Florence

When I was about 16 years old my sister, Eryn, told me I looked like the figure of "Spring" in Botticelli's painting "Primavera."  Ever since that time I have wanted to visit Florence and see this painting for myself. I have always felt a certain connection to the painting and wrote a report on it for my Humanities class at BYU.  When I saw it in the museum I sat on a bench for about 10 minutes and thought about this painting, my sister, my time at college and how the renewal of Spring each year brings hope and happiness to the world.

The image of "Spring" from the painting

Me, around age 16

What do you think?  I think it must be all the blonde hair that made my sister think I was Botticelli's inspiration:)

My parents and I fully enjoyed our one day in Florence.  We woke up and headed over to the Accademia museum which houses Michelangelo's "David."  As you walk into the museum you turn directly to your left and then right again and find yourself staring down a long hallway with "David" at the end, towering over the crowd and standing serene and beautiful on his pedestal.  

"David" is awe inspiring.  Michelangelo was given this piece of marble to use because other sculptors had cast it off as "too big" and "too flawed."  Unlike other pieces of art I have seen here in Europe, the "David" statue is everything I imagined it would be.  The best part, there were only about 20 other people in the museum so we could appreciate the sculpture without a horde of other people around.

Also in this museum are Michelangelo's "Prisoners."  It was said that Michelangelo believed the sculptors job was to chip away at the stone until the figure inside was revealed.  He never made models of his sculptures but worked into the marble, from front to back, until the sculpture emerged.  The "Prisoners" are so cool because you can see how he worked, removing the bits of marble that didn't belong in his final piece.

After the Accademia my parents and I parted ways.  I wanted to do a walking tour and then visit the Uffizi gallery.  My parents wanted to visit the Galileo Science Museum and walk around a bit on their own.

The Duomo.  This is a very beautiful church in the center of the city.  If you ever get lost in Florence you can just look around a bit and make your way back to the Duomo.  This church was the first building, since Roman antiquity, to be capped with a dome and was seen as a real achievement for the Renaissance.

I hiked all 463 steps to the top of the dome!  It was quite the climb but completely worth it for the views of Florence.

Florence, from the top of the Duomo.

The steps were steep and narrow.  I would not recommend this climb for anyone that is claustrophobic.  

Across the square from the Duomo is the Baptistry.  This building is famous for it's bronze doors.  The original doors are housed in the Duomo museum, which I didn't get to, but the copies are pretty amazing.   According to Rick Steves: "Lorenzo Ghiberti made a breakthrough in perspective using mathematical laws to create the illusion of receding distance on a basically flat surface."

A close up of one of the panels on the bronze doors.

I was so happy to find gelato in Florence.  All the gelato stores in Germany are closed for the winter!

My walking tour took me past the Palazzo Vecchio.  This square has the fortress-like home of the famous Medici family.  Because of this wealthy family Florence was the birthplace of the Renaissance.  They commissioned great works of art by all the famous artists of the time.

This is me posing by the Arno river with the famous bridge, Ponte Vecchio in the background.

I had about 2 hours to kill after my walking tour before my reservation at the Uffizi Gallery.  I walked around the markets of Florence, spent way too much money on pottery and then made my way over to the church of Santa Maria Novella.  This is a 13th century church with Masaccio's famous painting "Trinity."

Masaccio is considered the first painter of the Renaissance movement.  You can see in this painting an attempt to create a 3-D space, something you didn't see during the medieval period.  Also, the Holy figures are set in a realistic space (the interior of a Cathedral), instead of a mystical, unrealistic setting.

On my way back to the Uffizi Gallery I walked along the Arno river.  The sun was just setting and the lighting was perfect.  I kept thinking how much I wished Hyrum had been there to enjoy the beauty of Florence.

Botticelli's "Primavera"in the Uffizi Gallery.  This was such a wonderful museum to walk around.  I especially loved how you could see the change from Medieval to Renaissance art as you walked through the different rooms.

For example.  This is a Medieval painting of Mary with the infant Christ child...

...and this is a Renaissance painting of the same figures.

From the top floor of the museum you could see the Duomo in the distance.  I couldn't help snapping another shot of this beautiful dome.

After my dream tour of the Uffizi Gallery I met back up with my parents and we enjoyed a lovely dinner together.

The next morning my Mom and I squeezed in one more site before our train left.  I had wanted to see the Medici Chapel but ran out of time the day before.  This is my Mom in front of the Church of San Lorenzo which has the Medici Chapel.

Michelangelo, who had lived with the Medici family as a teenager, was commissioned to create their final resting place in the crypts of the San Lorenzo church.  Michelangelo was the architect, sculptor and painter of the chapel which became the burial place for Lorenzo "The Magnificent" Medici.

Our time in Florence had come to an end and we caught our 9:30 AM train to Venice and from there drove the full 7 hours back home.  What a trip!  I'm so glad I had the chance to spend this time with my parents and to see so many amazing and wonderful things.

