Traveling Lessons

After a nearly tearful farewell at the train station, and only half-kidding about putting Alessandro and Monica in my bag, I left on a train for Milan with two of the other tutors from my second camp, sweet Canadian girls named Ashley--who was heading off for her own Asian adventures the following day--and Emily, "Em," who I'd later meet up with in Rome.

We got to Milan without much incident, and then tried to find our hostel... which was epic. We walked by it three or four times and eventually had to call and have the guy come outside to rescue us from wandering. The thing about hostels is, though, that the staff are willing to do that kind of thing. They're just so helpful--the guy in Nice who let me raid the lost and found when I had no luggage, for example. Just awesome people. I also discovered that the street names in Milan, unlike in other cities, are named after people, and the signs tell you what the person did (Poeta, for example) and what years they lived. We had a cool little history lesson as we were lost, so that was great. Anyway... so we found our accommodations and headed out to just wander. Ashley wanted to see the duomo, which, from what I can figure, is pretty much a must-see in every decent-sized Italian town.

The cathedral in Milan is beautiful, maybe my favorite of the ones I saw. It was just... spikey and awesome. I think it's a different style than the others I saw, gothic or something. Anyway, it was white and huge and spikey and beautiful. I only wished I could magic away all the random people in the moment and in the photo.

People were just walking by this beautiful structure like it wasn't there. I'm sure many see it every day, but it's hard for me to imagine a life where I could see that every day and not just stop and look each time. I was hearing angles singing and contemplating the awesome powers of God, and others were just heading out for a drink or heading back from work or wondering what was for dinner. It was amazing.

That night, as a farewell and as a cheap way to eat dinner, we went to have an apperativo at this place the guy at the hostel suggested. Now, let me explain one of my favorite things about Italy, the apperativo. This is, basically, a before dinner drink that may be a bit more expensive, but comes with a buffet. Like, a legit, all-you-can-eat buffet of Italian meats, cheeses, and goodies. It's. Amazing. It was pretty much how I ate dinner for the rest of my trip (not EVERY day, but pretty close to it!).

Ashley left for the airport the next morning, and Em and I headed to the train station to meet her friend who would be traveling with her. It was quite a long wait, but we passed the time by people watching and thinking of the inaugural gelato we'd have once she arrived. It was worth the wait. :)

The only real item on my agenda in Milan was seeing DaVinci's The Last Supper, which I managed to find a reservation for only two days in advance (holler!). I wasn't really sure how I'd react to the painting, I never know. I'm always open to the possibility that I may be moved to tears (more on this later) or that I may just be in awe, or I could even feel disappointed (again, more on this later). When we walked into the room and saw it, I have to admit it was pretty astounding. I was in awe of how big it was, which I guess you never expect when you see the tiny paining in your Catholic grandmother's house. I was also remembering role in the novel The DaVinci Code (don't judge, it's not like I liked it), and I could understand the mystery and enigma involved in it. It's pretty fascinating, which, I think, is the best way I can describe seeing it. Absolutely fascinating.

You can't take photos inside (the fresco is already pretty badly deteriorated as it is) so I took pictures of the church and piazza where it is housed, Santa Maria della Grazie.

After Milan, I parted ways with Em and Cait, whom I'd see again in Rome, and headed to Venice, the next stop on my tour if Italy. I didn't actually stay in Venice proper, but rather an hour or so out of town, in Rosa del Piave at this little bed and breakfast. Truth be told, I stayed there for two reasons. 1) It's expensive to stay IN Venice and 2) the website said it was close to the oratory of St. John Bosco (the saint of the school where I teach, ILS), which I figured had to be, like, a sign. It was a cute little place, a B & B at which I think I was the only guest. And there was wi-fi (so beautiful!) and the couple who owned it even fished one of my rings out of the bidet (don't ask...). I was quite well taken care of, even if I had to take a bus an hour and a half into Venice.

Venice was exactly as I pictured it. I had no idea what to expect--I'd heard some say they loved it, and others complain it was boring and smelly. I fell into the first category. I promised myself I woudn't stress and I'd just get lost--literally and figuratively--in Venice. Street maps of Venice are pretty much pointless, so you just sort of have to wander, which is beautiful in a way. I walked down streets I felt like walking down; I discovered little nooks and crannys; I don't think I walked down the same street twice. I loved every minute I was there, including this, my first one, eating a cup of fruit bought from a cart.

Venice, as most know, is a city made of canals and bridges. Even the ambulances and police cars are boats. The first day, I just wandered and got my bearings, and enjoyed the scenery. This, for example, is from one of the many bridges, looking down the river.

An iconic image of Venice is the gondolier. No, I did not ride in a gondola (too expensive) but I did see many gondoliers, including this guy, taking a break from his tough job...

My second day, I took a vaporetto (water taxi) ride from the train station to the Piazza San Marco, as guided by Rick Steves. I really felt like Venice was meant to be seen from the water, and this was a cheap way to do that. I took some video of the ride, and, of course, tons of photos. The video is below; I was picturing myself three hundred years ago when Venice was a booming metropolis.

Can you imagine if this was your front yard?

Day two in Venice I devoted to seeing sights, so I began at the Piazza San Marco where the vaporetto dropped me off, and started with the church. The art above the doors is what really struck me. It was spectacular. This is just one example, there were several there. There were no photos allowed inside.

