Last night in Bangkok! Er, Florence

Today was a tourist day. I met my professor this morning to discuss my thesis, and she gave me a much more manageable framework that I had envisioned. It seems I had confused 'masters thesis' with 'dissertation.' She is a lovely person, too, so it was really nice to see her here. No, I don't think any school people are reading the blog, so I am not sucking up. She suggested that, rather than continue to fight Italian bureaucracy, I should just go see some great works at the Palazzo Pitti that are completely unrelated to my thesis. I wandered around enjoying Titians, Raphaels and many, many Andrea del Sarto pieces in the former Medici palace. This was after a great lunch. In the evening, I shopped for toys for the kiddies, presents for family, and then I finally caved and bought a bikini. They are super cheap here, and very pretty, and the gelato has not totally wrecked my waistline yet.

Notable things today: an hour ago, a man actually invited me to his apartment for a rather explicit reason within five minutes of conversation. Honestly. Our chat went from Scheggia to something else entirely at warp speed. He really meant it, at least, if I was willing to go along with it. These guys are BRAZEN. Yes, he was cute. No, I didn't go.

I accidentally bought a gelato with raw eggs in it. I am allergic to raw eggs. I had to THROW IT AWAY!!! WHERE WERE YOU PEOPLE WHEN I NEEDED YOU? THIS IS A TRAVESTY! LOST GELATO!!!!

Art in Hiding

Okay, don't worry -- in two days, I'm off to see Frederick, Emilia and the three adorable Woods children, so I will stop talking about art soon. Today was all about art in hiding. I went to Santa Trinita to look at a Madonna and Child by Scheggia. I have now taken to carrying pictures of what I'm looking for so that I can be very clear (when you ask an Italian guard, "Where is the Madonna and Child by Scheggia?" they say, "There are many Madonnas and Child here. Did you know that Scheggia is Masaccio's younger brother?" "Yes." "Oh. Well, I don't know where it is." This in Italian, broken on my side.) The sweet older guard and the church warden told me that the piece I wanted was upstairs, safe from robbery. I explained that I was not a robber. They laughed, and went upstairs to fetch the painting. They actually CARRIED IT DOWNSTAIRS LIKE A LAPTOP! Just grabbing the edge of one side! I couldn't believe it. I was afraid they'd drop it. But all was well, and I took a good look, and they then insisted that I take photos. With flash. Rather different from your usual museum experience.

One hidden picture found, I left for Arezzo, where the Museum staff had told me (per telephone) that the piece I wanted wasn't available because it was 'behind the walls.' I thought this was a way of saying 'in storage' so that I would understand (I am constantly playing Taboo here -- "May I have a utensil that opens wine bottles? Do you sell things for the feet that are not shoes? If there are eggs in this, are they cooked ones?" I should really learn more words.) But no! It turns out that ALL the art is literally behind some walls. They installed a new exhibition on these temporary walls built literally in front of the permanent collection! So there is absolutely no way to see anything behind the walls for two months! Crazy. Well, such is life! The woman in the bookshop explained, "only four people a day ever come to see the permanent collection. We didn't think they'd mind."

PS -- had a delicious lunch at my favorite lunch place -- an outpost of a local vineyard. This did not disappoint. They make these amazing open faced sandwiches (prosciutto and melon, salami and fig, chicken and garlicky cheese and tomato, salty cheese with carrot, apple, jicama and olive oil). Mmmm. Life is good.

More art, more come-ons, and more gelato.

The promised photos -- the beautiful sunset from Piazzale Michelangelo; me, in said repaired glasses, with some nice Greek kids, watching the sunset; Donatello's moving Penitent Magdalene; some modern Florentines dressed like 15th century Florentines for no apparent reason.

