Time for another Firestarter. Guess what? No news links this time! But damn, is the list random. And long.
- Tao Te Ching
- This is a Taoism resource, for a philosophy not oft considered by Westerners.
- Religion Facts
- Facts on religion that go more in depth than a casual reference. Taoism is included.
- Dining in 2015
- How to Learn Any Language
- There's a part of me that wants to be a polyglot. For those of you who are like me, read the tips on this site and feel incredibly lazy because you know you'll never be able to dedicate yourself. Don't worry. You're certainly not alone. We can lament together.
- 36 Beautiful Resume Ideas that Work
- Some very interesting designs for resumes. I don't know that I'll ever be able to use any of them for one of mine, but they are certainly attractive designs.
- CalorieConnect.com
- Food name in, calorie count out. Just a cleaner application than I've seen in the past. It all comes up on one page without reloading.
- How Stuff Works
- Self-explanatory, methinks.
- Dinosaur Comics
- I'd heard of it and read one or two beforehand, but I didn't realize how hilarious it is until I ran across it again. Always silly, but always funny.
- Microsoft Interview Questions
- Can you answer any of those? I knew there was a reason why I wasn't a computer programmer. Besides the math bit. And the logic.
- How to Draw a Woman (video)
- Cool sorta kinda tutorial. I've never seen someone start from the skeletal structure.
- How to Detect Lies
- Always a useful tool, especially in those casual interrogations that we all conduct in our basements, right? Saves on mess.
- Why we do dumb s@#$.
- Ten social psychology studies that explain why we don't always make the best judgment we could, among other things.
- Test Your English
- Can you say all of the words correctly the first time?
- Cooking By Numbers
- A good site, if rudimentary. Hilarious sidenote: Some friends and I put what they had in their fridge, and they only complete recipe that came up said, "You have 100% of 2 ingredients to make a Cup of Coffee." Even better: "You have 50% of 2 ingredients to make Scrambled Eggs." What were we lacking? Eggs.
- FilmSecrets
- Make your own films for a fraction of the cost. A cool guide to help those trying to make it on their own.
- Write Your Name in Elvish in 10 Minutes!
- If it was a real language, it would soooo be the best language ever.
- "Street Installations"
- Some very cool street artwork. It would be freaky to happen upon, but it's very cool at a distance.
- The Table of Condiments
*deep breath* Whew.
I'm starting a new post-type. We've got the regular kind, the filler kind, and now the "Firestarter" kind. These are links to articles, research, pictures, videos, products - you name it - that caught my interest. If you have anything to add or something you'd like to see on the site, then done hesitate to reply to one of these posts.
- "Al-Qaeda to give 'open interview.'"
- Be sure that this will be gathering attention in the next few weeks if it actually happens. It's a curious step that al-Zawahiri is making, and it will be quite interesting to see where this goes.
- BROTRON
- Greg Brotherton has a self-described "passion for all types of design." It certainly shows. He has some amazing pieces of art in the online gallery. I found it on a Wired.com list on steampunk, which had some really cool stuff.
- Brianna Martray
- I was in Denver recently and saw Martray's work, which is an odd but very interesting in its execution. Besides, she has a work named after Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. She's apparently up to a lot more than just painting, too.
- "EU Ministers to allow more fish to be caught next year."
- It's a sad day for environmentalists. It's just another case that's indicative of our (meaning "the world's") inability to a) plan ahead, b) accept the consequences of our past actions, c) accept that it takes suffering of people in the present to guarantee the future, and d) realize that standing up for the right thing often means losing favor with someone, somewhere.
- No Matter the Approach, Sex Ed Works
- Well, it might, but the results are ambiguous and don't lean either way (sex education or abstinence only) in the great sex ed battle. Funnily enough, the goal is to get kids to wait until age 15. Does that seem like a high standard to anyone?
- Super Slow Motion Compilation
- Exactly what it sounds like. Lots of slow motion clips put together in rapid succession. Got this from a forum I frequent.
- "Best Buy Bodhisattva"
- Cool anecdotal blog post about Guitar Hero III and the "religious experiences" we can have with video games.
6-5-07
CT 5:06
IT 12:06
Medici Intrigue at the Palazzo Vecchio.
Shortly I will tell you a tale of ages. But first, I will tell you of the boring precursors – which were the main events prior to the tale.
I got up this morning about 11:30. I got dressed, ate a sandwich (salami and cheese) for lunch, and headed out ahead of Rachel to the school for class. I got there and read a bit, but mostly waited for people to show up. Rachel came in about 12:50, and no one was there yet. Dr. Bane came in five minutes late, and everyone else came in 15 – 20 minutes late. I was kind of disappointed, because I like class to start on time just as much as the next person…. Well, the next person who isn’t late. Zing.