Again, I was struck by the fact that a church is meant to be the House of the Lord, and I really understood that in Italy. Each cathedral, each dome, each bell tower, looked like it was built for an omniscient, omnipresent God. The church and square were beautiful, and the gorgeous blue sky that day didn't detract from it, certainly. The Piazza San Marco is such a contrast to the rest of Venice, which seemed, to me, tiny and closed-in. The Piazza is open and breezy, and you can see for ages and ages. It's beautiful.

Also in Venice every odd-numbered year is something called the Biennale Art Festival where artists from literally all over the world are chosen to represent their countries. Each country, then, has an installation in a building all over the city. Some are free (the ones in my price range) and others are part of a bigger exhibition in the gardens of the city. I wandered into a few of the free ones--Ireland, Zimbabwe, Mexico--and enjoyed what I saw. In the Zimbabwe exhibit, there was one photographer whose focus was photos of German families who had adopted African children. It was really moving.

The last stop on my list was the Frari Church, which Rick Steves reccommended and was totally worth the 3 Euro entrance fee. There was beautiful art inside--paintings and carvings--and information about each in my guidebook.

I had pizza for lunch, and managed to find a guy who was sitting by himself and was also American who let me share a table with him. One of my favorite things about traveling is just that--sharing a meal with a stranger who becomes your friend for that hour or so. You eat, or you wander together and then you part ways, both thankful for having had someone to talk to and eat with, thankful for one less stranger in the world.

My next stop on the whirlwind tour of Italia was Florence, where I now wish I would have spent more time. I got to my hotel, run by a woman from Boston and her Italian husband, and settled my stuff and then headed out to explore. I wandered around and discovered two markets--an out door market that sells mostly leather goods, the San Lorenzo Market, and the Mercato Centrale, a covered market selling fruits, vegetables, meat, and cheeses. I had lunch at the most popular stand there, a delicious pasta con ragu and a glass of red wine, and snapped some photos. YUM!

From there, I wandered toward the Duomo, the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore. This church is special because the dome on it was the first built since antiquity during the Renaissance. The technology was somehow lost and no one could figure out how the dome on the Panthenon (more on that later) was built, until this dude named Brunelleschi figured it out and did the damn thing. Pretty bad ass, I have to say.

There was a free tour in English, so I took it and learned all kinds of nerdy stuff. Also, the marble that the church is made from is Carrara marble--awesome; it's pink, green, and white. It's really spectacular.

Here's a bit of the outside of the cathedral. You can see the different colored marble.

This is inside, looking up at the famous dome. The art is extremely intricate and beautiful--I wanted to lay down and stare at it for at least an hour.

This is another piece of art inside the cathedral. The guy in red is my boy Dante, and this is a depiction of his Divine Comedy. The tower in the back in Pergatory, the left side represents the Inferno, or hell, and the right is heaven. I only point this out because heaven isn't at the top, like most would expect. And notice the dome of the church on the right--it's the dome in Florence. The painter made Florence heaven.

The city itself is a wonder. Everywhere you look you can see signs of the former ruling family the Medicis, and tiny little bits of beauty all around. This fountain, for example, was just waiting for me on a street corner.

My one must-see was, of course, the statue of Michelangelo's David, which is housed in the Galleria dell'Accademia. I sprung for a tour, rather than just entrance to the museum, and I'm SO glad I did. Seeing The David the way I saw it changed my life.

Here's the story: There was a giant piece of marble in the backyard of a church that had been there for 40 years or so. Great masters had tried to carve it and failed, claiming it was "uncarvable" and afraid to ruin their reputations. Until Michelangelo came along. He knew, from the moment he first touched a piece of marble, that his purpose and destiny was to carve it. That, alone, is astounding and I wonder what it must have been like to be so sure of your purpose, when most people struggle to find it... if they ever do. So he decides he's gonna take a whack (literally) at this uncarvable piece of marble because, at 26 and the beginning of his career, he has nothing to lose. And he uncovered The David, who, he would claim, was there all along and just needed to be revealed. That's a metaphor; one that, as a teacher, I need to keep in mind. There are no "uncarvable" chunks of marble--sometimes it just takes a young kid to get things done properly.

The statue, meant to be on top of the Duomo in Florence, is now housed in the museum in a space designed to perfectly display him. I couldn't help but gasp when I first saw him. The David is huge--so much bigger than I anticipated or expected. He stands alone under this beautiful, soft, lighting at the end of a huge room full of other, partially-finished works by Michelangelo. I saw him from every angle and he looked different each time I took a step. I was astounded that he has veins--and they look like they're connected to a beating heart. This giant hunk of beautiful marble looks like it's alive. I understand what a masterpiece is now and did not know that I had not understood before.

I spent the rest of my time in Florence awed and moved by The David, but I did manage to see a bit more. I walked around the Academia for a little while after the tour ended, and saw a very neat display on musical instruments, including a full set of Stradivarius stringed instruments made for the Medicis (beautiful), and learned the difference between a harpsichord and a piano (harpsichord plucks, piano hits).

I went to find an apperativo for dinner, and then wandered around killing time, reading in the Piazza della Rebubblica and people watching, until 10:20ish, when I would FINALLY get to see the final Harry Potter! I had been dying to see it since it came out, but couldn't find a theater that had it subtitled and not dubbed. Low and behold, there was an Odeon in Florence and my dreams came true. I got to see HP:7.2 in a cool old theater (a legit theater with curtains and beautiful decorations) in Florence, and, although I was alone, I loved every second of it. I'm still not at peace with HP being over, and I think I will miss him, but bidding him farewell in Florence was okay.

I wish I'd spent more than a day in Florence, but now I know for next time. I'll cut this entry short and save Rome and Nice for another. Too much epic for one entry.

Much love.