Hi Everyone!
I guess I haven't written for quite some time, since almost immediately after I arrived here in Cambridge I left to go on orientation with the other Gates Scholars. We went up to the Lake District which is a beautiful part of northern England that has been inspiring writers and artists for years. We were super lucky, as the weather held pretty well (no rain until we left!) and outdoor activities were therefore really enjoyable. We went on nature walks, hiking, and some people even went rock climbing and kayaking. We also tried to do some more cultural events, like visiting Beatrix Potter's house (remember Peter Rabbit?) and the Wordsworth cottage, but those were less successful, mostly because of the difficulty of navigating a huge coach bus around tiny English roads.
The most exciting part of the weekend though, had basically nothing to do with what we were doing and everything to do with who we were meeting. I was pretty apprehensive about the whole meeting new people thing, especially since I haven't done it on this scale since the beginning of college, and since, as I recall, it was pretty miserable then. This was completely different. It actually felt like a huge version of RC training, without the training part, just the hanging out part. The other scholars are absolutely amazing. I dont know what I expected, but I definitely did not expect everyone to be so wonderful and down-to-earth. Everyone here is pretty brilliant, and many people are already well-established in careers, but they are so excited about what they do and so interested in learning about new ideas and subjects outside their area of expertise. I've had conversations with people this weekend about everything from the history of science, to archeology, to geology, to how EEGs work, to literature and people aren't even being pretentious, they really are just interested in these things! And yes, we did do traditional "fun stuff" too, like going to the local pub (a lot).
I think one thing that surprised me the most is how many scholars are a little bit farther along in their lives than I am. While there are a fair number of students straight out of college, a lot of people have been spending the past few years working at exciting jobs or getting degrees in the States. Many people are married or engaged, and some even have kids (adorable kids!!). It is fun, and really interesting to get the perspective of these people, especially when we have conversations about things like gender roles in different countries (Saturday night) and how to balance a career as a woman in science with wanting to raise a family (yesterday afternoon).
Another thing I've been learning about, that I'll probably go into more detail on later, is the college system here. People from places like Yale (there are a bunch of yalies here), are familiar with this type of system already, but since Amherst was so tiny, it's completely new to me. Each college has its own personality, and each has traditions and stereotypes and odd quirks and fun historical facts. I feel a little sad that I didn't pick my college more carefully. Everything I've heard about Churchill is that it is a great place to be a graduate student, but I feel like being at such a new college does have its disadvantages in terms of all of the great historical stuff. It does have it's upsides though, especially in housing, which is apparently much better here than elsewhere, and from what I saw tonight, the food is pretty good. It is a little far away, but I'll be getting a bike soon hopefully, and the one big advantage is that it is a really international college. There are also tons of Gates people here, so that has already been nice. And I just met one of my house-mates for the year. She is from Berlin and seems super sweet as well, so socially thing are looking promising. Also, apparently we have really good parties here at Churchill. That's scientists for you...
Sadly, I dont actually haven any pictures from the weekend because in the anxiety of packing 6 pairs of socks to make sure I had enough if some got wet, I forgot my camera. But I will hopefully be getting pictures from other people and I'll post them as soon as I get them!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Settling in on Storey's Way
It's been something like two days since I last posted and in those two days I've moved myself and 100 lbs of luggage from Italy to Cambridge, seen the city and the University for the first time, moved into what will be my house for the next year, bought essentials, and generally started nesting on Storey's Way.
Not much needs be said about my trip from Italy, except that it was ridiculously long (about 11 hours altogether) and pretty uncomfortable. However, I didn't care so much once I got to England. When you go abroad, they tell you that the first part of the trip is like a "honeymoon." Well, that's what it's like right now.
Number one, I love being able to speak English and talk to random people on the train or at the college. I don't know why, but everyone is really nice. Like really really nice and polite and British. I met a girl on the train who wrote down for me every department store she could think of in Cambridge to help me find a place to get sheets, and last night when I came too late to go to the dining halls, some girls living in my house basically made dinner for me. Plus the whole College staff is really welcoming and wonderful, so I can't help but be excited to be here.