Anyway, we finished the Aeneid in class today, complete with interesting discussions about religion and Dante’s Divine Comedy. We then had a presentation about Gilgamesh from the friends I hang out with all the time. It was good, if not a bit muddled, though there weren’t many questions. Dr. Bane then began pointing out the obvious allegory or parallel (Gilgamesh and the Great Flood = Noah and the Great Flood), and then picked out the less obvious ones (Snake steals Gilgamesh’s precious fruit = Snake coaxes Eve to steal God’s precious fruit; Enkidu comes from the wild and is tamed by a woman = Adam is wild and needs a woman). As pretentious as it sounds, I’m always surprised when people don’t know the obvious facts of the case of believing in religion wholesale. Perhaps this is because I’m used to dealing with legitimately intelligent people who know the story and still choose faith over evidence. Or maybe I’m really pretentious.
We took a break for about 20 minutes to meet at the Piazza Signoria, which is next to the Palazzo Vecchio. We had the ultra-secret passage tour, but we had to wait on Dr. Bane and Paulette to get the tickets. While we were waiting, I got a quick lunch (sandwich with spice, polmodoro, mozzarella, e ham) and took some pictures of the piazza’s statues. I finally found out that the big fountain was none other than Neptune (big surprise – it is a fountain) and got to see the lion holding the crest of Florence or the Medici, I can’t remember which (the real one is in the Bargello across the city). Dr. Bane called me and told me to go to the side door and he’d be waiting on us. So I moved us over to the side door. He called again. “Uh… so… where are you?” “The side door behind the fountain.” “It should be two big doors that are open.” This happened to be the keyword. So we went further down, found an open door, and Dr. Bane met us with our tickets. After checking our bags and having a “girl crisis,” we were ready for our tour.
I wish I could paste every picture I have into this document, but suffice it to say everything you’ve ever heard about palace/royal/powerful family intrigue, secrecy, and cool tricks, the Palazzo Vecchio has in abundance. Here is your history lesson. Listen carefully, dear children.
Palazzo Vecchio (literally “the old palace”) is mid-Medieval accomplishment. A castle built to represent the power of Florence and its republic, the Palazzo was home to the elected councilmen of Florence. Six men would be elected to two-month terms. These men would be obliged to live in the Palazzo Vecchio. Since no women were allowed inside the castle walls, it was seen as more of a duty for men to serve for Florence. Along the way in Florence’s rise to power, relations between Pisa and Florence worsened. Preparing for war, Florence brought in a mercenary and his forces to defend Florence and become their leader.
Whether or not the war with Pisa came to be (which I think it actually didn’t) doesn’t really matter. What matters is that the mercenary began to amass Florence’s power into his control. Sensing the loss of their republic, thus freedom, the people of Florence revolted and attacked the castle. After fighting long and hard, the mercenary was expelled from Florence and the republic restored.
A couple of things to be gathered from this all too brief and probably too vague history: the Palazzo Vecchio was a sign of Florence’s power and people. However, even with its own egotism, Florence was still susceptible to singular, consolidated power structures. This would end up allowing the Medici to come into power.
Exactly how it happened, I’m not sure. My memory is fuzzy and I’ve never learned much about the Medici. However, I seem to remember hearing that Cosimo I, the one who actually began the two century dynasty of the Medici, was actually elected. He was 18 at the time, and was chosen because of his easily-influenced youth. Cosimo wasted no time showing Florence he was determined to rule alone, and began ruthlessly tossing aside his enemies.
He was the architect for the capture of the beautiful and rich city of Siena, and also led the Florentines to victory against Pisa. He realized the importance of Palazzo Vecchio and its symbolism and skillfully made the Medici’s synonymous with it. He changed little on the outside of the Palazzo, but converted the inside into a livable palace for himself and his family, thus changing the power from the people to himself and his progeny. He then altered the inside of the palace to become one of the most important, if not the most important, sign of his power. He commissioned art.
As power hungry and terrible as the Medici were, it’s important to note that, without their generous patronage, a good portion of Renaissance art would not exist at all. Michelangelo was a favorite and was commissioned more than once. However, Cosimo’s favorite artist was Vasari. The things he did were unimaginable in scale… but I’ll come to that shortly.
The history I just gave was from the contents of our tour today. The first “secret” we were led to was a room built especially for Cosimo’s son, Francesco. The room was completely covered in paintings. The frames of one painting would be close to or touching another frame for another painting. Each held scenes with typical Renaissance subjects and style – flowing strokes of color highlighting the labors of Hercules, the birth of Venus, the trials of Perseus, and so on. Though the room was designed by Vasari, it was the collaborative effort of over 30 artists. Only one painting was actually done by Vasari.
