di Sopra(the beautiful town where Ben is living) for a pizza party. Two things to elaborate on here. One, Italian transportation is the worst. Ended up in the wrong town and maaaaybe hitchhicked to the right one! Two, when i saw pizza party i am talking homemade pizza..(down to the flour the dough was made with). There was also homemade wine and people representing about 10 different countries. It was most certainly a night I will always remember. It was actually my second venture to Castel Franco (the first one I also got on the wrong bus and walked about 4 km to get back on track).
Castel Franco is maybe the most beautiful place I've ever seen. The house where Ben is working is actually outside the town itself. It sits on top of a hill overlooking miles of truly perfect Tuscan countryside. We're talking rolling hills, some body of water out in the distance and terra cotta roofs all the way. When I went there the first time Ben and I did a fair amount of walking around and chatting with the other american couple who were WOOFFing there for the week and Giordano, the owner of the house and a seriously interesting guy. He and his fiance erica made us dinner and the three couples had dinner that probably should have been in a movie.
Now wait for it ladies and gents, this weekend is Padua and Venice....for the Venice Biannele....for those of you who don't know it is THE LARGEST ART FAIR IN THE WORLD. I am so excited. SO EXCITED! I leave tomorrow with Kelly and Lea.
One last side note of interest is our discovery of a Jazz Club (which we intend to become regulars at). They have a different thing going on every night and it is one of the best night time activities in Florence in my opinion. (also they serve ABSURD Chianti wine).
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Two weeks later....
Oh my goodness gracious its been quite a long time since I’ve updated. It turns out I’m going to end up having a lot less time on the computer then I would have expected. Now its looking like the only times I’ll have access is after 4:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So any emails or Facebook anything I’m being sent is delightful, but expect a bit on response time.
So ok! A lot has happened since last time I blogged. The biggest thing I feel that needs mentioning are the various trips I’ve taken. Lets start with Pietra Santa and Carrara. Pietra Santa is a beautiful town about an hour outside of Florence. The interesting thing about it is that it is predominately known as a sculpture town. (Yes, I do have plans with Lea and Kelly to move there forever). They have a bronze-pouring workshop where artists come to have their pieces made into metal. They also have a marble-carving workshop in which the people have literally been carving marble since childhood and artists who want work done in marble come with plaster models to be made into marble. There was also a mosaic workshop. I should say THE mosaic workshop. Any big modern mosaic you’ve seen is probably made there. Hollywood cemetery? Those guys. It was crazy.
After leaving Pietra Santa we headed for Carrara. It was one of the most stunning sights I’ve ever seen. You spend the entire bus ride paralyzed with fear as the bus takes turns up a mountain that probably shouldn’t be physically possible. But around the bends near the top you start to see sheer white cliffs of marble. You really can’t imagine it. It was sublime. We went in to two queries, one where we actually entered the query, and one where we walked around outside. We sculpture people were told we could take what we could carry for carving. Now, there are many people in the sculpture class that are not sculpture people in their blood. They got fist-sized rocks. Kelly Lea and I were literally the last people on the bus and were toting pieces of marble that caused us back pain for three days afterwards. Important note, the query we got our marble from is the one where Michelangelo selected the marble for his David.
I also finally met up with Benjamin after two weeks of simultaneous Italy living. There was much catching up and eating and city wandering that occurred. Its interesting to go from telling each other about camp and babysitting to telling each other about farming and marble lugging. This coming weekend I’m going to Castel Franco, the town he lives in to spend a little more time with him (he was only in the city for part of the day), and to meet his “host family”.
