The Weekend in Italy

I would have very much liked to post an update every night so I would not have had to make this one enormous post, but internet connections and time (read: sleep) constraints made that impossible, so I'll just have to make this as smooth and interesting as possible. We'll go Day-by-Day as we did in Crete and for part of the Peloponnese.

Thursday:

Thanksgiving day in America was not celebrated with any frivolity in Milan. The sun rose over the piazza in front of the Duomo Cathedral just as on any other day.

And the day began. I had taken the Metro from my hostel with the rising sun (7:00 am) to the Duomo stop and intended to walk to the train station from there, arriving by 8:30 at the latest. In a beeline path, the walk would only take 20 minutes or so. For a person who had never been to the city before, had not done nearly enough research on its layout and, and had no map, it took just about exactly the hour and a half I had reserved for the trip. 

The side of the Duomo Cathedral just as the sun rose. Unfortunately, all of my pictures of the front, center of the building are very dark and I didn't really get a second chance at taking pictures.

The biggest, most elaborate mall I have ever seen, across the street from the Cathedral. I wish it had been open as I walked through, for a better look at the restaurants if nothing else!

I walked in a straight line unintentionally along the metro line, and passed hundreds of fashion boutiques and brand name stores with Christmas window displays, including the area I had found the previous night, now fully lit and busy as the shops started opening for the day's business. I found the train station without getting too lost and with plenty of time to spare.

Now, about trains. They are by far now my favorite way to travel. If you count in all the time and hassle that it takes to get through an airport and onto a plane, trains are just as fast - if not faster - for intercity journeys, especially when the view is as nice as it is in Northern Italy. It took just over an hour and a half to get from Milan to Florence with no hassle whatsoever. The most relaxing and enjoyable means of travel I've ever come across. Let's get some more of these in America!

Arriving in Florence, I met up with my hostess, Miss Dottie, who at once took me to lunch. I learned there that a true Italian meal consist of three courses: Primi Corso is usually pasta or rice, Secondo Corso is typically a meat, and then you have a vegetable. I wasn't too surprised to learn this until they brought out the plates. Each course was the size of a full meal - at least by my standards - and I had to work quite hard to finish all of the amazing food before me (I couldn't do it, but I gave it my best effort, and the household dog was happy to help with my meal afterwords.) We took a quick walk along the Arno river after lunch, then had to return to prepare for Thanksgiving Dinner.

The Gardens behind the rectory where the Dunnam's live.

St. James, the church where Father Mark is Pastor.

Thanksgiving was an intense and fun experience. It may have been an American style, traditional Thanksgiving meal, but the people there were definitely Italian in mindset, if not origin. We started late, there was enough food to feed a small army, let alone the 85 people who were in attendance, and the dinner that began at 7:30 ended at 11:00 or so, with people lingering to avoid the light drizzle and continue conversing with the pleasant company. Of everyone there, it seemed to me that only about half of us were true Americans, the rest being British or Italian, there for family and friends or just interested in the tradition and the food. All in all, it was delicious and fun, and perfectly full of those awkward Thanksgiving moments where you don't know a soul and are constantly introduced via personal story to those around you who you may never see again (until next year, at least!)

Friday:

I was up talking with Miss Dottie for at least another hour after that, but still managed to get up in the morning for a sunrise walk along the Arno.

Little shops and restaurants, especially those specializing in leather, jewelry and pasta (respectively) line the river banks and help the area gleam. This particular stretch is full of history, even though only one of the bridges is original, and the rest needed to be reconstructed after WWII. The entire area looks more like a movie set or historical villa than a place where people actually live. The museums house a fair few of their statues outside, so I kept running across things like Neptune's Fountain, the bronze Perseus, a copy of the marble Rape of the Sabine Woman, and Hercules and the Nemean Lion as I walked through town. Miss Dottie also directed me to the Duomo in Florence, which I did manage to take a (less dark) picture of.

The immense size of the building (that's a 20-odd foot Christmas tree in the bottom left) is only accentuated by the incredible detail that has gone into every inch of the building.

