Siena

                                                               Siena and more Steps.

I'm starting to be troubled as to how elders get around.  I am practically on my knees by mid day, looking for a cafe when passing me on the impossible cobble stones is a 4'2" older women with a white plastic bag loaded with fresh veggies and fruit and meat.  Passing me with a miserable look on her face.  I know Italians love their country but I think their sworn a secrete oath to not to show it on their faces.  Seriously how do people manage these stairs every day.  I would become a recluse in my apartment if I lived here. These are a few hundred steps to the DomoHere we have another powerful majestic tower piercing the sky- it's starting to sound like I've taken my vocabulary from one of those romance novel you know the ones that always have a buff man and a desperate women on the cover.
                                                                                             A few more pillars.
Some pillars and a staggeringly beautiful floor. I believe I read it took 200 years to finish the floor of this Domo. 
                                                                                              A few more pillars.
                                                                                                   The Domo

This incredible structure is white and green marble.  It's so phenomenal. I'm running out of adjectives to properly describe how I feel about what I'm seeing.
                                                                                                 Michaelangelo

When I heard there were a statues of Michaelangelo's in this Domo it sparked my interest.  To be honest I might have passed on it, which would have been a shame. My reason for passing is I've seen enough churches and most of these cities are also outdoor museums.  However this Domo is worth seeing, if you see nothing else in Siena see this. I did not take pictures of the floors in the back of the cathedral but the work is not to be believed.  The pictures are some -what depressing, one of the famous inlaid panels is the "Slaughter of the Innocents".  It's not a joy to look at in fact as I was standing looking at it an English man next to me said "why do they make everything so depressing?".  Who wants to look at babies being slaughtered  (we were both looking)? I said "it's fear - it controls the masses.  It just works, look at the history of the world". He looked at me and said "I'm afraid your right". We both laughed at his choice of words.

I love this artists work I love it with such a deep appreciation it brings me to tears.  I'm heading back to Roma just to see work of his that I miss the first time around. I can't believe what I'm about to say - I'm a Michaelangelo groupie.  Truly I've never admired anyone to the extent that I would follow them around - but clearly I am doing that (hundreds of years to late).  Perhaps if everything is happening at the same time ( some say it is so let's play with it) then I'm in fact stalking Michaelangelo.  For some reason that did not come out right.

Buona Notte

San Gimignano and Volterra

San Gimignano is a city of towers, it once had more towers and churches then homes.  The towers were for ovdious reasons "invasion" but they were also used within the walls sort of like a Romeo and Juliet story when the families fought amongst each other. I love this town it sits on a hill tip and on a clear day you can see the snow capped mountains in the distance.  Yes that's snow, not clouds.   

This is just a view outside the town wall.  I wanted to go to the Leonardo Di Vinci Museum.  When I asked where it was here is what I was told.  "Well madam It may be open or it may be closed, sometimes it says it's open but it's closed and sometimes it is only open for the mornings and sometimes it put a schedual out front but it very rarely follows it". I found the museum and it was closed.

Here are a few of the many towers.  It's amazing to see such a small town with so many towers.  I was told that a lot of them were destroyed during the war.  I was going to say "what war", since the history of most of these towns is a waring history but I refrained since I knew it would take me way off course and fill me with more information then I needed at the moment. 

The day I was leaving town was market day.  It was great to see all the amazing trucks filled with all sorts of things from great food to cashmere sweaters.  There is not enough room on a plane to take back all the things I find I can't live without. I'm refraining. One piece of advice don't take a lot of stuff on these trips it way to much schlepping.

This market had great olives. You could smell them from a distance they sort of pulled you to them.  I wanted to buy a bunch of different ones but how in gods name would I ever get them back or even to the next town.

The town of Volterra.  This town is over 3000 years old. The road to it curls up a steep mountain with views that took my breath away. I had lunch here a hearty vegetable soup with bread- of course.  It was delicious. Off to Siena.

Ciao

                                                  

Leaving Florence

I"m leaving Florence for the Tuscany country side - I will have to navigate roads that barely fit my little car let along the throngs of people that stroll on the two inch sidewalks.  Question - Were the people in the Middle Ages tiny? Their sidewalks and their streets are!  Their places of worship however would fit the jolly green giant and his extended veggie family, comfortably.  I manages to get from the airport to Tuscany don't ask me how......

Monteriggione - it's a fortress town completely with two churches.  Imagine my surprise.  Seriously this is a tiny town which housed the occupants of the region during wars - which from what I read were many. Actually I guess you needed two churches just in case one wasn't working you always had another. Choices are good especially when it comes to getting someone up there to listen.