This morning was GREAT. One of the museums I would like to visit, Museo Stibbert, responded to my request to see some pieces that aren't on public view and so I raced over before they could change their minds. The director, Charles Fuchs, showed me and another guest around the villa-cum-museum that houses the collection of Frederick Stibbert, who was phenomenally interested in armor. They have the largest collection of Japanese armor outside of Japan. After ooh-ing and aah-ing over the amazing pieces, I saw the small items that affect my paper, and then headed for ANOTHER museum. The Accademia, where they house Michelangelo’s David, had a two hour line! At least I queued next to an interesting couple from California -- they kindly held my place while I ran for a gelato.

In the evening, I went for a walk around the piazzas and managed to run into Marco, Mr. I'll-make-you-a-cappuccino-at-my-house. After introducing me to another gelato place (yes, I have a problem), Marco offered me 1.) a foot rub, and 2.) a second chance to see his house since he 'had to shower.' I passed, but not before discovering that we were in the same restaurant at the same time on Saturday! Florence is a VERY small place. Marco finally understood that I would not join him a casa sua, so I sat in the piazza to read when a fifty+ year old man sat down to chat. At first, I was annoyed -- but then I thought I'd practice my Italian. We chatted for 25 minutes or so (I honestly didn't know that I knew that much Italian!) before he invited me on a date. I of course claimed that I'm getting married in March. You're all invited.

Art. And then some more art.

Today was another busy day of art-viewing. It is perhaps at this point in the trip that many of you are happy not to actually be here with me. The other people in the hostel are completely dismayed at the amount of time I spend in museums -- but I'm breaking things up with two gelato stops a day, so it is the perfect week, in my opinion. This morning I went to the Palazzo Davanzati, a house-museum that has been closed to the public since 1995 (except for their ground floor, which is open on Fridays). Palazzo Davanzati happens to hold five works by Scheggia and so they were kind enough to let me in anyway. It is always so humbling and wonderful to be in a room by yourself with a work you admire, with no milling crowds to bump you or look at you - and the guards always seem almost flattered that you'd go through the effort to view their inaccessible collection. It was a great morning. I finished the day doing more Scheggia research and then headed to the Cathedral museum, where they have sculptures by Donatello and Michelangelo, as well as the original panels from the Gates of Paradise. AMAZING. After all that art, my feet hurt, but I still climbed the hill to the Piazzale Michelangelo to see the sun set over Florence. Unfortunately, I sat in melted ice cream or spilled soda or something, and also got hit on by a very scruffy looking young man. These incidents nearly ruined the lovely, romantic view. But Kerri bequeathed me sink-size packets of Tide before she went home, so now I'm clean and tired and happy and looking forward to more time, and more art, in Florence. I took decent photos of the view, I hope to add them tomorrow!

PS -- It was SO HOT in India that my GLASSES MELTED. I went to the optometrist because the lenses fell out of my frames. He asked me if I'd left them on a stove or on the dashboard in the sun. When I explained that they were safely in my bag, in a case, for four weeks, but that I'd been in India, he said, "How hot WAS it?" I am super-impressed with myself for not melting or dying in the heat. You can choose to be impressed or not, at your discretion.

How the Mighty Have Fallen

Acqua al Due has been my favorite restaurant anywhere in the world since 1999. In 2001 there was a strong contender in Abuja, Nigeria -- Wahoos, or something, a delicious Indian place -- but Acqua al Due won on the strength of their pasta assagio. The Pasta Assagio is a series of five different types of pasta, allowing the diner to sample a number of different tastes in one meal. Last night, I went to Acqua al Due with Ana and David, expecting a phenomenal experience of pasta-liciousness. Unfortunately, the entire experience was lackluster. The pasta dishes were the same as the ones I sampled on my last trip, instead of spontaneous tastings of the dishes that your neighboring diners ordered. And the service was awful. Sigh. I guess I'll have to start the search for a new favorite (yum!).

