Breakfast at the Museum

"See what I mean, how nothing bad could happen to you
in a place like this?"     —Breakfast at Tiffany's

My Holly Golightly place is an art museum, almost any art museum. Everywhere you look, creative beauty and genius overwhelm your senses, wrapping you in the cocoon of a world somehow better than the one outside. My favorite is the Uffizi in Florence; there, I feel strangely... home. The Vatican Museums are a close second, except they let too many people in at once.

I have no point behind this post really, except I was feeling emotionally vulnerable today, so I picked out my three favorite sculptures at the Vatican. When I lived in Rome, I'd go there very early in the morning, to beat the crowds. My scanner isn't great, and no photo ever captures the feeling of standing within touching distance, but maybe a little glimpse of their beauty will translate.

Here is my virtual "Breakfast at Musei Vaticani":

 
Photos ©A. Jokinen.
 

Reminiscences of Rome

Ahh, Rome, the eternal city.  Always evokes a myriad of pictures in my head, from Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck on a scooter, to Julius Caesar entering in triumph, to the belated Pope blessing folks on the steps of St Peter's, to the corny-but-delightful 50's movie "Three Coins in the Fountain", to the wonderful "Gladiator" of late fame.

I've been really fortunate in my life.  I got to spend my last semester of college studying in Rome.  As y'all know, my degree was in English Lit, but this final semester my curriculum was comprised of 3 Art History classes, daily "Italian 101" classes, and one "Film & Literature" class.

I had never studied a word of Italian before going, except for some tourist Italian tapes I had bought for survival, and an Italian dictionary, which by the end of the semester looked like someone had lovingly chewed on it.  Our Italian teacher was wonderful in that she not only went by the book and really gave us an intense class (we basically did two semesters' worth of Italian in one semester), but she also would help us in the questions that would crop up in our day-to-day life in Rome.  For example, I needed to find out how to ask for an ash-tray in a restaurant, "Posso avere un portacenere", etc. etc. Because, as anyone visiting Rome will soon find out, few people actually do or are willing to, speak English.  This is not due to a lack of desire or dislike for Americans — in fact, of all the European nations, I'd say the Italians love us best, and everyone has a relative or knows someone who has moved to the U.S. it seems. So knowing how to get understood in even broken Italian is imperative.  And people are really nice and appreciative of anyone who tries at least to speak the native tongue.

I had never had a single art history class either, and realized to my chagrin during this semester, my last,  that I would have loved to have minored in it.  My love of those classes was due in great part to our fabulous professor, Dr. James Callaghan.  Erudite, enthusiastic, and infinitely knowledgeable, Professor Callaghan would give us lectures and take us on field trips to see the actual works of art in their respective museums, churches, and palazzos in Rome, Florence, Venice, and Sienna.  I loved him, loved his classes, and lost my soul to the works of art, and to Italy.  Prof. Callaghan is currently the head of Study Abroad Programs at Philadelphia University, and I just know   he is still passing on that love of art to his lucky students.

So, this all being said, I'm going to continue my little 'traveller's guide to Italy' (see Post 1 and Post 2 on Florence) with a section on Rome and the Vatican.  I could do several postings on the subject, but I'm going to stick to the essentials   what to not miss, if you only have a few days instead of the years Rome warrants :) See next post.

~A

2 Days in Florence: Day 2

Alrighty, I did warn you in DAY 1, that Day 2, Uffizi Day, starts at an UNGODLY hour. I'll explain why in a sec.

