Weekend Adventures

Hello all! What a ride it has been. Back on Thursday, we had early classes in order to maximize the amount of time we could travel. Three left immediately after class to catch a flight to Madrid out of Rome for the Running of the Bulls, three stayed the night and went out to Ancona on the beach the next day. The rest of us hopped on a 1:30 train to Florence, which was a straight shot, easy trip. We found our hostel relatively quickly, though it was completely unmarked – perhaps that is a good thing, as advertisements for “Tourists staying here!” would be a magnet for pickpockets. Our hostel was a lot nicer than I was expecting, two big rooms to accommodate five guys and four girls, located in between two big plazas – Santa Croce and della Signore. At the advice of some girls who had been in Florence the week before our study abroad, we bought tickets for the Uffizi Art Gallery the next morning in order to avoid the lines. We got our tickets literally right across the street from the Accademia which houses the original David (there are two other copies in Florence that we found, and possibly more). This line moved swiftly and we were soon inside. Granted I was not expecting the gallery to be just David and nothing more, but I was still shocked at the amount of sculptures that were housed here. It makes sense though – anybody with disposable income would probably find the prospects of being immortalized in marble very appealing, and talented sculptors need to make a living, not just hold out for masterpieces. In a way it is cool that one museum can house so much history. It assures there is something for everyone and there is plenty to see in terms of the ticket price. However, the reason I and I am sure many others went was to see the David in its original form. It is rumored that David was moved out of the Piazza della Signore (where a fake statue sits surrounded by plenty of other amazing statutes, the Palazzo Vecchio, and not too far from the Uffizi) due to someone throwing something at it in a drunken state, but I cannot confirm this. Pictures are forbidden in all the museums, but I managed to sneak one and multiple others in our group got a few more. There were a few uptight security guards, but most of them conceded to the fact that they were not going to stop everyone from taking pictures, and I do not envy the task of trying to stop tourist after tourist all day every day from preserving a memory.

After seeing all the statues we could handle, we left to explore the city. We walked under the Uffizi, which has three halls that surround a common plaza and allows people to walk through to the river front, where we saw…more statues! I was okay with that though, as they were all famous citizens of Florence, from Galileo to Machiavelli to Dante Alighieri – most likely replicas but still cool to see their form. The Ponte Vecchio, as I am sure many have seen pictures of, is fittingly like a postcard. There is a great view down the river that splits the city, with many old bridges crossing over but none quite as spectacular as the “Old Bridge” lined with medieval flags, gold and jewelry stores, and high end restaurants with no doubt more spectacular views. The story goes that at one point it housed butchers and tanners and blacksmiths, but the king was tired of having to deal with so many commoners every day, so he ousted them for luxury. At the advice of Ryan’s sister who had studied abroad in Florence, we attempted to find a pizza shop on the other side of the river. After not being able to find it and getting directions from a local that led us to a grocery store with a similar name, we gave up and decided to find something else. We found a great, cheap restaurant in Piazza Santo Spirito, but without a reservation there was no way this tiny place could fit all 9 of us. We found somewhere that could accommodate us, albeit at two separate tables, which was a little more expensive than probably any of us were hoping for, but we made due. The food was excellent though, I ordered Cavatelli with meat sauce for my first true tomato based pasta dish (not counting our home-made meals).

I’m not sure if we were trying to head back through a bad part of town or just looked suspicious as a large group of Americans, but an undercover police officer stopped us not far from the restaurant and demanded to see our IDs. After confirming with a uniformed officer nearby that he was a legit official, I handed over a copy of my passport and we stood around while they got on the phone and tried to learn god knows what about us. In a tourist hotspot like Florence, I’m surprised this was the case, but we did speak to an officer who knew English very well and he assured us it was ordinary. There was a drug-sniffing dog in the area, and I could not determine whether he was actively tracking a scent or just searching vigorously for a trail. The officer kept trying to get us to admit that we had drugs on us or were looking for drugs, but eventually we got our passports back and were allowed to leave as a car came in for backup. Amazing, I can go twenty years in the US without ever having a run in with police but can’t last a week in Italy.

After lots of walking, we decided to post up on a bridge next to Ponte Vecchio to avoid some crowds and take pictures/relax/converse for a little while. We watched the sunset and by the time we moved on, everything was lit up around the city and offered a unique, more modern look to the sites we had been seeing. I had to snap a few photos of Italian store fronts like Prada, Louis Vutton, and Ferrari, even if I could never afford anything inside them – and they were closed at this hour anyway. We stopped for some gelato as a pick-me-up on the way back to our hostel and were surprised to run into a free orchestra concert in Piazza della Signore. I don’t know if anything screams Italy more than gelato and classical music in the shadow of a statue of David and Renaissance architecture. I think we were all exhausted at this point, after being up for early class, travelling, walking around, and needing to rest up for a full day tomorrow.