Today I spent hours gawking in the Uffizi. The visit was free, thanks to my magic NYU letter stating that I am a budding art historian. It was so amazing to see so many masterpieces in one place. After that, I floated through the day, visiting the funerary chapel of the Medicis designed by Michelangelo, and having a tasty dinner with some very fun girls from Flint, Michigan. The night ended with a fantastic drink at an open-air bar near our hotel (only Italians would have a weekly DJed party on a Sunday night) and now I'm off to bed. Wow, I love it here!

Viva Italia!

Today was BEAUTIFUL. I am so happy, people are smiling at me in the street -- although this afternoon, I realized that they were actually just smiling back. I haven't been in Italy in the summer since 1999, and I forgot that it is so exceedingly wonderful here in this season. I usually visited in the winter, when it's cheaper and work was slower. But it's glorious -- perfect temperature, warm sun, fluffy clouds against that famous Tuscan blue sky, rolling hills -- just lovely. Okay, after that tirade, you might expect better pictures than this one, but this is all I've got -- a view of the Ponte Vecchio with the hills and clouds behind it.

yesterday I wandered around Florence (in clean clothes!!!) enjoying views of the outside of Orsanmichele, the Doors of Paradise on the Baptistery, the Duomo, San Lorenzo -- basically, all sorts of images I've been studying all year and can now see in person. I won't bore you with how exciting that is to me, but my little budding art historian's heart is aflutter. I was not as impressed with the Italian man who asked me directions, and then offered me a cappuccino at 'the best place in town.' I was jet-lagged, so it took me a walk to discover that the 'best place in town' was, indeed, his apartment. I declined on the doorstep. I did get an invitation to dinner this week, but I think I'll pass! Instead, I joined the NYU/taxi girl, Ana, and her friend David for pizza, wine and a tasty salad with the milkiest mozzarella ever. I happened to run into them in front of Santa Croce -- nice coincidence!

This morning I did some work for school, visiting San Giovanni Valdarno to study works by Scheggia, Masaccio's little brother. It's a good thing I'm traveling alone -- I spent two hours looking at two pictures! After a super-tasty farmer's market lunch, I went back to Florence and gawked at the amazing things inside Santa Maria Novella -- home of Masaccio's Trinita fresco, a beautiful set of frescos by Domenico Ghirlandaio, and... actually, I'm not going to list the amazing-ness. I could never fit it all in. But suffice to say, it was wonderful -- and nicely capped off by my first gelato of the day! I'm off to Mass and then to dinner with the NYU people at my favorite restaurant EVER! YAY! Hope your Saturdays are just as great!

All that's old is new again

I wanted to post a list of 10 things that Kerri and I learned in India, but waiting in the airport at 2 AM, we mainly came up with a list of gripes (always bring TP! Don't expect that the directions anyone gives you are ever correct! Watch out for flying spit! Cows ALWAYS have the right of way -- Kerri having figured that out when trying, with no success at all, to push past one in the market). So those are lame things, and not very much reflective of the trip so much as of the hour of departure. Maybe Kerri can post her thoughts? Anyone else have great travel lessons?

Once we boarded at 2:35 AM, we were out cold. And from that point on, it has been along day of deja vu. Kerri and I had cappucinos at the airport in the same spot that I've spent LOTS of time waiting due to delays. As I boarded the flight to Florence, the misty skyline looked like the morning I left a small town in Wisconsin a few years ago -- the air, the view, the walk to the airplane, it was all eerily the same. When I arrived, I ended up sharing a taxi with another girl from NYU, and it turned out that we'd both spent a good deal of time in Florence in 1999. And then, when I got to the hostel (yes, I'm 26, and I'm staying in a hostel. I'm a student. Blah.) it was the SAME ONE I stayed in when I was 18 and my friend Danny and I did the requisite tour of Europe at warp speed. I had no idea when I booked this place, but it is absolutely the same! Life is funny sometimes.

So once my laundry is dry (oh, how I appreciate clean clothes!!!! Nothing ever stays clean for long during the hot weather in India) I'm am off to enjoy more of this town that I know, love and can actually remember my way around. Ciao, belli!