The front facade of the cathedral, with a little better look at how intricate the masonry and architecture is. These churches are the true merging of form and function, art and architecture as one.

When I got back, we began a little museum hopping, first the Academia Museum to see Michelangelo's David, then to the Palazzo Strozzi for a lovely exhibition of the works of Bronzino, whose art I knew, even if I didn't remember his name. 

We weren't allowed to take pictures in either museum, nor did I have the time to sketch. The David was definitely the central piece in the Academia, and it was much larger and more impressive than I would ever have guessed from the thousands of pictures I've seen of it. It's 17 ft high for a start, which is nigh on impossible to really imagine until you're next to it. There was also an exhibit of antique musical instruments which was fascinating, especially the number and intricacy of those made specifically for the Medici family.

The Bronzino exhibit at the Palazzo Strozzi was much mroe intimate, and very moving. The paintings, sculptures and tapestries, almost all of which he had a hand in, to up about 15 galleries and became more naturalistic and elaborate with time. It's always so interesting to watch an artist grow like that, and I found that some of his lesser known paintings were some of my personal favorites. One, which I had never seen before this exhibit, was a simple portrait of a woman, with such detail and texture that her pearls quite literally stood out over the gold lace on her silk and velvet dress, which I could make out the material of without even trying. That takes incredible talent and skill. Also, some pieces were set up next to contemporary poetry that went along with them and brought an entirely new dimension to the Renaissance paintings. I appreciated that a lot.

Miss Dottie and I spent the evening browsing through Old Town Florence, window shopping and noting the art and architecture scattered along the streets. Florence, with most of Italy, I think, encourages you to crick your neck looking up at the rooftops and high walls of its buildings, almost all of which are topped with statues and wrought iron. It was always fun to just walk the city. At around 7:30, we drove across the Arno and up to one of the largest plazas (called the Piazzale Michelangelo) for a view of the lit up cityscape from above. The mix of modern and ancient, religious and secular, all lit to match with flood lights, street lights, window lights and Christmas lights is breathtaking.

A bronze copy of the David in the Piazzale Michelangelo.

Saturday:

Early Saturday morning, I said goodbye to Miss Dottie an Father Mark and caught the 9:30 train to Rome. I arrived around 11am, dropped my things in the Hostel and began to run. 

I went first to the Colosseum (which is right next door to the Arch of Constantine, as seen below).

But the line to get in was forever long, and as much as I wanted to see the Colosseum, I didn't want to spend two hours waiting in line for it, either. So I went to the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill site first and bought a combo ticket for the two places together. Then, feeling intelligent for beating the crowd, I took my time wandering through the Roman Forum.

The Forum is fascinating for many things, of course, but two reasons in particular stood out to me: its huge size - the site took me a good 45 minutes just to walk without stopping much at all - and the immense time span it encapsulates. Ancient temple facades remain, but have been restored as ancient churches, which were later restored again into more modern churches. Arches and houses were built and re-inscribed and re-used for new purposes, creating a kind of mish-mash of ancient architecture that was actually pretty reminiscent of an old shopping center that had gone through several partial renovations. Which is basically - from what I understand - what the ancient forum was. 

Ancient style statues crowing a church dedicated to St. Francis.

The facade of a mostly destroyed temple (no idea who it was dedicated to). It was odd not having a map or guide to the sites. The problem I kept running into in Rome, on sites and in museums, was that nothing was labeled and they would encourage you to pay extra for an audio guide or tour guide if you wanted more information. There were no student discounts to begin with, and I didn't have enough time to do the whole site properly, so I didn't bother with either. I will if I go back, or at least I'll research heavily beforehand.

A temple facade now housing an ancient church. The architectural disparity between the two styles is so cool! 

Triumphal Arch of Titus in the Forum.

