A Million and One Madonnas

Today we got up relatively early (at 8:30) in order to  be at the Uffizi Gallery for our 10am ticket time.  It's nearby, so the walk was short.  The museum itself, however, is a gargantuan maze of 15th and 16th century art.  And you don't really realize what a maze it is until you have lugged yourself up three flights of stairs, waited until pretty much the last minute before heading to a restroom, and then found out that the only one is four flights down in the basement.  (Well OK, there was one tiny one on the 2nd floor with a long line; I elected to go to the large one on the bottom floor).  My map indicated restrooms on each floor, so first I checked out every inch of the third floor before asking and being directed to the bottom floor.  And then I began following the toilet arrows.  These directed you back and forth, in and out, of every installation the gallery had, before reluctantly leading you to stairs.  Finally I got down to the ground floor, but still more arrows:  through  five segments of the gift shop, through the entrance, down another flight of stairs, over several meters of very uneven stone... to FINALLY the bathroom.  I admit to muttering some pretty ungenerous things the whole circuitous way down to the basement.

This will give you a good gauge of my refinement level I suppose, but seeing at least a million paintings of the Madonna and baby Jesus are not really my idea of riveting entertainment.  It doesn't seem as if artists were able to depict much emotion until the 16th century, making most of the 15th work look flat and homogeneous.   It is true that there is much more to the Uffizi than that, but it's set up to have you see the earlier work before your tenacity is rewarded with Botticelli's The Birth of Venus.

Here are a few samples:

 The comment made by someone viewing this:  "That's pretty hard to do".  Gasp.

                              Remember Sesame Street?  One of these is not like the others....

Here is a nice exception:  this is Madonna With Child and Two Angels by Filippo Lippi painted c.1465

View of the Uffizi corridor, third floor

I'll leave you with pictures of another sort of art:

Panna Cota

                                                                           Tiramisu                        

Florence Pt. 1

On Thursday morning June 30 we left Venice via a Eurostar train for Florence.  The train was crowded, but fast.  We chose Class 2 thinking that there might be fewer Americans  and more Italians, but I'm not sure that turned out to be the case.  "Where 'ya from?"   "Newark.  You?"   At any rate, we had assigned seats and slept pretty much the whole way. 

Once in Florence we decided to take a taxi because we were tired, hot and I didn't really know the way to walk to the hotel: two minutes ride = 14 euros.  Not the best bargain imaginable.

Because the internet had been closed to us for so long, I didn't have access to the hotel address and so had to walk around the Duomo  rather aimlessly looking for a sign.  Eventually, after enlisting some help, we found our B&B.

It's called "A Florence View" and I would say it's aptly named.  What do you think?

                                This is what we see from our window: the Baptistry and the Duomo

                                                                            Our room

                     Huge wardrobe, handpainted                          

                                                                Painting on the ceiling

                                              Modern bathroom, looks as if just renovated

Breakfast, delivered to the room 

This is just about my ideal place to stay:  plenty of history, pretty, comfortable, the people who run it are great, and it's a bargain at less than 100 euros a night.  The only downside I see at this point is some noisy revelry going on past midnight outside (the windows block a lot of noise but not all of it; earplugs took care of the problem entirely), and there are three flights of stairs to climb... but the owners are so nice about the luggage, insisting on carrying it up for you. 

After demolishing the marvelous breakfast, we walked down towards the Arno, passing boutiques with famous names spashed all over them... a playground for the rich, I guess.  There was a Rolex store with people actually in it, buying things.  We got to the Ponte Vecchio just as a fairly large thunder storm started unloading, so we hung out in the museum until the worst of it had passed and then bought some

thin plastic ponchos just for insurance.

                                                                          The Ponte Vecchio

 Just like mushrooms, the guys with umbrellas and ponchos spring up at the first drops of rain: "How much?"  "Five euros"  "Forget it"  "WAIT... seven euros for TWO"  "Two?  OK"  (while I'm fumbling for the money, he makes a deal with the next customer for three euros)  "Wait a minute!  Here's six."  And he says "OK".  Probably he gets them for pennies, but it's also a rough way to make a living...  waiting for the rain. 

