Venice: Ghost Town Part 1

Chiesa de San Marco (Church of Saint Mark)

Saturday, February 25, 2012

I love Venice. Truly. It is the place I will take my beau to. There is something magically romantic about Venice. Florence has its artsy charm, but Venice is where lovers roam. It probably has something to do with the water, the lack of mechanical interruption (there are no cars/buses on Venice!), and the gorgeous buildings and history.

To start off my journey, we had to be on the other side of the city by 7:30 in the morning. We left a little late, but arrived on time to our location. And slept. Well, I did not, but it was a quiet bus ride. Makena and Leah (apartment-mates) also went on this trip. I met our hotel roommate Andrea on the bus. For most of the trip, we all roamed together.

How we got to the vaporetto that would take us to Venice!

We did a lot of waiting for tickets and passage into Venice that morning. Did you know that you have to pay to get into Venice? It is the most expensive city in Italy. Only 60,000 people reside in Venice. Averagely 300,000 tourists are there daily (give or take weather). Can you imagine? That is why I call it a ghost town. Many houses you pass in the streets are empty. Get that? One of the most sought after tourist spots has run out the native population.

At first, I thought these were a weird Venician-thing,
but it turns out they are their docks!
Well, they keep their boat/gondolas tied to them.

The waiting room for the
vaporetto--which is pretty much
a waiting boat!

Onwards to Venice! After an hour ride in the vaporetto, first. We took the taxi/bus/boat to the island of San Marco (there are over 100 islands, but you cannot tell that because all the bridges connect them!). San Marco has a famous church with the namesake. It is a unique church in that it was first build during Byzantine influences, so a lot of the artwork is mosaics instead of frescos. It took a good six centuries to finish it, so some of the mosaics look more Renaissance influenced than the first Byzantine ones. I could not take pictures inside (like always), so I have outside pictures to share!

Here is a good example of side-by-side differences.
The mosaic on the left is Byzantine, and
the mosaic on the right is Renaissance!

A really nice tour guide lady gave us a great tour of Venice-proper and the church. Turns out, the church was originally just the personal church of the leader of Venice (nobility). It became public after Napoleon's invasion.

Whenever the tide is high, these are set up so people
can still walk around!

In the same piazza (square) as San Marco was this building. It is super cool for several reasons. The first is the clock in the middle. It is actually a constellation/navigation thing. Because Venicians were merchants and seamen, this dial can be seen everywhere around the city. Above that is a statue of Mary and the child Jesus. And above that is Venice's symbol: a lion with an open book reading 'peace' in Latin (I think). This statue is all over the place also. On the San Marco, in the San Marco, on random walls throughout the city...

Anyhow, at the top of this column is a bell. This bell rings every hour. How is this cool? It is hit by two statues on either side, one an old man, one a young man. First the old man hit it the number of times for the hour. Then the young man hits it five minutes later. It has been running since it was made in the Renaissance! Quality, anyone? I believe so.

Into the streets! We were taken to this palace owned by one of the nobles of Venice. The reason it is brought up in the tour is that the "backyard" of the house was modified because the family was either bored or wanted something changed. Here is the back:

It is super nifty! A cement/stone spiral staircase that connects all 4-odd floors to the small courtyard. The interesting thing about all Italian houses/living situations/apartments are that you never know what is on the inside. We did not go into this house/palace, but unless there was this gaudy staircase, it would not be notable between the other buildings around it.

Turns out that a lot of the buildings have frescos in them. Other then that being really cool, that is one of the reasons people do not live there anymore. Because of the climate/humidity, the frescos need yearly upkeep. The government apparently highly encourages the owners of the apartment to pay for the necessary preservation. It is expensive.

After a few more stops at some other prominent buildings, we were let go to do a short break in Rialto. It is pretty much the shopping district of Venice. A huge bridge, that we saw coming in from the vaporetto, connects one side of the district to the other. I was not really interested in shopping, so after some mediocre gelato, we headed to the canal-side and hung out the rest of our break.

Going down into the shops.

Fun fact: the police and ambulances are boats!

This couple was just too cute not to take a picture of.
I did a sketch of this later.
Once I get is scanned, I'll upload!

The day was pretty uneventful after that. We took the vaporetto back, got on the bus, and headed to the hotel. Dinner was two hours later. I was beat afterwards and just went to bed. Tomorrow was going to be glass blowing in Murano!