The Colosseum. I got to skip the line to walk through. :-)

Looking down into the Colosseum from the upper level. The structures in the center are not roman original, but later Christian additions. Scale tourists provided. This place was so crowded, but really incredible. The structure itself is heavy and weighs down on you, even as it lifts itself up impossibly high into the clouds. Miss Dottie told me beforehand that, to her, the building feels like death, and I agree with that sentiment completely.

There were a whole lots of Gladiator street performers all around the area, but these guys were by far the most playful and the most popular.

Looking up from the base of the Colosseum. It really is enormous.

At around 1:30 pm, I totally forgot about lunch, still somewhat full from the numerous, gigantic meals of Florence, and took the metro to Vatican City.

The wall surrounding Vatican City in part.

I spent nearly 4 and 1/2 hours in Musei Vaticani, most of which was spent craning my neck to stare at the ceilings.

A tiny detail of a tiny ceiling painting in one room.

The full hall with that room, which displays about 25 tapestries, all in pristine condition. I was especially struck by how the Renaissance popes especially enjoyed commissioning portraits of themselves with the Ancient Greek and Roman gods. That mixing of religions and consorting with other deities is so frowned upon today that I had always assumed that Christianity had frowned on it from the start, but apparently that is not true. Many of the deities became angels, graces and saints in the olden days.

Another ceiling in another room, that seemed to be nothing but red and blue paint with gold leaf over marble and ivory. Breathtakingly beautiful. And that is not the main exhibit in that room.

The central gardens within the museum, which serves as a meeting place for tour groups and a house for statues that can survive the outdoors.

Of course, we weren't allowed to take pictures of the Sistine Chapel, but I stayed in that one room, wishing I could lie down on the floor for about 20 minutes. It's funny I had never really noticed, but if you come in by the altar, the main scenes are in chronological order, but upside-down, and if you come in at that back, the scenes are right side up, but reversed chronologically. I think that's Michelangelo's little way of saying there is no wrong or right way to enter the chapel. It is accessible to all. I really appreciate that. Of course the individual artwork is amazing, but what is really mind-blowing is how well the room fits together as a whole. No one thing overpowers another, and all the colors blend and complement each other so pleasingly. I feel like Michelangelo must have taken the entire room into account before even beginning to plan his ceiling. It's a truly wonderful experience.

I was a little saddened that the other pieces I was really dying to see were mostly inaccessible. The Pieta in St. Peter's Basilica was closed off to the public whilst I was there, because the Pope was in the Basilica, doing unspecified Pope-things. That was kind of cool in itself, to know how close I was to an icon of the world. Rafael's School of Athens painting, I could just see, and I'm really grateful for that, but restpration work was taking place on the ceiling just beside it, so a fair amount of the painting was blocked by tarp and scaffolding. Just means I have to go back. ;-)

After leaving the museum, it was already starting to get dark, so I decided to take my metro pass (which was good for 24 hours) and get off at every stop going back to my hostel and walk around a little so I could see a little more of the city before I had to leave. I couldn't see too much because of the dark and because I didn't really know where I was going, but I saw the Fontana di Trevi and Teatro dell' Opera, among other things and began to get a small feel for a small part of the city.

The Fontana di Trevi. I wish my camera could handle the dark better.

I went to bed much earlier than I had planned originally, just from exhaustion and hunger,
and didn't sleep very well, but it didn't matter much. I wasn't going to get any more done in Rome and there was plenty of time for sleeping further on the train, plane and metro I had to take to get back to central Athens. So I managed to stay on budget, see a fair number of things (there was never going to be opportunity to do everything, so I always knew I would have to come back.) Also, I feel pretty proud that my pocket was never picked, and I was never picked on by anyone. I got back to Athens at around 11am on Sunday, and do not intend to leave again until London in December. Now, there is homework that needs doing and sleep that needs getting.

Καληνύχτα!

Where, Oh Where Did November Go?

How has it been so long since the last update? How did November suddenly take off on Hermes' sandals and fly across the calendar? Has it been this way for everyone or just those of us here in Athens? I had the exciting adventures of a school essay and a visit from Williams College friend KS in which we re-did everything I've already taken pictures of, so there hasn't been a whole lot of news, but ne'er an unhappy moment, as per usual around here. Not a whole lot of sleep either, though, thus the use of words such as "ne'er".

