Ten years ago I handled everything Drake and I owned - well, except for some garage tools. We created three piles: store, take, or discard. It took about two years to downsize our Hurst household. I really thought I'd never have to do that again. Well..... Hold on there. This spring I've found myself doing exactly that AGAIN as we take off for a Brooklyn adventure. Take is what goes into the steel boxes to be freighted. Store is what is staying in the Sun City house, and discard is actually giveaway to various charitable organizations rather than in the garbage.
I think the most disheartening revelation about this whole redux process is, despite my best efforts, I seem to have re-accumulated. The only thing holding down the acquisitions is I have fewer square feet to work with. And, don't misunderstand, my 'best efforts' are pretty ruthless. I don't buy books anymore, and I still have less than roughly half the number of clothes I used to have.
So, what do we buy? I guess the number one acquisition since we left Texas has been art. I have lithographs of the Pacific Northwest. I have added paintings of New England, Nova Scotia, Colorado, Pacific Northwest, Arizona, and a woodblock print. I've bought pottery, sculpture, a Japanese quilt square and painted plates. This has been added to what I kept from my Texas house. I've had to 'salon style' hang lots of the pieces since our wall space is severely limited.
The other category which is creeping up in accumulation is all my sewing and embroidery supplies. I'm a sucker for thrift store/discount store material. I love to sew, and still make a certain percentage of my own clothes. Now, I'm doing limited sewing for the new grandson. (Good thing he's not a girl! There's definitely a home sewing bias between girl babies and boy babies.)
The price of fabric has skyrocketed as individually owned fabric stores are now almost non-existent. Hancock's (national fabric store) went bankrupt and closed down. JoAnn's national chain is driving everyone else out of the business. This store has a defacto monopoly - especially on fabric. They can pretty much charge whatever they want for fabric, notions, and embroidery supplies. With ordinary fabric running $6 to $10 a yard, it's hard to pass up $1 a yard material at thrift stores even if I don't have an immediate use for it. The same goes for 'tools' and 'notions'. For example, I bought a snap fastener tool for $1 at a thrift store not too long ago, and I saw the exact same tool for sale at the above mentioned fabric store for $25. Same goes for a rotary cutter, all kinds of scissors, embroidery thread, patterns, - oh, the list goes on and on. The fact remains I still have to find places and drawer space for these acquisitions.
If someone like me who has the mindset of, "If I haven't used it in a year or more, I probably don't need it." struggles to keep accumulations down, it's no surprise the Japanese woman who is selling the purging idea has not only a book but also a TV show on how to get rid of your stuff. I must say, though, thanking every piece you unload is a little over the top for me.
However, I do approve of her basic idea that we all have too much stuff cluttering up our lives, weighing us down, and sometimes clouding our priorities. People often ask me if I don't 'miss' all the items I've jettisoned over the years. Sometimes they don't really even believe me when I say, not only 'no', but that having fewer things is freeing.
Still it's a struggle. I like a comfortable life. Many of my purchases are all about aesthetics but many are about convenience. Another area of purchase is I love to give gifts, and I struggle to not foist off on others stuff they ultimately don't want just because I like to give. Inside our family, we try to avoid giving lots of things. Instead, we try to keep our gift purchases to consumables, especially at holidays, but even so gift items creep up on me.
One problem which fuels re-accumulation is I never met a clearance rack I didn't want to stop and chat with. Over the years, I've learned two things about 'clearance'. (1) If no one else wanted it, you probably don't either, and (2) If you don't have an immediate use for it, don't buy it even if it's 80% off. Still, even a savvy shopper like me can sometimes hear and be seduced by the siren call of 'clearance'.
On the other hand, I don't need immediate gratification. I can see something appealing, put it down and walk away from it until I can check out reviews about it and find the most attractive price. Then, if it passes the, "Yes, I absolutely need this test." I'll buy it. People who can't 'wait' to make purchases baffle me.
The other type of shopper I don't understand are those who MUST shop in the most expensive places. Value is not often found in price or brand. Usually, only status is found in price or brand, and I don't really want or need validation of self worth from my possessions or where I buy them.
However, my point is just because I can get it for peanuts doesn't mean I should buy it. Filling my house 'up' is not a game I want to play, but obviously, invariably, in this land of too many and too much, I find myself playing.
Wednesday, April 17, 2019
Monday, April 8, 2019
Milano
While we loved our Italian trip, if I had to rank the cities, Milan was my least favorite. It was because it seemed so international and cosmopolitan while Florence and Venice seemed to exist in Renaissance and Medieval times. This was also the wealthiest of the four cities we visited.
