Boboli Gardens...A quiet place for reflection

A spectacular view of the city and a quiet and pretty place to take your time for a walk. There isn't much green space inside of the Roman walls in Florence and the gardens are a welcomed place when you need to see trees, grass and flowers. I visited the gardens many times while I stayed in Florence. Often, you would see little old ladies, walking arm in arm, with a quiet smile on their faces. Lovers sneaking a loving embrace or a passionate kiss. I don't think they (the Italians) care at all about whether someone sees them expressing their affection for another. I thought it was rather sweet and tender. They are expressive people, they are not afraid of their emotions, good or bad. I think I learned a lot about myself on this trip, about my family and felt a real sense of pride. No wonder we have so much beauty in archictecture, painting and sculpture from the Italians. Their feelings come out- one way or another.

Toscana..

O’ place of warm golden sunlight, and shady retreats looking out into the Tuscan landscape.The place where the artist hand has chiseled and brought the forms to life.
Toscana, her lush and inviting hillsides, valley bottoms and rich furtilground, lay wait for me And the new lover that comes to her every new day. You cannot escape her beauty, nor her history, she stays on your mind even after the nightfall The starry nights still allow the grape to ripen, the olive to darken, as we turn out the lights.You can know that the through the window,tomorrow you will find the furtilground once again.

Santa Croce...The Tombs and Pazzi Chapel

The burial tombs inside Santo Croce are of Dante Alghieri, Michelangelo, and Galileo
Harmony and balance is abundant in the archictectural spaces that Brunelleschi touched and created. It was quiet and provoking at the same time. Something more was realised than just an aesthetic judgment of beauty. The forms are incredible and create an awe in your heart and mind. Santa Croce is a Franciscan order cathedral that reached out to the poor of Florence, but it is in the space outside of Santa Croce in the Pazzi Chapel for example that I felt this harmony. This space seemed timeless and perfect. Brunelleschi took principles that earlier philosophers and mathematicians used in defining such perfect form and applied them to the Gothic and Renaissance works he was commisioned to design. The Florentine architect and engineer Filippo Brunelleschi was the first to carry out a series of experiments leading to a mathematical theory of perspective. Follow a link below to see some of his great buildings in Firenze. The interior of San Spirito is another favorite place, you can sit inside to escape the heat and meditate quietly absorbing the perfection of the interior space that has given refuge to many a soul.
http://www.greatbuildings.com/architects/Filippo_Brunelleschi.html

Lucca..Birthplace of Puccini and many others

Lucca is located near the Sercchio River, about 80 kilometers from Firenze near the Apuan Alps. Our visit to Lucca kept us there well into the night. We enjoyed the sites, sounds and flavors of this spectacular Medieval city. A walled city like most Medieval towns that I visited while studying in Italy, Lucca has a unique round piazza. The top of the walled areas are paved now and people stroll by holding hands, older men like riding bicycles and looking at girls. I was told by locals in the years past, they held car races around the promenade. That would be a crazy but fun event to watch. I am just not sure where you would have the safest vantage point. Before the car races they held horse races on the promenade.
Lucca and this part of Tuscany is extremely rich in culture and has a much different geological landscape. I really wanted to go see marble being cut away from the mountainsides but we ran out of daylight. The Serchio Valley and Garfagnana regions are full of gentle peaceful hills and majestic mountains of marble and rock that loom over the valley bottom along the winding river. Roads wind their way and unexpectedly open out into sunny areas with small ancient villages, settled on green hills, that reflect in lakes with magic images, the drive is quite beautiful. Lucca the capital of the province is an example of perfectly preserved city walls, it has maintained its characteristics since Roman times until today. The cathedrals all have Romanesque elements of design and archictecture. I saw one of the earliest Fiat's ever made while in Lucca, the photograpgh of the dog is funny to me. He only responded to me when I started to speak in Italian to him. Go to the link below if you are interested in the life and work of the great Italian composer, Puccini.
Un saluto!


http://www.landofpuccini.com/eng/life.asp

Greve in Chianti

John and I rented a car so we could get out of Florence and explore the Tuscan countryside. I am so glad we did this because we got to travel the back country roads, most tourists and students never get to see. To drive in Italy is a whole different experience..we rented some little zippy thing and I loved driving it! There is only one hard and fast rule while driving in Italy, move or get run over! John really liked my driving, except I made him a little nervous going backwards down the hillside through the vineyards. I couldn't get the clutch to engage, and we were on a steep hill, starting to drift backwards through the vines. There was only one way out of the vineyards, the same way we drifted backwards and downhill. I told him that not many people get to see Italy in reverse. He should have been thankful for all the photo ops I provided for him!

The hillsides were covered with vineyards and olive groves, majestic hillside Tuscan Villas. Truly breathtaking! We enjoyed some beautiful Chianti's that day, we took our good ole' time and it was one of my favorite days I had in Italy! VignaMaggio vineyard and Villa is said to be the birthplace of Mona Lisa. The movie Much Ado About Nothing was filmed here in 1993.

Enjoy the Link:http://www.lodgephoto.com/galleries/italy-tuscany/chianti/vignamaggio/

GELATO!!

Anyone who has ever tasted it knows how delicious it is and always worth the walk.
John looking out over the Arno River after our walk for ice cream!

The party after the party...

