In many ways, this trip was a test to see how well I could function traveling alone. I passed. But a lot of the joy of travel is sharing it with someone, and I don't think I will take off on my own again if I have a choice.
Next time, I will do a lot more preparation before I go, since a lot of what I saw is running together or I didn't have the background to really appreciate the significance of what I was seeing. Really good, cushioned athletic shoes next time - I don't care how they look. Losing fifty pounds would help too! Small backpack for sure.
It was an amazing experience and has confirmed my belief that I can travel the world. The cultural differences are interesting - no value judgment, just interesting. The U.S. really is much more open and friendly. Naive? Maybe. But lovely because this is my culture. Even the dour customs agent was a welcome sight. I could have kissed the ground if I had been sure I could have gotten up again!
Ciao.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Last Day - How Much Can I Pack in?
Started the day at Santa Maria Novella. The entry to the cloister is flanked by bas reliefs of lambs. Graves and their flat stones are all around the perimeter of the cloister walk. Inside, the highlight for me was the Masaccio "Trinity." Instead of using two different colored stones to build the vaulted ceiling and ribs, the darker "stone" is painted on - a money saver. Sometimes the painted elements in these old churches remind me of prehistoric American Indian painted decoration.
Stopped at the Central Market for souvenirs. Decided on chocolate bars and shopping bags. I could have spent some more time here. Good place to pick up food for a do-it-yourself meal. Lovely food. The vendors were friendly and helpful. All in all, a happy place.
I decide to do Rick Steve's "Renaissance Walk" tour down the pedestrian via Calzaiuoli. The Museum of the Orsanmichele is open. Donatello again, so wonderful. In this room at the very top of the church, the brick vaults and ribs of the ceiling are bare so I can see how it is done.
On to the Ponte Vecchio, a disappointment except for the views of the Arno which seem timeless in spite of the new condos.
Back to Il Bargellino to pick up my suitcase. Onto the train to Milan and a bus to the airport Holiday Inn Express where I finally figure out how to keep the room's lights on with my key card. A quick sandwich and glass of wine in the lobby and - to bed. Up early in the morning to catch the shuttle to the huge and very confusing Milan airport. And home!
Stopped at the Central Market for souvenirs. Decided on chocolate bars and shopping bags. I could have spent some more time here. Good place to pick up food for a do-it-yourself meal. Lovely food. The vendors were friendly and helpful. All in all, a happy place.
I decide to do Rick Steve's "Renaissance Walk" tour down the pedestrian via Calzaiuoli. The Museum of the Orsanmichele is open. Donatello again, so wonderful. In this room at the very top of the church, the brick vaults and ribs of the ceiling are bare so I can see how it is done.
On to the Ponte Vecchio, a disappointment except for the views of the Arno which seem timeless in spite of the new condos.
Back to Il Bargellino to pick up my suitcase. Onto the train to Milan and a bus to the airport Holiday Inn Express where I finally figure out how to keep the room's lights on with my key card. A quick sandwich and glass of wine in the lobby and - to bed. Up early in the morning to catch the shuttle to the huge and very confusing Milan airport. And home!
San Lorenzo Market, Duomo Museum, Santa Croce, Uffizi
San Lorenzo Market is junk.
The Duomo Museum is amazing, full of sculpture and friezes removed in earlier remodelings. The Donatello figures are instantly recognizable - you know them at once. The faces are mobile, emotional - hard to believe they are not flesh. The Penitent Magdalene looks very modern. Reminds me of Giacometti. Every line of it speaks misery. This museum and San Marco are my favorites so far.
Santa Croce has altars to various saints arrayed all the length of the side walls. The Donatello crucifix looks very modern. Tombs of Michelangelo and Machiavelli. Pazzi Chapel.
I used Rick Steve's audio tour of the Uffizi. It is an abbreviated art history course, but ignores a lot. I would like to do the Uffizi again without it. My feet are screaming and I don't know how they are going to carry me back to Il Bargellino.
The Duomo Museum is amazing, full of sculpture and friezes removed in earlier remodelings. The Donatello figures are instantly recognizable - you know them at once. The faces are mobile, emotional - hard to believe they are not flesh. The Penitent Magdalene looks very modern. Reminds me of Giacometti. Every line of it speaks misery. This museum and San Marco are my favorites so far.
Santa Croce has altars to various saints arrayed all the length of the side walls. The Donatello crucifix looks very modern. Tombs of Michelangelo and Machiavelli. Pazzi Chapel.
I used Rick Steve's audio tour of the Uffizi. It is an abbreviated art history course, but ignores a lot. I would like to do the Uffizi again without it. My feet are screaming and I don't know how they are going to carry me back to Il Bargellino.