If I had to express the essence of Milan in one word, it would be "CLOTHES". We stayed in the downtown area and street after street were filled with upscale shops with windows full of the most beautiful clothes I've ever seen en mass in person. These were not 'runway' clothes, most of which are practically unwearable, but rather with well tailored, well designed clothes which would be a pleasure to wear everyday. How glad I was to be 68 instead of 28. My age saved me lots of $$$$. The clothes were all obviously made to be worn by the young professional woman either at work or at play. They were still a joy to see in the windows and then equally striking 'shown' in real life on the streets.
While we did the obligatory (on my vacations, anyway) museums, and there were a couple of wonderful ones, the iconic activity was attending the Nutcracker Ballet at LaScala Opera House, one of the most famous
performance venues in the world. It was opened in 1778. The exterior is quite unimposing, and my first thought on finding it was, "Can this really be it?". The interior was also pedestrian, but the quality of the sound was magnificent.
Now, we've seen the Nutcracker a zillion times. Two things made this performance unique. We were touring a famous Milan art museum, and two other Americans asked Drake if he knew the location of something in the museum. They struck up a conversation, and it turns out they were from the New York City Ballet. They were in Milan supervising the production of The Nutcracker which was using the George Balanchine choreography - owned by the NYC ballet. (For ballet neophytes - Balanchine was the artistic director of the NYC Ballet for decades, and he's famed for his intricate and difficult to dance choreography.) They told Drake the dancing was so/so, but the music would be fabulous. Boy, were they right. I don't know how in 1778 they got the acoustics exactly perfect, but I've never heard Tchaikovsky any better.
We also saw the Medieval heart of Milan, a walled fort which has been restored. Even though Milan was the coldest of our destinations, it was refreshing to be outdoors walking around this huge walled fort. As to approach, there's a large fountain.
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| Half the fountain is to the left |
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| One of four towers on each corner |
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| Fortified gate into the fort |
I actually had to miss a museum inside the fort - it was closed, but I suspect the building itself was the major attraction. During the restoration, the restorers uncovered 'ancient Milan' from the Roman times, and piled all the bits and pieces from that time period in one corner of the courtyard.
Naturally, Milan has a cathedral. It's not just any cathedral - it's the largest in Italy, larger than St. Peters. The Milan Duomo began construction in 1387 and continued for 600 years! Napoleon coerced and bribed the 'builders' to finish the facade since this is the site of his coronation as the King of Italy. This cathedral is basically in the Gothic style with flying buttresses, and it looks like a giant confection.
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| Gargolyes inside the museum |
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| Outdoor gargoyle on Duomo Cathedral - with pigeon deterrent |
We were here on the Saturday before Christmas. This was a performance hall for concerts (thus the extra chairs), as well as the extra religious services. The Duomo Plaza has the Cathedral on one side and the Vittorio Emanuele on the other side. The Vittorio Emanuele is the Rodeo Drive of Milan.
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| The 'Sworovski' Christmas tree - decorated with crystals |
Of course, I went to art museums in Milan. In the top fine arts museum is hung one of the most revered painting in Italy - nope, it's not religious, but rather, patriotic. It's by Francesco Hayez, an Italian Romantic painter. It's the essence of a romantic kiss, but it symbolizes the beginning of the union of Italy into one nation. It is in the Pinoteca de Brera (lots of other great pictures too).
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| "The Kiss" by Hayez |
Our other adventure in Milan was the result of a travel article I read before we went. We tracked down a shop inside a courtyard which creates decorative hand painted plates. This is a family business run by two generations of women. Below is the daughter standing outside the shop window. My 'big' Italian souvenir was a pair of hand painted plates.
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| This is the daughter holding one of the plates I bought |
Finally, while I took fewer pictures in Milan than anywhere else in Italy, there are still lots and lots. I would suggest you look at the first set entitled 'Milan', and then move onto the art if you are interested.
Milan
Pinoteca de Brera (fine art museum)
Ambrosiana Museum (art/decorative arts)
Poldi Museum (decorative arts)
Sunday, March 24, 2019
Spring Training - Texas Rangers - 2019
Readers, I have a hardcore group of baseball fans, specifically Texas Ranger fans, who wait annually for my first hand, eye witness report from Spring Training. The title warns you, but if you didn't read the title before clicking, well, this is going to be about the Texas Rangers.
There's one word which describes all of the Spring Training season this year: WHACK. First, it started a week early, and because we've had the coldest, wettest winter in Arizona in ten year, I wore my long underwear to the games at least three times. For the first time I can remember, there were two games called off because of rain. Normally, in 15 games, there's usually one chilly game (long underwear under the jeans), two long sleeve shirt games, and the rest short sleeve games. This year there were three long underwear games, and only one short sleeve game.
We usually see a preponderance of American League West teams with a couple of National League teams thrown in. Not this year. Why? Ichiro, the first native born Japanese player in the majors who played most of his career with Seattle, brokered some type of deal which sent the Oakland A's and the Seattle Mariners to Japan beginning March 14th for a series of exhibition games with Japanese teams. So, we saw neither the Mariners nor the A's in Spring Training. Instead, we saw the Milwaukee Brewers three times and a slew of National League West teams.