Interestingly enough, the room was shaped like a treasure chest. What do treasure chests hold? Well, treasures of course. The room was shaped like this:
Number 1 is a picture of a woman amongst animals giving a rock or mineral to Prometheus, who is holding a torch. This actually symbolizes Nature giving a gift to Art, or at least unifying itself with art. There’s a bit more to the “rock” bit though. See, Francesco was apparently a nutcase who believed in the power of alchemy. Number 6 is an alchemy shop with scientists hovering, calculating, measuring, and mixing. In the bottom right hand corner is a man who looks frightfully similar to the portrait of Cosimo I (which is on the facing end wall). It is Francesco Medici himself, painted into a scene in one of his own paintings by a Dutch painter whose name I could never remember, nevertheless pronounce.
So Francesco was a nut. Power breeds its own insanity, so it’s not surprising. But what might be a bit surprising is the lengths at which Francesco went to keep his possessions hidden away. The painting to the right or left of Number 5 (can’t remember which) was of Poseidon holding a crystal (the entire right hand wall was of water elemental paintings, the left of fire). The tour guide then opened that cabinet, and showed us an empty hollow where they believe Francesco hid his things away. So the objects in the paintings represented what was held behind them.
To the left, right, top, and bottom of Number 1 were paintings of the four “elements” – earth, fire, air, and water. Number 2 was of Perseus freeing Andromeda (I think – not too current on my mythology), which is the only painting in the room by Vasari. Number 5 was of a scene I didn’t recognize, but I did see a person in the paining peeking around a column. The tour guide opened this cabinet to reveal a secret passageway, which we took with awed looks on our faces.
The room we climbed to was the hidden cabinet room of Cosimo I. There was only one cabinet that she showed us, but they think it held small trinkets and treasures of antiquity and the new world. Up above, faded circular and odd-shaped paintings of the arts (sculpture, music, painting, etc.) were framed by grotesques, which were a newly discovered style at the time. We then exited the room from another door, coming out another painting (Number 3) in Francesco’s treasure chest room
Next we visited the Room of the 500, where the men used to meet to elect the new republic rulers, or the priors. I don’t think I’ve seen a room so big in my entire life. I forget how many meters across the tour guide said it was, but it was absolutely colossal. However, the ceiling was very low when Cosimo came to power. He commissioned Vasari to redesign it. His decision? Lift the ceiling eight meters, cover the entire room in gild and paintings (some bigger than billboards), and commission statues to place around the room. It was an absolutely gorgeous and completely unbelievable room. It was where Cosimo chose to entertain diplomats from all over Europe, especially Spain and France (one queen of France was a Medici), showing to them his absolute power. In the front of the room were three statues of the most influential and important Medici. I couldn’t hear the third’s name, but the one on the left was Cosimo and the one sitting in the middle was Pope Leo X (I believe Clement VII was the other Medici pope, but I could most certainly be wrong). The paintings on the walls were of Cosimo’s major conquests against Siena and Pisa. In the middle of the ceiling, Cosimo is being crowned. Another one shows Cosimo plotting the attack on Pisa. (Imagine seeing all of this while a string orchestra practiced classical pieces for some sort of party that night – it felt like we were living in a classical fantasy).
We then headed up to the second (or third by this point) story to see the paintings up close. Some of the paintings actually represented the different districts in Florence (Santa Croce, Santo Spirito, etc.). Then we headed up even further to see the actual architecture of the ceiling. The ceiling was actually painted on panels that were then lifted and secured into place by massive trusses. Vasari actually invented two types of trusses that were used in the ceiling – one set that supports the ceiling, the other that supports the roof. This structure, now nearly 600 years old, is still 80% original. It also took Vasari two years. During this time, he designed the roof, painted the scenes (I’m not sure if he did all of them or just some – either would have been a feat), and designed the secret passageway to the Palazzo Pitti, the new Medici palace (remember: Palazzo Vecchio means “old palace” for a reason).
We were then escorted back down and told which ways we could go. We got to see the entrance to the secret passageway, looked at fabulous rooms and pieces of art, an anatomical statue of a horse, intricate cabinets, 16th century bathrooms, etc. We actually got lost in the castle, which is a fantastic feeling. Once we finally got out, I went to the gift shop and bought a guidebook to the artwork in the castle. It is actually in my top three of Florence so far.
Afterward, it already being 5:00, I went with Halley, Kim, and Rachel to the internet shop to check mail, Facebook, and what have you. We have to take the Dante’s Inferno quiz online for Dr. Bane (I’d already taken it with my roommates earlier this year – I’m a Seventh Circle Warmonger, thankyouver’much) and they hadn’t done it yet. Along the way we stopped in an absolutely adorable wood-working shop where the man hand-makes children’s toys and clocks, just like Gepetto would. I think I’m going to go back and get a clock for my new baby cousin and his big 4-year-old brother, just because I don’t think I can leave without doing so.