This passed weekend I went to Assissi and Ravenna. Assissi was absolutely breath taking. We went to the tomb of Saint Francis and saw SO MUCH ART. There were Giotto’s there that I’ve been looking at since I was tiny in Madeline L’Engle’s The Glorious Impossible. Giotto might be moving up in my books because of this trip and things I’m hearing about him in my art history. We were able to go into the crypt and touch the tomb of Saint Francis, which I found to be a much more moving experience then I expected. When I got close to it I saw a woman next to me who looked like she had maybe just undergone a round of chemotherapy. She was clearly deep in prayer as she cried with her hand on the tomb. She wasn’t the only person in this state. The thought of pilgrimage has never been particularly moving to me, but seeing people from all over the world who all felt a sense of presence and importance about such a small relic was fascinating and moving to me. The other delightful thing about Assissi was the ballin’ castle. So wait. Assissi is built all into the mountainside. There was a watchtower built at the highest point of the city which you can climb up to and enter for a small fee. WORTH IT. First of all the castle itself was incredible. There were spiral staircases and tiny arched hallways and confusingly laid out rooms. But \ the view at the top is what was truly breathtaking. You could literally see for miles.
Ravenna was also lovely. The city itself wasn’t as magnificent, but Ravenna is known for its mosaics...which were fully worth the trip. If the words “Justinian Mosaics” mean anything to you, I will have said enough. If not...I can’t take that long to explain because I need to sleep soon. But we went to four different churches with mind blowing mosaics. We also saw Dante’s tomb.
Other things worth mentioning: two favorite quotes as of recently: Lea:”you know, the sculpture town, where they worship sculptors.” (in reference to Pietra Santa.) Monica: “why you don’t eat bread with your food?” (in reference to Rachel and I trying not to die from too much food by adding more bread to the mix).
I have the famous cold that every newcomer to Florence is supposed to get. But I’m downing water and feeling pretty good. But now! To bed with me.
So ok! A lot has happened since last time I blogged. The biggest thing I feel that needs mentioning are the various trips I’ve taken. Lets start with Pietra Santa and Carrara. Pietra Santa is a beautiful town about an hour outside of Florence. The interesting thing about it is that it is predominately known as a sculpture town. (Yes, I do have plans with Lea and Kelly to move there forever). They have a bronze-pouring workshop where artists come to have their pieces made into metal. They also have a marble-carving workshop in which the people have literally been carving marble since childhood and artists who want work done in marble come with plaster models to be made into marble. There was also a mosaic workshop. I should say THE mosaic workshop. Any big modern mosaic you’ve seen is probably made there. Hollywood cemetery? Those guys. It was crazy.
After leaving Pietra Santa we headed for Carrara. It was one of the most stunning sights I’ve ever seen. You spend the entire bus ride paralyzed with fear as the bus takes turns up a mountain that probably shouldn’t be physically possible. But around the bends near the top you start to see sheer white cliffs of marble. You really can’t imagine it. It was sublime. We went in to two queries, one where we actually entered the query, and one where we walked around outside. We sculpture people were told we could take what we could carry for carving. Now, there are many people in the sculpture class that are not sculpture people in their blood. They got fist-sized rocks. Kelly Lea and I were literally the last people on the bus and were toting pieces of marble that caused us back pain for three days afterwards. Important note, the query we got our marble from is the one where Michelangelo selected the marble for his David.
I also finally met up with Benjamin after two weeks of simultaneous Italy living. There was much catching up and eating and city wandering that occurred. Its interesting to go from telling each other about camp and babysitting to telling each other about farming and marble lugging. This coming weekend I’m going to Castel Franco, the town he lives in to spend a little more time with him (he was only in the city for part of the day), and to meet his “host family”.