Antonio, Megan, John and I watched the celebrated fireworks display that takes place every June, 23rd in recognition of Florence's patron saint. St. John! Afterwards, Antonio ran into Andrea and Pasquale, friends of his and we all went together for something to eat and drink.

Andrea is an Artist, Antonio an Archictect, Pasquale a Philosopher, John...has studied everything and he drives me nuts, but I love him! These people are all so accomplished. Then there was Megan and I, just regular students studying abroad or so they thought. Think about the kind of mind Megan must have as the daughter of a philosopher, and then there is "Me", whatever I am. I had just finished studying under the guidance of Dr. Lee, on Kantian philosophy. Pasquale catches on pretty fast that I could discuss Kant on some level with him and then the real fun begins. We were up until about 5:30 am, in discussion. Pasquale in the picture above sits next to me and warns me that philosophy is a sickness for him. Well...isn't it for anyone who is serious about it! Antonio served as a formidable translator, and I managed to hold Pasquale for several hours. Pasquale and I continued to have dialogue over the next few weeks. Very challenging discussions for both of us! Some of the best fun and excitement...very stimulating, think of the symposium, yes...there was wine by the craters! FYI...my camera starts getting goofy, so some of the pictures that I post take on some bizarre effects, but I like some of them! I hope you enjoy them!

The Arno River's Golden Edge..Firenze

John arrived in Firenze..San Giovanni's Festival

The crowd was building on the bridge to watch for the fireworks.

Our last night together..I stayed behind in Firenze two more weeks

Meredith, Tamara and Christine's friend at the wine bar.

Lauren, Megan, Brittany and Ali trying to avoid the homeless guy who wanted their wine.

Our last formal dinner together at Za-Za's, Firenze.."The Girls"









Megan O.S and I

Our Last day in Lecture with Dr. Medicus

It was a quiet last day in Florence maybe because we were so tired. We didn't do much walking and an early dismissal from lecture so the students could pack for home. We finally got to go to Orsan Michele, the first place I visited on my own in Florence, on my first night in the city. I sat on the steps with Eireann, a student I met from our group who had arrived early in Florence also. She was a delightful young woman, energetic and full of interesting ideas. We really clicked! We discussed everything like sisters would in just a few short hours. We had no idea where we really were and it seemed so appropriate to end our last day visiting Orsan Michele, especially since it was the first place I visited when I entered the city.

We continued on to Museo di Palazzo Davanzati, a 14th c nobile families home. I wondered at this point and sadly, not until the last lecture something I should have considered much earlier in my studies. Where did the lower classes live? How did they live? Everywhere we had visited on this trip was of powerful nobile families, rich princely courts and powerful citizens and stately Villas. I had been so awestruck with the wealth and the pomp that I myself had forgotten to ask questions that seem so obvious to me now.

Link: http://www.polomuseale.firenze.it/english/musei/davanzati/



"A man's feet should be planted in his country, but his eyes should survey the world."
George Santayana

Other sights in Firenze..Sunset to Stormy Skies..and Magical Reflections at Night

The Ponte Vecchio after midnight
Panoramic from San Miniato, this was my most favorite place to meditate and spend a little time alone. If you look closely you can see the Roman wall that fortified Firenze during its tumultuous past.

"Sunset, the signature of God on a day, well lived"
Dedicated to my Father Earnest M. Andy (1918-1990)

Just like life the omnious clouds come and go, they help us all to appeciate the sunny days!

I truly hope that you all have been inspired and uplifted by the photographs and the writings. I understand more of the world because of my journey to Italy. I made special friendships and had good fun while understanding a richer part of the world filled with some of the greatest history known to man. More importantly I believe that I grew as a human being and feel very blessed and priviledged to have made this voyage.

The Last Lectures with Dr. Fantoni and Dr. Medicus

Salone dei Cinquecento, Palazzo Vecchio "The Room of the Five Hundred"
Porphyry basin in the courtyard " Boy with a Fish" by Verrochio 1476


Dr. Fantoni led the way with our last lectures inside of the Palazzo Vecchio. The lectures took on a historical life of the Medici and their rise to fame. It appears they were not truly a noble class family, they were bankers and quite wealthy, with resources at an abundance. They cleverly used their financial powers to gain their influence in Firenze that eventually had ties to Rome. Pope Leo X (1475-1478)was Lorenzo's second son, he protected artists and writers at the papal court but also had to deal with Luther's Reformation. This familial connection to Rome secured their fate and legitimacy as worthy leaders of Florence whether noble or not and they ruled Florence for at least two centuries. The cycles (frescoes) on the ceiling in the room of five hundred depicts Florence conquering as victors over Pisa and Sienna, in one of the Medici's hands he clenches onto a document with the signature of the Pope from Rome. This mural is extremely important because to have had Rome on your side meant everything and gave the Medici their license to rule as a noble class family.

The ceiling consists of thirty nine panels which you must take time to read in proper historical chronology in order to understand what and when Florence conquered the nearby regions. I found this lecture to pull everything together for me with relation to the other nobile courts we visited. To think that Machiavelli once roamed this interior space with the Medici as a political and diplomatic missions office holder is quite fascinating for someone who enjoys understanding the intense politic of the day. Men like these were fervent readers of the classics like Plutarch, and Titus Livy. Machiavelli eventually was exiled from the city he loved, and sadly he never saw his Italy he loved so much unified.



http://www.mega.it/eng/egui/monu/spvecch.htm