Have breakfast, or grab a cappuccino and croissant really fast, and make sure that you get to the Piazzale degli Uffizi (the courtyard you went through on Day 1) no later than 7:15 am, 7 is better. The reason for this is that the Uffizi tickets are reserved months ahead of time, and the remainder of the tickets go on sale at 8:15 am. They let people into the ticket office in groups of 15 or so, and by 7 am there is already a line. If you get there by 7:15, chances are you'll actually get into the ticket office and Uffizi itself by 9:30ish. If you get there later than 7:15 the line stretches all around the courtyard, and chances are you'll be standing till noon, and then being told they have no more tickets for the day. I know. Stinks. But they make the rules, and you want to get there before the tour buses full of tourists get there (around 7:15) because then you'll have hundreds of people ahead of you in line. And the Uffizi cannot be missed. That is where the greatest treasures of Western Art reside — 90% of the paintings whose names you've ever heard of are in this museum. It's a pilgrimage, so the suffering of waiting in the chill is a rite of passage almost.

No guidelines for once you get inside the Uffizi — there is only one way through it really.  For me, the most amazing part of it was the Botticelli Room. You enter, and right there are Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera, each the size of a wall, and so unearthly beautiful. "Whiles I stood rapt in the wonder of it", to quote Macbeth, an overwhelming flood of emotion swept over me and tears just poured down my face. I'll never forget it.

My other delights in there were Leonardo's Annunciation, Michelangelo's Doni Tondo and Titian's Venus of Urbino, once called the "foulest, the vilest, the obscenest picture the world possesses" by Mark Twain. It also houses my all-time favorite, Fra Filippo Lippi's Madonna and Child with Angels, which I have on my wall at home. But these are only scratching the surface — everywhere you look, famous and incredible art stares back at you.
The paintings were in the Medici family collection, and the last of the Medici, Anna Maria Lodovica, donated the collection to the City of Florence with the caveat that the paintings should always reside in Florence, for its citizens to enjoy.

The Uffizi, once you get in there, will take you a few hours. Afterwards, have some lunch, and head north to the Galleria dell'Accademia, to visit Michelangelo's David and the Captives. If you're not 'arted out', you may want to stop by the Convento di San Marco a block away, and take in the beautiful Fra Angelico frescos on the walls of the monks' cells there. After all this art, it's probably a good idea to just stroll around the streets of Florence and take it all in.

There are numerous other worthwhile places to visit in Florence, but the must-sees are now satisfied. If you have more time to stay in Florence, great places to visit are the Brancacci Chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine with the Masolino and Masaccio frescoes, the church of San Lorenzo with Michelangelo's Medici tombs, and the market place right outside San Lorenzo, specializing in Florentian tooled leather and other leather goods, and the Bargello Museum with its sculptures, including Donatello's David and Michelangelo's Bacchus.

You can't go wrong in Florence — it is all wonderful and worthwhile, so enjoy your stay.

~A

2 Days in Florence: Day 1

My friend Mark of HyperLiterature is going on a whirlwind tour of Europe with his wife, Leigh.  I promised a few suggestions, and I thought I would start with my favorite city, Florence.

First things first, the only guidebook worth buying for Florence is the Eyewitness Travel Guides: Italy. (Or alternately, you may buy the same for Florence and Rome separately, but for a short trip, the Italy one is more than sufficient for both).

Firenze is a city where one could spend an eternity, and still not have seen everything — so full of history, art, and ambience is the city, that one day my dream is to live there.

If, however, one has two days to visit it, these are the "must-do" items in my book:

Day 1.

Check into your hotel.  You may have a hotel booked already, but my favorite in Florence is the Hotel Roma, which is near the railway station, overlooking the church of Santa Maria Novella. A four-star hotel in a historical palazzo, it has courteous service and nice amenities, and was not back-breakingly expensive when I last visited.  If you ask nicely, they may even give you the key to go up to the rooftop, from which you can take great pictures of Florence rooftops.

Walk to the Duomo through the narrow streets and take time to admire its beautiful white, pink, and green marble, the gorgeous Baptistry doors by Ghiberti (called "Gates of Paradise" by Michelangelo), and Giotto's tower, the Campanile.