Mediterranean Cruise: Savona, Italy

Thursday, November 24.  Our cruise ship dropped us off in the city of Savona on the Western side of Italy.  Our car was parked in Venice which is on the Eastern side of Italy.  Since we had to make our way across Italy anyway I figured it made sense to stop over in Florence for a few days...since it was on the way.

Mom and Dad on the train ride to Florence

You can't really tell but in the background of this shot are the Carrara mountains where large blocks of marble have been cut out over the centuries to be used for beautiful sculptures (i.e.: Michelangelo's "David")

My parents room in Florence.  We had a relaxing evening after our day of travel and got ready for a fun day in Florence the next day.

Mediterranean Cruise: Naples, Italy

Wednesday, November 23.  Today the ship docked in Naples.  My parents had purchased an excursion to visit Pompeii (which I had seen last October with Hyrum and the boys) so I was on my own in Naples.  I had only 2 things on my list of things to do.  1, The National Archeological Museum and 2, pizza...yummy pizza.

This is a shot of Naples from the ship as we were docking

Out of all the cities our cruise ship docked, Naples was the only one that felt truly lived in.  The other places we stopped were purely tourist towns but Naples was alive with real people going about their daily lives.

The National Archeological Museum has all the sculptures and mosaics and pottery that were found at Pompeii and other sites that were excavated around the same time.  When we visited Pompeii last year it was an amazing site but it was just as amazing to see all the art and magnificent cultural artifacts in this museum.  You could really get a feel for how everyday life was from the displays.  My favorite displays were the mosaics, I can't help but be amazed by the skill and artistry it must take to produce one of these pieces of art.

One of my favorite sculptures from the museum.  His eyes were made out of ivory and blue stone so it really looks like he is looking out at you...creepy but cool.

There were beautiful open shopping areas called "gallerias." This is one of two that I got to see on my Rick Steve's walking tour of Naples.

An excavated piece of the original wall that surrounded Naples when it was part of the Greek Empire.  Too bad people use this as a dumping ground...only in Italy:)

The real reason I was excited about a stop in Naples.  This pizza was so delicious with fresh buffalo mozzarella and basil and the crust was absolutely perfect!

I met up with my parents just as they were heading back to the ship.  They really enjoyed the tour of Pompeii and since they didn't have a camera with them I just had to get a shot of them with Mt. Vesuvius in the background.

Mediterranean Cruise: Valletta, Malta

Tuesday, November 22.  Once again we woke up to another sunny day and headed off the boat for an adventure in Malta.  I only had one place I wanted to visit while in Valletta so when we were approached by a taxi driver offering to drive us around to 3 different sites for a set price we hopped into his taxi and went to explore the island.

Valletta, Malta as seen from our cruise ship.

The first stop on our taxi tour was the gardens of the San Anton Palace.  These gardens were once private gardens for the royalty but are now open to the public.  They were beautifully kept and smelled fabulous thanks to all the citrus trees.

There was a museum within the garden with a display of moving figures showing what life was like in Malta before electricity and other conveniences of modern times.  You could tell someone had worked very hard on this display and it was fun to see all the figures moving and going about their daily tasks.

One of the fabulously huge trees in the garden.

The next stop on our tour was the city of Mdina.  Mdina is a medieval walled town situated on a hill in the center of the island.  It still retains its medieval charm with narrow streets and stone walkways.  

The church of St. Paul's in Mdina

A cute courtyard in Mdina.  All the buildings are made from limestone that they get from the island so they are all the same basic color.  

After walking around the old city of Mdina we were taken to Mosta where we got to explore the Rotunda (Church of St. Mary.)  This church is famous for two reasons.  First, it is the 3rd largest dome after St. Peters in Rome and Hagia Sofia in Istanbul...

...Second it is the site of a miracle!  In 1942 the church took a direct hit from a German bomb while more than 300 people were congregated inside.  The 200 kg bomb pierced the dome and fell to the floor with a bounce, but failed to explode.  The Army took the bomb outside and diffused it and no one was hurt during the event.  This photo shows a replica of the bomb.

After our taxi tour we were dropped back in Valletta to explore a little of that city before we had to get back on the ship.  My Dad decided he was done with walking around and went back to the ship but my Mom and I enjoyed a taste of Valletta.

The one site I wanted to see while in Valletta was the co Cathedral of St. John.  This is what it looks like from the outside...

...and THIS is what it looks like on the inside!  Every inch of this place was covered in marble or gilded with gold.  

This is a shot of the floor of the Cathedral.  The knights of St. John were instrumental in founding Malta and each of these rectangles is a tomb to a knight.  The knights of St. John were also victorious during the crusades so many of the treasures in this Cathedral come from the wealth they plundered during the crusades.

A museum in the Cathedral is home to Caravaggio's "Beheading of St. John"  Oh, how I love to see art in the space for which it was designed.

Back on the ship there wasn't much to do so we borrowed Scrabble from the library to help pass the time.  Other than our Scrabble tournaments we did a lot of reading and relaxing.

Every morning and night we had our beds made by our steward.  He kept that place so tidy, I was almost tempted to steal him and take him home with me:)