Thanksgiving Break With Mom and Erin

Photos of Thanksgiving Break Travel with Mom and Erin.

I just returned this evening from a fantastic week of traveling with my mom and sister. They flew in on Thursday evening, arriving in Riva, where they stayed in the hotel here for two nights, mid-day Friday. We took it easy the first few days; I showed them around Riva on the Friday they arrived and the Villa as well and on Saturday, we spent the day wandering around Lugano. We left Sunday morning, by rental car, for Milan. Driving was certainly an adventure; Traffic and difficulty navigating almost made us skip Milan and continue to Florence instead. However, we fought on and felt accomplished once we made it to the hotel. We spent some time wandering around Milan, where we happened upon a marathon in progress, saw some of the original fort that protected the once walled Milan, went to the Duomo, and walked through the Galleria, an architecturally beautiful, high-end, covered shopping area. The next morning we left for Florence, where we spent three days. We went to a few museums, including the Uffizzi and Accademia (where Michelangelo's David is displayed); we saw the Duomo of Florence, went to the Ponte Vecchio, did a bit of shopping, and wandered of course. We ate at a "self-service" restaurant, which was a cool experience; it was almost like a buffet line, so we went through it and picked out a bunch of things to share. It seemed like a more local thing to do, so it was nice to break away from the more touristy side of things. We also ate gelato... really good gelato. There is a place called Festival del Gelato, where there are an unbelievable number of unusual flavors; we went there both on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday, Erin had to head home. She was picked up at the hotel at 5:00 a.m. to be taken to the Florence airport. I am very thankful that she came considering she would have such a long day of travel and then have to work 'Black Friday' for 14 hours. Mom and I left later that morning for Venice. At this point we had dropped off the car at the rental place, so we took a train and then the vaparretto, the boat taxi, to the Rialto Bridge, near our hotel. It was a beautiful, though cold, first day; Mom and I walked to St. Mark's Square and down the main body of water to the Biennale Gardens for the afternoon until time for dinner. The next day we were not so lucky in terms of the weather unfortunately. It was not just cold, but rainy and windy. We did have indoor activity planned; In the morning we went to San Marco Basilica, the museum that is on the 'second floor' of the Basilica, as well as the treasury, housing many beautiful gold, crystal, and jeweled objects of the church. Despite the poor weather, we did spend the rest of the day wandering, taking a break part way through the afternoon to warm up in our hotel. The next morning, today, Mom took a transfer boat to the Marco Polo airport on one of the islands of Venice and I took the vaparretto back to the train station to head to Milan then back to Riva.

I really enjoyed spending the week with both Mom and Erin and was very thankful to have both of them come visit; especially over the holiday. I thank them both for the week of wonderful travel and look forward to coming home soon!

Mom and Erin!

Mom and Erin arrived yesterday, around noon, safe and sound, but tired. Last night and tonight they are staying in Riva; We are traveling around Italy, starting with Milan, on Sunday. I will probably not be updating until I return, unless I find an internet cafe.
Seeing them makes me miss home even more; I'm getting more and more excited to return on December 12th!

Vicenza to Riva

The next morning, we left Verona to stop by Vicenza, a city with many buildings and a history of Palladio. Together we visited the Teatro Olympio, a theatre space designed by Palladio. Its stage creates a perspective by having "streets" extend on an incline towards backstage and little "buildings" that get progressively smaller along the streets. It allows the actors to walk off stage as if they are walking down a street. It does a good job of playing a trick on the eye; we all wished we could have seen a play there to see how it does affect the play itself. It was very difficult yo photograph in the space they allowed us to sit though.

Photo of Teatro Romano.


We really just spent the rest of our time there wandering around the area. We wanted to have a relaxing last day and just enjoy exploring the city itself. After a few hours, we headed back to Riva, arriving in time to start unpacking before dinner. We all slept very well that night!