We found our way back to the Duomo and because the rain temporarily drove the tourist masses "underground", we got in quite rapidly.  It's very eyecatching on the outside but much more subdued inside.  The space itself is huge, however;  it can accomodate 20,000 people at one time!!  I am happy to report that there were considerably fewer than that when I was there.  The voluminous interior dates from the 15th century, and some beautiful stained glass from that time as well.  The flashy exterior, however, was done in the 19th century;  it replaced the original which was destroyed in the late 1500's.  Three centuries is a long time to wait for "clothes".

                                                                 The Duomo Interior

After a bit of blogging, we wandered around the area where the B&B is located (Centro Storico) looking for specific places to eat that had been recommended by TripAdvisor.  After several wrong turns and the #1 rated place rather snottily telling us that they were booked solid up until the day we leave, we found a pretty good place:  La Bussola.  We sampled the soup de Mare (unbelievably excellent... mussels and clams in a garlic and tomato  broth, then shared a really thick kind of pasta cut into triangles in pesto, followed by prawns in a rich sauce... all with Proseco and red wine.  The only problem really was not being able to fit in dessert .

       Goodnight from the Duomo

Goodbye Venice!

A few last bits:

Here are a couple of photos taken one night after dinner.  The location is very close to our apartment.

And now for the rest of what we saw of the Biennale.  Again, it will just be a taste of it...  plus I can't possibly post all of the related information such as artist's name and country of origin.  (Though, if it is important for you to know about specific pieces, email me and I'll get the info. to you).

This is the James Turrell room... brilliant!  He modifies your perception of space with only lighting.  Walking into it, you are convinced that you are about to walk into a wall, (that orange space is the portal).  Once through to the other side, the beautiful blue room emerges, but slowly because it seems as if you are surrounded by mist and nothing is defined... including the floor.  Loved this!!

And more:

                         A wonderful dragon made from inner tubes and hand-stitched together

                      

 Intricate wax sculptures...  candles!  Lit at the beginning of the exhibit and will continuously burn until November.  And yes, that one on the left is a candle too!!

From a room full of these huge and wonderful clay sculptures;  I believe the title of the entire assemblage was, "Now I Can Be With My Son".

This is a panel (and some closeups) of The Faces of One Thousand Warriors

Sculpture outside the Arsenale

 Wonderful, detailed sculptures

 Photography

We went to three outlying islands on our last day in the Venice area:

   Burano, famous for colorful buildings and lace

Tintoretto:  the first settlers in Venice were here 

 Murano, where the glassblowers produce magic plus copious amounts of souvenirs

The last evening

Mary (on the left) and Lillian wave goodbye as they waved hello one week ago

The week went by much too fast.

Active "e's" and the Cafe Florian

The lapse in blog entries cannot be attributed to sloth for once.  The "e's" in the air were apparently besieged again, and for three days we couldn't access the web. But now I am in Florence and at least in this location the "e's" are freely flowing (at the moment).

So let's see... what have you missed? Tons of walking around pretty much everywhere. One day Ulrika, Dawn and I braved San Marco Square in the midday... and sat down in the famous Florian Cafe to listen to the band and sip various palliative elixirs. I would say that this will be a once-in-a-lifetime event, since just listening to the music from a seated position incurs an 8 euro per person charge. But it felt somewhat elegant being there, and the people-watching was superb!

St. Mark's Square: we are facing the Basilica, which dates from the 11th century; the tower in the foreground is the Camponile, built in the 20th century to replace a lighthouse which burned down

                                             Marble portico surrounding the square

And the band plays on,,,

Of course, food continues to be a focal point.  We've had some good meals out, and also had a fine one in the apt. cooked by Lilian and Mary.

The next post will be the Biennale Pt. 2 and I can't even consider writing it up without a lot more sleep than I've had!  So, Good Night and let's hope that the "e's" get a good night's rest as well!!

An Italian Innovation

The kitchen of our apartment is pretty much standard except that there is a little washing machine behind one of the cabinets and also there is this:

This is a built-in dish drainer that can stay hidden behind cabinets and doesn't take up counter space.