Florence
On to Florence this morning. Franca took me to Milano Centrale. Up two escalators and found the track easily. Trains are so easy to use in Europe. The trip took only an hour and a half. After Bologna, it was through tunnels all the way, surfacing just long enough to see the low, dark mountains we were traveling through.
The little family-run hotel, Il Bargellino, was an easy walk from the train station at one end of the via Guelfa. This is a great value. My room is comfortable and large and has its own bath. I am finding many uses for a bidet! Excellent for shaving legs. Not bad for doing hand wash! Towels are thin woven cotton - not much to dry with. Another of those interesting differences.
There is a lot less waste here. The tankless hot water heaters are much more efficient. Coffee is better and served in savoring amounts rather than our huge portions. What is it in our culture that needs things super-sized to feel satisfied?
There is a small trattoria down the block with good food. For lunch I had a risotto with vegetables, a cabernet and espresso. Alors, they brought a digesif and almond biscotti.
This afternoon I walked to the Church of San Marco with its wonderful Fra Angelico frescos - so bright and fresh. Maria so blonde and wispy, the Christ Child so lumpy with baby fat and so out-of-sorts. I went upstairs to see the cells, each with its shuttered window and its fresco for contemplation. The cells were cozy. The frescos on one side of the building all had arched tops. Those on another side were rectangular with painted borders. There was a suite of rooms for Savonarola and for Cosimo de Medici.
I came upon the Duomo by surprise at the end of a street. The Baptistery is small, octagonal, charming with big shiny gold doors. Inside, the Duomo is disappointing, very dark and cold - the one in Milan is much more beautiful. The domed painting over the altar is very beautiful though. The old church in the cellar is kind of a yawn.
I happened on what is said to be Florence's "most beautiful piazza," Santissimo Annunziata. There is a lot of scaffolding up right now, but Ferdinand I is astride his horse, gazing at his beloveds' bedroom. This must be much better in summer and sunshine with real lovers all around.
Found the Accademia in an ugly, squat building. David is amazing, but trite too - seen in too many pictures. If I gaze on his face from his right side, he looks self-confident, but look from his left side and I see the fear in his eyes. He is just a boy. The Prisoners are interesting: you see Michelangelo wresting the figures from the stone front to back and almost believe in his description of uncovering them rather than carving them. One or two looked as if there wasn't enough marble left for the heads.
Take-out panini, fruit tart, and peach juice to take back to Il Bargellino for supper. Exhausted and feet hurting. I took time to organize and repack. Charged Ipod, phone, Kindle.
The little family-run hotel, Il Bargellino, was an easy walk from the train station at one end of the via Guelfa. This is a great value. My room is comfortable and large and has its own bath. I am finding many uses for a bidet! Excellent for shaving legs. Not bad for doing hand wash! Towels are thin woven cotton - not much to dry with. Another of those interesting differences.
There is a lot less waste here. The tankless hot water heaters are much more efficient. Coffee is better and served in savoring amounts rather than our huge portions. What is it in our culture that needs things super-sized to feel satisfied?
There is a small trattoria down the block with good food. For lunch I had a risotto with vegetables, a cabernet and espresso. Alors, they brought a digesif and almond biscotti.
This afternoon I walked to the Church of San Marco with its wonderful Fra Angelico frescos - so bright and fresh. Maria so blonde and wispy, the Christ Child so lumpy with baby fat and so out-of-sorts. I went upstairs to see the cells, each with its shuttered window and its fresco for contemplation. The cells were cozy. The frescos on one side of the building all had arched tops. Those on another side were rectangular with painted borders. There was a suite of rooms for Savonarola and for Cosimo de Medici.
I came upon the Duomo by surprise at the end of a street. The Baptistery is small, octagonal, charming with big shiny gold doors. Inside, the Duomo is disappointing, very dark and cold - the one in Milan is much more beautiful. The domed painting over the altar is very beautiful though. The old church in the cellar is kind of a yawn.
I happened on what is said to be Florence's "most beautiful piazza," Santissimo Annunziata. There is a lot of scaffolding up right now, but Ferdinand I is astride his horse, gazing at his beloveds' bedroom. This must be much better in summer and sunshine with real lovers all around.
Found the Accademia in an ugly, squat building. David is amazing, but trite too - seen in too many pictures. If I gaze on his face from his right side, he looks self-confident, but look from his left side and I see the fear in his eyes. He is just a boy. The Prisoners are interesting: you see Michelangelo wresting the figures from the stone front to back and almost believe in his description of uncovering them rather than carving them. One or two looked as if there wasn't enough marble left for the heads.