The next day it was back to work so that we could finish our competitions we've been working on throughout the entire semester; we sent them off yesterday!
I will post the scanned boards as soon as possible so you can see what it is I've been up to in terms of studio this fall.

Brion and Verona

Photos in Brion Cemetery.

We were picked up in Venice to drive to Brion cemetery and then Verona at 9:30 in the morning on November 13th. The weather on this day was the worst we had on the trip; it was so cold and rainy. While the Brion cemetery, by Carlo Scarpa, was another beautiful architectural work, it was difficult to enjoy it. Virtually all outside or open to the elements, we could not get away from the weather. I spent some time taking photos, but there was no sketching that day; Frank suggested that if we got to cold, to go to one of the nearby cafes and get a coffee to warm up and dry off. We all took this suggestion. It was a work worth seeing and studying, so I am glad we went, despite the discomfort during the visit.

We continued to Verona in the afternoon. We were excited to make it to our hotel so we could change out of the wet clothing and warm up a bit. After doing so, we were re-energized and decided to walk a bit to see some of Verona before dinner. 'The girls' and I walked around some of the main streets; as it was near the end of the trip and we were pretty exhausted from seeing so much and the travel itself, we decided to have a bit of a girly afternoon and shop some. It was a really nice break! As it was getting dark, we saw the arena light up; it is similar in look to the Coliseum, but tiny in comparison.



We had the next full day, November 14th, in Verona before we returned to Riva on the 15th. We met in the morning to see Castle Vecchio. It is a museum with pieces of ruins as well as paintings, mostly of Mary and baby Jesus, from earlier than the year 1000. Originally a castle, Carlo Scarpa renovated the building to create the museum. He creates moments which not only aid in the display of the artwork, but also display the castle itself as a piece of art. Frank tells us that his work is something that no one may fully understand, but we can still enjoy the things we don't understand and that sometimes we don't need to try to.

Photos of bridge and interiors at Castle Vecchio.


Afterward, we went to see Juliet's, as in Romeo and Juliet, balcony and house. The house itself was a kind of mini-museum; it held artwork that depicted scenes from various productions of Romeo and Juliet, fake books with passages from the play, interactive computers on which you could learn about the history of the myth and play, and a mail box where you could write letters to Juliet. Apparently, there are women who write letters back to those who leave them in the mail box. It is also possible to go out onto the famous balcony from the museum. In the courtyard outside, there is a statue of Juliet whose breast people touch for good luck while taking a photo; the color of the statue has changed where people have touched it because of the oils on their hands. The tunnel/archway that leads into the courtyard is covered in signatures and tags with messages of love; there was nothing left uncovered. Post-its and little bits of paper had also been taped onto the wall everywhere. We found out, after Ashton and I signed the wall for our boyfriends, that it is not actually legal to do so... oops.

Photos of the signatures, Juliet statue and the mailbox.


We then walked by a bank by Carlo Scarpa that Frank told us we should try to see if we could. We unfortunately could not go in, but it was nice to see another of his works. The way in which he produces details is very distinct, so it is easy to recognize his projects.

Photo of detail at Carlo Scarpa bank.


It was time for lunch at this point, so we decided to go to a kebab place we saw near the arena so we could go inside the arena directly afterwards. It was my first kebab, though everyone else has had one before and the guys have been obsessed because it is usually cheap and really good! They are called 'Doner Kebab' because the meat, similar to gyro meat, is shaved off of a very large kebab. They can be on wrap bread, a roll or pita bread, and have lettuce, tomato, cucumber sauce, hot sauce, and cabbage. They don't always look pretty, but they taste wonderful; plus it was only 3.50 Euro.
The arena was really well preserved and was pretty much exactly like the Coliseum on a much smaller scale. We played around in the arena and sat for a little while there. The weather this day in Verona was absolutely beautiful and a huge improvement on the day before, so we were determined to enjoy it as much as possible.

Photos of Doner Kebab, the arena and Ashton playing in the Arena.


