Carnivale, Masks, and the Macarena!

This excursion to Venice, Italy had to have been one of my favorite trips with the school thus far! It is one thing to visit the canal filled city of Venice but to go during Carnival is one experience not to be missed! First day we set foot in Venice I could already tell it was busier then the time I had visited previously. The streets were full of people and there were crowds on the bridges trying to get from one place to the other! Granted, Carnival didn't start til Sunday but people wasted no time getting here and there were already people in elaborate masks. We all felt rather under dressed!

Case and point, this guy!

We first visited Saint Marco's Square, one of the main piazzas on the island of Venice where you can also find the Dodge's Palace as well as St. Mark's Basilica. This was were the stage and other festivities were being set up for the upcoming Carnival. We were informed that if we wished to see the "Flight of the Angel", the introduction ceremony for Carnival, this was were it was going to happen. The chosen angel would leap from the St. Marco's square bell tower and glide down to the stage set up on the other side of the square via zip line, which sounded amazing so I definitely made sure I would stick around for that! After getting us to St. Marco's Square our chaperons Stefano and Franco turned us loose on the city to do what we wished for a couple hours.

Rachael, Cara, and I sitting by the water on this beautiful day!

After our time in Venice, we took a trip to Murano, the island famous for its glass making factories. Much to my delight I got to go to a different glass factory then the one Grandma and I went to last summer so I got to see other techniques and products. It definitely didn't have alot of the fancy glass bottles and cups the other one did though.





An hour later found us in Burano, an island famous for lace work, it was soooooo cold there with the sun setting so I didn't take many pictures I'm sorry to say. Couldn't feel my hands!


I can't get over the brightly colored homes here, they are all so full of character! This island was probably one of my favorite places because the locals were so pleasant, if you started a conversation with them they would tell stories about Burano and about what traditions they have for Carnival as opposed to what they do in Venice! Instead of gelato I got ciccolate caldo (hot chocolate!) and it was like drinking liquid chocolate, definitely kept me warm till we had to leave.

Masks at our Venetian dinner, why not?

Evening found us at a restaurant outside Venice were we had a typical Venetian meal with actual locals. So much food to be had, it was amazing any of us could finish anything! Naturally I was enjoying the food and forgot to take pictures of it all, visit my roommate's blog for dinner details here!Lots of wine, lots of food, and alot of dancing! I am pleased to say there was at least one song I knew how to dance to and that was the Macarena, which is surprising it was played because the locals had no idea how to dance to it. The best part of the evening I think was showing them how to dance the Macarena, Venetians and Americans dancing it out together made it a grand time! We even got Stefano and Franco to do it too! I wish I had good pictures of all this but the light was so dime my camera pictures are blurry, so until I can get the video to convert so it will upload to Youtube you'll have to take my word for it!

Day two was jamb packed with alot of stuff to do and see before we had to head back to Florence. First thing to see was the Peggy Guggenheim Museum of Venice, a museum of contemporary modern and futurist works of art strictly kept in Venice with famous pieces by Piccaso, Dali, and Mondrian. No pictures were aloud but even I was enthralled to see all the works and I'm not a huge fan of Futurists or Cubism. After the museum we all had to book it to St. Marco's Square to see the Flight of the Angel.

I have never seen so many people crowded into a tiny square as I have being here for Carnival, it was down right claustrophobic trying to get a spot to see the event but worth the experience of seeing the start to carnival! Getting unpacked after was a nightmare though, I'm sorry to say my mask was a casualty of trying to keep from being squished or loosing my purse to close quarter pick-pockets. I made up for it though but getting my face painted with my roommate Rachael by a man dressed as a pirate from Rome!


The rest of the day was spent admiring people's creativity in costumes and masks, Venetians really get into this sort of thing! It was like our Halloween for them.

My favorite shot I took in Venice!

Overall I got to do everything I wanted to do and had a fantastic time! We did not ride a Gondola but I am perfectly okay with that, it is an experience I got to share with my Grandma when I went with her to Venice last Summer.

Venice Summer 2010

Hope all is well stateside! Midterms are in two weeks so I will be hitting the books rather hard in order to do well since there are very little grades to be given in my classes. If you want to check out my designs and thoughts on sustainability in my studio class check out the link to my design blog.

Ciao!

Epic Friday!

Okay so, Laura and I went exploring again, this is a typical Thursday or Friday situation when we are not in class, and today has to have been the best use of exploration in Florence that we have ever had! Something we would have never gotten to experience if we hadn't deviated down another street we had never gone to on our way to the Central Market.

It all started when we decided to go into a stationary store called Il Papiro, we saw the inside from the street and were curious as to what all they had within the store. There was all sorts of handmade stationary, cards, and bound books as well as a collection of wax seal supplies and ink for fountain pens. It was going to be a short visit, until a lady offered to give us a demonstration of how they create the beautiful marbleized paper that they bind to their books and other various stationary items. It is something that was unique to the Tuscan region and so naturally Laura and I said sure, curious as to how they actually made these patterns. (So it is something they do it for the tourists, but we wanted to see it!)