Take-out panini, fruit tart, and peach juice to take back to Il Bargellino for supper. Exhausted and feet hurting. I took time to organize and repack. Charged Ipod, phone, Kindle.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Alvin and the Chipmunks
Today Alice and I visited the Archeological Museum. It was nice to have a child to take with me. Then we went to see the Church of Sant'Ambrogio that was on my list of want-to-sees. So old, so simple and stark. The atrium had primitive carvings that sometimes seem more powerful than what came later. Inside were the remains of St. Ambrose. Alice was mesmerized.
Afterwards all three of us went to see the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. Who would have thunk it would be so much fun. It was not necessary to know Italian - the message was all visual.
My impressions of Milan: this is a city that is very northern, very wealthy, very businesslike. There is a lot of reserve defining the culture. I would not want to be a poor person here. It reminded me of Frankfurt. If there is warmth it is reserved for close family and close friends. You would never get your bottom pinched here.
Afterwards all three of us went to see the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. Who would have thunk it would be so much fun. It was not necessary to know Italian - the message was all visual.
My impressions of Milan: this is a city that is very northern, very wealthy, very businesslike. There is a lot of reserve defining the culture. I would not want to be a poor person here. It reminded me of Frankfurt. If there is warmth it is reserved for close family and close friends. You would never get your bottom pinched here.
Rain, rain
Thursday, it is pouring. Out I go with my green umbrella, but no boots. Headed again toward the Piazza del Duomo and the Galleria where I window-shopped at two bookstores including Rizzoli. I got very, very wet and my shoes were irrecoverable. I walked to Pinacoteca di Brera. The modern collection was forgettable, but the rest was wonderful and easy to navigate. The "Dead Christ" I will never forget - the color of the skin, the utter absence of life, the odd perspective of looking feet-first at a body. There was a special exhibition of Carlo Crivelli with his sumptuous depiction of brocades and patterned textiles. In the paintings before 1650, the faces are those of neighbors, real people with real wrinkles, seeing eyes, emotions all over their faces. After that, faces become stylized and boring.
Had lunch at a tourist spot across the street - horrible mushroom pizza, apple cake, but good wine and espresso. Franca met me with the car.
Had lunch at a tourist spot across the street - horrible mushroom pizza, apple cake, but good wine and espresso. Franca met me with the car.
Wednesday, Milan
I am so fortunate to be visiting a dear friend in Milan. It is lovely to stay in someone's home and be able to get a sense of everyday life in a new place. Don't know about you, but I always fantasize about living in the places I visit. Franca and nine-year old daughter, Alice, have a wonderful flat in a fashionable part of Milan. I visited Alice's school - just a block away - plus the little grocery they use and a few other neighborhood shops. I could walk into the very center of town - the Duomo - in twenty minutes, following the trolley tracks. Along the way, I have never seen so many jewelry stores and shoe stores. Milanese women are quite smart no matter their age. Also there is no gray or white hair on women - even ninety-year-olds. Must be a genetic phenomenon. Also high cuffed boots. And no one is overweight. Fat and gray hair have been banished.
On the way it is necessary to stop for a cappucino and a brioche.
The Duomo sits on a huge piazza teeming with gypsys and pickpockets. But you have your moneybelt on so need not worry. Do not make eye contact, and say "NO" forcefully and keep moving. It is one of my favorite churches inside with pillars like huge tree trunks. It is very cold but beautiful, huge, terrifying in a way. The floor is an amazing pattern in stone - my favorite thing. The outside looks like a wedding cake that went berserk. But by the doors are bas reliefs that are wonderful.
On the side of the piazza is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the original shopping mall. In the middle of the piazza is V. E. himself on his horse.
Going through the Galleria you emerge at the other end in another piazza and see La Scala. Such a plain, unadorned building - all the drama is on the inside.
Franca is an excellent cook. We agree that midday is a good time for the biggest meal. I see greens that are new to me and only need some balsamic vinegar to dress them. The coffee is sublime. When I get home I want to make these small cups of espresso that get savored.
On the way it is necessary to stop for a cappucino and a brioche.
The Duomo sits on a huge piazza teeming with gypsys and pickpockets. But you have your moneybelt on so need not worry. Do not make eye contact, and say "NO" forcefully and keep moving. It is one of my favorite churches inside with pillars like huge tree trunks. It is very cold but beautiful, huge, terrifying in a way. The floor is an amazing pattern in stone - my favorite thing. The outside looks like a wedding cake that went berserk. But by the doors are bas reliefs that are wonderful.
On the side of the piazza is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the original shopping mall. In the middle of the piazza is V. E. himself on his horse.
Going through the Galleria you emerge at the other end in another piazza and see La Scala. Such a plain, unadorned building - all the drama is on the inside.
Franca is an excellent cook. We agree that midday is a good time for the biggest meal. I see greens that are new to me and only need some balsamic vinegar to dress them. The coffee is sublime. When I get home I want to make these small cups of espresso that get savored.
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