Oh yes, and the rest of the good photos I had taken! :D

My Priorities

Coming up to this Lenten season, I was unsure of what I should do to prepare myself for Easter. Already, I was not doing the same things I did a month ago. Living in an Italian apartment does not come with constant heat on cold days/nights, I have to walk a minimum of 10 minutes to every class, there is no dryer for my clothes so they are all air dried. What else was there to change in my life that had not already shown me how much I had in the USA?

My computer. It has plagued me since we got internet a few short days after my arrival in Italy. Some things on my computer are good: Skype, blogpost. I have even (mostly) not used Sims Social on Facebook. I have kept up a bit with Words with Friends, though... There has been one thing that has not changed, and maybe had increased. My use of Tumblr.

Those of you not familiar with Tumblr, it is like a blog, just mostly with pictures. Before I left for Italy, I found another use for Tumblr: roleplaying. I have a huge affinity for roleplaying. I love writing the story of a character and have other people play off in different reactions, especially reactions I would not expect. So, paragraph by paragraph, I have kept up with the crazy interactions of mixing all the Disney characters together in a room and seeing what happens.

I am giving it up. It is really hard, too. The group relies on all its players to be active so that plot moves forward. Luckily, we are in a lull right now with no villain to heckle us, so I do not feel as bad leaving for a time. I will use the "Sunday Rule" where you can break your lenten promise for the day. My day will be on Wednesdays because I will probably be traveling on Sundays.

The day before Ash Wednesday, it finally clicked on my to what I wanted to prioritize for Lent. My book. I tried to get a dent into it over winter break, but the characters were not agreeing to anything I threw at them. They kept on changing their minds... I feel that, with the atmosphere of Italy and a lot more time on my hands once I stop writing other peoples stories, I have no excuse to not work on it. I am excited!

Tumblr out and novel in. I think this Lent will be productive.

Homesick

I should have made a bet with myself because I called it.

I have been in Italy for almost a month now (I arrived January 25th), and when I was talking with my roommates about becoming homesick, I said I probably will not feel it until the third or fourth week. Most of them had it the first week. Done and over with, I guess. I, on the other hand, was completely at home in myself to be affected by it.

Cannot say that anymore! It is probably because I slowed down so much last week. I did homework, chores, and hung around our apartment this last weekend to get ahead before travel plans this coming week. Officially: I have no appetite. This is a classic sign of homesick/culture shock, so that is what I label it. I do force myself to eat, but I cannot seem to finish anything without feeling sick to my stomach. Even without eating, my stomach is queasy. I am sure it is not the flu, as these symptoms have lasted a few days already with no fever or nausea.

It was bound to happen, I know. I was thinking of home a lot more last week, which probably lead to this homesickness. It is a huge bummer. I am tired all the time, but I assure you I have had enough sleep--I am borderline oversleeping since these symptoms started. For now on, I am going to move forward and make sure I stay awake longer and keep busy outside of the apartment more. Social dinner on Tuesday, Ash Wednesday and the Venice trip to look forward to this weekend. That should cure me.

No Pictures: Santa Maria Novella (Friday 17 Feb. 2012)

Santa Maria Novella

Jackie needed to go to Santa Maria Novella church to do some sketches. I knew that The Holy Trinity by Masaccio was in the church (due to my art history class, and the recent reminder in my History of Christianity class). It is a gorgeous piece that has so many triangles in it, it is not funny. I wanted to take a picture in front of it in some crazy touristy pose.

The Holy Trinity by Masaccio
Pic from Wikipedia

That idea was thwarted, though, when we read the sign as we entered. NO PICTURES! I was crushed! And that ruined Jackie's idea to take a picture of the interior of the church to sketch instead of sitting in the (always) cold church for a few hours. So she took pictures of the outside and will just sketch that.

My outside pictures!

Also unexpected was the small fee to get into the church. That was where we lost Gloria. She went off to the shops by the Duomo while Jackie and I coughed up 3.50 euro each.

So nice of them to put it in English for us...

Totally worth it. Oh my gosh, completely unexpected! The Holy Trinity was right across the door you entered on the side of the building. Tall! It reached almost all the way to the top of the building and settled on the floor. It was painted (frescoed?) on the wall. We did not stop there first, though. Instead we circled around counterclockwise to the other paintings and statues that lined the walls.

The chapels that branch off the head of the church were all ornate and beautiful. Frescos galore--some of them faded from centuries under the sun. Every inch of the walls in these chapels were covered in stories of the bible and of saints. The very-side chapels we had to walk up stairs to get to. So fancy!