Now, you probably think the major league season starts in Cinncinati. Nope. This year it started March 20th in Japan with a series between the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland A's. There will also be two separate series between major league teams in Mexico City as well as one series in London England between the Red Sox and Yankees. These 'international' series will be scattered throughout the year and the games 'count'.
Cinncinati is special this year. It's the 150th anniversary of major league baseball. Most historians count major league ball from the 1869 Cinncinati Red Stockings. The Reds have announced they will showcase 15 'throwback' uniforms throughout the year. Other notable dates: 50th year of the Brewers. It's the last year to play at the Ballpark in Arlington. It's the 50th anniversary of the 'Amazin' Mets' who won the 1969 World Series against all predictions.
Now, to the Rangers. Don't get your hopes up. Sigh. Jon Daniels bought three re-tread pitchers, signed a 4th man in the rotation as a starter for one year, and resigned Mike Minor. We saw Lynn today, and he couldn't get his curve ball over - at least he couldn't today. Of the three re-treads - they are all proven major league pitchers who have had Tommy John surgery. The name you'll recognize is Edinson Volquez. The other two restreads are Shelby Miller and Drew Smyly. These three have shown their 'speed' is back, and they have performed well in Spring Training. Stamina is another matter. Realistically, if only one can manage to pitch the entire year with anything in the positive win column, well, that's probably the best to be hoped for.
Otherwise, we're going to have a hot young team: Guzman (1st - age 24), Odor (2nd - age 25), Andrus (SS - age 30 - fyi his 10th year to start, and he's a new Dad - little girl born in November) Cabrera (3rd - age 33 - he's a place holder, Gallo (LF - age 25), DeShields (Center - age 26), Mazara (RF - age 23)
Elvis hit the snot off the ball in Spring Training. I expect he will have his finest year ever. He's in the prime of his career. We have him locked in through the 2022 season. Odor is showing an increasing tendency to hit to left and beat the extreme 'shift' of all the fielders to the right side of the field. Gallo is striking out less. Mazara has had a slow start at the plate, but I'm not worried about him. Ranger power (number of expected homeruns): Gallo (40+), Odor (25+), Mazara (25+), Andrus (20+), Guzman (15+).
Most improved player? DeShields. He was hitting and running with abandon this spring, and his fielding is noticeably improved. We watched him 'manufacture' several runs by getting on base, stealing second, getting to third, and coming home on the passed ball. You can just see how nervous the fielders are when they handle the ball when he's on base.
The other interesting wrinkle to this team in the signing of Hunter Pence, (age 35) an all-star quality outfielder in his prime, to a one year deal. He adds the much needed right handed bat, and I expect platooning with Choo at the DH. Choo and Pence both looked like consummate professionals this spring. Pence is wildly popular, so expect to hear cheers when he bats. (The Giant fans and the Dodger fans gave him ovations when he came to the plate in Spring Training.) Logan Forsythe, a journeyman utility infielder was also signed. If we could possibly unload Choo, it would free up a spot for one of the talented outfielders languishing in the minors.
Cabrera, a solid player, is definitely at the end of his career. There may be a bit of fielding weakness at third base this year. The Rangers have two strong candidates which will compete for the 3rd base position next year. Patrick Wisdom was acquired in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals. He has an insanely strong arm on the throw from third to first. Of course, it's all about, can he hit at the major league level. His competition, Matt Davidson, was acquired from the White Sox. He's a combination third baseman and PITCHER. Yes, there's a possibility he will be converted to a relief pitcher. This coming year, though, the Rangers want him to focus on his hitting. These two players are both 27.
The real problem for the Rangers is pitching. There isn't a genuine #1 or #2 starter in the lot. At best, our opening day guy, Minor, is a solid fourth position starter. Relief pitching looks marginally better. Jose LeClerc, who Daniels signed to a long term contract, looked lights out this spring. Two young pitchers Brett and Chris Martin both pitched well, but we'll have to see how they do facing major leaguers. Jesse Chavez is back with us for a second stint. Jeffrey Springs, a home grown 26 year old leftie made the club. He's on cloud nine. Relief pitching looked solid in Spring Training; however, they can't come in routinely in the 4th inning. Starting pitching is going to doom us this year.
The most disappointed player to leave Spring Training is Willie Calhoun. He's a sparkling young player who sprays hits. He came to camp 25 pounds lighter and he looked faster on the bases and in the outfield as a result of his weight loss. He's worked hard this past year on his fielding, but Pence beat him out for the 4th outfielder spot. Calhoun is very young (age 24), so another year of constant play and seasoning in AAA will help him. He's the first call up if a fielder falters.