We then visited what we called the “mini-San Lorenzo market,” which was a parking lot taken up by vendors. I want a leather bag very badly, and one of my current roommates got a nice one for 40 Euro. I can’t find anything even close to that price, all of them being around 120 or more. It makes me sad that I might leave without the only souvenir I want, but c’est la vie.
We all went and checked our mail, found out most everyone was in Purgatory, and headed out to cross the Arno. I had to get dinner since we didn’t go back to the apartment, and stopped at a little restaurant where you pick the stuff that goes on the sandwich and they make it for you. It wasn’t quite a deli, but it was still really good. I got a Heineken (tsk tsk, I know) and found out very quickly that I didn’t like it. Everyone else drinks here, so I thought I’d try it. No dice, my friends. No dice. But the food was good, and the beer wasn’t too expensive. I just felt like an idiot for wasting my money.
We got to Halley and Kim’s apartment to find Caitlin “cheating” and watching an all-music channel on TV that featured a lot of American artists. We watched that, chatted it up, and headed out about 9:00 to go to the Piazza Santo Spirito. One of the other guys on the trip lives nearby, so he came out to visit with us. We sat outside on the steps and were approached twice by weird drunk Central African guys. Everyone had alcohol in their hands except for us (Halley was the only one drinking, and it was water). One came up and kept gesturing to his wine in a glass, and we couldn’t understand what he was saying. He whistled, swirled the whine, and then stared at us. We kept saying, “We don’t understand,” so he said, “F--- you” and walked off. Another guy approached me and said, “Hay… Hay… I love you… I love you!” He reached for my arm and said, “Come on… Come on…” I jumped another stair up and leaned towards my friends. “No no no no no no no no.” He said, “Awww…. Come on! I love you. Come on.” Me: “No no no no no no no no.” Finally he left me alone, but it was scary while it lasted. I just did what the officer told us in the first few days. Don’t react, be calm, and refuse. Not very long after that, a man tackled an older drunk lady in the street. The first African man that had come up to us went out and broke up the fight, even getting the drunk man to hug him and kiss his cheek. There was a police car with two officers nearby. The African man went and explained what happened, and then walked away without being apprehended. I told Rachel I’d had enough and I wanted to go, so we headed back to our side of the river to go to bed, read, sleep, and wake up for a new busy day.
It’s 1:51 and my iPod died. I’ll take that as divine intervention. Goodnight all.
6-2-07
CT 6:30
IT 1:30
Ravenna!
I had an excellent day! I’m excited to write all about it, and I’m not sure exactly where to start.
I set my alarm for 7:30 so I could take a shower and eat breakfast. I didn’t quite make it… by about 40 minutes. I was freaking out, as I only had 10 minutes to get ready and another 10 minutes to get to the school to meet Dr. Bane and whomever else was going to go to Ravenna. I got a call on the way from some number I didn’t know, telling me to wait, and I said, “Uh… I’m not there.” Then Dr. Bane called me. “I’m almost there!” And Dr. Bane says, “Well, we’re not. We’ll be there shortly.”
There were only five of us (Paulette, Dr. Bane, Natalie, Lexi, and myself). From the school we went to the train station and milled around waiting for our train to arrive. We went first class to Bologna (Eurostar) and regular/only class to Ravenna (regional) and had about 10 stops along the way. But we had spirited discussion along the way, which was fun.
We got to Ravenna and got the “it’s five minutes thataway” answer from the shopkeeper, which is apparently an Italian joke. We found a sign and followed it to San ----?, where they had found 1st – 4th century mosaics in the floor. It was absolutely gorgeous, and I have many pictures. One of the mosaics was of a man tending sheep with birds above him and a lyre hanging from one of the trees in the background. There is an argument to whether it was a god (Apollo was one, I think) or whether it’s simply the owner of the house. Part of the mosaic had been destroyed because of the supports for the house built upon it, but most of the mosaic is still visible. It depicts a man standing at ease, petting his sheep. Scholars think it represents the power, prosperity, and protection that the man possessed or was able to enforce. Another mosaic depicted four men dancing in a circle with linked hands while a man played the lyre in the background. The one who was playing the lyre was supposedly Bacchus, and the four men were the Four Seasons. It was very interesting as well.
From there, we decided we would go to San Vitale next, after we had satisfied the rumbly grumblys in our tumblys. While we were waiting for a table for cinque (five), Dr. Bane and I had a discussion about post-modern literature and what the term actually means, and Paulette and I went to see what we should do next with only a signpost as our guide (it had three things listed on it and we were trying to decide which direction to go in). When she and I came back, Dr. Bane was already sitting. So we ate a nice outdoor restaurant that was packed because of its prices (6.50 for a Margherita pizza and a coke – “margherita” meaning cheese and tomato only). I had a piadina – a pita wrap that is exclusive to the Romagna region – which had polmadora (tomato) and some word I couldn’t say, which meant fresh mozzarella cheese. Therefore, lunch was excellent.