The floors were surprisingly simple, as I have found with many Florentine churches. Just black and white marble with no fancy pattern. It was nice against the busy walls and ceilings. I recall pictures of the Sistine chapel, though, where the ground is as gaudy as the ceiling. If/when I see that, I am sure I will have an eye overload!

I do not know how long we were in there, but I would not put it passed over a half an hour. Between Jackie actually reading the plaques that described what the paintings were and my fun facts I remembered from my art history course, it was good fun walking around. There were at least half a dozen versions of the Immaculate Conception, sometimes side-by-side and done centuries apart.

Overall, my only regret was the inability to take pictures of my own. I think I will go back, though!

Museo dell'Opera del Duomo

I had the coolio opportunity to have a free tour given by Don Mario in the museum dedicated to the Duomo. He and Fr. Neilson could probably talk for hours about art history--they both know a lot of fun stuff along those lines!

One of my favorite things to see in the museum was Michelangelo's Florence Pieta. Every art student knows about the Pieta in Rome. That one is behind a bulletproof glass. This one is unfinished, and has two more people in the marble. Mary is still holding Jesus' broken body, but Nicodemus and Mary Magdalene are also present. Nicodemus is actually a self-portrait of Michelangelo. He was more religious in his life as he got older, so I think that is why he put himself in such a position--holding Jesus.

Unfortunately, the piece was not completed due to his death, but I find this sculpture to be fascinating. I am not a sculptor, but I feel the need to touch and finish it. The grooves of the unpolished marble is prominent and let the faces of the four stand out as though gesture-sketched. The feeling is there, but the detail is yet to come. And no one ever will finish it. It is a sad sculpture in more ways than what it is portraying. It will never be seen in its full potential.

I could not decide to smile or not.
Torn between feeling psyched and the subject matter of the piece.

Overall, the museum had other cool stuff that was meant for it, but did not make the final cut. Or the pieces, such as John the Baptist and Jesus over the Baptistry doors were brought in so they would not be damaged anymore.

A huge sadness on that part! I knew that the Baptistry doors outside on the actual building were replicas and the originals were inside, but in the museum, I found that they were in repair and consequently not anywhere on display. I was floored by this. I had not wanted to do any touristy shot in front of the faux doors, and now I could not see the original ones! As an art student, I am heartbroken.

Other cool sculptures such as this one below were lined everywhere. Don Mario explained the disproportioned head of Mary in this statue (with glass eyes!) was such because it was meant to be seen from down below. The statue was made for the front of one of the designs of the Duomo, but was scrapped later for what they have now.

In situ, looking at the statue from where it was meant to be seen!
Lying with my back on the ground--not totally legit, but legit enough. ;)

And I leave you with these awesome photos! I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. 

Thwarted

I thought I was going to have clear skies, warm wind, and mild temperatures, but instead, Italy decided to have its hugest freeze in decades. Thank you karma.

It is hard to admit that I have not gotten out as much as I wished. Of course, I traveled the last weekend, and have had several engagements other than classes that have brought me out of the warmth of my apartment. Other than those, though, I feel slow in my involvement of the city.

My worries are about making my food last during my three school days because I do not have good opportunities those days to go shopping. Also, should I wear both of my coats today, or will my red one do? Because of the wind, I have mostly been wearing one hat. It is the only one that latches onto my head enough every gust of wind does not blow it off. I wish to wear my beautiful kansashi (Japanese hair ornaments), but it is too cold and windy to show them off.

Jackie made the comment she could not wait for it to warm up so she could see me in my sundresses. I agree with her completely! During my laundry day this last week, I did wear one of my dresses around the house, in my slippers Aunt Moe gave me. I had no other clothes to wear! I needed to wash them all... Apparently it was a huge laugh to see me in the get-up, so there is documentation. I will post it when it has been uploaded to Facebook!

So I have spent a lot of my no-school days catching up on the blog (see the three posted Thursday!), writing in my journal, actually doing my homework, studio time on my oils painting, and cooking for next week. I must have made it to the supermercato, also. So maybe I have not been as unbusy as I thought?

I JUST WANT IT TO WARM UP!!!!

Supposedly, it will by the end of this week. Fingers crossed!

Lake Garda (Sirmione) and back to Verona Part 2 (Friday 3 Feb.-Sunday 5 Feb.)

Here is a three minute slideshow of my adventure in Sirmione! I was excited to find our first sight was a medieval castle. It was very cool, with a moat, walls and everything castle. It reminds me that I would love to travel the UK and see all those castles, too...

I did a cool Photoshop with the pictures I took inside the castle.