We headed towards to tomb of Juliet after the visit to the arena. It was not really what we were expecting, though I'm not sure what it was that I was expecting. We stayed only a few minutes and then decided to try to make it to the Teatro Romano, another amphitheater, before it got dark. It was quite a walk, but it was worth it when we got there. We watched the sunset from the seats and met a very sweet cat. It just hoped into our laps and purred away.

Photos at the Teatro Romano.


In the evening, after dinner, some of us went to a piazza with a few cafes and bars where we could go in and get a drink then go back out to the piazza to chat with the crowd of local people. It had a really nice, relaxing atmosphere; it was perfect for our last night in Italy traveling all together.

Venice

San Marco Piazza.

As we arrived in Venice late and didn't have dinner until 9:00, the first night there we didn't go out to explore; instead we stayed in and relaxed, trying to make up some lost sleep.
The next morning, we all met to see a museum designed by Carlo Scarpa. His attention to detail is extraordinary; he also considered the nature of Venice and its flood waters, allowing them to come right into the museum by washing into some of the front rooms with their beautiful stepped "bridges" to walk around and through the water. This modern section of the museum contrasted highly with the rest of the museum, which was a in a very traditional Venetian style. On the upper level, Bernini's sculpture of Medusa was displayed beautifully with a circle of changing lighting above it. It was a very dark room otherwise, so it created quite an experience.


Photo in glass demonstration and in the gondola.

The now usual group, Megan, Danett, Ashton, Kristina and I, headed off together for the rest of the day after all of us met. We found a place, by chance, that would do a free demonstration of the making of Murano glass on the main island, rather than taking the boats to the island of Murano. It was a simple demonstration of a glass vase, but still very impressive!
As the weather forecast wasn't looking so great for the next few days, we decided that while it was just misty rain and not really raining, that we would go ahead and take a gondola ride. I wanted to make sure I did go on one this time around; it was something I had yet to do. We had a great time seeing the city from that point of view; our gondolier pointed out Casanova's office and Marco Polo's birthplace and also informed us that there are 430 bridges in Venice and that being a gondolier is something passed down in a family with training begining at age 5 or 6 in a small gondola.


Photo of Ashton and I doing ballet in front of a lighted wall in one of the pavilions and the Norwegian pavilion.

Afterwards, we spent the rest of the day at the Venice Biennale, an International art and architecture exhibition where countries present the current projects and research in permanent pavilions designed for and by their country. We could only describe it as a Disney World for architects. There was so much to see I couldn't begin to describe everything!

The second day we went to see San Marco Basilica first thing in the morning. As it was raining and it was high tide, the square was slightly flooded, as well as the church itself, so we had to walk on the raised boards that went all around the square and into the church too. I really enjoy the eastern influence on the architecture in Venice, especially in the church.

Photo of flooded San Marco, the Rialto Bridge and the grand canal.


We continued to the area around the Rialto Bridge, just enjoying the wandering. We found the market, where a lot of fish were being sold as well as live crabs, and then went into a cafe for coffee and mid-day Bellinis (I just stuck with a cappuccino.). We then began a meandering walk towards the Peggy Guggenheim Museum for modern art, stopping in a church that was currently holding a mass along the way. The choir, enhanced by the acoustics, was beautiful. I lit a candle in honor of Aly's grandmother, who had passed away just a few days before, while there. After the church visit and the little museum, it was time to head back to the hotel for the evening.

Photo in fish market, the cafe and the little church we stopped by.


The next morning, an extremely rainy day, we left Venice to go to Brion cemetery and then to the fair city of Verona.

Hadrian's Villa, Gubbio and Moderna

Photos at Hadrian's Villa.

On our way to Gubbio, we stopped at Hadrian's Villa for 3 or 4 hours; it is a retreat that the Roman Emperor Hadrian built for himself in the 2nd century because he disliked Palatine Hill in Rome. It is more of a small city than what we would consider a villa. There are two baths, a theater, multiple reflection pools, a hotel, and many other public buildings. We had beautiful weather, which made for a really nice walk around the ruins.