I loved this town.

A view of the country side outside the safety of the walls of Monteriggione.  

Off to another hill top ......................

Domo/ Arno/ Pitti

Domo
I decided I had enough with Churches one more splendid palace and I would faint from over stimulation.  Well I didn't, faint that is.  I went out yesterday to just walk in the torrential rain just to get a idea of what everyone says is an easy city to navigate (possibly true if you had a boat). I had tea at the Savoy and watched people try to get their upturned umbrellas back to the 

turned down positio

n so necessary to keep them dry. It was just to windy to keep an umbrella open correctly. Some gave up and walked around with umbrellas that exposed the spine.  I lingered over tea for as long as I could and then ventured out, my choices were to walk in the rain or go into the stores or into the churches. Decision made - the dollar being $1.30 to the Euro was enough to keep me out of the stores.  Walk in the rain? No. Church? God, yes.  I went into the Domo.  As I write this I'm trying to remember what it looks like - my mind is blending all the churches into one.  Thank god I take pictures.  I have to stop here and tell you I never say "thank god" or "God, yes" or any phrases that have to do with "god".  Since I been in Italy I've used the word "god" all the time. Talk about the (big) power of suggestion.

Pitti Palace (it's a pity it's not mine)

I decided to go to the Pitti Palace - it's where the royality lived.  Life as it was all those years ago along with th

e amazing collection of art. With all the art they collected it surprising there ws enough room for them.  In most of these places you can't take pictures.  They say it's to presere the art.  I say it to sell the books, posters and such that happens to in every church and museum, let's face it if the work has not been destroyed with candle fumes, fireplaces or pollution or any other abuse it's had to face over the hundreds of years photo's sans flash couldn't be that big a problem.  I'm open to be educated on this subject.

I was asked very nicely to not take photo's in the Palace - there were no signs so I didn't know, but I guess I should have since it's pretty much the rule for the museums.  Anyway the walls are all covered with art, top to bottom. Who are all these people? 

Walking along the Arno River I'm again amazed at how beautiful this city is.  You can easily bring yourself to the time when Florence flourished with trade and art.  There are few contrast in architeture, in fact I can't say I've seen any modern buildings as of yet.  

Let's talk about the real stuff the sorbet - I'm completely stuck on lemon and rasberry.  The chocolate (candy not ice cream) with hazlenuts or almonds is sold like they use to sell tea - slabs. I've resisited so far but that's coming to an end today.  At the rate I'm going - eating bread at almost every meal, pasta (not at every meal), gelatto, cold cuts ( yes they serve ham and cheese for breakfast and I eat both -mind you I never eat meat - well that's gone out the window with a ton of other things). Anyway at the rate I'm eating Florientine food I will arrive home looking like a meat ball. I'm off in two day to the Tuscany countryside and will probably eat more bread and pasta. 

Florence

Florence, Fiume Arno

Hanging off the Ponte Vecchio are many shops, as usual I find something I can't quite believe like buildings hanging off the sides of a narrow bridges supported by what looks like wood or it could be metal beams (whatever) keeping these houses from falling into the fast moving Arno. What is the Feng Shui of this?  Yes! Italians do have their own form of Feng Shui although it doesn 't have a formal name there are many rituals, myths and consequences. 

The Ponte Vecchio has been like this for oh many hundreds of years (1345 - 1564). I have a lot of fears  one of which is living in a cottage hanging over a swift moving river -  I could never - although I must admit I do live in southern California.  The weather as you can tell from the photo is anything but sunny California weather.  It's not cold but it's damp and it hasn't stopped raining since I arrived. Here's what I think Florence is saying "If you can stand the weather come and stay for awhile". It's a test - not quite an advanced chemistry test but a test non-the- less.

Ponte Vecchio

Yesterday I went to two famous museums in Florence.  Don't do it, it's useless unless your able to see something and say "Okay I saw that" and them move on.  Not me I have to stand in the front on the side in the back taking in the soft relaxed figure of a boy who conquered his fear.  My advise is enjoy one of these amazing museums at a time.  By the time I went through the Academy and the Uffizi I was exhauste.  It's way to much beauty to take in.  Staggering sculptures tower the viewer.  How about David?  I had thought I would cry when I went into the Sistine Chapel instead by the time I got there I was just stunned.  Here in Florence I went directly to the Academy to see David and I cried.  Well okay I chocked back tears - twice.  I had to walk away and try and look at other work which I managed to do poorly through blurred eyes.  Even though I saw photo's of this sculpture thousands of times nothing could prepare me for what was in front of me.