So we were left to our own devices for lunch. It was cold, but Jackie, Gloria, our new friend Kerry and I walked a bit into the district behind the castle to find a place to eat. As to be expected, many of places were closed due to off-season and the cold. Anything that was open was expensive. Finally, we made it back to the castle and chose to split orders at an intimate restaurant.

And I had the best food so far in Italy. Jackie and I shared a serving of gnocchi. I had never had it before. When it came out, I was very unsure of what I was getting into. After a tentative bite, I needed no more persuasion. It. Was. Delicious. No words. In jumbled Italian, I think I managed to say something about it being super-awesomely-best to the waiter. Also a first, I had tiramisu. Kerry insisted we each get our own. Good thing too! It was delicious!

Time to head back to Verona! We had over two painful hours of free time. Any other night, the free time would be totally epic. Just not in below freezing weather. Luckily, it was not as windy as Florence. So we went through shop to shop trying to stay warm. I got a nice new bag for 10 euro.

My money is safe now, Mom!

Walking around, Jackie and I managed to get the attention of a Tin Man. He was really sweet and twitchy. Great moment to end the day!

Here is a minute slideshow of my final photos of Verona.

Dinner finally saved us from the cold. Another two course meal--are they trying to make us fat? It was so good! The wine was one of the best I had to date, also. A lot of bests in the food world for me today!

Discussion during dinner was very enriching, and us girls got to know each other a lot better. They kicked us out shortly after dinner finished, though, because the patronage was picking up. Another hour to wait before they would take us back to the hotel!

When Sunday rolled around, our plans were changed. Originally, we were going to stop in Padua, or some M-town, but for fear of getting snowed in, we just headed back to Florence. I did not mind that--I was tired and had homework to do! Also, I was then able to make the organ mass at the Duomo. Everything fell into place!

Unfortunately, all that time outside lead to a cold that has lasted most of the week. It is finally setting down today, but my poor nose! They do not have Puffs Plus kleenex here.

Cold, wind and snow are not stopping things from happening! Even though Italy seems to shut down during this time, I am still making the most of what I can get my hands on. Caio!

Verona Part 1 (Friday 3 Feb.-Sunday 5 Feb.)

And here we have a weekend in Verona! The 4 minute long slideshow up there may take you a while to go through, but I could not edit out enough pictures to flood the blog with. So here is a video of them!

Like any good American-college-student fashion, we were running late to the meeting spot where the bus would pick us up. Actually we were making good time. Then we took a right instead of a left and ended up on the other side of very big park. Luckily, they waiting for us to get to the actual meeting spot. Off to Verona!

The bus ride was 3 hours long. Along the way, we had a break at a gas station. Craving American food, my roomies and I chowed down on Pringles. Totally worth the 3 euro to buy it? Yes. Yes it was.

It was a complete white out going to Verona. Geographically, Verona is northeast of Florence, the opposite direct we had taken to Cortona just a day before. I did not bother taking pictures besides the sun setting because I knew none of them would turn out. Snow is so hard to shoot!

The first night, everyone was really tired. Before dinner, everyone bought a drink from the bar and sat in the foyer getting to know each other. It was a really nice time, and we were able to establish new relationships that continued for the rest of the weekend. Dinner was a two course meal--super good! Dessert was some chocolate mousse stuff. The. Best.

Many of the other students wanted to go out and party right away, but in the end everyone just bought their drinks at the hotel bar and hung out in each other's rooms. Gloria, Makena, and I watched TV for a bit, but I hit the sack soon into it all. I needed my sleep to recover from the day and be prepared for tomorrow!

The bed was alright, but the pillow was flat as could be. The first night, I piled notebooks and the clothes I wore that day. The second night I folded it in half. Frustrating! An interesting thing about the rooms. In order to turn on the lights, you have to place your card key in a slot in the wall. It must complete the circuit to allow electricity in the room because the lights don't work if you have it out. It took a good 10 minutes to figure that out!

Continental breakfast in the morning, then we piled into the buses to go into the city. We had a tour guide for the next few hours pointing out cool buildings and walking us through parts of the city. Our first stop was to a beautiful, recent church built 40 years ago. It is named after Our Lady of Lourdes, I believe, but I cannot recall the exact title.

Some fun sights seen once we started walking around the city were sculptures and Juliet's House. A fact about the sculpture of the lion below that has been worn away is that Napoleon tried to get rid of any Christian symbolism in Verona. The base of it is still there, though!

