I keep having dreams about being back in Italy. So, I've decided to put on here some of my favorite places and pieces of art from Italy.
I lived in a little town called Perugia. It is in the heart of the country in the region of Umbria.
This is where I went to school. Universita per Stranieri (University for Foreigners). I lived down the hill one block from here. I didn't actually have any classes in this building. All of my classes were a 20 minute walk downhill which wasn't bad until you were walking back uphill at 2pm in 100 degree weather (it was July).
This is the Duomo (big cathedral) that is at one end of the Corso Vannucci, the main strip in the center of town. A couple of cool things went on in this spot. Every night hundreds of people would gather with bottles of wine on the steps to visit for hours. On Saturday morning a local couple would come sell homemade pottery on the steps. During Umbria Jazz a stage was set up at this spot where amazing artists performed.
The outside courtyard of La Rossetta hotel. Here we had our final dinner and I drank the best wine I've ever had. Unfortuately, I can't find anything like it here. I've been searching for something like it since I returned. I also saw Wyton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz in a jam session in the basement of this hotel. I was two feet away. AMAZING!!
Baci (meaning kisses) are deliciously yummy. The real ones are made in a small factory just outside of Perugia. I've had them here, they're not as good.
Lago Trasimeno (Lake Trasimeno). With temperatures in the 90s and 100s it was a great place to go for a swim. Only a 20 minute train ride outside of Perugia (which only cost $3) it was an easy day trip that we took nearly every weekend.
Trevi Fountain. The tradition is to throw coins over your shoulder in to the fountain for many happy returns to Rome. I threw a lot of coins into the fountain. This was my favorite place to hang out in Rome. In the summer it's pretty busy with all the tourists but sometimes you can catch it when there are only a few people around. It's most beautiful at night. What surprised me was how small the square is that it's located in. You actually can not get a photograph of the entire foutain unless you have a special lens or go to the top of one of the buildings to take it.
This is actually what the Sistine Chapel looks like when you are looking up at it. It's actually kind of disappointing. You always see in art books the individual scenes on the ceiling, but to actually stand on the floor surrounded by hundreds of people bumping into you in 90 degree heat, it's not that interesting.
This was my favorite part of Rome. I actually stood and stared at this sculpture for 40 minutes. I'm not sure what it is about it that drew me in, but it did. Perhaps it's the size of Jesus in relation to Mary. Perhaps it's the size of the actual sculpture itself (it's not as large as I would have expected it to be). Perhaps it's the polished look to it and the way the sun reflects light as is comes through the windows of St. Peter's. Whatever it is, this is, by far, my favorite piece of work by Michelangelo.
Gli Uffizi (actual translation: the offices). What is now one of the most famous museums in the world used to be the offices of the Medici family. The museum, located in Firenze (Florence) houses many famous pieces of work by artists such as Michelangelo, DiVinci, and Botticelli.
These are two works by Botticelli that hang in gli Uffizi. I remember sitting on a bench with "The Birth of Venus" in front of me and "Spring" to the right of me. Each covers nearly the entire wall. I sat there staring and thinking how amazing it was that two such famous paintings should be so close to me. I could literally almost touch them. What's even better is that in Italy you can take pictures of them. I have a lot of pictures of different artwork that I saw while I was there.
Although it was an unfinished piece of work by DiVinci, "The Adoration of the Magi" is one of his more famous works. It is, by far, my favorite piece of his. I think it has to do with the fact that it IS unfinished. It's like walking in on an artist when they are in the middle of their work. You can see where the work has come from and only imagine where it's going to.
So, that's some of the things that I saw in Italy when I lived there. The pictures (which I didn't take) do not do it justice. I must return.
