Art, Art, Art...

When in Florence, pose like a goofball in Pope Leo X's room!!

There are not words to describe the last few days. I just returned from the Uffizi Gallery, one of the three unfathomable art galleries here in Florence. Yesterday, I went to the gallery at Pallazo Vecchio, another incredible gallery. This place is just saturated with art!!

I’ll recap the last couple days since I haven’t blogged in a few:

Monday, we began our Italian language classes. Having never taken a foreign language class, I was truly thrown for a loop. Our two teachers, Elena and Sara, are very kind and helpful, though. They speak almost always in Italian, but then switch to English if we don’t understand. Honestly, I have picked up on more than I thought I would have after three days. The things I don’t understand usually have to do with “conjugating verbs,” which everyone else seems to know everything about except me, but like I said, it’s because I never took a foreign language. I can piece together and understand most of what they say in the classroom, but when it comes to speaking the language myself, it is another matter entirely.

Also on Monday, a group of us hiked up to Piazza Michelangelo, which is located on a hill overlooking the city of Florence. We had to walk a LOOOONG way and ascend a few hundred stairs, but the vista from atop the hill made the trek well worth the effort. On top of the hill was also a still-functioning monastery and church originally established in the 5^th century. In the lower picture is my friend, Reilly, and myself.

After class on Tuesday, some of us went to Palazzo Vecchio, one of the Medici family’s residences during their 300-year reign over Florence’s political scene. It has also been the town hall of Florence since the Medicis assumed power. Our tour guide led us up some secret stairways into the private apartments of Francesco de’ Medici, where he had constructed a system of secret doors and hidden panels built into his shrine to the four elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.

This is a painting I know I have seen in a textbook of alchemists trying to turn lead into gold. Francesco was himself an alchemist, being in the painting on the lower right.

The coolest room in the Palazzo was the Great Hall, a 50 m long, 30 m tall and wide mammoth of a room. The Medicis used it as their living room (imagine that!) and their ballroom for special occasions. The room is lined with several sculptures, one by Michelangelo. The walls are covered by six gigantic frescoes of Italian battles dating to the 16^th century. The ceiling is covered with scores of paintings on wood panels, surrounded by wooded frames covered in gold leaf. Our guide told us that 200,000 gold coins were melted down to make enough gold leaf to cover all of the frames. Vesari, the architect of Palazzo Vecchio, devised a revolutionary system of suspending the ceiling by using the paintings themselves to counter the weight of the roof. It is an old idea nowadays, but Vesari invented the system with this building. This picture does no justice to the vastness of the room.

I became REALLY excited when I found Leo X’s private rooms! Leo X was a Medici who was elected Pope in [1512]. I remember discussing his impact a lot in European History with Mr. Cook, back in High School. The Palazzo had an entire room dedicated to him and his impact on the City-State of Florence. 

And last, but CERTAINLY not least, today we visited the Uffizi Gallery, the oldest museum in the world. I counted at least twelve paintings that I had seen in previous fine arts and/or history textbooks. We got to see Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and La Primavera (Spring), da Vinci’s Adoration of the Magi, and Gentileschi’s Judith and Holofernes among thousands of other paintings and hundreds of sculptures, both of Antiquity and the Renaissance. Unfortunately, Caravaggio’s The Sacrifice of Isaac was on loan to a museum in France. L And you all know how I feel about Caravaggio…

The net worth of the art collection in this building has to equal billions of Euros! It was unfortunate that we had to hurry through in order to see all of the masterpieces, but with a collection that large, we had no choice. It is honestly on par with the Louvre in Paris.

To sum up, what I have seen in the past two days far outweighs my life previously on the artistic importance scale by a LONG shot. I am truly blessed to be in a place like this that appreciates art to this degree. Next Thursday, we will visit the Accademia gallery, where Michelangelo’s David and more priceless works are kept.

Tomorrow, I’ll try to talk more about day-to-day life for me and things like gelato and pizza. :-)

Mass and the Medicis

When in Florence, eat your first authentic Italian pizza in 10 years. Mmmmmm…

This morning, I attended Mass at the Florence Cathedral, one of the most beautiful buildings I’ve ever seen.

Because I showed up early, they allowed me to sit in the choir stalls near the high altar. All of the chairs were full in the nave by the time Mass began, making me feel rather lucky that I got to be up so close among a few hundred people.

The music during this Mass was absolutely glorious. Both the prelude and postlude were exciting, loud 20^th century organ pieces. This church was unique (as far as I know) because a lot of the music was sung by a volunteer choir which practices during the week. Yes, this is typical in US Protestant churches, but I figured that in a refined Roman Catholic church in Italy, that honor would be reserved for special choirs of monks or nuns. It was a very small choir. But because they sang only in unison and because in a cathedral, sound carries so well, they did not need amplification. I definitely felt the Holy Spirit’s presence in the music of today’s mass at the Florence Duomo.

