I just got back last night from three days in Rome! we traveled around and saw all the sights, the borgese, the vatican, pantheon, spanish steps. did all the touristy things, you know bought jewlry with pictures of the pope on it, made friends with local bar owners and got really grimmy and dirty on the subway! fun! overall my experience in Rome was much better than last time, i was able to take a little bit more time and walk a little slower and actually enjoy my self yesterday because we had a free day and were not being herded around at breakneck speeds. i am currently uploading all my pictuers that i spent HOURS editing them all last night and this morning. i am very proud of a few of them, but some like the ones in the sistene chapel and such just didnt turn out as amazing as i had expected.
oh well, i guess that is just gonna have to be one of the places i got back to visit when im in Rome for two more days right before i come home. im a little homesick today, just as everyday. but im starting to realize that i will be home actually very soon, then i start to think of all the things that i will miss when i come home, as much as i hate to say it, i think i will very much miss all the random guys hitting on me. hehe. how often in the united states will a gorgeous italian man stop you on the street to tell you that your are beautiful? i dont know about you, but i can honestly say that has NEVER happened to me in Oregon. it seriously happens here so much! all of us complain about it, because it does get very uncomfertable, but it makes you secretly feel better inside. and i will miss seeing all these beautiful sights, even just walking to class everyday i walk past the giant wall built around the building, and i can see an amazing view from the street just outside my apartment. i plan in the next few days to take my camera and just take pictures off all these little things that i see everyday that make me happy so that i can see them, and maybe it will make me feel less homesick.
Now that i am back in Siena we have just this last week to get all of our work together and finished for the gallery that we will be doing, so far its going to be an installation piece with small paper boxes that we all build to make up one larger structure/pile. i have to build 4 of these shapes by tmro and i know that its really gonna take a lot more planning and math than i would like, so that stressing me out a little, but i tihink it will all turn out all right.
right now my brain is super scattered and all over the place, i just can't seem to stay on one subject or keep from getting distracted, right now all i can think about is my container of coffee and carmel flavored gelato sitting in the freezer at home! doesn't that sound wonderful? i can't wait!
i should probably end this post with something interesting to reward my wonderful readers with something a little less boring. well lets see.... OH i can tell of my wonderful amazing purchase at the vatican museum shop, so i walk into the little shop and i am instantly delighted at the sight of two nuns who are running the counter of this shop that is competely full of absolutely anything they could put the picture of the pope on, such as calendars, post cards, cups, books AND jewlery! they had little charms for necklaces and bracelets all spread out over the counter in little containers, there in the center was one that caught my eye, this was a small box full of plastic, colorful, glittery charms with a picture of of new, scary looking pope mounted right in the center of a circle, diamond or square. i almost screamed, this was the best thing i had seen all trip! i decided to get a pink dimond with glitter in it, and of course a wonderfully scary picture of the pope. my friend got a matching one, so now we can both sport our necklaces that are tied on, and they will stay there until they fall off our necks!!
pictures of that are coming soon!!!!! just you wait!
ok, im gonna go eat icecream now. maybe i will post more later.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
Hello all, i realize i have posted a lot lately, but it has all been boring school stuff and no random updates on my life, well im very much alive right now, i spent all day in the sun at the beach yesterday and i am still very tired from that! its a one and a half hour bus ride and a complete bore, but the view and the sand and the water make it all worth it! we spent about 5 hours in the sun and headed to the bus to catch the earlier one, and watched it zip right on past us in the opposite direction, appppppartently we had to be standing on the other side of the street for the bus driver to see us. so we had two hours to kill and a small beach town, so we were able to wander around and find a nice little restaurant/irish pub were i got a wonderful salad. this was especially exciting for me because the salads around here are either nonexistant, gross or really really expensive. i however found the perfect one for 3 euro! score!
i have to say this trying to live in italy thing on a budget has been a challenge, but im actually getting way into the shopping for my food and eating all healthy and happy. i would much rather do it this way than stuff my self on rich food and be in a constant search for something to buy. i can now instead be looking at the sights and trying to take it all in.