This passed weekend I went to Assissi and Ravenna. Assissi was absolutely breath taking. We went to the tomb of Saint Francis and saw SO MUCH ART. There were Giotto’s there that I’ve been looking at since I was tiny in Madeline L’Engle’s The Glorious Impossible. Giotto might be moving up in my books because of this trip and things I’m hearing about him in my art history. We were able to go into the crypt and touch the tomb of Saint Francis, which I found to be a much more moving experience then I expected. When I got close to it I saw a woman next to me who looked like she had maybe just undergone a round of chemotherapy. She was clearly deep in prayer as she cried with her hand on the tomb. She wasn’t the only person in this state. The thought of pilgrimage has never been particularly moving to me, but seeing people from all over the world who all felt a sense of presence and importance about such a small relic was fascinating and moving to me. The other delightful thing about Assissi was the ballin’ castle. So wait. Assissi is built all into the mountainside. There was a watchtower built at the highest point of the city which you can climb up to and enter for a small fee. WORTH IT. First of all the castle itself was incredible. There were spiral staircases and tiny arched hallways and confusingly laid out rooms. But \ the view at the top is what was truly breathtaking. You could literally see for miles.
Ravenna was also lovely. The city itself wasn’t as magnificent, but Ravenna is known for its mosaics...which were fully worth the trip. If the words “Justinian Mosaics” mean anything to you, I will have said enough. If not...I can’t take that long to explain because I need to sleep soon. But we went to four different churches with mind blowing mosaics. We also saw Dante’s tomb.
Other things worth mentioning: two favorite quotes as of recently: Lea:”you know, the sculpture town, where they worship sculptors.” (in reference to Pietra Santa.) Monica: “why you don’t eat bread with your food?” (in reference to Rachel and I trying not to die from too much food by adding more bread to the mix).
I have the famous cold that every newcomer to Florence is supposed to get. But I’m downing water and feeling pretty good. But now! To bed with me.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Art art everywhere.
Florence is the best. I could give a detailed description of everything I've seen but it would take forever and I haven't had lunch. So i shall compose a list:
-The Duomo (found it on the way to a club, best thing to happen upon after a zillion miles of street walking at night)
-The Academia (I saw David. I love David. We have plans to hang out.)
-The Ponte Vecchio. (They have a tradition here where couples write their names on locks and then throw away the key to sinify that they are sticking with eachother and there were HUNDREDS at the Ponte Vecchio. Also Rach and I had our first gelatto there).
-The first church built in Florence...INCREDIBLE. This place will make me feel inadequate as an artist for the rest of time.
-The Gate of Paradise...need I say more? I drooled.
-The Piazza Michelangelo (it looks out over the whole city)
AAAAAND there is much more. The school gave us a card that gives us free access to most big deal museums and allows us to cut the line. I intend to go to each about 16 times.
As far as class goes I'm greatly enjoying it. I have two close friends from the SU sculpture department, Kelly and Lea with whom I trek all about to our various (across the freaking city) classes. We have the exact same schedule which is fun. Our jewlery and metalsmithing class is in a place called Fuji studios which is like the baby ComArt of Florence. Our weving class is probably a good two or three miles from school, but its in an old weaving factory which is really cool.
Mondays and Wednesdays are actually absurd. We have classes from 8:50 to 7:30 and I have had quite interesting experiences getting back to my host families house from class. Fortunately they are classes I like with people I enjoy in a city that could not be more gorgeous.
-The Duomo (found it on the way to a club, best thing to happen upon after a zillion miles of street walking at night)
-The Academia (I saw David. I love David. We have plans to hang out.)
-The Ponte Vecchio. (They have a tradition here where couples write their names on locks and then throw away the key to sinify that they are sticking with eachother and there were HUNDREDS at the Ponte Vecchio. Also Rach and I had our first gelatto there).
-The first church built in Florence...INCREDIBLE. This place will make me feel inadequate as an artist for the rest of time.
-The Gate of Paradise...need I say more? I drooled.
-The Piazza Michelangelo (it looks out over the whole city)
AAAAAND there is much more. The school gave us a card that gives us free access to most big deal museums and allows us to cut the line. I intend to go to each about 16 times.
As far as class goes I'm greatly enjoying it. I have two close friends from the SU sculpture department, Kelly and Lea with whom I trek all about to our various (across the freaking city) classes. We have the exact same schedule which is fun. Our jewlery and metalsmithing class is in a place called Fuji studios which is like the baby ComArt of Florence. Our weving class is probably a good two or three miles from school, but its in an old weaving factory which is really cool.