Those of you familiar with the movie Letters to Juliet would appreciate the journey to Juliet's House. There is no wall. No society that reads and responds to the letters. The tunnel to the courtyard is graffitied with peoples' love confessions. A gate in the courtyard has locks attached to it forever pronouncing the bonds lovers hold to. It is a really beautiful area, even if, obviously, crowded during the day. Jackie and I went back later to put letters in a box, and it was easier to navigate into the space.

  

 

 

After all this walking, it was time to get back in the bus to go to Lake Garda! I'll put that adventure in another post.

Cortona: Under the Tuscan Sun and Down in a Foot of Snow (Thursday 2 Feb. 2012)

Devan, Gloria and I do not have class on Thursday, so what better way to use this extra day than a quick trip to Cortona and back? 

Cortona, as I was to find out, is where Under the Tuscan Sun movie and book are set.

As you will see, though, we were not under any hot Tuscan sun! The beginning of the week was mild weather, but getting colder by the day. Florence only had flurries that did not stick. If any of us had been paying attention to the weather reports around Italy, we would have found out that Italy was in its coldest stint in decades. And we went all the way to Cortona in it!

The morning started off in a rush as per normal. We left the house late for the train station. We arrived with 20 minutes to get our tickets and find the train. After 10 minutes figuring out that the self-service ticket machines either took cash or credit card, we got our tickets. Three validating machines later, we were able to get the necessary stamp to get on the train. With two minutes to spare, we were off to Cortona!

Check out the view up to Cortona! Beautiful, but cold! We kept on going up into the mountains. It surprised me at first when my ears were popping every 5 minutes for a while. I got used to it soon, though.

       

Finally in Cortona! Well, in Camucia. Cortona is in the mountains behind the town. The plan was to buy the 2 euro bus ticket up to Cortona, but none of the buses were running up there because of the snow. Was it really that bad going up? We were soon to find out. Instead of walking the 40 minutes to Cortona, we settled on the 10 euro cab fare.

The view in the first piazza in Cortona:

Gorgeous, right??? There are not any pictures of my faux-converse in a foot of snow, but this is the truth of this visit. Aren't we lucky to see Cortona in a way no one else ever does?

In Cortona, there are hills, hills, and stairs. EVERYWHERE. You definitely take your life into your own hands when you walk about!

Even stairs up to the churches! I bet they do not have to worry about snow enough for this to be a problem most of the time.

Is this the monastery that is near Cortona that Devan wanted to walk to? Either way, it is pretty and medieval! Maybe when we come back, we can hike out to it.

Steeeeeeeeeeep!

We took shelter in the foyer of a church. Very pretty inside! We did not have enough courage to open the door to the main church, but here is a picture through the glass!

Where we ate! This stop was quicker than anticipated, but we wanted to get out of the wind. It was really quaint and nicely priced. During our warm endeavour, the power went out! Like, not a blown-fuse power out, but an actual, due-to-the-weather black out. Oh the fun quirks to our adventure!

I ate this by myself. ;)

 Back into the cold, now time to get some real exploring done! Steep hills and stairs again. Mostly, I was concerned about my footing. All we were doing was going up--we're going to have to go back down some time!

There are these all over the place in Italy! Randomly in the walls.

Took refuge in this monastery's chapel for a while.

Highest point yet!

No one really moves when it snows... not even worth it.

Snowman in Cortona, Italy.

After trying to get to the big church on the top hill, we turned back due to the wind and huge snowdrifts. We went to a cafe to warm up with hot chocolate (cioccolato). This was the first time I have had the pudding-like hot chocolate. I believe Gloria has pictures of this thing. Pretty much, it is hot pudding. No skin off my back--it was warm and good!

We called the taxi to get on his queue for pick up. Unfortunately, we had to wait an hour for him to pick us up. It probably had something to do with siesta time, but now what were we supposed to do to stay warm?

Cue the randomly opened, museum-like-entrance building! I spotted the statues in it when we arrived earlier, but thought nothing more of it. Devan figures it is a residence or business building. So we chilled on the ground level. It was cold, but without the wind, it was bearable.

Sculpture in a building we waiting for an hour for a taxi to show up.

And that was that! The taxi guy got us back to the train station with time to spare, and the train ride back was warmer than to Cortona. I slept pretty much the whole way back. Because I had latched my knees together to stay warm, though, I managed to bruise my left knee. I hate when I do that!

Exhausted, we walked back to our apartment. On the way, I saw this cafe!! I had to take a picture.

Any Disney Nerds?

So concludes my first real adventure in Italy! Not my classes post like I promised, but that is soon to come.