Other News: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt.1 premiered a whopping 16 hours earlier in Athens than it did in the United States, and I saw it twice over the weekend because I loved it that much. I'm not talented enough yet to sustain watching a movie in Modern Greek, but fortunately for me and all the other American students, the Greeks don't believe in dubbing their films, but only using subtitles, so there were no language barriers to surmount!

Today, however, an update! And with good reason. I boarded a plane today for the first time since arriving in Greece on August 30, and landed in Milan, Italy just a few short hours ago! This is only the first (very short) leg in a (very busy) multi-part trip, that will also include Florence with Miss Dottie (for those of you who know her) and Rome. Quite a lot to squeeze into our "Thanksgiving" vacation, one whole day longer than our normal weekend. I took today off (with permission) to get a little more time.

My first thought about Italy as we descended far enough below the clouds to see the countryside of Northern Italy was how appropriate it was that this country should be so culturally artistic. The agricultural fields from above are much smaller, less square - more polygonal, and much more colorful than any I'd seen on a flight before, giving the effect that I was looking down upon a stained glass window of a large, beautiful agricultural landscape. A very impressive first glance!

I arrived just as the sun was setting and thus have yet to see Milan in the daylight (that's why this post has no pictures, unfortunately. I took a few, but they aren't very good. Trying again tomorrow.) I didn't want to go straight to the hostel after landing though, just because it was dark outside, so I got off the bus at Milan Centrale Train Station and just started walking anywhere that seemed bright and well-populated. This worked much better than I thought it would as I first ran across a large flea market of sorts, then found a lovely little restaurant/cafe where I had dinner, a fabulous Tortellini ai Corciofi (Tortellini with Artichoke Sauce). I also ordered a Hot Chocolate because, while it may still be 72 degrees Fahrenheit in Athens, it's only 44 degrees in Milan. Fortunately, I brought a jacket and tights!

Hot Chocolate in Italy is not what we Americans consider "Hot Chocolate", however, as I quickly discovered to my delight, but is in fact Drinking Chocolate. Now, Hot Chocolate is a powder, usually blended with hot milk or water and stuffed with marshmallows, whipped cream and, if the restaurant is classy, cinnamon. Drinking Chocolate is more like a melted Godiva Dark Chocolate Truffle mixed with cream and whole milk. You can imagine my delight when they brought that out. I had to eat it with a spoon and finish it before dinner so that it wouldn't congeal into one large truffle-in-a-cup before I could finish it, though that would have tasted good, too!

After dinner, I kept walking the streets a little, noting where I was in case the streets suddenly became residential as they are apt to do in Athens, and marking metro stations as I passed them, when lo and behold I turned a corner and THERE, right in front of me was the central street of Milan's World-Famous Fashion District! Knits of Cashmere and Lamb's Wool, so finely woven it feels like you're wearing a cloud of warm air, so soft you might as well be petting a puppy, and lovely enough to match some of the art in their museums. Brand names, no names, big stores and holes-in-the-wall, this street had everything, and it was all lit up bright enough to be a Christmas display. I didn't get to do much shopping because a) one look in every window was enough to remind me how poor college students really are and b) it was already 8:00pm when I got there and 'lit up' does not equal 'open' around here. Still, I got to go into several stores of differing varieties (though rather similar prices) and talk to a lot of clerks about the different types of fabrics and cuts on garments in style right now. When I get back to school, I am going to listen to ever piece of sewing advice Barb and the new assistant can give me, and beg so hard for a tutorial with them next semester. If you're reading this, Barb (or any other witnesses), please hold me to this promise! I want to know how to recreate these beautiful things!