OMG last night, i almost forgot about this, there was this huge thunder and lightning storm! it was amazing! it hit around 4 or 5 and it SHOOK everything, i was actually scared! but at the same time i was completely loving it! i fell asleep listening to the sound of the rain pelting against my window and had a dream where i was back in eugene durning a dark rainy day, just staying in all day in my apartment making hello kitty shaped waffles and watching scooby doo all day! omg gotta go
i have to say this trying to live in italy thing on a budget has been a challenge, but im actually getting way into the shopping for my food and eating all healthy and happy. i would much rather do it this way than stuff my self on rich food and be in a constant search for something to buy. i can now instead be looking at the sights and trying to take it all in.
OMG last night, i almost forgot about this, there was this huge thunder and lightning storm! it was amazing! it hit around 4 or 5 and it SHOOK everything, i was actually scared! but at the same time i was completely loving it! i fell asleep listening to the sound of the rain pelting against my window and had a dream where i was back in eugene durning a dark rainy day, just staying in all day in my apartment making hello kitty shaped waffles and watching scooby doo all day! omg gotta go
Duomo Cathedral
During the time that they Baptistery was just being finished, the Florence Government decided to build a new cathedral. The people of Florence wanted a new impressive looking cathedral to match their ever-growing city; they felt it was a shame to have a cathedral that did not match up to the size of their city. They stuck true to their plan and built a cathedral that rivaled all those around it, and boasted more marble than most people would see in their lifetime, all built into one impressive and perfectly ornate building.
The line to get into the Duomo wrapped clear around the building itself, so as you waited to get in, you were able to get a close up view of almost half the building just while standing there. I was luck to get in line where there was shade and it moved quite quickly with very little holdups or confusion. As I was standing there I took about fifteen pictures of all the same side at almost the same angle each time, looking back it seems so ridiculous, but while standing there I was in such awe at this amazing structure that it seemed almost a shame to not take a million pictures! Every angle seemed new and interesting and every shot felt like a completely different view. In reality, all of these pictures look so much the same, but flipping though you can appreciate the subtle changes and new interesting designs as my place in the line changed ever so slightly.
The building itself and all of its adornments took about one hundred and seventy years to complete, it was very much a work in progress that whole time, where several different architects contributed to the various domes, apes and hallways that make up this amazing building. Once inside the first thing that struck me is just how huge and empty it felt, the ceiling extended so high with arches that crisscrossed in the center creating nice, neat little x’s every where they met. The inside is decorated in a very simple way so that all of your attention it brought to the vastness of the space and to the simple beauty of the architecture. I have to admit that once I had been inside the building for about fifteen minutes, I was anxious to come back outside just to gawk at the outside, every chance I get I was either staring at or taking pictures of the domes and the various aspects of the outside. I really just couldn’t get enough of it, as you can probably tell from all of my pictures! Those are just the tip of the iceberg, I have so many more sitting on my computer waiting to be edited or put online! I am try to limit the amount of similar pictures that I am putting online, only because I am on my second flickr account and it looks as if I may have many more to come! So keep checking and letting me know what you like and what you don’t! I am LOVING any feed back I get, it helps me feel less homesick on those days that I miss my family and friends and it makes me feel more inspired and artistic on all the rest of the days!
The line to get into the Duomo wrapped clear around the building itself, so as you waited to get in, you were able to get a close up view of almost half the building just while standing there. I was luck to get in line where there was shade and it moved quite quickly with very little holdups or confusion. As I was standing there I took about fifteen pictures of all the same side at almost the same angle each time, looking back it seems so ridiculous, but while standing there I was in such awe at this amazing structure that it seemed almost a shame to not take a million pictures! Every angle seemed new and interesting and every shot felt like a completely different view. In reality, all of these pictures look so much the same, but flipping though you can appreciate the subtle changes and new interesting designs as my place in the line changed ever so slightly.