From there, we went to the San Vitale museum complex. We paid 8.50 to see a museum, a restored chapel, San Vitale, the baptistery, and the mausoleum. We had gone up a staircase to see the museum, but the woman told Paulette that she had to go back down and get a ticket – even though it was free (yesterday was a national holiday in Italy, kind of like Independence Day here except it’s a Unification Day). So we all trekked back down the stairs and got our tickets, but we were diverted into an open space. Since every thin was in Italian, we had to depend on Paulette to translate for us. It turns out that the space had been used to display a restored chapel dome, or maybe just a ceiling, with Byzantine style frescos. We then headed back up to the museum.
My God, the things in there. Luckily, I can cheat for my reader and tell you that we found out later in the Felix Ravenna museum that Ravenna had been a major trade city during from the Roman Empire up until the Carolingian Era (which began with Charlemagne in the late 9th century – this would have also been the rise of Islam and the financial fall of the Roman Empire). Therefore the items in the museum were quite a mishmash of culture and time. Granted, some items like the Egyptian scroll and figures were donated, but others, like a big room of medieval weaponry that had an Arabian war table and Indian weapons, Greek and Roman busts, grave jewelry from Rome and Ravenna, Byzantine art of Madonna and Child, pottery, a recreated ancient/early medieval apothecary, and so much more. We didn’t stay very long because, as much as we didn’t like to admit it, we were on a schedule.
Since the museum was connected to San Vitale, we only had to scoot out the back door to choose between the mausoleum and the basilica. Choosing the basilica, we walked amongst tombs in the courtyard. There were few, and they seemed so absurd, sitting in the green grass in the shade, as if they really were just resting for a moment. Yet they had been there for centuries upon centuries (some of the first Christian burials, I believe), and would continue to rest, undisturbed, for centuries more.
We walked into the Basilica and were swept away by what we saw. In the dome over the altar, there was a mosaic that would rival that of the Baptistery. It depicted Theodosius, I think, along with Jesus and the disciples in an archway (a dramatic effect that I could only capture in blurry pictures). It was a busy mosaic, certainly. Above us, in the high dome, was a fresco with what looked like saints jumping out of the painting. It may be one of the earlier examples of this, kind of an exhibition of a new technique, but I’m not in art history so I have no idea. Religiously, I’m not sure what sense it made. But it was gorgeous and odd, a juxtaposition between the altar ceiling (which was built over a 21 year period in the late 5th/early 6th century) and the Renaissance dome. It’s actually a really famous chiesa. I had no idea, but I can understand why.
We went to the San Vitale mausoleum next, which, for “microclimatic reasons”, we could not stay in for more than five minutes. I found that very interesting, because it didn’t make clear whether the mausoleum could hurt us (more than likely) or if we could hurt it (less likely but still possible). We went in and were of course amazed. It had beautiful mosaics, with gold stars and a cross on the ceiling,, mosaics of saints across the sides and around windows, and tortoise shell windows that weren’t really windows at all. It was honestly beautiful. There were three relatively unadorned tombs in the mausoleum, one of which they believe to be Constantine III. There was a woman in one by herself, and her husband and son were in another one. The husband’s (or I think it was her husband) had sharp designs on the top, but what little all of them had on the body of the casket was faded, eroded, or not there. It was an interesting example of early Christian burial which believed in the lack of the adornments in death (so I read later on).
Dr. Bane was itching to finally see Dante before they closed it, so we ran over to Via Dante Alighieri and took pictures of his tomb. Elaborate, yes. Full of references to the Divine Comedy, yes. But it wasn’t awfully big. His actual tomb is made of marble with his portrait on the side. Next to his tomb is a little cemetery with a few delightful easter eggs that took an Italian speaker and a historian to figure out. There was a huge mound that had a plaque at the bottom that had 1944 – 1945 on it (I could only read the numbers). Turns out, Dante’s bones were hidden there during WWII during the bombings and occupation. There was another place where Dante’s bones were hidden, but we couldn’t figure out what conflict would have prompted them to do so (it was in the early 19th century). My guess was the reconquest and unification of Italy, but I could be totally off.
From here, we went to the San Vitale Baptistery (I think it was San Vitale’s – I wasn’t sure at the time and I’m not sure now). They believe it was converted from a Roman bath. So the actual baptismal “font,” I suppose, was a huge basin. I have pictures of the Latin inscriptions on the inside. Above the bath on the ceiling is a mosaic of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus, who is standing in the River Jordan with the dove of the Spirit above him and a man behind him. The man is an actual personification of the river Jordan, which I thought was extremely interesting. The bath had saints everywhere, which seems to be the trend with any sort of Christian fresco, mosaic, or painting.