For lunch, I enjoyed my first Italian pizza with some friends. Of course, it’s different than we’re used to in America, but in a GOOD way. J

In the evening, we took an art tour of Florence, when we learned a ton about the city’s history and artists during the Renaissance. The Renaissance began in Florence, so families like the Medicis and artists like Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Botticelli literally changed the world from Florence. I got to see where Amerigo Vaspugi (whom America is named after) is buried, all the Medici’s residences in Florence, and Ghiberti’s Doors of Paradise.

The most interesting thing we saw today was the Church of the Holy Spirit, where Da Vinci and Michelangelo secretly learned human anatomy at night by dissecting dead bodies. Because their good friend was a friar in the church, they were illegally allowed them to cut up the bodies before they were buried in the crypt. It was horrible, but we would not have the brilliant, exceptionally proportional sculptures and paintings were it not for their unconventional, morbid practice. And besides, the only difference now is that the bodies are preserved.

I begin my language classes in the morning, so I should get to bed. Ciao!

Gelato is like frozen heaven.

When in Florence... stare at the giant head of David in the corner of the room.

8 September 2012

Today, it hit me that I was in Florence. This is the city where Michelangelo, da Vinci, and the rest of the Ninja Turtles worked, walked around, frequented restaurants, got in fights, etc. It realized this while I was walking through a tiny pedestrian-only cobblestone street looking up at the 500+ year-old buildings. God has truly blessed me with the opportunity of being here.

I can tell that getting used to walking EVERYWHERE is going to be a challenge for me. I took a long walk through the city for a couple hours after our orientation and it killed me. Everything we do is around a 20-minute walk from our hotel. Don't get me wrong--I'm excited for the opportunity to lose weight, be healthy, and not drive a car for a few months. But it's just gonna be a while before I can just keep going and going.

Tomorrow night, we will have an art tour where we will get to see some of the main artistic opportunities that Florence has to offer. Man, am I excited!

Florence, Day 1

When in Florence – Day 1

When in Florence, finding an ATM is like trying to find Waldo!

Other than that, today was REAL chill. We just flew into Pisa, drove to Florence, and had the whole afternoon to do whatever, so I walked around with my roommate Alex to find some food, got stared down by a COP when we loitered on the stoop of the police station (How were we sposed to know it was a police station?), and then I took a glorious nap before dinner.

Like we did in London, after dinner we just walked around the city. I think this will become one of my favorite past-times. 

6 Sept, 2012

6 September, 2012

When in London. . . get a cheesy picture in a telephone booth!

I knew it was going to be a great day when I woke up with “No Place Like London” from Sweeney Todd ringing through my head. After a good ol’ English breakfast, complete with hot-chocolate, our group went on a sight-seeing bus tour of London.

Our tour guide’s name was Heather and she was a HOOT. We learned a ton about the city, its founding, and even some random trivia, such as the fact that one can buy anything at Herrod’s, supposedly the world’s most famous department store. A prince from somewhere once bought an elephant there in the 1980s. We took some group pictures at Buckingham Palace and Tower Bridge, complete with the Paralympic rings. My favorite part of the tour was seeing old London, including Fleet Street, which prompted me to sing, of course…

We ended up in Covent Gardens, a farmers market that dates back centuries. Streets around the square have names like Poultry street, Milk street, etc., because back in the day, that was where those particular markets were located. It’s still a functioning farmer’s market too (shout out to my local-shopping friends!!)

A friend and I spent the afternoon in the National Gallery, where we saw Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, da Vinci’s Madonna of the Rocks, and my favorite, Caravaggio’s Last Supper, among thousands of other priceless works. The best part was that it was free!

For the evening, I went and saw Les Misérables! Those of you who have been around me recently know that I just finished reading the novel Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo. It’s the best story in the world, as far as I am concerned, because it’s all about grace! The show was absolutely phenomenal. And because I got a student discount, I paid £27.50 instead of £65 for a floor seat in the 10^th row!

I think I could honestly live in London. It was that impressive to me in SO many aspects. Something is inherently awesome when you can look up and see a building four times older than our country. Don’t worry though—moving here will have to be a few years down the road…

We’re headed to Florence in the a.m.! But I’ll see you again, London!

When in Rome (or London), pretend you know your way around, rather than asking.
[Hey, it worked...]

Well, I have arrived in Europe. Not yet Italy--that will come on Friday.

Currently, I am fighting back sleep, as I got none on the flight. Most of our group of 45 students have arrived. I am one of only 10 males in the group, which will DEFINITELY make for an interesting dynamic. Most of them seem pretty chill, so I don't think I'll have ANY trouble making friends.

Our hotel for the next two nights is in Chelsea, right behind the Chelsea Football Club stadium (shout out to Brandt Whittenburg and Elaine Jetton). It made me think of my friend, Chelsea (Rose) DeVegas. :-)