Our tickets for the Uffizi Art Gallery were at 11:15, so we were able to get in relatively quickly without having to deal with long lines. Much like the Academia, if I had to describe it in one word, it would “overwhelming.” Three floors of art, three halls surrounding the street, all stuffed with Renaissance art was a lot to take in. Down the halls there were statues with paintings propped on the walls close to the ceiling. Next to these halls were winding rooms full of paintings grouped by artist or movement that snaked around for much more surface area. As if this wasn’t enough, all the ceilings were covered in incredibly detailed murals. It was a shame to pass by so much while paying so little attention to it, but if I had taken the time to study even just the ceilings I would still be doing the art-viewer-shuffle right now. It was a great experience though, and I assure everyone it is well worth the trip and ticket. A few things I took away: it was cool to see some of the works in person that I had heard of (believe me, I am in no way, shape, or form an art aficionado) and even many of the works that were new to me were quite experience. However, a lot of the paintings seemed to be similar and were uninteresting to me. You can only take so many cardinals, weeping mothers with children in a Cathedral, and portrayals of Jesus on the cross.  It is also amazing how inconsistent these portrayals of Jesus were. The only thing the artists could agree on was that he was indeed on a cross, with holes in his hands and feet and a puncture on his side. All else seemed completely up to the artists’ imagination. Sometimes he was on a hill, sometimes in a valley, sometimes there was a giant castle behind him; sometimes guards were still pestering him, others he was surrounded with frantic women; sometimes there were animals flocking to him, or lurking in the background, or any amount of random objects thrown in the background. Sure, the artists probably had a method or symbolism in mind while painting all of this, but if you’re painting the most important event in your religion’s history, wouldn’t you want to be consistent? Different strokes, I guess.

One of the things Ryan and I began to do is see who could spot the most ridiculous of all these background objects lurking in the paintings. Whether it was a lion hidden behind a leg, a dragon just chilling, or some aspect of scope or scale that did not fit in, whatever item we could make a joke of made wandering through room after room of dry Renaissance paintings much more enjoyable. One thing that I’m sure would make my architecture roommates cringe that was incredibly cool was a model of the city of Florence, I’m guessing about seven or eight feet around, cut into wood to painstaking detail – including every little back alleyway and apartment notch. Whoever’s job it was to carve that out, I certainly do not envy you.

After a quick lunch and meeting up with everyone who had wandered off during our Uffizi trip, we headed to the Duomo where most of us made the 464-step climb to the top. It was certainly a hike, and it has proved to me that I am not completely over my fear of heights – but I did make it all the way up, as opposed to quitting halfway through St. Paul’s Cathedral in London as a wee tyke. Once at the top, the actual height did not bother me…it was just the narrow winding staircases and steep final steps that had me on edge. The views were totally worth it though. Florence is absolutely beautiful, and there were perfect weather conditions for viewing the city. Trying to fit everything into our second day, we soon trekked off to the market. I was both surprised and elated to be able to speak solely Italian while haggling, making purchases, and having some short conversations. Off to search for deals and presents, I ran into someone who saw my Clemson shirt and asked if I was from Ireland – I guess seeing the decal and mistaking it for an Irish football one. I was able to explain that no, I was an American who was studying in Perugia and in Florence for a few days. Quite the simple conversation, but given my Italian abilities, I was rather pleased with myself. Back with the group and a few purchases under my built, we met this woman at a soccer stand who spoke very good English. She had just seen the movie “Story of a Champion” – better known as “The Blind Side” to Americans – and we were able to explain a few things about that and drop the knowledge that Clemson makes an (albeit brief) appearance in the film.

With everyone content, we headed back to the hostel to drop things off and walk up to the Piazzale Michelangelo – just outside the city center, across the river, with an elevation that offers a spectacular view of the sunset over the city. With some time to kill once we got up there, we explored a cathedral that was in the area and got some food to eat on the steps while we waited. At a little roadside stand, I got hands down the best pizza I’ve had so far in Italy. It was thicker than most Italian pizza, topped with real tomatoes and sprinkled with some oil that gave it a little bit of a kick. It just wasn’t the type of place I was expecting for true Italian cuisine, but it definitely came through in the clutch. The actual sun set was amazing – though we were early to get up there, we certainly were not the only ones by the time the sun started to dip behind the mountains. It was a great tip from the girls and not as long of a walk as they had made it sound. Tired from a ton of walking and with early trains to catch the next morning, we decided to call it a night.