I was kind of apprehensive about my housing situation here. I knew I would be living in a "hostel" but had no idea what that entailed. Turns out that this means a really cute house with six bedrooms, a dining room, a kitchen, a washer/dryer combo machine, and a garden in the back that has apple and pear trees. While most of Churchill College is, sorry to say, hideously ugly, my house is nice and brick and looks like a little English cottage. My room is really nice and actually pretty big (lots of space for visitors!). I have all of the usual stuff (bed, desk etc.) but also a reading chair and a sink, so it is a pretty nice set up. The only disadvantage I can see is that it is quite far from the center of town (about 30 min walk). There is a bus though and I think I'll likely get a bike while I'm here.
So last night was mostly spent nesting (i.e., putting up tons of pictures) and sleeping after my epic travel day. But today I realized that I needed a lot of stuff (towels, sheets, etc.) so I walked into town to explore what they had. It was great to get to see a little of the "old Cambridge" and walk by the gorgeous gothic colleges (Kings, Trinity etc.). I thought that everything would seem super different (different shops etc.) but actually I was surprised by the amount of cross-over. There are GAPs and Starbucks here, and even an Apple Store (which charged me a ridiculous amount of money for a new charger).
The only drawback I can see so far is the weather. I went from sunny, gorgeous, 80-degree Italy to freezing, rainy England. And it's only September! Now I know why they drink so much tea here. It's the only way to get warm. The food is also not the best. I went to the store today to get some basics, and bought pasta and pesto sauce, because it is probably the easiest thing to make. But it turned out to really not be very good (compounded by the fact that I just left Italy, the land of pasta). I think I'll do better the more cooking I'm able to do by myself. I'm lucky because the kitchen is basically well equipped. There are pots and pans and a water heater and a toaster all belonging to the house, so I dont need to buy too much besides the actual food supplies. I think it will take a while to learn how to best cook here, but I'm feeling pretty optimistic right now.
So that's a quick update of what I've been doing. Tomorrow I'll set up a British bank account and hopefully buy the rest of my essentials before I go on an Orientation retreat with other students on my scholarship. We're going to the Lake District (think Pride and Prejudice), and I was really excited until I learned that it will probably be even colder and wetter there, and now I'm kind of nervous. But I think it will be nice to get to know the other scholars. I'll post some pictures of Cambridge as well as the retreat probably after we get back!
Not much needs be said about my trip from Italy, except that it was ridiculously long (about 11 hours altogether) and pretty uncomfortable. However, I didn't care so much once I got to England. When you go abroad, they tell you that the first part of the trip is like a "honeymoon." Well, that's what it's like right now.
Number one, I love being able to speak English and talk to random people on the train or at the college. I don't know why, but everyone is really nice. Like really really nice and polite and British. I met a girl on the train who wrote down for me every department store she could think of in Cambridge to help me find a place to get sheets, and last night when I came too late to go to the dining halls, some girls living in my house basically made dinner for me. Plus the whole College staff is really welcoming and wonderful, so I can't help but be excited to be here.
I was kind of apprehensive about my housing situation here. I knew I would be living in a "hostel" but had no idea what that entailed. Turns out that this means a really cute house with six bedrooms, a dining room, a kitchen, a washer/dryer combo machine, and a garden in the back that has apple and pear trees. While most of Churchill College is, sorry to say, hideously ugly, my house is nice and brick and looks like a little English cottage. My room is really nice and actually pretty big (lots of space for visitors!). I have all of the usual stuff (bed, desk etc.) but also a reading chair and a sink, so it is a pretty nice set up. The only disadvantage I can see is that it is quite far from the center of town (about 30 min walk). There is a bus though and I think I'll likely get a bike while I'm here.
So last night was mostly spent nesting (i.e., putting up tons of pictures) and sleeping after my epic travel day. But today I realized that I needed a lot of stuff (towels, sheets, etc.) so I walked into town to explore what they had. It was great to get to see a little of the "old Cambridge" and walk by the gorgeous gothic colleges (Kings, Trinity etc.). I thought that everything would seem super different (different shops etc.) but actually I was surprised by the amount of cross-over. There are GAPs and Starbucks here, and even an Apple Store (which charged me a ridiculous amount of money for a new charger).
