New trip!

Clare's in Italy again! This time, I'm spending two weeks, most of it in Venice. The new blog is at http://clareinitaly2010.blogspot.com

It's Friday, July 25

Today is my last day in Florence, and I'm filled with mixed emotions. I could live in this city forever, I think, although I will be very happy to get home to see friends and family. And there are still so many things that I haven't seen, but that's just my excuse to return, right?

Yesterday, I went on the afternoon outing to Santa Croce with the school. Marco was our guide, and he's just wonderful (as usual). It's a beautiful church and very important to the people of Florence. Michelangelo, Vasari and Machiavelli are buried there, and there are empty tombs for Dante and Giaccomo Rossini, although there seems to be some question as to whether or not Rossini is actually there or still in Paris, where he was first buried.

There's also a beautiful chapel belonging to the Pazzi family, built mostly by Brunelleschi, with terra cotta work by della Robbia

The interior is fantastic - here's a very poor quality video of Marco explaining it to us:

Later last night, I had dinner with Marco and his friend Giovanni (along with Magre the english spaniel again). We went to a restaurant called Ora d'aria, run by a chef who is considered one of the top chefs in Florence and all of Italy right now. Here's an article (in english) about him:

http://www.theflorentine.net/articles/article-view.asp?issuetocId=3365&browse-by=Up-Close-Personal

Dinner was great, and lasted almost 3 hours. We all had the tasting menu, and it was very haute cuisine - tiny little dishes with exquisite tastes of food on them. I'm not really even sure what I ate, but it all tasted delicious.

So now I'm off to spend my final day in Florence. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do, but probably I'll end up at 4 Lions for dinner, which has been a gastronomic highlight. As much as I enjoyed last night, there's something so wonderful about a plate of pasta and some bread, right? This will be my last entry from Italy, since I'll be packing tonight. Hopefully, when I get home to Seattle, I'll be able to upload more photos from the trip - between Aunt Clare and I, there must be hundreds!

Busy days!

As I approach the end of my almost-six-week-long trip, I'm scrambling to make sure that I see everything that I need to see before I go. It's not nearly everything that I WANT to see, but that wouldn't be possible.




Yesterday turned in to a day about Michelangelo. I started out at the house that he bought here in Florence. They are having an exhibit entitled "The Face of Michelangelo", which includes many romanticized pictures of him, as well as those from his time. It is a beautiful exhibit. You can read about it here:

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/07/21/michelangelo-portraits.html

The house also has treasures of his, both of works that he created and items that were collected while he lived there. There are also works of art commissioned by his family in later years, including an entire room painted with scenes from his life. It's definitely a beautiful museum!

After that, I went to the Medici chapel again to see the tombs that Michelangelo built for Lorenzo and Giulio di Medici. (Thank goodness I bought this "Friends of the Uffizi" pass - I can go see anything I want as many times as I want!) I'm glad I went back, because there was a new exhibit in the main chapel: items that had been taken out of the coffin of the last Medici grand duke, including his crown and his baptismal medallion. To read more about why they're exhuming the Medicis, go here:

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2206238
(warning: lots of technical jargon for scientific types like my mom)

Then I headed to the Uffizi to see the Doni Tondo, the only known preserved panel picture by Michelangelo. It's said that it's very easy to see that Michelangelo was a sculptor by looking at his painting: look at Mary's arms, in particular, as well as the way their robes drape around them.



Since I was at the Uffizi, I looked at a few more paintings, including the Rembrandts and the works by Caravaggio, including his Medusa, which is SO much more powerful in person:




(Melissa, you HAVE to see this work!)

Then it was back to 4 Leoni for dinner, where I had a nice chat with the waiter who remembered me from all the times I've been there. I decided it was time to try some beef, but I couldn't possibly eat an entire Bistecca Fiorentina, so I just had this plate of beef:

Good thing, too, because this was hard to finish! But yum, so delicious!

Tuesday's lunch

Trio of three soups: Ribolitta, Pappa al pomodoro, and Farro and Chickpea soup with rosemary.

Arugula with pears, brie, and pinenuts

The museum I visited today...

Monday...Marco's birthday!

Yesterday was Marco's birthday, and we had a small celebration at school - a little singing, and a fruit tart that I had brought him as a treat. I had thought that he would take it home and share it with his friend Giovanni in the evening, but he insisted on sharing it with all of us.

Afterwards, I headed to the train station to go to Lucca, stopping on the way for a panino (turkey, cheese and tomato) and a fruit salad. I got to Lucca in the mid afternoon and tried to find the restaurant that Marco had recommended: Buca di Sant'Antonio. He had told me that it was closed on Sundays, but they must have changed their day off, because the sign said that it was closed on Mondays. So I decided just to spend a couple of hours in Lucca and then head back for dinner in Florence.

Then I set off on the main purpose of this trip: a Puccini pilgramage (as Lucca is his home town). I first tried to go to the Puccini museum, which was his childhood apartment originally, but that too was closed on Mondays.

Then I headed to the other side of town (after a bit of a detour which was caused by an Italian giving me mis-information!) and finally found Palazzo Giunigi, where a Puccini exhibition was being held, in honor of the 150th anniversary of his birth. This exhibition filled 7 rooms of the Palazzo, mostly with documents, pictures, and letters of his. I saw a letter from Mascagni to Puccini expressing condolences after the death of Puccini's brother. I saw the census from 1861 with the list of the family. I saw Puccini's certificate for first prize in organ school. I saw scenic and costume sketches from the premieres of both Le Villi and Edgar. I saw a piece of music manuscript with Puccini's handwriting on it, reading "Ms. so and so, please wake me at 9 am". It was really wonderful, and I could have spent hours there, but I wanted to make sure I caught the 7:30 train back to Florence.

A panino for the train (and a little prosecco!) and the ride back to town took no time at all. I went to Pizzeria Dante for dinner, and then to Gelateria La Carraia afterwards (chocolate-orange gelato!). Home to bed....

Happy birthday Pam!

My beautiful daughter is 22 today! Happy birthday, darling girl!

By the way, for all who are interested: Claritin in Italian is still Claritin (and it's cheaper here).