Parties, Food and Fun!

The last few days have come and gone so quickly that I fear I am unprepared to leave Florence as the end nears and I must go. While I need to go home, I really don't want to. Yet, I know that I have been living a dream and that day-to-day reality in Italy would be quite different from this state of utopian euphoria. (I did get a taste of a not-so good-situation yesterday, when I went to a bank to pay a fine a colleague of mine in the USA received on her last visit to Italy. The bank acts as an intermediary for payments of the kind, but the personel was far from helpful and did not let me pay the account. In my frustration, I left the bank while reading the paper I had in hands, with instructions on who to call and what reference number to give. Eyes on paper, hand on the handle, I pushed the door and BEEP; BEEP; BEEP, ROUUUUUIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNN, the sirens went off and I heard someone screm NOOOOOO! I had opened the EMERGENCY DOOR, and had started a panic attack in the place. (I have to go back today and fear being arrested for vandalism! Wish me luck! If there are no additional post within the week, I may be the new Amanda Knox.)

In other news, we have had a few signs of imminent departure: food meets and greets, and more food. We are trying to pack in the last tastes of Tuscanny, to see the last sites, and to enjoy what is not likely to happen to us again in a long, LONG time. So I made another meal for the students (a promise dating from our Venise trip), and after talking to a couple of them, I decided on the Breaksfast for Dinner theme so popular in the USA (and completely unheard of in Italy). One the menu: 100 crepes, pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausages, has browns, a spinach/mushroom casserole, and crudites. Elena brought the milk, Nestle Quick and plum cakes, and Chiara defrayed part of the costs. Here are a few pictures of the event:

Some Grub

Waiting in Line

Alex

 

The homecooked meal took place on Tuesday (and would not have happened without Urie's help), and on Thursday we met with parents in Gusta Paninno to have a meal in celebration of Jillian's birthday. The original plan was just to meet at 11 p.m., in the room provided by the restaurant for drinks, convo and god wishes, but the restaurateur took advantage of the bonhomie of Americans to bring a slew of food plates that no one had ordered but that were paid for by the celebrant's parents. In other words, we lost control of the situation, and the bill was probably quite hefty.

Pre-expenses.

No matter what, we all had a good time and had a chance to get together one more time. We had another informal meeting with less people in attendance last night (and for which the quality of the food was dubious--but that's the French palate speaking).

And now to pack. Will be back for one or two last posts, but Ciao a Tutti is about to bid you farewell... until my next study abroad adventure!

Easter Story Florentine Style:Explosion of the Cart, Explosion of a Mother

Bovines Dragging the Cart to the Square

First, I'll give you part of the story; then, the pictures. Then the rest of the story.

Once upon a time (actually Thursday), I was told that Florence celebrates Easter in a particular way: The explosion of the cart. This yearly ritual involves a "cart," fireworks, a bird and a procession, notwithstanding a large crowd of THOUSANDS of people who push and shove each other while waiting for the celebration to start. Here's how it goes (taken from my post on FB):

A medieval cart is brought to the piazza in front of the duomo (basilica). The flint stones used to light the candle at the altar of the church (as a first step to the celebration, and after mass) come from a member of the Pazzi family who was the first person to plant a Christian flag in Jerusalem in 1099 (a crusader). The same candle is used to light a ceramic dove, which "flies" (or is  sent from the altar to the outside) to light up the cart into an explosion of colors and sparks. If all goes according to plan (and none of the builddings around burn to the ground), the harvest season will be great. (Mostly really a mix of paganism and christian rituals accompanied by music and wishes from the bishop of the duomo).

Urie and I left the palazzo to make it to the Duomo in good time. We got breakie on the way--our apartment is getting to be devoid of food as we are leaving in a few days to come back to America--and continued to the piazza Santa Maria del Fiore. While the pictures fail to show you how crazily crowded the place was--believe me, it took us half an hour to get out of the mess to the next street once the event was over--we were, masses of us, sardined and awaiting the happy celebration. Really, I was waiting and Urie was checking my watch every two minutes. We waited for about an hour and fifteen minutes before the cart was ready, set, almost to go.

