See You on the Lido!

This will be the first installment of my adventures of the past few weeks. Everyone at Santa Chiara journeyed to Venice on Tuesday, March 9 and we stayed there until Saturday, March 13. We were "blessed" with the opportunity to see Venice in a light that many tourists and even Italians have never seen. Forget the wonderful Tuscan sunshine, we were blinded by a blizzard!

Venice used to be a thriving port city and at its peak, a population of over 200,000 people. Unfortunately today, there are only about 60,000 residents. I think this is due to the inconvenience of transportation, as they are completely reliant on boats. Also, there are very few professions other than tourism, as over 6 million tourists a year flood the city. That is a flood that may do more damage to Venice herself than the waters that flood San Marco square.

We had the pleasure of visiting the church of San Marco with Paolo Barucchieri, the founder of the school at Santa Chiara. Paolo's father was involved in the art world and on the threat of the invasion of the Nazi's, Paolo's father hid crates of priceless art in their home. There is a jeweled screen that is enormous behind the main altar. Paolo told us that was one of the pieces his father kept in their home!

Venice is unlike any city in the world and has attracted many unique characters throughout the years - from sailors to musicians and artists and a very special patron of Modern Art...Peggy Guggenheim. Tony's wife has been a curator and is a lover of art and especially loves Peggy Guggenheim. We were very lucky that she accompanied us to Venice and gave us a personal tour of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. We saw artwork by Max Ernst, Alexander Calder, Jackson Pollock and many other artists. Venice is the birthplace of Vivaldi and we were very lucky to be able to attend a concert of his Four Seasons and some other pieces by Mozart. The musicians were animated and provided almost a theatrical performance while playing their instruments.

Rather than a metro or bus system, Venice has "vaporettos"...slow moving ferries that make occaisonal stops along the banks of the Grand Canal and routes to the surrounding islands such as Lido (where our hotel was located), Murano (famous for its glass) and Burano (famous for its lace). Because of the blustery weather, I found myself dreading every time we had to take a jaunt on the vaporetto as I felt motion sick due the violent rocking and constant slamming into the piers at each stop.

Venice also has some touches of Modernism in a bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava. Also, we visited a gallery that was designed by Renzo Piano and took a rather unrewarding trip to the cemetery island to see a mausoleum built by a "famous" architect. As I have been discovering, great architecture isn't necessarily designed by "famous" architects. I find myself being amazed more by the vernacular architecture that came to fruition through necessity.

Overall, I have to say that I didn't really enjoy Venice. I feel that the weather had a significant impact on our perception of the city and hampered the need to wander the many alleys to get a true feel for the city. Luckily I will be heading back to Venice with my family, so I hope that I will have a better time once the weather cooperates.

Siena: Cold, Rainy and Carsick

On Wednesday, we took our field trip to Siena. It was a rather cold and rainy day and the ride up was not the greatest. I began to feel carsick only moments outside of Castiglion. The bus driver was having problems with the defrost and it was very hot and steamy. Mercifully, I fell asleep with my head against the cold window and that helped cool me down and prevent any actual sickness. I still felt queasy most of the day. That combined with the less than perfect weather to put a damper on my mood. Needless to say, I think I need to revisit Siena and give it another chance.

After arriving in Siena, we went to the Campo and Palazzo Pubblico, one of the main attractions for which Siena is known. The Campo is a large, sloping piazza that twice a year holds a horse race called the Palio. In the Palio, 10 of the 17 neighborhoods in Siena compete. It is a lottery system to decide which 10 compete and a lottery for which horse each neighborhood gets to ride.

On nice days, the Campo is filled with people sitting and relaxing on the brick pavement. It is rather a unique place and like I said before, I think I need to go back to experience it as it is meant.

As with every other Italian town, Siena has its own Duomo. It is in its very own distinctive Sienese Gothic style. Siena and Florence have always been in competition with each other, as both were banking towns. The Sienese wanted to expand their Duomo so that it would be larger than the Duomo in Florence. Their plan was to use the main nave as the smaller portion of the cruciform shape and to extend the new nave perpendicular to the existing portion. After a short period of construction, the Plague hit Siena and the project was never completed. Had it been completed, it would have been one of the largest churches.