Brilliant, eh??

                                                                            

Saturday: Mostly A Day Of Rest

I slept for many hours, which ate away a large chunk of the morning.  In the afternoon, Ulrika and I walked down to the zatere, bordering the Giudecca canal, and sat in an outdoor cafe for an hour or so.  There was some sort of big "doing" afoot, since as we watched, the parade of humanity began to look increasingly spruced up..  (And naturally all of this occurred on the one day I did not have any sort of camera at hand).  Women in long formal gowns, or shorter dresses, accompanied by well-suited men, walked around our viewing station... providing us with much to comment upon.  We became the Joan Rivers and Melissa of the Dorsoduro.  Eventually the fashion show people all moved to two large boats which I suspect would take them to some outlying island for a wedding.  Personally, I had never before seen so much obviously couture clothing;  it was like one giant art show which could be viewed by sitting on one's derriere while sipping a Gin and Tonic.  Perfecto!!

We had booked a dinner reservation for the reputedly good Al Casin dei Nobili, so at 7:30 we had a fine seat in their coveted outdoor section.  I was accompanied by Mary and Lilian; Ulrika had other plans.  Dinner was very good, although certainly not cheap.

Tomorrow my friend Dawn will get here, and we have all been much anticipating her arrival.

The Biennale, Day 1

Ulrika and I have begun our immersion into this fantasm of comtemporary art, La Biennale.  Yesterday (Friday) morning we got an early start and went to the Giardini.  On the way, there was a stop to get fruit:

The Giardini is a beautiful park where many countries have their own pavilions. It is an exhausting and mind-blowing trek to see all of them in one day, but somehow we managed to do it.  There was so much...  it will not be possible to show or even mention most of it.  But here is a little taste:

One of the main "streets"

The Korean Pavilion

This is called Self-Hatred; the molded image attacks the mold. 

And for the other side of it, La Pieta or Self-Love.

This Pavilion also contained a room with two really large framed mirrors on opposing  walls,  and smaller framed mirrors on the opposite opposing walls.  These all appeared to be completely blank until speakers would broadcast a tremendous crash with breaking glass, and simultaneously the mirrors would begin to show cracks and holes, and the smaller mirrors were heavily damaged (apparently) .  The mirrors look completely normal before the "crash", and completely "realistic" as shattered.

                                                                      The French Pavillion

 Called "Chance", the French Pavillion looks at the role that good luck or bad luck play in our lives.  The main room contains a huge metal apparatus which acts as a conduit for a continuous strand of paper(?) or teflon on which pictures of new-born babies have been printed.  An alarm goes off sporadically, the entire aparatus comes to a halt, and the face of the baby in a specified postition flashes on a large screen.  Perhaps this means  good luck or bad luck, but very randomly this one child has been singled out and will live with the consequences of this event for the rest of their lives.

In smaller side rooms flanking the main one, huge digital counters show the number of births and deaths that have occurred in a specific period of time.

                                                                               

                                         I wish I remembered which Pavillion this was in but I don't

     This was so beautiful to see, like an unbelievably long piece of oragami, made of what looked like very heavy waxed paper.    

Ethiopia

Closeup

    OK, so here's the interesting story about this.  A monk who saw himself as a healer spent his entire life drawing these beyond-intricate art pieces. And he did them to capture the devils and evil spirtis inhabiting people with problems (or maybe people who were seen by others as being problems).  The idea is that the spirits are trapped forever within the work and thus the person is cured.  This closeup shows the encased spirits.

                                            

      Country represented unknown, but this was interesting because it's a theatre for an Opera seen as an open collaboration between countries:  inclusive vs. exclusive.

    The stage is made of mirror.  "Illuminations" is  the theme of this year's Biennale.  There is a widespread use of mirror.

OK, this is getting really long, I know.  So here is just a taste of more without the explanation, for you just to see the images:

These "boats" with video and audio of waves was the Venetian entry, and very beautiful.

I will leave you with a couple of my favorite smaller details.  These are "assignments" in a classroom installation:

And that was only from the Giardini...  much more to come.  Go and get a good rest!  That is my plan as well.