The bird flew (I missed it) and the cart lit up. Below are pictures of the event, including a boy eating a waffle with Nutella. Eventually, if you have the patience to go through the pictures, you will see the smoke and the "explosion."  The whole thing must have lasted about five minutes, notwithstanding these were very LOUD minutes to get through. Look at pictures then find the continuation of the story (my explosion) following.

10:00 a.m. The Regular Crowd Shuffles in

Guardians of Peace?

Breakfast on the Run

Short Procession

Let's Make Music

Flags of the City

Priests

 WAITING... WAITING... WAITING.. WAITING... WAITING... WAITING...
  WAITING... WAITING... WAITING... WAITING... WAITING... WAITING...
  WAITING... WAITING... WAITING... WAITING... WAITING... WAITING...

About to Start

Hell Breaks Loose (Feels Like It)

Colors and Lights

Different Parts Make Different Noises

This Thing Is about to Burn!

We Can't See Either

I'm Thinking that the Bird Is Dead

Last Bonanza! Fourth of July on April 5th!

Peace Reestablished; the Flags Have Emerged

End of  Procession

TV Crew Filming and Commenting on the Event

 It took more time for me to focus my camera to take pictures than for the noisy explosion to happen. Meanwhile, some of the show was slightly scary, especially for people who live in a culture of guns and high assault riffles. Seriously, even Urie commented that it would be the perfect set up for terrorist groups to attack because of the noise and the distraction. (Some of it sounded like repetition guns, and the short lights looked exactly like shots being... well... shot.)

Once the cart completed its series of explosions, the crowd decided to take its sweet time to leave the square. There was little room to go, and lots of people to move along. We were patiently waiting our escape when a gypsy woman filtered the ranks and started to beg for money. (Watch your purses, ladies and gentlemen!) She was brandishing a laminated picture of two children, probably taken from a magazine, and started yielping something while shaking a cup o' change to the crowd. She went straight to Urie (the tallest "man" around), and shook her coins at him. Aside from the napkin he'd used to wipe the Nutella off his chin, he had nothing in his pockets. (Theory: She recognized he was American and thought $$$, as compared to Italians who are onto the gypsies. Only Urie's the son of a poor Canadian, which means no cash.) Urie shook his head, humbly, not wanting to be too discourteous about it.

That's when the woman decided to make him the victim of her ire. She slapped him on the arm, shoved him and started screaming in what appears to have been Roma obscenities. That's when my bird lit my fuse and I EXPLODED.

I was probably purple in the face, eyes popping out, and I told her, " YOU... YOU DO NOT TOUCH MY SON OR YOU'LL HAVE TO DEAL WITH ME." She looked ready to push him again, so I pushed her shoulder, planted myself between her and Urie, and switched to French. (More like quebecois. It's more threatening!) "Aie, toe ma maudite, si tu veux avoir affaire avec moe, t'es ben partie. Tu touches pas a mon gars, tu m'entends-tu? Ou j't'en sacre une mechante sur la yeule." She actually looked panicked for a moment, and moved away as quickly as the crowd could part to let her go. (No one wanted to deal with her... or with me by that point, the people mulling about parted red-sea style and she skidaddled out of there like a rat going back to the sewers.) I know I am harsh... but SERIOUSLY! I was seeing flames... I was on fire. I was the cart. (All of this happened, of course, in front of the tv crew...! Thankgoodness, I think they had already signed off.)

Urie told me, "Thanks, maman. Now everyone thinks I'm a pansy and can't take care of myself. I could have handled it." I am sure he could have, and he probably would have been much more subduded about it. In light of the occasion (Easter), I reacted rather poorly. To make up for it, I gave cash to a beggar later on. But let me tell you: No one pushes my kid without dealing with the tiger in me.

Recovered from Mother Shame

So the cart exploded, and I exploded. I think we're going to have a fine harvest this coming season!!

Gli Uffizi 2.0

Our last visit to the Uffizi consisted of going to the rooms of high Renaissance masterpieces. On the menu: Leonardo Da Vinci (most of his works are outside of Italy but a couple of his paintings are still in Florence), a few Michelangelos,  Botticellis, and Raffaelo. 

