Musvei Vaticani

I was fortunate to enter the Vatican Museum at last for free! Usually 14 euros, the museum is free to the public the last Sunday of most months ( i say most because i wanted last month and it never opened). This time however, the line stretched far into Rome and the wait was about 1.5 hours. I entered at 1220p just ten minutes before they stop letting people in before closing at 2pm. The museum is a maze of rooms and gardens. My first priority was the Sistine Chapel and it took an hour (all the time i had) to reach it! On the way I saw wonderful tapestries, marble statues, paintings, and exquisite furniture. I really liked a hall dedicated to paintings of parts of Italia and a round table inlaid with several different colors of marble. There is so much gold in the Vatican i bet it could feed a few impoverished countries for decades. It is almost too ornate. Vatican city has its own post office, radio station, and the most beautiful gardens. I was not allowed into the main section but from the windows of the museum I saw it was exactly where i wished i could be.
I had about 1.5 hours in the museum and was very content with that. It is another world within the Vatican walls.

Florence Part II

I broke for lunch in another piazza where restaurants boasted tables under tents (and spraying things like the super market!) to keep us cool. I had pasta bolognese and 'Coke Light' as i watched the world go by. It was delicious and just the burst of energy i needed for the second part of my day. After i had digested, I meandered down a pedestrian street full of shops to the Palazzo Vecchio. Once a government building for meetings and city council members lodgings, it now is a favorite for tourists because it is surrounded by Neptune fountain, replicas of famous marble statutes, and has an underground tunnel to the Uffizi Art Gallery next door. Nearby is the Ponte Vecchio which is the oldest bridge in Florence and the only one to survive WWII bombings. Centuries ago it held butchers that dumped pig pieces & blood into the river, but now the bridge is lined with diamond cutters and jewelers. I spend about an hour here window shopping and dreaming about all the gorgeous jewels. I know what my engagement ring is going to look like after that experience! It was really fun.
My last stop of the day was the Uffizi Art Gallery. This museum look almost an hour to get into because it has over 45 rooms of beautiful paintings and drawings, hallways full of marble busts and sculpture, and shows works from the most famous artists in the world. I really enjoyed the drawings and might take drawing classes in the near future, but my favorite part was the huge surprise I had. I walked into a room full of people and saw Botticellis Birth of Venus! His other famous painting 'Primavera' was in the same room and they both are so amazing in person. I had no clue they were there. The gallery also has works from DaVinci, Michaelanglo, Caravaggio including Bacchus, Raphael, and so many painting of madonna and child ( i was getting tired of that). It took me a few hours to get through the gallery but wow, what an experience. What a day really. I had to catch a train in the early evening so my last hour in Florence was spent shopping in the open market for gifts, eating a panini and gelato from street vendors, and thinking so THIS is why people fall in love with Italy. I had a great day in Florence and feel truly lucky to have such a wonderful experience.

Florence, Firenze, Florens

Well I think I have discovered my new favorite Italian city, Florence. In an effort to forget my terrible weekend prior, I escaped to Florence early Sat morning via the 1.5 hour train. There is a calmness in the city that is so much more enjoyable than the feel of Rome. As i walked to the first art muesum I found an open air market near Piazza S Lorenzo where people were selling leather, scarves, italia gear, and household goods. I wanted to peruse but i knew i would have wait so i hurried along. Just before 10a I arrived at the Galleria dell'Accademia and passed my 40 min wait by talking to Minnesotan law students. When i got inside, most of the artwork is from churches and convents. Paintings on wood or canvas with gold inlay were the general theme. But then as I entereda new room, I saw marble statues along the walls leading to the infamous David by Michaelangleo at the end of the corridor. He is BEAUTIFUL and HUGE (17 feet)! This piece of marble is really mesmorizing and NOT because its of a nude male but because of the detail Michaelangelo included. You can see veins sticking out of his hands and behind his knees and he seems alive. Michaelangelo is known to have said that he 'released' figures out if living stone. Also interesting about the David is that Michaelanglo made his head and hands proportionally bigger so that the viewer from below would perceive a normal body. This guy was talented.
After that I headed to the Duomo or cathedrale of Florence. This church reminds me of candy land for the outside is decorated in light green and pink stone. Nearby, there is an octangonal structure and a tall bell tower with similar decorations. The octogon is called the Battistero and is where supposedly Dante was christened. I went into the church for about an hour to rest and to pray. This church (until the ones in Rome) is simple on the inside and seems more for its original purpose. In the basement, there is an archeological dig going on which i didnt check out. The Duomo was really something though, I have really beautiful pictures to share.
More in pt II coming up!

An artsy side of Roma

A very warm evening in Roma, I decided to find the Piazza Navona home to the Nettuna Fountain and art lovers. I strolled down via Pietra by sketches and paintings of famous Roman momuments and stubbled upon a large open area full of people, artists easels, musicians, and carnies. Piazza Navona is known as the best place to buy local artwork and it showed. People were drawing charictures and architecture there on the spot- and the talent was visible everywhere you looked. Just north of the piazza there is a fun toy shop. It hosted dolls, cars, and wooden and metal toys that may be centuries old. I had fun perusing through the different kinds of toys as the owner had a watchful eye on my bag - schmuk. After that, I walked through the Piazza Fiamette where a friend of my cousin has a restaurant. I wanted to introduce myself but lo! I picked the only day of the week when it was closed = ( So I went to the Tevere river instead and crossed the Umberto I bridge that has an excellent view of St Pietro cathedral to the west. I followed the murky green water, passed several house boats and animals (even a beaver!) up to the Piazza de Popolo to find a great surprise.

Carvaggio was an Italian baroque painter, who was the most revolutionary artist of his time and the best exemplar of naturalistic painting in the early 17th century. Originally named Michelangelo Merisi, Caravaggio was born September 28, 1573, in the Lombardy hill town of Caravaggio, from which his professional name is derived. Orphaned at age 11, he was apprenticed to the painter Simone Peterzano of Milan for four years. At some time between 1588 and 1592, Caravaggio went to Rome and worked as an assistant to Giuseppe Cesari, also known as the Cavaliere d'Arpino, for whom he executed fruit and flower pieces (now lost). I was fortunate to see some of his famous work in a church off the Piazza de Popolo this week = ) Many people come to Rome just to see the sights where his work still hangs. They are beautiful but due to my lack of art knowledge and the fact the mass kicked me out of the church, i dont have much to say about them. Google Carvaggio and decide for yourself!