Everyone else would soon be on their way to Venice, but I dipped out earlier to head to Bologna. There were a few things I definitely wanted to see while I was there, but for the most part I just wanted to get a glimpse of the medieval walls and architecture, see the leaning towers (yes, plural…take THAT, Pisa), and walk under the covered arches that ran all around the city. It was a very liberating experience not having to worry about tourist destinations to “must see” or trying to coordinate and lead a group around with everyone’s different needs and plans to keep in mind. As soon as I stepped out of the train station, I had a general idea where I was in the city (basically, which quadrant I was in), but with a few hours to kill before I could check in to my hostel, I figured I’d just pick a direction and see what I could find. It didn’t take long until I found one of the original gates into the city on the northwest side of town, which led directly to a big park that I explored around for a bit. Knowing where this park was in relation to my hostel, I decided to stay in the immediate area. I found a Champion store, and it became quite clear that, at least in Bologna, basketball is the most popular sport save for football. There were tons of Bargnani Raptors jerseys, some seemingly completely random Knicks #8 and Cavaliers #33 jerseys, and an entire row of 76ers shorts – not what I was expecting at all, but hopefully there are a lot of Sixers fans in Bologna! Right next to the park there was a market, but it certainly did not live up to the Florence market. However, where Florence did have diversity in terms of how many foreigners where there as tourists (read: giant swarms of Asian tourists), Bologna seemed to be a lot more diverse. A lot of Indians were in the market either manning stalls or shopping. It was quite unorganized, though – rather than a street system like in Florence, there was just a grid of tents, many with bins full of a hodgepodge of clothes with 1 Euro or 3 Euro signs taped on. I did not take the time to go digging for gold through these baskets like many people, and I’m sure many of the nicer looking goods had “fallen off the truck” earlier that week, or whatever the Italian equivalent is. I finally checked in, which was an experience with a woman who did not speak any English, and took a quick nap before officially starting the day.

After a little wandering around, I ran into the Museo d’Arte Moderna Bologna, or MAMbo. Granted, I as I stated I am by no means an art enthusiast, and even less so with “modern art.” Frankly, I think a lot of it is bullshit – random colors thrown together, ordinary objects being passed off as form and not substance, hell I even read something about a vomit-artist who swallows different colored paints and forces herself to hurl all over a canvas. I thought it would be interesting to explore though, given that I had no schedule and was just coming off the largest collection of Renaissance art I have ever seen in my life, plus it was only 4 Euro with a student discount. Let me be clear that some of the stuff I did find to indeed be complete bullshit – I guess a new movement (at least in Bologna) is the “art of society” and studying its effects. This sounds like a cool concept, but the way it was portrayed was with a bunch of time lapse photos of people crawling around fountains and drinking out of them like a cat, while all the “normal” people who don’t understand the poor woeful artist’s suffering and were just total parts of the machine, man, looked at them like they were crazy. Personally, I think they were right, and you can justify or dress up this idea with as much fluff/artistry/complete horseshit you want, but that is not enjoyable art. But that out of the way, there was a lot of cool stuff on display as well – stuff that made you think or gave you a different take on things. One of the first exhibit was a semicircle full of wrinkled 50 Euro notes all leaning on each other. I don’t even want to know how much that piece of art was worth – but the point was, or seemed to be, it was worthless – just crumpled up paper, sitting in a glass box, which could have been designed from ordinary notebook paper and had a completely different meaning. There was a giant canvas of the funeral of an Italian Secretary or some other government official who was a communist. Upon some expecting, I noticed that what appeared to be Lenin appeared in the crowd about five different times. Curious, I read the blurb about the painting and found that although Lenin had been dead before the funeral, the artist had originally put him in the corner representing the ideas of Leninism being present – he had liked this concept so much that he proceeded to slip Lenin in interspersed among the crowd. I was rather pleased with myself for spotting this ahead of time, obvious as it may have been. One other piece I found interesting was an ordinary sculpture/outline/map of Italy – not really sure how to describe it, it was basically cut out of a metal or metal-like material – that was hanging from the ceiling upside down by the “heel” of the boot if you think of the shape of Italy that way. It was something so simple but portrayed in a way that we tend not to think of – which makes us stop and contemplate. Things like this I found fascinating and am more positive about the direction modern art is headed in if it becomes more creative like these works and less dressed up in cryptic symbolism that has no meaning to anyone outside the artist’s immediate circle or going for the wowing shock factor of anti-social behavior.