Leonardo Da Vinci Painted the Angel on the Left

Jillian Explains Raffaelo (before setting off the alarm)

It is said that when Leonardo's teacher saw the face of the angel L. da V. had painted, that he never picked up a paint brush again, so amazed was he by the delicacy and subtlety of the features rendered.

Da Vinci, who was illegitimate  (a situation that left him to live on the periphery of his father's house) loved to study nature--he spent a lot of time outdoors--and was more interested in science and warfare than in art. Yet, the most famous of all paintings is his (and resides in Le Louvre, thanks to Napoleon's interference). Here's an excellent documentary on his life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A55WTQjai2E. If you decide to watch it, you will need to see it in separate segments but at least they are put together in one area.

Michelangelo, in Original Frame

Gennie Explains; Luca Looks on

Michelangelo: In this painting, we recognize faces and body posture that will be seen again in the Sistine Chapel. The painting's frame is one of the only original, made in Florence by metal artists who first carved the wood, then applied goldleaf to the elements. Michelangelo's story of inner turmoil as "God's Own Artist," was also based on how he perceived himself: A sculptor more than a painter, and someone completly misunderstood. Another good documentary  on this artist can be found here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86x4BxO-CKA

We moved on to Botticelli, whose paintings have an air of lightness and delicacy. I think the facial expressions are easily recognizable as his work. Of these artists, he's the one I know the least about. Mostly, documentaries give information about the paintings (and the fact that Ian Flemming had the Birth of Venus in mind when he wrote the scene of Ursual Andress's emerging from the sea in one of the first James Bond movies).

Botticelli

Birth of Venus

Details of the Primavera

Nymphs

Full View of the Primavera

Lastly, we visited the room of Raffaelo, where his paintings recall the frescoes he did in four rooms in the Vatican. Raffaelo, whose tomb is in the Pantheon in Rome, died at an early age, more than likely of a sexually transmitted disease. Great BBC documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdBUjFEuTvk.  Of the pieces we saw, I particularly liked the Portrait of a Young Man and the portraits of the popes.

Lauren Explains who the Sitter Was

Julius II

Leo X (A Medici who Ate 65-course Meals)

 Other interesting paintings (and there were many), include the following:

Cosimo

Eleonora of Toledo

Maria Medici

Giovanni

All of these paintings were done by Agnolo Bronzino, the Medici court painter. Cosimo, Eleonora and Giovanni you are already familiar with, having seen their mortuary clothing in a previous post. Learn more about these paintings at this address; http://wtfarthistory.com/post/8516602490/west-side-medici

Finally, I really liked these last paintings to be shared on this post. A Verrachio shield and a painting of a bunch of women, whose details I forget.

It was an afternoon well spent but spent too quickly. The Uffizi is quite the museum, and it would take an enormous amount of time to see all there it to see. Thanks to the Medici, however, a lot of the art of the period has been conserved, and twice that amount remains in the basement of the building, awaiting to see the light of day and the appreciative eye of the connaisseur (who don't include me in their numbers).

Classical Greek Piece

Brolio Castle:Pictures of a Day In Tuscany

To Brolio We Go!

The Castle Was Pieced Together through the Ages

Magnificent Views

It Takes Thousands of Acres to Produce Millions of Bottles

Neighbors

Closer View

Our Group Post-Lunch

On Our Way inside the Walls

One Segment of the Castle (Still Inhabited)

Private Chapel

Family Colors

Family Dedication

Altar

Oldest Part: Foundations Date 12th Century

Lands without Ends

Another View from Above

Cypress Trees from Lebanon

Friends

Urie

Moi

WWII  Ravages by Allies

Down from the Musem (No Picture Allowed)

The Caretaker's Humble Abode

Winemaking Old Style

Nothing without Pain (Crest Motto)

Canadian-made Set up

New Ways of Making Wine

Embouteillage

Tasting Begins

Awaiting Instructions

Applying Practice to Knowledge (JMU Wine Class)

Betino (the Ancestor of Present Baron) Was a Scientist

Driving Back to Florence