The building itself and all of its adornments took about one hundred and seventy years to complete, it was very much a work in progress that whole time, where several different architects contributed to the various domes, apes and hallways that make up this amazing building. Once inside the first thing that struck me is just how huge and empty it felt, the ceiling extended so high with arches that crisscrossed in the center creating nice, neat little x’s every where they met. The inside is decorated in a very simple way so that all of your attention it brought to the vastness of the space and to the simple beauty of the architecture. I have to admit that once I had been inside the building for about fifteen minutes, I was anxious to come back outside just to gawk at the outside, every chance I get I was either staring at or taking pictures of the domes and the various aspects of the outside. I really just couldn’t get enough of it, as you can probably tell from all of my pictures! Those are just the tip of the iceberg, I have so many more sitting on my computer waiting to be edited or put online! I am try to limit the amount of similar pictures that I am putting online, only because I am on my second flickr account and it looks as if I may have many more to come! So keep checking and letting me know what you like and what you don’t! I am LOVING any feed back I get, it helps me feel less homesick on those days that I miss my family and friends and it makes me feel more inspired and artistic on all the rest of the days!
The Baptistery
The second day we traveled to Florence, we arrived bright and early in the morning all set for a long intense day of sight seeing and battling the enormous crowds. Right away we headed to the Piazza Del Duomo and headed into the Baptistery of San Giovanni a smaller octagonal shaped building located just in front of the Duomo. The form of the octagon symbolizes the eight-day, the day of the risen Christ. This symbolism was said to be relevant to the Baptism, where new members are initiated into the Christian religion. This building was lavishly decorated with marble taken from other ancient building in the surrounding area. At one point in the twelfth century, the building was enlarged and an apse and dome were added to make it what it is today, and becoming the pride of the city. Later the famous bronze doors were added to the front of the building, these doors depicted biblical scenes. These doors were located at the entrance so that those walking though could take the time to ponder their lives and think about how true they are to their faith. One of the most impressive things about the entire building is the domed ceiling when you walk in, the thirteenth century mosaics of the domed ceiling show the giant figure of Christ and under his feet you can see the dead rising from their graves, the last judgment. This is where Christ returns to earth to judge all the living and dead. The ceiling is completely covered with other biblical stories such as ones from the book of Genesis, stories of Joseph, Mary and Christ, St. John the Baptist and they are all surrounded by choirs of angels. It is instantly humbling to look up at this amazing display of gold and beautiful mosaic work. I watched the group around me as we walked around the building, bumping into one another on occasion because we have our heads tilted all the way back to take in every possible angle of this amazing view. It was amazing to think of all the people who have seen that ceiling over the many centuries of its existence, I couldn’t help but to imagine what could be running though the minds of all those before me as they saw this glistening figure of Christ almost glowing above them. It is easy to see why people would flock to such a place to go to a mass or even just to be there, looking up, just as I was.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Arsenale
This is yet another required blog, in response to the Arsenale portion of the Venice Biennale. This was a smaller and more compact gallery than the actual Biennale. The gallery was set up in a long skinny room that was divided up by half walls and little rooms in the very center that had video installations. The walls were lined with a very wide variety of painting, photography, and drawings and about every other medium you could imagine.
The series of work that caught my eye was a set of large, color photographs taken by Gabriele Basilico an artist from Milan Italy. These were photographs of Beirut in 1991 just after the earthquakes rocked the area, creating devastation and destruction in a matter of seconds. These photographs had a quality to them that struck me right away; they were eerily still and beautiful. The subject of the pictures was a building or common street scene, showing the damage caused during the earthquake. The unique thing about these photographs is that they were all taken at the same time and in the same conditions but in different locations. You can easily tell this just by looking at them because of the current weather condition in each picture, the ground is dark and wet from a recent rain and the sky is the white-grey color that only happens after a good rain. These conditions make for perfect and almost startling contrast between the dark wet pavement and buildings and the bright light of the sky. This makes the pictures almost look fresh and clean, which is an interesting thing to occur especially considering how dirty and broken the subject matter really is. Another thing that adds to this fresh and clean image is the fact that you see no evidence of any recent human life; it is completely the void of any life at all. There are broken down cars and abandoned toys that appear to have been there for quite some time, it makes it look as if the area has been uninhabited for a long time.
I felt that choosing to portray such a sad and bleak situation and scene in such a way speaks of hope and rebirth, or at least that’s what I got from it. The scenes looked so calm and still, as if it were just waiting for people to come and live there, fill those broken old buildings with life once again. The artist took a scene that if shot in any other way would tell a story of the horrors of Beirut at the time, showing these crumbling buildings riddled with bullet holes but she instead chose the perfect lighting and weather conditions to convey the desired effect and emotion.