That leaves catcher: We signed a veteran catcher, Jeff Mathis, who has the best 'framing' action in the majors - luring umpires to call more strikes. He's going to mentor our young (age 24) talented catcher Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the finer points of the catching game since Isiah has been converted to catching from the infield. Kiner Falefa will compete next year with Alex Trevino to become the Ranger's first string catcher. Trevino has been sent down to AAA and Kiner-Falefa will probably catch at least one-third of this season's games at the big league level.
The best case scenario, and I mean pie in the sky best case, is all three pitching re-treads perform way, way above expectation keeping us late into games. Our young hitters take a 'step up' spraying homers and getting the timely hit. We have minimal injuries, and we get off to a rocket start. Otherwise, expect the Rangers to be bottom lurkers. A solid season would be playing 500 ball perhaps as late as August 1st.
That said, the young fielders honing their craft at the plate and in the field will be fun to watch. Watching 'The Condor' (Guzman) at first base is worth watching this season. It could be a break out season for him at the plate. His play at first base is already a treat. Elvis is always a joy - he loves playing so much. Odor is also a great teammate, and his fielding is still improving.
We open on Thursday at home with the Cubs, then the Astros. We travel to the Angels and then two games with the Diamondbacks. Not an easy opening stretch, so a 'hot start' is going to be difficult. The ray of sunshine is Drake and I have tickets to see the Diamondbacks - a 48th anniversary gift to ourselves. As a sidebar, we will get to see the new artificial turf planned for the new Ranger stadium since it's on the Diamondback field. Supposedly, this is not "Astroturf", but rather a synthetic surface which reacts and plays like real turf. I'm skeptical.
Take heart Ranger fans. We're rebuilding a solid team, and I'm anticipating Jon Daniels will buy two front line starting pitchers for the 2020 season. My feeling is he's been positioning the Rangers to be a play-off team as they open their the new stadium. Then, the sky is really the limit.
There's one word which describes all of the Spring Training season this year: WHACK. First, it started a week early, and because we've had the coldest, wettest winter in Arizona in ten year, I wore my long underwear to the games at least three times. For the first time I can remember, there were two games called off because of rain. Normally, in 15 games, there's usually one chilly game (long underwear under the jeans), two long sleeve shirt games, and the rest short sleeve games. This year there were three long underwear games, and only one short sleeve game.
We usually see a preponderance of American League West teams with a couple of National League teams thrown in. Not this year. Why? Ichiro, the first native born Japanese player in the majors who played most of his career with Seattle, brokered some type of deal which sent the Oakland A's and the Seattle Mariners to Japan beginning March 14th for a series of exhibition games with Japanese teams. So, we saw neither the Mariners nor the A's in Spring Training. Instead, we saw the Milwaukee Brewers three times and a slew of National League West teams.
Now, you probably think the major league season starts in Cinncinati. Nope. This year it started March 20th in Japan with a series between the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland A's. There will also be two separate series between major league teams in Mexico City as well as one series in London England between the Red Sox and Yankees. These 'international' series will be scattered throughout the year and the games 'count'.
Cinncinati is special this year. It's the 150th anniversary of major league baseball. Most historians count major league ball from the 1869 Cinncinati Red Stockings. The Reds have announced they will showcase 15 'throwback' uniforms throughout the year. Other notable dates: 50th year of the Brewers. It's the last year to play at the Ballpark in Arlington. It's the 50th anniversary of the 'Amazin' Mets' who won the 1969 World Series against all predictions.
Now, to the Rangers. Don't get your hopes up. Sigh. Jon Daniels bought three re-tread pitchers, signed a 4th man in the rotation as a starter for one year, and resigned Mike Minor. We saw Lynn today, and he couldn't get his curve ball over - at least he couldn't today. Of the three re-treads - they are all proven major league pitchers who have had Tommy John surgery. The name you'll recognize is Edinson Volquez. The other two restreads are Shelby Miller and Drew Smyly. These three have shown their 'speed' is back, and they have performed well in Spring Training. Stamina is another matter. Realistically, if only one can manage to pitch the entire year with anything in the positive win column, well, that's probably the best to be hoped for.
Otherwise, we're going to have a hot young team: Guzman (1st - age 24), Odor (2nd - age 25), Andrus (SS - age 30 - fyi his 10th year to start, and he's a new Dad - little girl born in November) Cabrera (3rd - age 33 - he's a place holder, Gallo (LF - age 25), DeShields (Center - age 26), Mazara (RF - age 23)
Elvis hit the snot off the ball in Spring Training. I expect he will have his finest year ever. He's in the prime of his career. We have him locked in through the 2022 season. Odor is showing an increasing tendency to hit to left and beat the extreme 'shift' of all the fielders to the right side of the field. Gallo is striking out less. Mazara has had a slow start at the plate, but I'm not worried about him. Ranger power (number of expected homeruns): Gallo (40+), Odor (25+), Mazara (25+), Andrus (20+), Guzman (15+).