Our last museum stop was the Felix Ravenna. Roughly “Happy Ravenna,” it was a museum of artifacts from the peak of Ravenna’s trading days, mostly during the Roman Empire era. It had capitals from ancient columns, paintings, mosaics, jewelry, pottery, etc. It was a delightfully interesting museum, and I got some great pictures. It was actually what I really wanted to see in Ravenna. I knew that the capital of the Roman Empire was moved from Rome to Ravenna after the German expansion and the political fall of the empire in 476. Financially, the empire didn’t fall until the spread of Islam and the withering of the Carolingian vine. Felix Whit-Whit.
We had another place we could have gone, but we decided to go and window shop. On the way to window shopping, we passed Piazza di J.F. Kennedy, which was most certainly an interesting addition to our sight-seeing. I just walked behind the others, as I didn’t see anything I wanted. While we were waiting on Paulette to buy a jacket, we saw a gorgeous man in designer clothing, rolling a baby stroller. But what’s interesting about this particular man is that his legs were smoother than humanly possible. Lexi and I discussed his manliness, or lack thereof, and decided he could have been a model.* We got dinner at the equivalent of a rest stop (which I probably paid for later) and I got a ham and cheese calzone. We chatted a bit more and then headed for the train. Ciao, Ravenna.
While we were waiting for the train, Paulette, Dr. Bane, and I talked while Lexi and Natalie conversed, and then we caught the regional train back to Florence. Paulette and I talked about politics, movies, Miyazaki (she didn’t know who he was, so I had to go into a long discourse on said director), gender roles, boundaries and borders, career choices and dreams. When Dr. Bane woke up, we began discussing the value of education, teaching, and the cynicism that the world will never realize its potential to get better. We continued this discussion as we got off the train and walked near the school.
I got back to the apartment, and was surprised when Haley, Kim, and Rachel came in and asked to see pictures. I showed them and they were impressed, but I think they were glad they didn’t go (good pictures speak loudly, I guess). One of my roommates was drunk already from her first date and on her way to her second, so the other girls decided to go ahead and leave. After that I was so exhausted that I couldn’t see straight, and decided to finish this journal two days later than the date on it.
I will finish the journal for the day after this later today, but for right now I have to get ready for class.
Much love, friends and family.
*I think this is a past time for them. Dress up, stroll the baby, pick up a girl. Interesting traditions in Italy.
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5:16 AM
5-30-07
CT 7:44 P.M.
IT 2:44 A.M.
Yes, it’s really late. But I wanted to get this done before I went to bed so I didn’t leave anything out like I’m sure I did last time.
Today we got up at 8:00 to get to the university by 9. From there, we walked to the Piazza del Santissimo Annuziata. There they have an orphanage, which we’d actually seen beforehand in our wandering travels. What we hadn’t seen was the actual church Santissimo Annuziata. It was free, so we went ahead and wandered in, even though we had an reservation at the Accademia at 10:00.
At first when we walked into the Annuziata, it was a just a foyer with frescos (it sounds weird to say that, but in Florence frescos are everywhere). Then we walked into the sanctuary. I’ve never seen anything so ornate, so ostentatious, so beautiful, or perhaps even so sacred. Gilded from the bottom of the walls to the center of the ceiling, with inscriptions in the ceiling, a fresco, the tomb of a pope, the tomb of a martyr, and a painted dome, it was the singular most beautiful thing I’ve seen while I’ve been here thus far. And we haven’t even been in Santa Croce, where the master, Michelangelo, is buried.
Annuziata was extremely impressive. Something I saw that made me think was the actual painting in the dome of the church (ital.- chiesa). Unlike the Duomo and the Baptistery (which I said were different in style, but I found out they’re also different in theology – the Duomo includes room for purgatory while the Baptistery has the black and white of those saved and those condemned), the dome of Annuziata has no crux/apex painting. There is an obvious ascension of those involved, men and women clamoring for heaven, but heaven isn’t shown. It’s a yellow-to-white cloudiness, and then the bright light of the sun shining through the absolute center. No assumption, just an assertion.
From there, we hurried to the Accademia, which is where the David is held. They had old paintings and some statues, but that’s about it besides David. Interestingly enough, I saw an Andrea del Sarto painting (Browning wrote a poem about him that I really like). Even more interestingly, they had the incompletes, or the “slaves” that Michelangelo didn’t complete. These are blocks of marble, six and seven feet tall, that have the beginnings of statues coming out of them but were not finished. They were impressive, even if their description panels were a tad overdramatic. Calling an unfinished statue “human condition in finite and infinite” etc. etc. is avoiding calling a spade a spade. He didn’t like it so he dropped his chisel, had brunch, and then started another.