The only drawback I can see so far is the weather. I went from sunny, gorgeous, 80-degree Italy to freezing, rainy England. And it's only September! Now I know why they drink so much tea here. It's the only way to get warm. The food is also not the best. I went to the store today to get some basics, and bought pasta and pesto sauce, because it is probably the easiest thing to make. But it turned out to really not be very good (compounded by the fact that I just left Italy, the land of pasta). I think I'll do better the more cooking I'm able to do by myself. I'm lucky because the kitchen is basically well equipped. There are pots and pans and a water heater and a toaster all belonging to the house, so I dont need to buy too much besides the actual food supplies. I think it will take a while to learn how to best cook here, but I'm feeling pretty optimistic right now.
So that's a quick update of what I've been doing. Tomorrow I'll set up a British bank account and hopefully buy the rest of my essentials before I go on an Orientation retreat with other students on my scholarship. We're going to the Lake District (think Pride and Prejudice), and I was really excited until I learned that it will probably be even colder and wetter there, and now I'm kind of nervous. But I think it will be nice to get to know the other scholars. I'll post some pictures of Cambridge as well as the retreat probably after we get back!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Last Day in Italy
So, today was my last day here in Florence. Tomorrow I get on a plane and fly back to the UK and the name of this blog will finally make sense, as "Clare" will actually be "in Cambridge" tomorrow night.
I was planning on going to Siena today, but decided not to, mostly because I needed to figure out how to pack all of my stuff back into one little backpack, and I thought (correctly) that this would take quite a while. I considered going to try and get into the Accademia (where they have David) late in the afternoon, but the line was so long that I decided I didn't really care and got gelato instead. I'll go next time I'm here.
Next time I'm here.... It feels kind of strange to be thinking like that when only a year ago whether I would even be able to be in Europe this year was completely up in the air. I've had a great time here these past couple of weeks, but I think that I still feel like I'm on vacation. It may take a while until it feels entirely real that I am here to stay for at least a year!
So, all in all, my trip to Italy has been wonderful. I've gotten to see a ton of amazing art, eat a ton of food and gelato, walk around a beautiful old city and be (for a little while at least) part of a great Italian family. This trip has been a great re-introduction to Europe. I remember things that I used to love about Italy as a kid (once again, the food) but I've also been able to engage with it in a new way since I'm in a different place in my life than when I was here last (7 years ago!).
I'm not sure if I'll feel the same way about England since I've only been there briefly, but I do know taking this vacation has made me feel a lot more comfortable about my ability to live on my own in a foreign country for a year, and now I'm excited to get on to Cambridge!!!
I was planning on going to Siena today, but decided not to, mostly because I needed to figure out how to pack all of my stuff back into one little backpack, and I thought (correctly) that this would take quite a while. I considered going to try and get into the Accademia (where they have David) late in the afternoon, but the line was so long that I decided I didn't really care and got gelato instead. I'll go next time I'm here.
Next time I'm here.... It feels kind of strange to be thinking like that when only a year ago whether I would even be able to be in Europe this year was completely up in the air. I've had a great time here these past couple of weeks, but I think that I still feel like I'm on vacation. It may take a while until it feels entirely real that I am here to stay for at least a year!
So, all in all, my trip to Italy has been wonderful. I've gotten to see a ton of amazing art, eat a ton of food and gelato, walk around a beautiful old city and be (for a little while at least) part of a great Italian family. This trip has been a great re-introduction to Europe. I remember things that I used to love about Italy as a kid (once again, the food) but I've also been able to engage with it in a new way since I'm in a different place in my life than when I was here last (7 years ago!).
I'm not sure if I'll feel the same way about England since I've only been there briefly, but I do know taking this vacation has made me feel a lot more comfortable about my ability to live on my own in a foreign country for a year, and now I'm excited to get on to Cambridge!!!
Pisa (not only the Leaning Tower)
Today I finally ventured out of Florence and visited Pisa, which is about an hour away by train. Navigating the train scheduling and ticket processing was a little bit of an adventure, but I figured it out in the end and was in Pisa by 1:00.
The reason most people go to Pisa is to see the leaning tower. And I saw it. It leans. Wow.
However, the area around the tower, called the "Field of Miracles" is actually much more interesting than the tower itself. Back in the olden days (like around 1200), Pisa was a huge port city and naval powerhouse. The field of miracles was built in order to show the people who flocked to Pisa from all over the world how impressive a city it was. The main focus of the square is Pisa's own Duomo (the "Leaning Tower" was actually meant to be the bell tower for the church). However, in 1284 the Pisa navy was defeated by Genoa and the power of the city declined dramatically, with only its field of Miracles and its University as its claims to fame.