The series of work that caught my eye was a set of large, color photographs taken by Gabriele Basilico an artist from Milan Italy. These were photographs of Beirut in 1991 just after the earthquakes rocked the area, creating devastation and destruction in a matter of seconds. These photographs had a quality to them that struck me right away; they were eerily still and beautiful. The subject of the pictures was a building or common street scene, showing the damage caused during the earthquake. The unique thing about these photographs is that they were all taken at the same time and in the same conditions but in different locations. You can easily tell this just by looking at them because of the current weather condition in each picture, the ground is dark and wet from a recent rain and the sky is the white-grey color that only happens after a good rain. These conditions make for perfect and almost startling contrast between the dark wet pavement and buildings and the bright light of the sky. This makes the pictures almost look fresh and clean, which is an interesting thing to occur especially considering how dirty and broken the subject matter really is. Another thing that adds to this fresh and clean image is the fact that you see no evidence of any recent human life; it is completely the void of any life at all. There are broken down cars and abandoned toys that appear to have been there for quite some time, it makes it look as if the area has been uninhabited for a long time.
I felt that choosing to portray such a sad and bleak situation and scene in such a way speaks of hope and rebirth, or at least that’s what I got from it. The scenes looked so calm and still, as if it were just waiting for people to come and live there, fill those broken old buildings with life once again. The artist took a scene that if shot in any other way would tell a story of the horrors of Beirut at the time, showing these crumbling buildings riddled with bullet holes but she instead chose the perfect lighting and weather conditions to convey the desired effect and emotion.
Pallio
Every August 16th Siena goes from a quiet tourist town to an explosion of color, noise and excitement, this is all because of a age old tradition that the people of this small town hold very near and dear. The Pallio is a giant race that is held two times a year where the seventeen contradas (neighborhoods) of Siena come together in an intense horse race around the center square of the city. The contradas or districts each have a set of colors, a flag, a mascot and their own church sharing these helps to create a very strong sense of community and togetherness that is rarely seen in the United States. The contradas all band together to help one another and act as a very large family. This sense of community and family is something that is much more important in Italy than it is in most countries, when an Italian is born in a city or area, it is very uncommon for them to move very far from that area. They spend their whole lives being a part of this contrada and over time is becomes more and more important to them.
So with that being said, it helps you to understand how intense and competitive these neighborhoods could get if this is their only chance to prove that their contrada is the best. The Pallio allows them to band together and center all their time and energy on the preparation for this race. They spend most of the year picking and training a jockey, making strategies and planning parties for this one particular day. How the Pallio is set up, is each district picks one of their member to ride a horse in the race, and they are paired with a horse that is randomly chosen in a ceremony just days before the race itself. All of the horses are the most fit and wild horses in the surrounding area, but of course some of them are better than the others, so that means a lot of this race is left up chance and luck rather than skill of the jockey. Another thing that is left largely up to the luck of the draw is who is actually allowed to race, only ten of the seventeen contradas are able to race. They have a system of picking what seven contradas are left out each year, half of it is who was left out in the previous year, and the rest is up to a random drawing of names.
The day of the race all of the locals sport their flags and banners and scarves or headbands and dress in the colors of their contrada. They are all very excited and intensely competitive with the other contradas. By noon the center square is already filling up with people, they all line up along the edges in order to secure a good view of the race. Some people, namely the horrible German family in front of me, come at six in the morning and use that as an excuse to block everyone else’s view with their big hats and mean dumb heads. I will explain that further, later. The center square in the Campo is a free area to watch the race, there are many nice shady seats around the edge that run about three hundred euro each. So those of us who would not like to spend that much money for a horse race all go to the center. The one catch to this is, at four the contradas parade around the track until the race at about seven, so in order to do that they close up all the gates to the square and everyone is trapped. That means literally thousands of people packed into one area at the hottest time of the day, with very little shade, space and most importantly, access to a bathroom. So by the race you are a sweaty, smelly mess but I believe it was worth it.