The cathedral in Siena is known for its pavements. Tony said we were pretty lucky to have been able to see as many portions as we did because in an effort to preserve the floors, they are covered up for most of the year.

Connected to the Duomo is the Piccolomini Library. There were only a few books on display that contained illuminated texts with Gregorian chants. The ceiling was beautiful! I am glad that Josh pointed out the little door into that room, because it would have been easy to miss.

Siena, like many Tuscan towns, contains a Medici fortress. Surrounding the high walls of the fortress is a nice green space containing fountains and treelined paths. It will be nice to return during warmer weather when all of the fountains and water features are operational. To get a little perspective on how fortified the walls really are, Alli is standing against the wall in this picture.

It is going to be several weeks before I post another blog. On Tuesday we are taking an extended field trip to Venice and that is the spring board for our Spring Break. During Spring Break, the girls from K-State and I are going to Vicenza, Verona, Milan, Turin, Genoa, the five towns of Cinque Terre and are ending with a few days in Florence. We won't be returning until March 21, so look for another blog post later that week. Ciao!

Lucca, Pisa, and Viareggio

Well, Ciao from the Mediterranean coast! We had a wonderful weekend staying in Lucca with a day trip to Pisa and Viareggio. Tony took us to Lucca, and guess what?! No rain! It was forecasted as a 90% chance and we didn't even see a drop.

Tony loves classical music and his favorite composer is Puccini, who just happens to have been born in Lucca. This is a photo of Tony posing outside of Puccini's house. There are Puccini concerts every night and us girls decided to try and attend. However, it was 17 euro, too rich for our tastes.

Lucca is a Roman town, complete with its own ampitheater. However, this ampitheater has been converted into a "mixed use" building. There are shops on the first level occupying the arches and apartments up above.

Lucca is a very flat city. Although it is nice not having to climb hills, it makes landmarks, like campaniles and domes, more difficult to navigate by since they are not readily visible. There are very few cars allowed inside the city walls, so many residents ride bikes.

There are several places to rent bikes and one happened to be less than a block from our hostel. Us girls rented bikes, complete with baskets and brrrring-brrrring bells. It was an interesting experience since I haven't been on a bike since my tragic bike accident in 6th grade. Amazingly enough, it all comes back pretty easily, just as the saying goes. We rode our bikes around the city walls that have been turned into a park, complete with old men playing dominoes and couples making out. It is 4 kilometers around the walls and we went around twice. I now remember why I had a gelled, extra wide bicycle seat back when I was ten.

We stayed at a hostel in Lucca that was more like our own apartment, especially since there were no other guests the first night and couple with a baby joined us the second night. We felt very safe in the city. The next morning we were off to Pisa to do our touristy visit to the Duomo there. We did not go up into the Campanile (the Leaning Tower) because it cost 15 euro! However, the Duomo was free to enter and was quite beautiful. Almost every square inch was decorated and the distinctive Pisan marble stripes lined the arches.

We left the touristy Campo of Pisa and walked towards the center of town and saw a courtyard designed by Vasari. We also saw a church that had been raised from the Arno River. The town of Pisa was actually quite pleasant once we escaped the mobs of large tour groups...and it isn't even the 'high' season yet.

We were hungry after our walk and found a little bar that has been open since 1898. The had row after row of delicious treats for all to enjoy. I had a really hard time choosing which decadent snack to select.

We then travelled to Viareggio and visited the coast. It was a rather warm day and we were able to take off our winter coats while walking along the beach. Some of the girls dipped their toes in the water and got a little wetter than what they bargained for. I am not one for sand between my toes and freezing water, so I took some rather hilarious photos of the happenings.

Our last day in Lucca we made the trek up the Torre Guinigi. It is a medieval watch tower that has several trees growing out of the top. It was a rather perilous hike up some open riser metal stairs, but it was well worth the journey. It offered us a panoramic view of the misty mountains and sleepy town.

The tower walls had moss growing on the walls and provided a softness to the otherwise formidable stonework. Overall, Lucca has been my favorite little town to visit, besides Castiglion, of course.