It was an interesting process, a shallow rectangular tank is filled with distilled water and wallpaper paste. The artist picks three colors and lightly taps each color brush from right to left in order to add colors to the paste, the color expands on the surface and then the artist manipulates the colors with a stick or comb (or even a combination of the two.) in order to achieve the desired pattern and scheme. Last step is to set the paper face down on the color mixture and tap it abit so it absorbs the design and colors. It was really quite cool to watch!

The store was very expensive, and rightfully so with all the beautiful paper and handmade items, so after that demonstration we were ready to leave the beautiful shop and head to the Central Market. But here is where we met the master of the beautiful paper works and owner of the shop.

This elderly man, who merely introduced himself as Johnny, took a keen interest in us from the moment we walked in. Asking us where we were from and what we were doing in Florence. Naturally Laura and I were hesitant to tell him too much about us but as we spoke with him he seemed friendly and honestly not trying to get us to buy anything like many of the street vendors or berate us for just coming in and not buying anything. It wasn't until we got to telling him we were an Art and Architecture major at LdM that his eyes seem to light up and he asked us if we wanted a go at making the designs we had just seen demonstrated previously.

It was an unbelievable offer and Laura and I agreed because the artist in us was itching to try the old technique that had been done for so many years in Tuscany.

It was just like watercolor splatter painting!

Taking the spatters and swirling them.

The master of this art was with us the whole time, teaching us patterns!

My finished paper in the "Flame" pattern. Naturally I chose to use blue, yellow, and green!

It was an amazing experience to be sure and we even got to keep our beautiful works we created right then and there free of charge! Johnny wrapped them up, handed them to us, and said it was our apprenticeship diploma and that he wanted us to stop by and see him again sometime before we leave just to say hi! (And perhaps come buy from him later, which I am totally tempted!)

Johnny dubbed both of us apprentices, just like back in Gothic and Renaissance whenever someone was learning an art technique or skill! We even got him to pose for a picture for the folks back home!

I donno if he is like this to all students who come in but I really doubt it since not many students take such keen interest in works like this, Laura and I felt honored to have met him and gotten to try this form of art. Florence just continues to amaze me!

Ciao!

Lucca Trip

My roommates (+David, Laura, & Sophie) took our first day trip to Lucca, Italy yesterday. It was my first experience with the trains in Italy and I must say it was very pleasant, makes me look forward to any other day trips on the weekend we may take to Milan or Pisa while I am here in Florence.

Anyway, the train only cost 5,20 euro one way and was about an hour and thirty minute ride. (This was not a straight through train, we made many stops along the way.)Here is a picture of the ticket!


We left Florence at 8:38am and arrived in Lucca at 1o:21am to beautiful sunny skies and a high of 60 degrees. Perfect weather for exploring the older area of this city!





Lucca had many churches to see and beautiful scenic routes a top the outer walls, we saw everything inside the city by foot and biked along the top of the wall to see the mountains that surround Lucca as we made the loops, some of them were even covered in snow!

Sophie, just met her through Christina, one of my biking buddies!

Rachael, my roomie, my other biking buddy!

Along with being very scenic, Lucca had a pastry shop on just about every corner and gelato shops on every other corner so this quickly became the food trip, especially since alot of it was cheaper then what we find in Florence or what we found in France even.


All in all it was a wonderful trip and I look forward to the next one when we have a free weekend. This coming weekend I am going to Venice during Carnival with my roommate Rachael and I am very excited about it! One because I love Venice and two because I get to experience carnival without having to worry about lodging since I am going through Ldm, most of the time during Carnival, lodging becomes difficult to come by and it is not unheard of for people to have to sleep in the streets. (Or not sleep at all.)I can't wait to go!

Ciao!

Je ne sais pas français! [Part II]

The second day of our trip consisted of visits to small medieval cities along the French Riviera. After a hearty breakfast of crescents and various pastries we set off for the little walled town of Saint Paul, France, a medieval city untouched by modern influences.

Next came the town of Cannes, France. This city was abit more modern in feel but it contained an older quarter which we were able to visit. Cannes along with being a harbor city is also known for the international film festival that is held there. Laura and I really didn't know many of the actors and actresses so we were constantly asking Rachael who they were and what movies they were in.

The only one I knew.

Rachael being super excited over one of the Coen Brothers, I'm told they directed movies like O'Brother Were Art Tho and The Big Lebowski.

Yet another beautiful church we had the pleasure of going into.

Our last stop was the city on the cliff-side, Eze, France. Eze is one of the places in France that is famous for it's perfume factory so one of the highlights was a trip through said factory and then browsing the perfumes that can only be bought in France. Since I had not bought anything over 5 euro on my trip through France, a bottle of french perfume was my souvenir of the trip. I got a really good deal on it and I never really bought perfume before other than the bath and body works body splashes.

After the tour and shopping I ventured into the old town of Eze, it had a fantastic view of the ocean and neighboring seaside towns from it's walls but the view from the top ruins of an old castle in the town was probably the best 4 euro expense I had ever paid for!




Our trip was short but I enjoyed the places we went to in France none the less! The people in our trip didn't all seem to get the culture and history we got to experience (as a matter a fact they whined about what a waste it was to go to St. Paul, which was my favorite part of the trip, because there was no place to shop!) but I didn't let that stop me from enjoying myself. Next weekend I am going to Venice, Italy for Carnival and I cannot wait! I hope it is as enjoyable as this one was!

Ciao!