Inside the Duomo, take note of Brunelleschi's dome, the first and greatest of its kind ever built, and take in the frescos by Vasari (author of the Lives of the Artists). If you have time, go to the top of the dome for great city views. It was here at the altar on Easter Sunday, 1478, that Lorenzo de Medici's brother, Giuliano, was murdered by the Pazzi conspirators during the service. Inside the cathedral is also Domenico di Michelino's painting "Dante Illuminating Florence with his Poem" (1465).

After the Duomo, go make a reservation for the evening at
my favorite Florentine restaurant, Sasso di Dante (Dante's Seat).  Legend has it that the restaurant was built on the spot where Dante used to sit on a tree stump, gazing at the construction of the cathedral, while writing his Divine Commedia. It is just south of the Duomo - if you are facing the front of the cathedral, walk on the right side of the cathedral, and look to your right at about half-way down the cathedral wall. It is moderately priced, and does not serve the less-than-good touristy fare of many of the other places, but classic Florentine cuisine.  Without a doubt, for appetizer, have the Florentine lasagne which come in a tiny hot iron skillet/pot.

    Sasso di Dante
    Piazza delle Pallottole 6/r (Duomo)
    Tel. 055 28 21 13
    (Closed on Thurday and Friday)

Come back to the front of the Duomo, and walk south down Via dei Calzaiuoli, past the church of Orsanmichele, and note the niche carvings on the side of the church, including Donatello's St. George and St. Mark and Verrocchio's Doubting Thomas.

Via dei Calzaiuoli ends at the Piazza della Signoria, where a replica of the original statue of Michelangelo's David stands. The Piazza is bordered by the Uffizi and the Palazzo Vecchio.

The Uffizi itself is for Day 2, but you cantake a quick look-through the Vasari courtyard with Pinturicchio's Putto fountain at the Palazzo — I always pictured the room where Romeo and Juliet first meet during the dance to look just like this.

Walk through the Piazzale degli Uffizi noting the statues of great florentines set into the niches on the wall, including Michelangelo, Da Vinci, and Macchiavelli.  Through the archway you reach the bank of the Arno river. This is a great spot for taking a photo of Ponte Vecchio. Walk to the right, towards Ponte Vecchio, stopping by the gelato stand (yum!) and the darling little paper goods store, where you can buy Florentine paper goods, including gorgeous watercolor miniatures on handmade paper, stamps and wax, and other writing and paper goods, for which Florence has been famous for centuries.



Cross the Ponte Vecchio, stopping by the open center part for a photo-op with your sweetheart. This is the only Florentine bridge to have survived World War II intact — the story goes, that when the Axis were pulling out, the soldiers who had the orders to blow up all the bridges crossing the Arno could not make themselves destroy this beautiful Medieval bridge. —Thank goodness.  This bridge, bordered on both sides by jewelry stores, from which the heroine in Puccini's aria "O Mio Babbino Caro" says she will drown herself if her father does not give her permission to marry her sweetheart. For me, this is the most beautiful and most romantic bridge in Italy.

Keep walking until you reach the Palazzo Pitti.  This was one of the Medici palaces, and houses an enormous number of the treasures in the Medici collections not at the Uffizi. The treasures include several Raphael paintings, e.g. Madonna della Seggiola or Madonna of the Chair (1515) and the Donna Velata (1516), Titian's Portrait of a Gentleman (1540), Artemisia Gentileschi's Judith, Caravaggio's Sleeping Cupid, and my favorite, Fra Filippo Lippi's Madonna col Bambino (c.1450).



Make sure to visit the Boboli Gardens at Palazzo Pitti and visit the cafe there — amazing city views while you drink the best hot chocolate in the world (and trust me, I have had hot chocolate all over, so am somewhat of an expert). [Optional: Buy a bakery item and on your way back down from the gardens, feed the birds by the fountains].

Now, get back to your hotel and get ready for dinner and an early night, because DAY 2, the Uffizi day, starts UNGODLY EARLY (no choice in the matter, I fear).

Click on map to see full size:


~A