The sites on the square are in an architectural style that is unique to Pisa, and often called "Pisan Romanesque." While most Romanesque architecture can feel really heavy these buildings are a lot lighter, with a smattering of everything: rows of thing columns, Gothic gables, an geometric designs inspired by mosques from the Muslim lands whose traders came to Pisa. The buildings are gorgeous, and the style is interestingly different from what I've been seeing in Florence.
Here are some pictures. The Baptistry is on the left, the Duomo on the right:
So, while Pisa is a tourist trap for the tower, I found going to the other sites a lot more enjoyable. The tower is cool, but after a while watching the billionth tourist take a picture where they are fake-propping up the tower gets really really old. So instead of climbing the tower for 15 euros, I spent 10 and got a combination ticket to every other site on the square, including the Baptistry, the Duomo, the Camposanto Cemetery, the Duomo Museum, and the Sinopia Museum. The only one I didn't go to was the Sinopia Museum (Sinopias are original sketches for frescos. They let both the artist and the patron see what they were getting before laying the plaster).
BAPTISTRY:
The Baptistry was awesome. Yes it has a pulpit by Nicola Pisano (sometimes called the "Giotto of sculpture") and sure, that was cool. But the really neat thing is the acoustics. Echos hold for about 10 seconds within the building, so if you can sing three notes in 10 seconds, they will make a chord. Every half hour, a security guard comes in and demonstrates this. I stayed long enough to watch it twice it was so cool!
CEMETERY:
The Camposanto Cemetery is on one side of the square. It is a beautiful building and has a gorgeous courtyard inside. It was neat to walk around and look at all of the sarcophagi and plaques on the floor marking tombs. Each one had the coat of arms of the person buried there, and it was fun to see all of the different houses. A lot of them are damaged though, because the building was bombed during WWII, and the lead melted off the roof, damaging a lot of the floor. The walls are lined with frescos, and they even have the chains that used to hang at the harbor mouth in Pisa. When Pisa was defeated, Genoa took the chains and gave them to Pisa's archrival, Florence. After reunification they were returned as a gesture of goodwill. All in all, the cemetery was interesting and most of all relaxing, especially considering it was a really hot day and this gave me an opportunity to hang out in the shade!
From left to right: the outside of the cemetery, the inside courtyard, and the chains from the harbor:
DUOMO + MUSEUM:
I'm not going to lie, I liked the inside of the Pisa Duomo more than the one in Florence. The nave is made of up a huge row of striped marble columns, and there is a huge Byzantine-style mosaic over the altar. There is also a pulpit by Giovanni Pisano (son of Nicola). Finally they have "Galileo's lamp", or the incense burner whose pendulum-like swing was supposed to have inspired a young Galileo (professor at the University of Pisa!). They also have the mummified body of Pisa's patron, St. Ranieri. More relics...
I also visited the museum, where many of the original sculptures from the facade of the Duomo are kept. Most of the important works are statues by the Pisanos. They also have a lovely courtyard that has a nice view of the tower.
So overall my day in Pisa was lovely. It was nice to get out of Florence and see the surrounding area, but once I got off the train at Santa Maria Novella, I was happy to be back. I can't believe I'm leaving so soon!
The reason most people go to Pisa is to see the leaning tower. And I saw it. It leans. Wow.
However, the area around the tower, called the "Field of Miracles" is actually much more interesting than the tower itself. Back in the olden days (like around 1200), Pisa was a huge port city and naval powerhouse. The field of miracles was built in order to show the people who flocked to Pisa from all over the world how impressive a city it was. The main focus of the square is Pisa's own Duomo (the "Leaning Tower" was actually meant to be the bell tower for the church). However, in 1284 the Pisa navy was defeated by Genoa and the power of the city declined dramatically, with only its field of Miracles and its University as its claims to fame.
The sites on the square are in an architectural style that is unique to Pisa, and often called "Pisan Romanesque." While most Romanesque architecture can feel really heavy these buildings are a lot lighter, with a smattering of everything: rows of thing columns, Gothic gables, an geometric designs inspired by mosques from the Muslim lands whose traders came to Pisa. The buildings are gorgeous, and the style is interestingly different from what I've been seeing in Florence.
