Firenze

Soooo..... my nexteh stoppeh was the city of Ninja Turtles, Italian Sausage, and... Decapitation! Firenze!!

Something that Florence really opens your eyes to is the beauty of the male body. The objectification of the female body in our society harms both genders, in that it (1) causes an undervaluing of women's other attributes and (2) causes a neglect of the male figure.

Men are allowed to be "rugged" or "tough," but not beautiful. Seeing Michelangelo's David in person makes one realize how absurd this double standard is. Thank you, Florence.

Another great thing that is unique to Florence is that it allows one to see all of this Renaissance art in the birthplace of the Renaissance! It makes the art feel much more real than when one sees it at Paris's Louvre or London's National Gallery.


My favorite paintings were Filippo Lippi's Madonna with the Child and two Angels...

...and Botticelli's Madonna of the Magnificat.

My favorite sculpture was Cellini's Perseus with the Head of Medusa.

Here I am on top of the Duomo, overlooking a Tuscan sunset.

And here's a great street performance right next door.


Some other highlights:

• The Duomo's Baptistry interior
• The Brancacci chapel that houses Masaccio's famous works
• The wine and coffee (duhh)
• My hostel, Eurostudent Home. It was right in the heart of the city!

Another random piece of awesomeness was that the Palazzo Vecchio had an outdoor water fountain that had both still AND fizzy water!! SAY WHAAAT???? I don't know why that got me so excited, but it did.

I'll leave you with a couple more of Florence's decapitation depictions!














Bye bye Firenze!

Nexteh Stoppeh...

Before I move on to Firenze, I must include a word on Italian pronunciation of English. As you probably know, Italians are addicted to vowels like Americans are addicted to free stuff (samples, refills, etc.).

They're sort of the anti-Poles (who have words like wszczniesz).

When Italians speak in English, they tend to add vowels to the ends-eh of-ah every word-eh. The perfect example of this appeared on Venice's boat busses. In order to accommodate the tourists, the computerized voice that announced the stops spoke first in Italian, then in English. But even the computerized voice added vowels to the ends of words!!! "Nexteh stoppeh: Accademia."

Now if only the computers could make expressive hand gestures...

Venezia

Wow. Where do I begin? I had very high hopes for Venice, which worried me, since I feared it could not possibly live up to them. I really needn't have worried.

The word "magical" doesn't do this city justice. No noise or air pollution from cars. No waiting at traffic lights. Just beautiful walkways, canals, and Italians. My hostel, A Venice Fish, was in a funky old building in the Canareggio neighborhood in the north. It had a bridge that led right to the front door!

My first day, I awoke early with an agenda to just get lost.

I started off with the obligatory morning coffee at 7am. The way the bartender worked the morning rush at the espresso bar was beautiful. Seeing the customers in the mirror behind the bar as they walked in, the friendly barista would address them by name and have their usual drink ready for them by the time they got to the bar. There was an endless flow of customers and he didn't miss a beat.

I spent most of that day wandering around in the rainy weather, equipped with an umbrella and a bottle of wine. I can safely say that it was the best day of my life. Every random alleyway that I turned down revealed new delights. This is precisely why my preferred form of travel is solo. When traveling alone, one doesn't have to worry about whether anyone else is ok with taking a random detour.

I bought sandwich ingredients at little markets. I had 1 Euro glasses of wine at adorable, tucked-away bars. I had limitless energy, despite about 3 hours of sleep (aided by a dozen-or-so espressos). Churches at every corner housed paintings by Venetian artists Titian and Tintoretto. Seeing the boisterous, old Italian men living their slow, happy, Italian lives would make even John McEnroe smile. That night, I found a little mom-and-pop bring-your-own-bottle wine store that served their wine from barrels. 2 Euros a liter for some of the best wine I'd ever had! The next day, I realized that this was the first full day of my life that I did not see a single car! Just writing about it makes me teary-eyed.


Some Dos and Don'ts for visiting Venice:

Do:

• Get lost! Put the map away. Wander down side streets. 
• Get up early. Venice is not a nightlife city. Spend a long day making plenty of stops for espresso and vino.
• Take the boat busses. Instead of loud, crowded, stressful subways, Venice has boats! They serve the double purpose of sightseeing and transportation. The Line 1 "bus" goes right down the Grand Canal! Breathtaking at night.
• Visit Murano, Burano, and Torcello. Beautiful little island clusters north of the city. Go there. Murano is famous for its hand-blown (gl)ass factories. Burano and Torcello look like this:

Don't:

• Take a gondola ride. The boat busses serve the same purpose for far, far cheaper.
• Make rigid plans / pack your schedule. Venice is a maze of a city. You will get lost, whether you desire to or not. Embrace it. If you worry too much about the destination, you will get stressed and have a suboptimal experience. Exploring the city is more important than any particular sight, museum, or landmark.
• Spend too much time at Piazza San Marco or Ponte Rialto. Every big city seems to have a standard tourist track. It is usually suffocatingly crowded, with traps of expensive, low-quality food. These places are popular for a reason, but are NOT the main reason for visiting Venice.
• Fall for the tourist traps. Among foreigners, Venice has a reputation for bad, overpriced food. That is because they fall for the tourist traps. The farther you get from Piazza San Marco, the better and cheaper the food will be. Eat Venetian food (seafood!). If you eat a 4 Euro slice of cold cardboard-pizza next to Rialto bridge, it's your fault, not Venice's!!!

Leaving Venice was one of the most emotional experiences of my life. It was my first time crying upon leaving a city. This blog can't do justice to how that city made me feel. Its beauty is really unparalleled. It makes Paris look like Wheaton, MD. Just knowing that Venice exists makes me want to be a better steward of the world. My consolation came in the knowledge that I would be back many, many times in the future. Arrivederci Venezia!

Milano

I had been to Sicily, but never the mainland, so I always had to add an asterisk when people would ask me if I had been to Italy (since Sicilians have their own strong identity). Also, as the son of an art history teacher, I have always longed to see the land of the famous Italian Renaissance artists.

So here I was on my way to Italy. My twelve night itinerary included:
Two nights in Milano
Three nights in Venezia
Three nights in Firenze
Four nights in Roma

Between the two Ryanair flights and three Trenitalia trains, I was able to book all of my transportation for about $150. And the hostels ranged from about $13-$20 a night. God, I love traveling in Europe.

Upon arrival, I had very little knowledge of the city of Milan. I knew that there was a big cathedral and some Da Vinci stuff. Supposedly, though, a Last Supper ticket had to be booked months in advance, so I wouldn't even be able to see that... or so I thought!

When I arrived in Milan on Friday night, I figured I'd check the availability of the Last Supper anyway. The one 15-minute time slot that was available in the next month was... THE FOLLOWING MORNING AT 8:15AM! Sometimes when you travel, the stars just align for you.

Saturday was my one full day in Milan, so I decided to make a marathon out of it. I left my hostel just before sunrise and had a pleasantly eerie stroll through the streets of this old city.

After Da Vinci's Last Supper, I saw Milan's Sforzesco Castle, some Roman ruins, two museums, and the Quadrilatero D'Oro (Milan's equivalent of Paris's Triangle D'Or). I found an iPad cover on sale... for only 98 Euros!!!















Oh, and I also saw the Duomo.

With tired feet, I rewarded myself with an early night's sleep in preparation for... Venezia!!!
I had high expectations for this city. Would it live up to them?