Italy 2014 Day Eleven

Our last day in Florence, in Italy. Coughing, tired, determined...

First stop the Duomo. Enormous and phenomenal.
The dome built in by Brunelleschi in 1463 is 296 feet tall, the tallest building in Florence.
It looms from every view.
We climbed up the 463 claustrophobic steps to the dome...

The 360 degree views outside.

The campanile or bell tower was built in 1359 nearly 100 years before the dome. It is impossible for me to understand how they were able to do this work, then. we tend to think we are at the top of technology, but then you see what was done nearly 800 years ago, all for the love of God...

The baptistery is one of the oldest buildings in the city.
Originally built as a pagan temple it was remodeled in the 13th century.
The ceiling mosaics tell the story of the bible with the risen Christ at its focus.

San Lorenzo, another Brunelleschi work from 1425 commissioned by the Medici family,
the power and political base of 13th century Florence.

The cloister garden.

The bibliotheca, stairway is a Michelangelo design.

Desks...

The collection on view was called Animalia with parchment texts.

The sacristy, in the church itself, was done by Brunelleschi and decorated by Donatello.

Happened upon Orsanmichele with its ornate Virgin and Child Alter from 1338.

The paper shop Giannini.

Purchases were made.

Palazzo Pitti was closed. It was built by Luca Pitti in an effort to keep up with the Medici family who then bought it from bankrupt relatives after Pitti's death making it their residence. Take that Pitti! Damn power hungry Medici family. Their influence is admirable and disgusting in a way to me.

 

We found Il Torchio, a must stop in Florence.

Nina is a Canadian-cum-Florencian who builds books here.

We kinda died...

but bought stuff just before.

Back across Arno,

stopping to watch the moon rise.

My Alisa...

a final dinner and ciao to Italy...

Italy 2014 Day Nine

Amicis: Michelle, me, Lea of NZ, Pam, Ingrid, Francesca, Amy, Alisa, Paige, Susan

 

 We leave behind Orvieto and our classmates.

 

We take the train to Florence and hope to feel better than we did the first pass through this lovely crowded city.

We didn't.

But we pushed forward and made plans and scaled walls...

 

Straight to the flea market.

Picked up some mail.

 

The always visible massive Duomo.

 

An art show in the Piazza SS Annunziata.

So much pottery, would love to have bought some.

It was a thrill to eat gelato and people watch.

The great Synagogue of Florence.

This was a hard stretch of the trip.

Alisa and I had bought been sick with coughs the duration and these final days challenged us most.

 

We were good travel companions. We are curious about the same things and need to the same amount of sleep and food. It was a lucky combination that began to fall apart, but we both knew that it was circumstances and not flaws in our relationship.  What a blessing to have that in a friend...

I needed a nap.

Alisa covered me in her shawl...

 

to be continued...

 

Italy 2014 Day Seven

The Rock on which Orvieto sits is approx. 1 mile long by one half mile wide. Its surface is filled with structures more than one thousand years old. Alisa and I were desperate to see as much of it as we could, and gaze over its edge to the Umbrian countryside, an island among the verdant Italian landscape..

One must pass through the Piazza Repubblica to get to the main street extending the length of the city. This campanile or bell tower is unique and original to the Sant'Andrea church built in 12th century. 

We started the day at the market, threat of rain...

The market sold mostly new things and foods.

 I di buy some beads from an Asian guy...

Instead of studio time, we chose to explore the east end of Orvieto near the train station to the Fortezza Albornoz..

Originally constructed in 1359 it was rebuilt in the 15th century to protect Pope Clement I who lived in Orvieto after the sack of Rome.

 It has been rare for a pope to live outside Rome, a claim to fame still for Orvieto.

 

We raced up the Corso Cavour back to the convent to get transport to a vineyard. 

 

We tasted wines and snacked on breads admiring this view.

 

No,

this view back to Orvieto,

 the mosaic façade of the Duomo gleaming.

 

The Palazone vineyard has a bed and breakfast in a restored building, with a most deliciously designed interior...

The vineyard before sunset.

 

A perfectly warm fall day.

 

We purchased a bottle of Grek white wine from Palazone,

which was put to most good use the next and last day in Orvieto...

Italy 2014 Day Four

The intense immersion into Italy that was Day Four cannot be made concise.

I shall try...

We awaken in the Convent bed and breakfast, the Insituto San Ludovico.

Built as a palace in the Middle Ages, it still bears frescoes of that time all with the loving image of Mary and the Christ.

 It has lived life as a school and convent and now is a B&B run by two nuns,

although one is down with a broken leg.

 Poor over-worked Sister Giovanna was at times a surly mother pointing out the curfew, at other times beckoning me with a hand to show me a treasure within the walls of her home.

The convent also functions as a pre-school. Children wearing little tunics with Peter Pan collars could be heard laughing and calling out their sing-song Italian through open windows.

 

Our first day in the studio with Pam and Amy. We started to assemble signatures for our book, the main project for the week.

Also began to know the other students, and we were most fortunate with the assemblage of personalities and strengths, all with something to offer.

After lunch in the convent dining hall we were off to a tour of the Duomo.

Our tour guide was Kristi Steiner of our Adventures in Italy hosts. It was the highlight of my week in Orvieto as Kristi's love and reverence for the Cathedral was as deep as her knowledge.

http://youtu.be/5YsgRhQDGVg

It is all based on an event deemed as a miracle by the Pope when a Father broke open the host which then bled onto the altar cloth. The Pope commissioned the erection of a Duomo to house and glorify the Miracle of Bolsena. The building was begun in 1290, it took 300 years to complete. The plans on parchment still exist and are the oldest plans remaining today in Italy.

This nearby clock would ring the beginning of the work day, its bells still heard today.

Although photography of the interior of most cathedrals is prohibited,

I took this picture before I realized.

 

The Bloody altar cloth reliquary is housed in the Capella del Corporale to the left of the altar.

 For me the highlight of the Duomo is the the Capella Nuova. The ceiling is the masterpiece of Luca Signorelli, the Last Judgment, 1499-1504. It is rich with suffering and hope and inspired Michelangelo as he took on the work of the Sistine Chapel in Rome.

Bas Reliefs on the exterior tell the history of the Bible to the pilgrims who could not read and had no access to the bible itself, a change that has only come less than 200 years ago...

Following the tour, Alisa and I walked to the edge of the city. Orvieto sits on a rocky plateau in the Umbrian countryside, surrounded by vineyards and olive tree groves.

We took in this vista from the East end of the 'Rock.'

 

That evening was a wine tastings and parings education at Bartolomei L'olio. I learned more in the first 5 minutes about wine than I had in all prior wine tastings combined. I also found white wine preferable to red, which I never before had.

You can find Orvieto Classico in the US

and I know for a fact Alisa has already opened a bottle Stateside...

 

to be continued...