Most improved player? DeShields. He was hitting and running with abandon this spring, and his fielding is noticeably improved. We watched him 'manufacture' several runs by getting on base, stealing second, getting to third, and coming home on the passed ball. You can just see how nervous the fielders are when they handle the ball when he's on base.
The other interesting wrinkle to this team in the signing of Hunter Pence, (age 35) an all-star quality outfielder in his prime, to a one year deal. He adds the much needed right handed bat, and I expect platooning with Choo at the DH. Choo and Pence both looked like consummate professionals this spring. Pence is wildly popular, so expect to hear cheers when he bats. (The Giant fans and the Dodger fans gave him ovations when he came to the plate in Spring Training.) Logan Forsythe, a journeyman utility infielder was also signed. If we could possibly unload Choo, it would free up a spot for one of the talented outfielders languishing in the minors.
Cabrera, a solid player, is definitely at the end of his career. There may be a bit of fielding weakness at third base this year. The Rangers have two strong candidates which will compete for the 3rd base position next year. Patrick Wisdom was acquired in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals. He has an insanely strong arm on the throw from third to first. Of course, it's all about, can he hit at the major league level. His competition, Matt Davidson, was acquired from the White Sox. He's a combination third baseman and PITCHER. Yes, there's a possibility he will be converted to a relief pitcher. This coming year, though, the Rangers want him to focus on his hitting. These two players are both 27.
The real problem for the Rangers is pitching. There isn't a genuine #1 or #2 starter in the lot. At best, our opening day guy, Minor, is a solid fourth position starter. Relief pitching looks marginally better. Jose LeClerc, who Daniels signed to a long term contract, looked lights out this spring. Two young pitchers Brett and Chris Martin both pitched well, but we'll have to see how they do facing major leaguers. Jesse Chavez is back with us for a second stint. Jeffrey Springs, a home grown 26 year old leftie made the club. He's on cloud nine. Relief pitching looked solid in Spring Training; however, they can't come in routinely in the 4th inning. Starting pitching is going to doom us this year.
The most disappointed player to leave Spring Training is Willie Calhoun. He's a sparkling young player who sprays hits. He came to camp 25 pounds lighter and he looked faster on the bases and in the outfield as a result of his weight loss. He's worked hard this past year on his fielding, but Pence beat him out for the 4th outfielder spot. Calhoun is very young (age 24), so another year of constant play and seasoning in AAA will help him. He's the first call up if a fielder falters.
That leaves catcher: We signed a veteran catcher, Jeff Mathis, who has the best 'framing' action in the majors - luring umpires to call more strikes. He's going to mentor our young (age 24) talented catcher Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the finer points of the catching game since Isiah has been converted to catching from the infield. Kiner Falefa will compete next year with Alex Trevino to become the Ranger's first string catcher. Trevino has been sent down to AAA and Kiner-Falefa will probably catch at least one-third of this season's games at the big league level.
The best case scenario, and I mean pie in the sky best case, is all three pitching re-treads perform way, way above expectation keeping us late into games. Our young hitters take a 'step up' spraying homers and getting the timely hit. We have minimal injuries, and we get off to a rocket start. Otherwise, expect the Rangers to be bottom lurkers. A solid season would be playing 500 ball perhaps as late as August 1st.
That said, the young fielders honing their craft at the plate and in the field will be fun to watch. Watching 'The Condor' (Guzman) at first base is worth watching this season. It could be a break out season for him at the plate. His play at first base is already a treat. Elvis is always a joy - he loves playing so much. Odor is also a great teammate, and his fielding is still improving.
We open on Thursday at home with the Cubs, then the Astros. We travel to the Angels and then two games with the Diamondbacks. Not an easy opening stretch, so a 'hot start' is going to be difficult. The ray of sunshine is Drake and I have tickets to see the Diamondbacks - a 48th anniversary gift to ourselves. As a sidebar, we will get to see the new artificial turf planned for the new Ranger stadium since it's on the Diamondback field. Supposedly, this is not "Astroturf", but rather a synthetic surface which reacts and plays like real turf. I'm skeptical.
Take heart Ranger fans. We're rebuilding a solid team, and I'm anticipating Jon Daniels will buy two front line starting pitchers for the 2020 season. My feeling is he's been positioning the Rangers to be a play-off team as they open their the new stadium. Then, the sky is really the limit.
Friday, March 1, 2019
Venice - a Feast of the Senses
One month after my last post, I've finally managed to work my way through the thousands (yes, I said thousands) of pictures I took of MY favorite place in Italy. How ironic is it out of our four Italian cities the one city I was the least excited about turns out to be my favorite: Venice. If you had asked me prior to the trip to name my favorite, I would have said, Florence, the city of art, of course.