Here are some pictures. The Baptistry is on the left, the Duomo on the right:
So, while Pisa is a tourist trap for the tower, I found going to the other sites a lot more enjoyable. The tower is cool, but after a while watching the billionth tourist take a picture where they are fake-propping up the tower gets really really old. So instead of climbing the tower for 15 euros, I spent 10 and got a combination ticket to every other site on the square, including the Baptistry, the Duomo, the Camposanto Cemetery, the Duomo Museum, and the Sinopia Museum. The only one I didn't go to was the Sinopia Museum (Sinopias are original sketches for frescos. They let both the artist and the patron see what they were getting before laying the plaster).
BAPTISTRY:
The Baptistry was awesome. Yes it has a pulpit by Nicola Pisano (sometimes called the "Giotto of sculpture") and sure, that was cool. But the really neat thing is the acoustics. Echos hold for about 10 seconds within the building, so if you can sing three notes in 10 seconds, they will make a chord. Every half hour, a security guard comes in and demonstrates this. I stayed long enough to watch it twice it was so cool!
CEMETERY:
The Camposanto Cemetery is on one side of the square. It is a beautiful building and has a gorgeous courtyard inside. It was neat to walk around and look at all of the sarcophagi and plaques on the floor marking tombs. Each one had the coat of arms of the person buried there, and it was fun to see all of the different houses. A lot of them are damaged though, because the building was bombed during WWII, and the lead melted off the roof, damaging a lot of the floor. The walls are lined with frescos, and they even have the chains that used to hang at the harbor mouth in Pisa. When Pisa was defeated, Genoa took the chains and gave them to Pisa's archrival, Florence. After reunification they were returned as a gesture of goodwill. All in all, the cemetery was interesting and most of all relaxing, especially considering it was a really hot day and this gave me an opportunity to hang out in the shade!
From left to right: the outside of the cemetery, the inside courtyard, and the chains from the harbor:
DUOMO + MUSEUM:
I'm not going to lie, I liked the inside of the Pisa Duomo more than the one in Florence. The nave is made of up a huge row of striped marble columns, and there is a huge Byzantine-style mosaic over the altar. There is also a pulpit by Giovanni Pisano (son of Nicola). Finally they have "Galileo's lamp", or the incense burner whose pendulum-like swing was supposed to have inspired a young Galileo (professor at the University of Pisa!). They also have the mummified body of Pisa's patron, St. Ranieri. More relics...
I also visited the museum, where many of the original sculptures from the facade of the Duomo are kept. Most of the important works are statues by the Pisanos. They also have a lovely courtyard that has a nice view of the tower.
So overall my day in Pisa was lovely. It was nice to get out of Florence and see the surrounding area, but once I got off the train at Santa Maria Novella, I was happy to be back. I can't believe I'm leaving so soon!
Monday, September 20, 2010
Pontassieve
Today was a lovely slow, relaxing day, especially after all of the frenzied museum-going. We drove out to a relative's house in the country in the town of Pontassieve (well, actually the live on a hill above the town near the church of San Martino a Quona) in order to celebrate the birthday of this family's daughter. The countryside was gorgeous and it was nice to be out of the city for while. Almost no one spoke English, something that I'm starting to get used to, although it is frustrating and I just wish that I was better able to communicate in Italian. Otherwise, the food was amazing (mixed veggies and a sort of zucchini quiche), the weather gorgeous, and overall I had a great time. This family makes their own jam, so I was given a bottle of it (Fig marmalade) to take with me to England! YUM!
Here are some pictures from where they live:
Here are some pictures from where they live:
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Uffizi
Today was exhausting, but not because I did a million things, like on Duomo day. In fact, I did one thing today: go to the Uffizi Gallery. The Uffizi used to be the offices of the Medicis when they ruled Florence (actually, Uffizi in Italian means "office"). It has probably the world's best collection of Italian painting, and I think it was the part of this trip that I was most excited about. It didn't disappoint.
So that I didn't have wait in the hour plus long line to get tickets, I'd reserved my tickets online in advance. This meant that I only had to wait in the 20 minute long line before I could get in to see the art. I had also downloaded a podcast tour of the galleries by the author of my guidebook. While the book is amazing and incredibly informative, it gets annoying having to look down at the book then back up at the painting. With the audiotour, I could both listen and look at the same time, and it made the visit a lot more enjoyable.