Did you know that Michaelangelo asked the pope if he could have "that piece of discarded marble" for his own personal use? He was working on commissions and deadlines but he just happened to find this discarded piece of marble that had a giant David written all over it.  Who discards gigantic pieces of marble?  "Okay Nino let's let this one go it's just not big enough".  "Fine let's just chuck it over here behind the Domo". How do you discard a piece of marble, it had to be enormous I mean BIG.  Okay I'll try and stop but really it said "discarded piece of marble" on the little blurb in front of the statue.  Oh god it's so easy for me to find a bone - hummm maybe I shouldn't say god in this town how about "Oh darn" not quite as affective but a bit safer - who knows.

Art in Roma

Borghese Museum

Wow - this is a city to rival all cities.  Yesterday I went to the Borghese Museum and was immediately overwhelmed.  It doesn't take much.  But in the case of Roma's museums being overwhelmed is part of the price you pay to get in, (some museums are free so the overwhelm is also free, just when I think nothing is free).  This was the very first Museum ever, it set quite a standard .  It was raining and I loved the feeling of the moist air so I stayed outside for the hour or so before I was to enter the Museum. At that time I went over to a small office by the formal gardens, there was no admittance to the gardens it was guarded by big beautiful gates with even bigger locks. I went up to the desk and asked the guard questions about the garden, she couldn't answer in words because she spoke Italian and I speak really broken Italian we managed to communicate, thank god for hands.  The guard invited me to stroll through one of the gardens and so I have some wonderful pictures. The avery in the center was once home to many tropical birds.  The park like setting of the museum lulled me away from  the wild and crazy city sounds.  Of all the wonderful pieces in this museum the "Apollo and Daphne" piece was my favorite sculpture and "Sacred and Profane Love" and "Danae" were my favorite painting. It was a rainy day and the museum was filled with every nationality, hot, no photo's, no place to sit, miles and miles of an art collection that rivals almost any I've ever seen - That's because I hadn't been to St Peters yet.  Speaking of St Peters  it curious that there is any marble to quarry in Italy, I mean everything in this massive church is marble, pink, black, white, brown, pale blue and the famous yellow - there are almost as many colors as gelato flavors. 

Atrium at The Borghese

St Peters is so big and so jammed packed with great pieces it's almost impossible to capture with words or photo's.  Can you imagine wanting to live amongst such splendor?  I can't, it would reduce me to a grain of sand which it was already managing to do and I was only there for a few hours.  I would bore you to tears if I explained what I had to go through to get to the Sistine Chapel it's a maze of halls that display an endless collection of art - it's daunting. By the time I climbed yet another stair case and walked down another hall I was over this palace. I just wanted to get to the chapel. I forged ahead ignoring everything finally arriving at the famous Chapel. This is a masterpiece and since it's been cleaned and brought back to it's original life it vibrates.  This is not a dark and gloomy chapel but a bright colorful and explosive depiction of the bible.  I got a seat and just soaked in the amazing work of this artist.  I thought I would cry when I saw this work but I went beyond tears to a sort of awe that left me speechless (until now).

Here's a bone - While I appreciate the ability to have such a massive collection under one roof or country - with all the poverty in the world wouldn't selling a few of these pieces and setting up schools and farms help the people more then prayers (which are hard to eat)  Although when I think about it if this god is so used to such splendor why would he leave to check out what's happening in the rest of the world.  Why would he want to sit with the hungry and the waring tribes when he could spend eternity contemplating himself as man sees him. 

The only people who get to see this daunting collection are people with money.  I know I'm not the first to suggest this but really it is a bit overwhelming and absolutely impossible to see this collection in it's entirety in one or twelve visits. So maybe just sell some of the less observed pieces some of the pieces in the vaults or in the back rooms ( there are many back rooms).  A few pieces here and there might feed or educate thousands of people. I'm open to any suggestion you may have on this topic.  In fact I'm open to any suggestions you have on any topic. 

My foot which I twisted 24 hours before I left for Italy is getting better each day, It's just that I cant walk as much as I would like and this is making me a little crazy.  I don't want to push myself and yet there is so much to see. My bone on this topic is why did I twist my foot right before a trip to Italy?  

Finds - A little tea house at the foot of the Spanish Steps - great scones. It's called Babington's and it's been there since 1893 so it's not just me that requires tea.  

Fashion "bone"  -  I don't get the very puffy jackets and coats - What am I missing? I even tried one on and I looked like the dough-boy's girlfriend.

Please feel free to contact me to share your Italian experiences or to disagree with my stuff.