By this point it really was getting late, so I took the metro to the Hostel, which I found without much difficulty. It's not in a bad part of town, and it really is right on the metro. The plan is to wake up tomorrow morning at 6:30, be out the door at 7, with the sun, make my way to the Duomo Cathedral for pictures and walk around for an hour and a half or so, generally back towards the train station so I can pick up breakfast at a little cafe and be on the train to Florence by 9:30 tomorrow morning! I'm not as tired as I thought I would be and I think I'm in for the night as everything seems pretty closed right now, so this may actually happen. Will let you know tomorrow anyway. As long as I have internet, I will be posting every night through Sunday. Then I'll worry about the essay due Tuesday. And NaNoWriMo (in that order, Mom and Dad!).

Καληνύχτα and Buonanotte!

Marble Carving

Well it has been quite a long time since the last update. I wish I had more to say. There are only few pieces of news. First, it's still September weather in November here (a sympathetic shout out to all the poor sleet-enduring people in Williamstown, MA and elsewhere). I'm in the process of NaNoWriMo (linked, if you're interested) which is eating my life, as always, but I'm trying to hit my word counts by typing inside museums and cafes so I keep myself immersed in Athens. Last, classes have essentially doubled in their workload, so I'm suddenly having to take care of that as well. As such, there has been very little travel as of late, and very little worthy of updating.

However, tonight, I managed to remember to take my camera to marble carving class, so I thought I'd share some of that. Class meets for 3 hours on Tuesday evenings, and consists of myself, 3 other CYA students, about 7 or 8 Athenian citizens (depending on the day) and two teachers. The first class, we were each given a slab of marble and a few sheets of paper and told to design a relief sculpture. We could carve anything we wanted, with only minor suggestions on relative size and complexity. I chose to base my piece on a sculpture fragment I had seen in the Acropolis Museum (where we aren't allowed to take pictures) that had really inspired me.

The basic design, with the progress that's been made up through today. It's really slow work. I've carved out maybe half a centimeter's depth of the background fully (this picture was taken at the beginning of class) and that has taken well over 7 hours. Still, it's rewarding.

JK working on his piece, which currently consists of two heraldic horses. We take the chisel and hammer and chisel out tiny pieces of marble one hammer strike at a time. After three hours, it can really hurt your hands and wrist if you aren't careful.

BB working on her marble (a cat)

The primary instructor (I think his name is Dimitri. He barely speaks any English, but I think he's learning for our sakes) helping me with my piece. One tap of the hammer in his hand does approximately 4x the work of mine. He's extremely good at what he does, and manages to be encouraging, even when it's obvious that we've messed up.

More of the class, all hard at work. The woman in the foreground speaks English very well, and we're starting to make friends with her as we're all at about the same skill level.

A very talented member of the class who speaks no English and is working on a 3-dimensional limestone carving.

Another man, who is also working in 3-dimensions. Not only is he amazing at carving, and does he speak English pretty well, he also baked brownies and brought them to the class tonight! I'm hoping to return the favor before the classes end.

DD, the third CYA student, working at his marble (his hand is almost as steady as the instructor's!) which is an octopus.

BB has to date used more different tools than the rest of us combined. She has used the regular chisel, a smaller, fine chisel, an enormous serrated chisel, and as of today, some heavy-duty sandpaper.

After the class, the two instructors always serve drinks and refreshments. It's incredibly sweet of them to serve wine to everyone after such a long, intense class. I wish I could stay and hang out with them more, but three hours is already a very long time to put off homework. The two instructors are in the blue shirt (Dimitri?) and in the white shirt (I think his name is Giorgos, but again, I'm not sure.)

Impromptu picture of the CYA group!

So, that's the scoop in Athens these days. The bombs you may have heard about in the news didn't really disturb the city at all. It seems that such protests are relatively run-of-the-mill here and no one gets too worked up about them. We were advised to maybe-possibly stay away from the embassy for a few days, but that was the extent of it. The incidents seem to have basically fallen out of the public memory already, or been reduced to jokes. 

I will try to update more frequently again soon. I have a friend studying in Istanbul coming to visit this weekend, so I'll be forced to go out and do things again, so updates should happen then!

Καληνύχτα!