The tour started with pre-Renaissance works (mostly Madonna and Child's) by Giotto, Duccio and Chimabue, all artists who began (sometimes not very successfully) to show Madonnas as real people inhabiting real spaces. At the same time, these works were really flat and often quite stylized, which set them apart from the Renaissance works to follow.
From the beginning to middle of the Renaissance there were really gorgeous works by Fra Fillipo Lippi, Botticelli, and Leonardo. They have there Botticelli's famous Birth of Venus and also his Allegory of Spring, both works that show the transition from religious to classical subject matter (although after the rise of Savanarola in Florence, Botticelli became focused once again on religious themes). Finally, they had Da Vinci's Annunciation, a less well known work, but a great one nonetheless. While it was kind of frustrating to view these works amid the throngs of tourists and tour groups (during this trip I've developed a healthy loathing of organized tour groups), I was still thrilled to be able to see these masterpieces!
Unfortunately, a lot of the works were either in restoration or on loan to other museums for special exhibitions. Because of this, I didn't get to see as much of the Northern Renaissance works as I would have liked. I did see a copy of Durer's Adam and Eve (likely completed by a student), but Cranach's representation of the same scene was absent. sad : (
Moving on to the High Renaissance, the museum has works by Michelangelo, Raphael, and Titian. In fact, they have the only easel painting in the world by Michelangelo, showing the holy family. While I saw a lot of Raphael at the Pitti Palace, it never gets old, and his Madonna of the Goldfinch was probably one of my favorite works I saw today! There were also a bunch of works by Titian and the other painters of the Venetian Renaissance, some of which I remembered from an exhibition in Boston a couple of years ago. It was fun reencountering works like the Venus Di Urbino after having studied them in class.
Finally, the rest of the galleries have works of the end of the Renaissance and beginning of the Baroque. I was pretty tired by this point (after 3 hours in the museum), so I just browsed. They had Parmigianino's Madonna of the Long Neck, which was fun to see, and a couple of nice portraits by Rembrandt. After such a long day of looking at great art, I was content to just sit on the rooftop terrace of the museum cafe and enjoy the beautiful views of the next-door Palazzo Vecchio and the Duomo:
After coming home and chilling out for a few hours, we went out to dinner again, this time to the place where the daughter of this family (the one who is going to Spain) works. It is a cute trattoria near the Duomo, and even though it is now pouring rain, it was a really fun outing. I'm absolutely loving the food here and I dont know what I'll do when I get to England (a country not well known for its cuisine) and can't eat pasta, pizza, and gelato every day!
Anyways, the next couple of days (before I leave on Wednesday!) should be a little calmer. Tomorrow we are going to a large birthday party/family reunion in the countryside, and on Monday and Tuesday I'm planning on doing day trips to Siena and Pisa to explore more of the surrounding area.
So that I didn't have wait in the hour plus long line to get tickets, I'd reserved my tickets online in advance. This meant that I only had to wait in the 20 minute long line before I could get in to see the art. I had also downloaded a podcast tour of the galleries by the author of my guidebook. While the book is amazing and incredibly informative, it gets annoying having to look down at the book then back up at the painting. With the audiotour, I could both listen and look at the same time, and it made the visit a lot more enjoyable.
The tour started with pre-Renaissance works (mostly Madonna and Child's) by Giotto, Duccio and Chimabue, all artists who began (sometimes not very successfully) to show Madonnas as real people inhabiting real spaces. At the same time, these works were really flat and often quite stylized, which set them apart from the Renaissance works to follow.
From the beginning to middle of the Renaissance there were really gorgeous works by Fra Fillipo Lippi, Botticelli, and Leonardo. They have there Botticelli's famous Birth of Venus and also his Allegory of Spring, both works that show the transition from religious to classical subject matter (although after the rise of Savanarola in Florence, Botticelli became focused once again on religious themes). Finally, they had Da Vinci's Annunciation, a less well known work, but a great one nonetheless. While it was kind of frustrating to view these works amid the throngs of tourists and tour groups (during this trip I've developed a healthy loathing of organized tour groups), I was still thrilled to be able to see these masterpieces!