Shortly after, I started walking down a street and found myself headed into the main square. Seeing a glimpse of the giant Basilica di San Petronio, I started to head towards that when a banner caught my eye. It was for the Medieval History Museum, much more down my alley. For only 2 Euro (Woohoo Tiger1 Card! Reminds me of “Do they take TigerStripe here?!” in an Alabama Waffle House) I got to see a lot of medieval artifacts, armor, shields, weapons, carvings, you name it. There was a lance that, based on my incredibly unscientific pacing, was about 20 feet long and an early musket that was longer than my wingspan, so we’re talking about 6 feet with most of that just the barrel. It was crazy to think of people carrying these weapons into battle or charging at another armed man on horseback simply trying to keep this lance on his hip. I pretty much had the place to myself also, save for all the employees stationed in the different rooms making sure nobody messed with the displays. After I had had my fill of medieval history, I continued onto the church where there was actually a service in progress – though lightly attended and outnumbered by tourists walking around. Still, I was respectful enough not to take any pictures, which just generally seems like a good thing to do in any place of worship. It was still breath taking to take everything in, and again I implore you all to build something like this into your future trips. Even if you aren’t very religious and have major gripes with the fundamental beliefs/hypocrisy/other issues with the church (like moi), there are still amazing sights to see that can be viewed simply as artistic and architectural wonders without focusing on the intent behind them.

Continuing on, I (almost completely by accident) came across the main plaza, Piazza Maggiore. There I found my favorite part of Bologna, the statue of Neptune. There were also some cool buildings that probably were never technically castles, but had the same architectural feel to them. I also made sure to see the Leaning Towers of Bologna. Though a well known sight in Bologna, it is not as world famous as the tourist trap that is Pisa, so it was not mobbed with people taking the same stupid photo pretending to prop up the tower. It’s amazing how much it has really sunk into the ground, and I hope my pictures do that justice. Although I have tried to avoid eating out on the street in the main squares (restaurant space is severely limited in Italy, so many tables are simply placed out on the street because there is only pedestrian traffic), I came across a little place with prices listed out front that were a lot cheaper than many restaurant prices I’ve become used to seeing. Feeling a little lonely at a table for one, I still had a great dinner of Tagliatelle with Bolognese sauce while watching the sun disappear behind a castle-esque wall. It was definitely not upscale, but the service was good and the food was amazing. Then it was back to wandering – I had a general idea of where the main square was and a sketchy screen shot from Google Maps that gave me a view of some of the major streets but wasn’t too helpful around the smaller alleys. It was incredibly liberating, though – I didn’t know what I would find around the next bend, I just kept on walking and took pictures of interesting things I came across. If I had been leading a group, I would have been massacred for not knowing where we were going or what we were doing next, mutinied by people tired of walking or craving more structure, or just had to endure endless bitching and whining of some sort. Instead, I got to do what I wanted, when I wanted, how I wanted to do it. I’m not sure if I could live that way forever, but it was a nice break to get away from everything for a while and not having to worry, in contrast to Florence, we were always running around trying to see everything everyone wanted to see and accommodate everybody.

Everywhere I went I kept seeing Chinese restaurants, and curious to try foreign-Chinese food as opposed to Americanized Chinese food, I decided to stop in for lunch. Once again, apart from the wait staff and a couple that came in later, I had the entire place to myself. The food was not too distinguishably different from what I’m used to, though the spring roll was a little crunchier than I am used to at home. I got Chicken in Lemon Sauce and even ordered a Chinese beer called Tsingtao. I didn’t detect anything noticeably oriental about the beer, but I had never come across “Birra Cinese” in a menu before and it struck my fancy. If nothing else, I got to add another country to my list of beers, which I’ve sort of unofficially decided will be my goal of the trip. In addition to American, Irish and British, I have now added Italian, German, Dutch, Chinese and Mexican and am planning to try a Belgian at some point in the near future.

The train ride back was pretty uneventful. I tried to get on a 5:00 train back, but after being denied by the machine (that said there were seats available) and trying to get help from the ticket office that claimed it was full, I settle for an 8:30 train instead. In three trips, taking the same rail line and class of train, I have encountered three different types of seating arrangements. The ride back from Bologna to Perugia was my favorite though – it had true cabins seating six, so naturally my first thought was of Harry Potter and the Hogwarts Express :D As the night went on, it was just down to me and a cute Estonian girl on the way to Foligno, a few stops past Perugia. Her English was very good and we talked a little bit but nothing extensive. She was keeping a journal of some sort, taking down page after page while occasionally pausing to edit or ponder her next words. Though it’s likely she was just keeping a travel journal much like the purpose this blog is serving, her demeanor and the fact that she was travelling without any obligations made me imagine her as an upcoming writer, starting first drafts of a novel or something. I imagined the possibility that as she was taking in everything around her for inspiration, I might play some part in that - nothing personal or significant, but the idea that a random stranger on a train could inspire a character or play a role in developing an existing one was something I pondered over for a while. Perhaps it is a ridiculous concept, but it was an interesting thought to pass the time. Wow…perhaps this was all a bit much, but after writing over the course of a few days and trying to make sure I gave detailed accounts of my trip, it is what it is. Ciao!