David was huge. If I hadn’t seen the movie Children of Men, I would have had no idea it was that large. But since that surprised was ruined for me, it wasn’t as impressive as it could have been. They had a 3D model of the statue that you could use virtual reality to move, but it wasn’t showing anything you couldn’t see by just looking at Il David. Interesting side note: he’s uncircumcised. Or at least, I was told he was. I wouldn’t have known how to tell, so I’ll take my friends’ words for it.
They also had a plaster museum for statues mostly built between the 18th and 19th centuries. These were the plaster models the sculptors used to do the huge stone statues around the Comune di Firenze. Then they had more paintings… And then they had the most expensive gift shop ever. Oh, did I mention you couldn’t take pictures? Yeah. That’s why. They make a killing off of selling stuff with him all over it. I bought stuff for Gran and Mama – I mean, really tiny stuff – and it cost me 16.80 Euros. That’s insane.
I saw some of my friends and we went upstairs to look at the XIV century stuffs. They even had some Russian saint paintings. Otherwise, it was a lot of gold and simplistic paintings. I’m more for the later stuff, which has depth, soul, and realism. It’s all impressive, but some of it is definitely more so.
After this, we went outside and waited on other people. I put on my sunglasses and nearly fell asleep – sitting on the sidewalk. We missed the other girl we were waiting on, so we went to catch up with her. They all started looking at bracelets. Since I had a whole 5 Euro and some Euro coins on me, I decided to head back. I stopped and got a 1.50 gelato (I’m not going to get to have them again, at least for a long time) and then stopped a grocery store that was strictly vegetables and got asparagus for my dinner for 1.90.
I went back to the apartment, downloaded pictures, and decided to “lay down and read.” I laid down, read two pages, and passed out on the couch. For four hours.
I woke up, refreshed at least, and got a call from Dr. Bane. He had my luggage and was going to drop it off at the school. I got my journal entries loaded on my memory stick and headed out. Shops close down from around 3-5 or 4-6 here and open again until whenever, usually 8, so the internet place wasn’t open. I went very slowly to the school (my right calf had been killing me for a few days now), explored a bit, went in the school, grabbed my bag, and came back (slowly) to the apartment. Dr. Bane tried to call me three times, but we couldn’t connect. We ended up texting each other. I told him everything was fine with my bag and he said to meet at the school at 11:00 for the Gli Uffizi tomorrow. I fixed my dinner, brought to you by 14 Euro, and had cinnamon peaches later on…. As well as another round of asparagus for my midnight reading snack.
The reason I’m up so late is because I’m behind reading for class. I found out on Tuesday that I had totally misunderstood the assignments and that I was supposed to read about three times what I thought I was going to have to, so I’m sharing with my roommate. I just read four chapters of the Aeneid and have one to go.
Hurrah! Off to bed. Kind of sad that’s all I did today, but when you take four hour naps because you’re just that exhausted, it severely limits what you actually do.
Day 2
CT 5:19
IT 12:19
Firenze
Today has been long, but not as long as yesterday by any means. This morning, we went and met Danielle (study abroad) and went on a “walking tour” of Florence. Actually, we found the university who we are studying through and then wandered around to find special places in the vicinity. Though we didn’t cover too much ground, we still covered enough to make us all moan.
I’m pretty good with directions, but because of our random wanderings-around, I really don’t have a clue as to where we actually are supposed to go tomorrow. Granted, it was the first place we went, but it got jumbled around with all the other things we saw, which were many.
Along the way to the university, we saw various statues, usually of religious nature (such as Johannes Baptiste). The most fantastic sight was when we went into a piazza – where, I’m not sure at the moment – and saw the most wonderful congregation of statues that we’ve seen yet. Cosimo de Medici on horseback, a fountain with horses coming out and Poseidon or some other figure standing, with fauns and mermen around the edge (I think there’s something similar, albeit bigger, in Rome). On the other side was a replica of David, where it originally stood (one of many, and actually a shorter one). On one side of the piazza, there were around 10 statues, all depicting various scenes – religious or mythological, I’m not sure. It was surely a sight.
After all of this, we ended up next to a market –again, I’m not sure where. By this time I’m all confused and know that if I see another street sign, I’ll only get further turned around (as I didn’t have a map yet). The market was bustling with tourists, and there was a lot to buy – just nothing that I wanted. They did have a pair of “David” boxers, which I do believe I should get for Josh or Jeremy. We’ll see, though. I don’t want to spend too much on something that I could perhaps haggle with someone on. Ha! Haggle in a foreign language. Stranger things, I guess.