Unfortunately, a lot of the works were either in restoration or on loan to other museums for special exhibitions. Because of this, I didn't get to see as much of the Northern Renaissance works as I would have liked. I did see a copy of Durer's Adam and Eve (likely completed by a student), but Cranach's representation of the same scene was absent. sad : (
Moving on to the High Renaissance, the museum has works by Michelangelo, Raphael, and Titian. In fact, they have the only easel painting in the world by Michelangelo, showing the holy family. While I saw a lot of Raphael at the Pitti Palace, it never gets old, and his Madonna of the Goldfinch was probably one of my favorite works I saw today! There were also a bunch of works by Titian and the other painters of the Venetian Renaissance, some of which I remembered from an exhibition in Boston a couple of years ago. It was fun reencountering works like the Venus Di Urbino after having studied them in class.
Finally, the rest of the galleries have works of the end of the Renaissance and beginning of the Baroque. I was pretty tired by this point (after 3 hours in the museum), so I just browsed. They had Parmigianino's Madonna of the Long Neck, which was fun to see, and a couple of nice portraits by Rembrandt. After such a long day of looking at great art, I was content to just sit on the rooftop terrace of the museum cafe and enjoy the beautiful views of the next-door Palazzo Vecchio and the Duomo:
After coming home and chilling out for a few hours, we went out to dinner again, this time to the place where the daughter of this family (the one who is going to Spain) works. It is a cute trattoria near the Duomo, and even though it is now pouring rain, it was a really fun outing. I'm absolutely loving the food here and I dont know what I'll do when I get to England (a country not well known for its cuisine) and can't eat pasta, pizza, and gelato every day!
Anyways, the next couple of days (before I leave on Wednesday!) should be a little calmer. Tomorrow we are going to a large birthday party/family reunion in the countryside, and on Monday and Tuesday I'm planning on doing day trips to Siena and Pisa to explore more of the surrounding area.
Boboli Gardens, Piazzale Michelangelo, San Miniato, and a lot of Food
Ok, so the weather has been not so nice here for the last couple of days. I heard that it was supposed to rain on Friday, so I decided to do probably the least suitable activity and go visit the Boboli Gardens. To compensate, I wore long pants and brought my rain jacket in case it should pour.
It didn't rain. But it was super hot and humid and the gardens are a huge hill. So basically I was sweaty and miserable and preyed on by mosquitos throughout the whole thing. Probably my least enjoyable day yet in Florence. The gardens were nice, and the pictures look a lot better than the experience was. They did have great views of the city, and some beautiful fountains and landscaping, but other than that I was just too uncomfortable to really care.
Here are some pictures though:
But the rest of the day completely made up for a not so nice beginning. For lunch, I decided to go to a place that my Italian friends had recommended. It was an amazing pizza place on the other side of the river called Gusto Pizza. The pizza was amazing (the first I've had here, actually), and the tables were really cute. They were wine barrels with glass over the top and inside people had put their receipts and napkins with comments written all over them. I wish I'd had a pen!
After my lunch I went "home" because it was gross out and I really had nothing I wanted to do. The mom of the family I'm staying with was going out and she offered to take me to Piazzale Michelangelo, which is a terrace that offers some of the best views of the city. Of course I said yes, and even though it was raining a little, it was still gorgeous!
Then, since we were already in the area, we went to San Miniato Church. St. Minias (the church's namesake) was beheaded on the banks of the Arno. He apparently then picked up his head and walked up the hill to the current site of the church. He died there and was buried in the cemetery (the first Christian cemetery in Florence). The church kind of represents the transition from the Medieval to the Renaissance. The facade is in the Romanesque style, but the tabernacle inside is classic Renaissance panels by Della Robbia. There is also a crypt, which we didn't have time to enter since the church was closing. The church is home to the Benedictine order, whose motto is "ora et labora" (pray and work).
Here's the facade (while pictures were allowed inside, it was too dark to get good ones as it was the end of the day) and the view from the church:
Finally, since the daughter of the family that I'm staying with is leaving to go to school in Spain, we went out for dinner to a really awesome vegetarian restaurant. The place is self-service, so it was kind of chaotic finding a table, but the food was amazing! I had pasta with melanzana (eggplant). I dont know why, but the eggplant here (really all the veggies) are so so much better than in the US. They're probably fresher or Italians just know how to cook them. But regardless it was great.
So that was my day. A rough start at the Boboli Gardens, an amazing lunch of pizza, a trip up to Piazzale Michelangelo and San Miniato, and a great vegetarian dinner!
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