I would recommend you see Venice in the depths of winter. It's chilly, and I wouldn't recommend a gondola ride, but what is not present are 20 million tourists overwhelming not only every attraction, but every street, restaurant, and shop. Currently, there are only 55,000 people living in Venice all working in serving the tourists. They are losing population at the rate of over 1000 people every year. Normal services are almost impossible to find, and for more than half the year it's the worst possible congestion you can imagine. This place is slowly becoming the Disneyland of Italy with turnstiles (installed in April of 2018) to reduce the number of visitors allowed during the peak season. The problems of too many visitors are interlocking: Too many gigantic cruise ships, too many tour groups from the 'mainland', and too many 'day trippers' from Italy.
The most famous attraction in Venice, the St. Mark's Basilica and Piazza is wall to wall bodies in June, but here's what it looks like in December. Even so, we were 'herded' through the Basilica - well, except in the parts you had to pay extra Euros for - like touring the creepy Reliquary Room.
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| Amazing St Mark's Basilica in the background |
This Basilica is totally unique. The interior of the domes are covered in gold mosaic tiles. We saw nothing else like this in any of the other three major Basilicas we toured.
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| This is a 'bootleg' pictures since there was a sign that said 'NO PHOTOS'. |
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| The seagull was a total accident |
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| The painting is the story of Adam and Eve |
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| The Lion of St. Mark is the symbol of Venice & is everywhere including atop two flagpoles directly in front of the Basilica |
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| Archangel Gabriel weather vane |
We stayed in the center of the other three cities we visited in Italy knowing we were staying in the ancient center of one city (Rome), and the Medieval center of another (Florence), and the commercial center of the third (Milan). We knew there was a modern city surrounding us which, as tourists, we chose to ignore.
However, Venice has been the same since Medieval times. ALL the buildings are hundreds of years old. The last building boom was in the mid 1600's. We saw a map from the 17th century of Venice, and all the buildings are still standing - at least their facades are.
The close up map below shows the'tip' of Venice. I am standing on that tip of land in the center of the map.
St. Mark's Piazza is anchored on one end by the Basilica and Bell Tower and on the other end by the historical museum of Venice. The Basilica as well as many Venetian buildings show the influence of the Orient since this town was the trade crossroads between the East and the West for hundreds of years. Venice was rich, influential, and a strong city state in Italy. Their location happened because of the fall of the Roman Empire over a period of 300 years (from 200 A.D. to 500 A.D.).
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| The winding snakelike waterway is the Grand Canal |
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| This map is pre-steam since all the ships still have sails. Venice maintained a robust Navy to defend itself. |
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| Behind me is the reconstructed St. Mark's Bell Tower (tiny Archangel Gabriel weather vane on top) and the domes of the St. Mark's Basilica |
As Rome became more chaotic and as that chaos extended over most of Italy, a group of people retreated to this swampy land and founded a community. Water has always been a deterrent to invasion and conquest, and the Venetians used this to their advantage. As early as 600 A.D., they were minting coins, and beginning to take advantage of their strategic location for trade. The landscape didn't lend itself to roads, so a canal system formed off the snakelike navigable Grand Canal. All of Venice is crisscrossed with tiny waterways most a little wider than two powerboats side by side.
Our hotel, the pink building below, was located at the San Angelo Vaporetto stop which made it convenient to get around. By sheer luck, we managed to obtain two seven day unlimited vaporetto tickets for the price of two singles. If you only look at one set of pictures, choose the folder of the views of Venice from the vaparetto boats. You can hire a vaparetto taxi for a one time ride for about 10 times the price of a single vaparreto ticket. You can also hire a ride in a historic gondola dodging the motorized traffic. (In December, this seemed extremely unattractive since they are open air. It was frigidly cold on the water, and we were seeing the same views via the 'water bus'.)
There are two famous bridges in Venice. One is the Bridge of Sighs. It's the bridge medieval and renaissance prisoners crossed into prison after their sentences were declared by the Doge of Venice
The most famous bridge is the Rialto Bridge built in only three years with construction starting in 1588. It was designed to replace various pontoon bridges and other temporary structures and to ease congestion in the most crowded part of Venice. I never tired of seeing this bridge as we rode the Vaporetto up and down the Grand Canal. We crossed under it from both sides several times.
The third bridge, not nearly as picturesque, was completed in 1932. It's wood reinforced with steel. Our hotel was midway between these two bridges. The view from the Accademia Bridge is iconic.