The race itself lasts one minute and about thirty seconds. The ten horses and their jockeys race around the track a total of three times and the horse that crosses the finish line first (with or without a jockey on it) is the winner. It is a huge dusty blur from the sidelines as they race by. The track has two very sharp turns that cause pileups and crashes, it is usually at that point that a jockey would fall off, or a horse may collide with another. They had an enormous staff of both paramedics and veterinarians waiting at every corner to take care of the very probable accidents. I was lucky enough to not have to witness any of these accidents, initially coming to the race I was very conflicted and troubled with the thought of how these horses are treated and pushed entirely too hard. It helped to see the veterinarians ready to race to their aid, and it was apparent in the parades before the race how much they had pampered and taken care of their horse.
The Unicorn contrada won the race, so from that point on all the other neighborhoods had to take down their flags and white and orange would be the only colors seen on flags. They also receive a very large banner painted by one of the most famous artists in Siena; this banner was paraded around the streets until the early morning the next day. After that it will be taken to the Unicorn’s museum in their district and it will be displayed along with their other banners they have won in the past few years.
Looking back, I cannot believe I almost didn’t go to the race; this was an experience I will never forget! The intensity and passion that I saw in the faces of these jockeys and members of the contradas was something I have never seen before. This was like the super bowl, but bigger and cooler!
So with that being said, it helps you to understand how intense and competitive these neighborhoods could get if this is their only chance to prove that their contrada is the best. The Pallio allows them to band together and center all their time and energy on the preparation for this race. They spend most of the year picking and training a jockey, making strategies and planning parties for this one particular day. How the Pallio is set up, is each district picks one of their member to ride a horse in the race, and they are paired with a horse that is randomly chosen in a ceremony just days before the race itself. All of the horses are the most fit and wild horses in the surrounding area, but of course some of them are better than the others, so that means a lot of this race is left up chance and luck rather than skill of the jockey. Another thing that is left largely up to the luck of the draw is who is actually allowed to race, only ten of the seventeen contradas are able to race. They have a system of picking what seven contradas are left out each year, half of it is who was left out in the previous year, and the rest is up to a random drawing of names.
The day of the race all of the locals sport their flags and banners and scarves or headbands and dress in the colors of their contrada. They are all very excited and intensely competitive with the other contradas. By noon the center square is already filling up with people, they all line up along the edges in order to secure a good view of the race. Some people, namely the horrible German family in front of me, come at six in the morning and use that as an excuse to block everyone else’s view with their big hats and mean dumb heads. I will explain that further, later. The center square in the Campo is a free area to watch the race, there are many nice shady seats around the edge that run about three hundred euro each. So those of us who would not like to spend that much money for a horse race all go to the center. The one catch to this is, at four the contradas parade around the track until the race at about seven, so in order to do that they close up all the gates to the square and everyone is trapped. That means literally thousands of people packed into one area at the hottest time of the day, with very little shade, space and most importantly, access to a bathroom. So by the race you are a sweaty, smelly mess but I believe it was worth it.
The race itself lasts one minute and about thirty seconds. The ten horses and their jockeys race around the track a total of three times and the horse that crosses the finish line first (with or without a jockey on it) is the winner. It is a huge dusty blur from the sidelines as they race by. The track has two very sharp turns that cause pileups and crashes, it is usually at that point that a jockey would fall off, or a horse may collide with another. They had an enormous staff of both paramedics and veterinarians waiting at every corner to take care of the very probable accidents. I was lucky enough to not have to witness any of these accidents, initially coming to the race I was very conflicted and troubled with the thought of how these horses are treated and pushed entirely too hard. It helped to see the veterinarians ready to race to their aid, and it was apparent in the parades before the race how much they had pampered and taken care of their horse.
The Unicorn contrada won the race, so from that point on all the other neighborhoods had to take down their flags and white and orange would be the only colors seen on flags. They also receive a very large banner painted by one of the most famous artists in Siena; this banner was paraded around the streets until the early morning the next day. After that it will be taken to the Unicorn’s museum in their district and it will be displayed along with their other banners they have won in the past few years.
Looking back, I cannot believe I almost didn’t go to the race; this was an experience I will never forget! The intensity and passion that I saw in the faces of these jockeys and members of the contradas was something I have never seen before. This was like the super bowl, but bigger and cooler!
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Pallio
That little square down there, thats the campo, it is currently PACKED with people and horses.
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