Mondays and Wednesdays are actually absurd. We have classes from 8:50 to 7:30 and I have had quite interesting experiences getting back to my host families house from class. Fortunately they are classes I like with people I enjoy in a city that could not be more gorgeous.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Change from last post...OBSESSED with Loioli family.
Last night Rachel and I met our family! We spent the preceding half hour practicing our "piacere", which is the formal greeting. We were the last of 30 people to get paired with our delightful hosts Cristina and Monica (who immediately greeted us with the friendly and informal "ciao" and the Italian double cheek kiss). After lugging our embarrassingly large luggage to the house we chatted for a while. The ladies headed out to do some shopping and allow us room to unpack, so we are finally settled. We met Frederico, the older son, who was delightful and friendly, and whose English was very good.
We had dinner around 8...and HOOOOLY CRAP. We started with potato pasta and pesto. Now, i say started, but by the time we finished our HUGE pasta plates i was all set fullness-wise. But then came the salad. Part way through the salad they busted out the breaded lemony chicken. (I should also add that they were piling huge portions onto Rachels and my plate). As I attempted to keep up with the hosts (who had finished eating a good five minutes before me) Monica admonished us for not eating any bread with our meal...so I piled that on too. After dinner we had to valiantly defend ourselves from eating the copious volumes of fruit offered up to us. It was absolutely incredible food.
The Loioli sisters and Frederico are wonderful as well. Monica told us that its a house where people come and go, and that we are young and are completely free to do our own thing. She has a boyfriend of 15 years, as does Cristina, and they sleep out of the house sometimes and tell us if we sleep friends or out late its no problem at all. Frederico informed us that he and his brother go out dancing till the wee hours of the morning quite frequently and offered to bring Rachel and I along some time.
We could not have asked for a more gracious family, better food or a more laid back situation.
(The pictures are views from our bedroom window)
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Ciao Loioli Famiglia!
Wow baby. So it turns out to get settled in a foreign country and register for classes in two days is a poo ton of work. I've got all my classes set up and I register tomorrow. The most unusual you ask? That would be the Black Death and Medieval art. Imma know all sorts of things about the plague. Aside from that I'm taking Italian, weaving, jewelry and metalsmithing,and intermediate sculpture.
The most exciting thing on the horizon, however, is that today at 4:30 Rachel and I meet our host family!
We got a little explainy thing and we know so far that the house is owned by Monica. Her sister Cristina lives there with her two sons Francesco(21) and Frederico (18).
They have been hosting for a long time and are apparently SUPA COOL. Additionally they are a 25 minute walk from school, so my fears of obesity are quelled slightly.
Makin friend takin names kids.
CIAAAO. (which is the aloha of Italy, teehehehe)
The most exciting thing on the horizon, however, is that today at 4:30 Rachel and I meet our host family!
We got a little explainy thing and we know so far that the house is owned by Monica. Her sister Cristina lives there with her two sons Francesco(21) and Frederico (18).
They have been hosting for a long time and are apparently SUPA COOL. Additionally they are a 25 minute walk from school, so my fears of obesity are quelled slightly.
Makin friend takin names kids.
CIAAAO. (which is the aloha of Italy, teehehehe)
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
The trip from hell.
The Italian airport workers were on strike today. What does that mean for me you ask? Well I got to the airport at 1:20ish, checked in, and sat around until 5:40 when my flight left. It was an 8 hour flight that arrived in Munich at 7:30 European time. I then had to wait until 3 when I took yet another plane to Nice. I am currently sitting in Nice waiting for another flight to get in around, well, now. When they arrive we have a five hour bus trip. Also apparently they didn't know our flight was even coming in here. They just happened to show up because of this second flight coming into Nice. OYYY VEEEEYYY. Fortunately my wee Bettay is here with me.
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