From there we drove to the small medieval town of Gubbio. We arrived in the evening after hauling luggage all over the place to get there. After we walked through the town, virtually all stone buildings reminding me a bit of Ireland, going up the hill it is built on. Apparently, the hill becomes the world's largest Christmas tree when they wrap the whole hill with Christmas lights in December. The next morning we had a bit of time to wander, as we were leaving a bit later to get to Moderna cemetary when it opened in the afternoon. We decided to walk down to the amphitheater closer to the edges of the town; it is still used for some performances today.

Photos in Gubbio, including the amphitheater.


We continued to Moderna cemetary, the newest portion of which was designed by Aldo Rossi. He respects the nature of the traditional portion of the cemetery by continuing its axis and maintaining some of the original ideas of the cemetery. However, while the original section was much more traditional with a lot of very symmetric and well-defined garden design as well as symmetric buildings, the area designed by Aldo Rossi is very sparse and simple to fit with his idea of a "City of the Dead." Cemeteries are not often thought of in terms of their architecture, so it was both interesting and awkward to visit it for that reason; we felt odd walking past so many peoples' graves.

Moderna cemetery photos.


We continued to Venice, getting there late in the evening; More on Venice next time!

Rome: Part Two

Photos at the Coliseum.

Our last full day in Rome, we visited many of the ancient ruins for which Rome is known. In order to ensure we would not have to wait in a long line to get in, we went straight to the Coliseum in the morning. We waited about 30-45 minutes (not bad!). It was also good that we went earlier in the day, because after we left the Coliseum and went to get lunch before visiting the Roman forum and Palestine Hill, it began to rain, a lot. The Coliseum holds about as many people as Lane Stadium holds; it amazes me that something on such an enormous scale could have been built at a time when our modern machinery was not available. Stepping into it and thinking about what happened there when it was in use is really an overwhelming experience. Crosses throughout the Coliseum seemed a bit ironic to us considering how many people died in the arena for entertainment value alone.

After the Coliseum, we went to lunch; luckily, when it began to rain, we were in the cafe already. We waited it out a little bit, then decided that it would be a good time for an indoor activity. We went to a small church with relics of St. Valentine (his skull) and "The Mouth of Truth." This "Mouth of Truth" is a concrete wall sculpture of a face with an open mouth. The story behind it is that if you stick your hand inside the mouth and it doesn't bite you, you are a truthful person, if it does bite you, you are obviously otherwise. We all passed the test!


Photo of the military band.

At that point the weather began to look a little better, so we decided to head over to the Roman Forum. (We is Ashton, Kristina, Megan, Danett, and I.) On our way we passed by the Circo Massimo, once a race track for other games, but now an open green space. There was currently a military "fair" of sorts going on in the area. We never entirely decided what it was, but it was kind of fun to see the officers, the military band, tanks, the horses, etc...

The Roman Forum and other ruins surrounding it were much more expansive than I had imagined. I was glad to get to see them this time in Rome, as last time we tried to find them at the very end of our trip there and almost missed our tour bus. It continued to rain a bit while we were there, but once it had cleared up, the sky made for beautiful photography.


Photos at the Roman Forum.


It was getting into the late afternoon at this point, so we decided to slowly make our way back to the hotel, stopping in a church recommended to us by another student, Ryan C., who had been there his last time in Rome. It had one of the most incredible ceilings I have ever seen. You couldn't tell where the painting stopped and the structure and the walls began. It felt like you could walk, well float as its a ceiling, right into it. There was a large mirror which you could look into angled up towards it; the way in which it was placed made it feel as if there were no ground and that you were floating somewhere within the painting. It was impossible to get a good photograph, but we tried.

Photo into the mirror looking up at the ceiling.


The next morning we left Rome to see Hadrian's Villa and spend one night in Gubbio, a small medieval town in Italy.