We ate at a place called “Nuti’s.” The waiter didn’t speak much English, but between Danielle and Dr. Bane we were able to get our food. I had a “cuatro formaggi calzone” (4 cheese calzone) with palmodora (tomato) dipping sauce. It was absolutely divine – well, close anyway. The sky opened up while we were inside, and none of us had umbrellas. Little illegal merchandise sellers* popped out of no where – literally no where – with boxes of umbrellas. “Umbrellaumbrellaumbrellaumbrellaumbrella?” (Dr. Bane had acted out this beforehand; we thought he was joking.) We bought three umbrellas for 15 Euros (about $20). My lunch was 7.50 – 8.50 (around $9-10), and then we left for Dr. Bane’s apartment. We got lost on the way there (one wrong turn, which we corrected – right before we took another wrong turn). His apartment is very nice and makes us all jealous.
After we left there, I decided to find a Wi-Fi bar we had seen earlier (buy a drink and have unlimited wi-fi), but I couldn’t remember where we saw it. After that, I missed the internet shop that was right by where we live that I had used earlier. When I missed that, I realized I was very tired. My feet were still swollen from the plane and the walking we did yesterday. It only seemed like insult to injury that I couldn’t find the shops I wanted. Instead, I went to the 99 cent store, got two 1.5 L bottles of water and a 500 ml Pepsi, went back to the apartment, began to read on the couch, and slept for about 3-4 hours until 7. I barely woke up when my roommates came clattering in.
When I got up, they asked me if I’d like to go eat. We decided to go the opposite way down Pilastri toward the Piazza Sant’Ambrogio,, but we took a left on Via Luigi Carlo Farini. From there, we walked along the street, pausing to take pictures of tiny cars. We found a huge building called the “Sinagogo e Museo Ebraico di Firenze. It had no religious markings except for the Ten Commandments at the top, strangely enough. Even Santa Croce has a Star of David, and it’s a church.
We passed the Piazza Massimo d’Azeglio (a community park) and turned left on Via Giuseppe Giusti. We found some really awesome doorknobs going this way, but not much else. Here, we turned on Via Gino Capponi. Here we stumbled onto this magnificent place. I took pictures of doorknobs and markers (some reading as early as the 1500s), thinking it was all we were going to see. Then we found the Galleria della Spedale degli Innocenti and the Palazzo Griffoni, all around the Piazza d. Santissima Annuziata. Here was another figure riding a horse – not a Medici, surprisingly. Also, some of the most magnificent frescos we’ve seen this far (of which I have pictures).
We then traveled along the Via del Servi. I think this is where the OK Bar was. The waiter couldn’t speak English, but he was cute so we tried anyway. He tried very hard to work with us, and it turned out his English was better than he thought. I met him halfway (that’s what it’s all about anyway, isn’t it?) and ordered in Italian. There was a woman at a neighboring table who ordered dessert in English, so we asked her where she was from. Turns out, she’s from Buffalo, New York studying at the same university we’re studying through (not at - there’s a difference). She gave us tips, like telling us where the farmer’s market was, the flea market beside that (she said to start at half of what they say and work up). She also told us to start shutting our windows before the mosquitoes ate us alive, although she said they don’t itch – just turn to blisters (kind of like flying fire ants, I guess). She was really nice and took our picture with all of our cameras. We told her we might see her again, said Ciao, and went on our merry way.
I found a paper store on the other side of the Duomo when we were walking one of our party back to her apartment. I got to see the Baptistery doors (although I saw the real ones at an exhibit in the Pyramid in Memphis). We then traveled back along Giuseppe Verdi (a friend indeed) to Fiesolana, and decided to get on the internet (I needed to post my journal entry since I didn’t have my computer on Wi-fi yet). While I was doing that, the other three were talking to a man who spoke proficient enough English to tell us about how communism may not be the best option but it was better than capitalism. He was relating this to the guy who worked at the internet shop. It started by them saying something about Mexicans in America and how Americans hate them. It’s interesting what kind of message we send to the outside world.
After that, we came back to the apartment, where I am now typing up my journal. Teri and Katie went to Teri’s daughter’s apartment to shower because we only have cold water. Because I stayed up so late last night, I’m going to go ahead and go to bed (I am ver’ ver’ sleepy) and dream about another wonderful day in Florence tomorrow.
*“Little illegal merchandise sellers…”: Consequently, it’s actually illegal to buy from these men if they’re selling “off the sheets.” They take white sheets and lay them down with imitation designer bags, belts, glasses, and such. If you buy from them, you can be fined up to $10,000 because it’s taking away from the legal venders. These men have scouts and will pick up the sheets and run when they see the police. In fact, some of the other students said this happened after we left the market area today.
Interesting cultural note: The “sheet” sellers are primarily black. When I said primarily, I mean I didn’t see a single one that wasn’t African. African-Italian men who can only resort to selling illegally that the police target? It seems the race finger that was pointed at Americans later on (see next to last paragraph) was at the least an incriminating accusation – at most downright hypocrisy.