Naturally, I saw tons of art here since we toured several musuems. There is actually a 'Guggenheim' museum here since this was the post WWII home of Peggy Guggenheim, daughter of the famous guy who hired Frank Lloyd Wright to build the Manhattan Guggenheim Modern Art Museum. We also toured the most beautiful collection of oriental art I've ever seen. There's an entire gymnasium sized room of gold dusted lacquer which they only open for 20 minutes at a time.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the beautiful Kandinsky painting in the Ca De Pessaro Museum.
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| The Rialto Bridge is directly behind us |
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| We are on a Vaparetto waiting to dock at our stop. Pictured is another Vaparetto boat going the opposite direction docked at our stop. |
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| Gondolier headed back to his 'parking place'. Building covered with white screen is being rehabbed. |
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| The Bridge of Sighs - looks out over the Grand Canal, but doesn't cross it. |
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| I took this picture leaning out over the side of the Vaparetto (with Drake valiantly hanging onto me) as we approached it to cross under. |
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| View from the Accademia Bridge - named because the Accademia Museum is at the foot of one end of the bridge |
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| This is a black lacquer box dusted with real gold dust while the lacquer is wet in some process which is long and tedious. Well worth it, though |
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| I'm wearing a piece of Murano glass jewelry I bought in Venice |
Venice is filled with Murano glass. Murano Island, an hour boat ride off the main part of Venice, and it is the manufacturing center for Murano glass. (duh) Believe me, you didn't have to carve out the half day to go to the factory, there were many, many examples everywhere of Murano glass from jewelry to chandeliers.
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| This one hangs in the Correr Museum |
Undoubtedly, one of the most unusual things we saw in Venice was at the Palazzo Zaguri. There was an exhibition there of tapestry. This wasn't your 17th century stuff; this was the revitalization of an entire industry post WWII. These people used a place which had produced tapestries for hundreds of years, and started the weavers weaving new designs which they sold initially to cruise ships. Here's an example
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| This is actually a tapestry |
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| Yeah, I know, part of me wants to be on this ship |
So, why was Venice my favorite? Hard to explain. The experience of the vaparetto. The beautiful art. The amazing architecture. It was an impactful experience which you can't have anywhere else in the world. I was also hyper aware that the Venice of hundreds of years is vanishing due to the rising oceans. Repeated flooding is becoming a routine occurrence. I was very grateful we could see this place before it vanishes.
Lastly, we saw an amazing Renaissance artist: Tintoretto was the most influential painter of the late Renaissance and early Baroque period. He painted massive canvases, largely of religious scenes, in which the people could have stepped down and started talking to you. His use of light and color was and still is unprecedented. We are lucky to see so many of his famous works collected together to celebrate his 500th birthday. Venetian churches and museums hold a multitude of his work. Here's a map which locates who in Venice has a Tintoretto. (Ironically, you can also locate our hotel - we are the white box right next to Palazzo Fortuny) If you are interested in seeing some Tintoretto, look at the pictures under the Galleria Accademia (the major Venetian painting collection).
OK - pictures: There are way, way too many. I apologize, but there were so many photographic opportunities. Pick and choose - whiz through, but if you only pick one or two - look at the vaparetto pictures and the St. Mark's pictures.
Venice via the Vaparetto
St. Mark's Piazza & LaSalute
Ca di Pesarro (Oriental Art & Modern Art) - golden lacquer
Ca di Oro (Renaissance Art - lots of sculpture)
Galleria Accademia (Tintoretto painting exhibition)
Palazzo Zaguri (Modern tapestries)
Palazzo Ducale & Santa Maria Dei Gloriosa dei Frari Church (Decorative arts & the most beautiful 500 year old church)
Ca' Rozonica - Decorative Arts
Museum Correr - Venetian history (great exhibition on the impact of printing)
Peggy Guggenheim - Modern Art
Thursday, January 24, 2019
Firenze (Florence), Italy
Florence (Firenze), Italy is the city where the Renaissance began. Over a one hundred year period, Florence produced a succession of artistic geniuses: Brunelleschi (1377), Ghiberti (1381), Donatello (1386), Fra Angelico (1395), DaVinci (1452) and Michelangelo (1475). Combined with Florence's powerful political family, the Medici's, Florence became renowned for its art treasures. That reputation survives today.
As with any good medieval town, Florence has a piazza which contains their major cathedral. In Florence, it's not one building, but a series of buildings including the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral, the corresponding Baptistery, and the Giotto Campanile (bell tower). These buildings were begun in 1296 and completed in 1436. They were 'faced' with elaborately carved marble panels in the 18th century. Also in the piazza is the modern Duomo Museum which hold treasures that have been brought indoors to preserve them. Replicas have replaced the originals.
The cathedral and attached dome was designed by Fillipo Brunelleschi, the founding father of Renaissance architecture, and the originator of modern construction techniques. Brunelleschi's dome started construction in 1420, and was so innovative his building techniques were copied by other architects for the next one hundred years.
The entire Duomo Plaza is a UNESCO Heritage Site. Our hotel in Florence was on the Plaza, so we walked past these famous buildings every day.
Every inch of the plaza is decorated. We saw something different every time we passed by the various buildings.
The Medici family ruled the city state of Florence, and over the decades of the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods were major art patrons for some of the most famous artists the world has ever known. Today, their art collection is called The Uffizi Museum, and it contains iconic paintings and statues. Here's one of its most famous.
As with any good medieval town, Florence has a piazza which contains their major cathedral. In Florence, it's not one building, but a series of buildings including the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral, the corresponding Baptistery, and the Giotto Campanile (bell tower). These buildings were begun in 1296 and completed in 1436. They were 'faced' with elaborately carved marble panels in the 18th century. Also in the piazza is the modern Duomo Museum which hold treasures that have been brought indoors to preserve them. Replicas have replaced the originals.
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| Florence Cathedral (Santa Maria del Fiore) one of buildings in the Duomo Piazza |
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| Model of Brunelleschi's dome in the Duomo Museum |
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| There's the dome peeping out behind the cathedral |
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| Not only did saints decorate the exterior of the cathedral, but some statues or busts were of famous, rich Florencians who paid to be included. |
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| Boticelli's Venus |
Contemporary with the building of the famous Duomo buildings, and during the rule of the Medici's, a humble Dominican friar, Fra Angelica, was creating world famous frescoes for the cells of his fellow monks. His most famous fresco is called, "The Annunciation"
This statue was originally designed to be in a niche on the cathedral, but it was so magnificent, the city fathers decided to put it on a pedestal in the heart of political Florence, the Piazza del Signoria. He stood there until 1873 when he was moved indoors to the Academia Museum. Michelangelo was only 25 years old when he sculpted 'David'. This sculpture represented the emerging Renaissance philosophy of humanism.
Close up view of Gallileo's 20X telescope. The camera I used to take this picture has a magnification of 35X.
Raphael's version is called the Madonna of the Goldfinch
Galileo Museum
https://photos.app.goo.gl/GTrp9AYNSDZMdrXv8
Museum of San Marco (Fra Angelica's Monastery)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/RvPqxjD8zdm1HSXG6
Academia Musuem (home of David & other Michelangelo sculptures)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/E3oSkLo8R3Z3N2zT7
Uffizi Musuem (Medici art collection)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ckmqax2JBsSi6WP88
Bargello Museum (Donatello sculptures)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/KrY49PbtCrrVtFLWA
Pitti Palace & Boboli Gardens (Decorative arts)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/odz7WAd9UeXLc8bC7
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| Fra Angelica's "The Annunciation" |
Before Michelangelo, the most famous Italian sculptor was Donatello who cast the first full size bronze statue since the first century. His "David", cast in 1430, was carefully studied by Michelangelo prior to the creation of his David. Today, Donatello's famous statue is part of the collection at the Bargello Art Museum in Florence.
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| Donatello's 'David' |
Seventy years later, Michelangelo produced his idea of "David"
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| Michelangelo's "David" |
Over the centuries, pollution and weather began degradation of Florence's outdoor art work. The solution was to create the Duomo Museum to preserve the outdoor artworks from the Duomo Piazza. Gradually, many of the outdoor decorations on the cathedral and baptistery were moved indoors and replaced with replicas. The Duomo Museum now contains the originals. The most famous of these are the doors to the Baptistery designed by Ghiberti. When Michelangelo saw them for the first time, he commented they looked like the Gate to Paradise. They've been known by that title ever since.
The doors are designed like French doors. Instead of window panes, Ghiberti sculpted brass pictures of biblical scenes. He also included his own self portrait on the doors. Many art historians consider the doors the first great Renaissance art work. Ghiberti is buried in Santa Croce, another famous Florence Cathedral.
Florence was Drake's favorite city on our Italian tour. It was compact, extremely walkable, and at every turn there was some magnificent piece of art to admire, a pastry and coffee to linger over, or a lovely meal to eat. We took a break from churches and art museums and went to the Galileo Museum of Science. It was there we discovered Galileo's original telescopes.
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| Me in front of the Gate to Paradise |
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| Ghiberti's self portrait on the Gate to Paradise doors |
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| These are the telescopes Galileo used to discover four of the moons of Jupiter and to study Saturn |
Close up view of Gallileo's 20X telescope. The camera I used to take this picture has a magnification of 35X.
By far the creepiest object in the science museum was the reliquary (sealed container) containing Galileo's actual finger.
I don't know what genius thought this up, but really? This was the first of many reliquaries we saw in Italy. There are preserved pieces of people (saints usually) in decorative jars and boxes all over the place in Italy. Gallileo's finger was just the kick off. Almost every church we visited had a little 'nook' where they kept their grizzly items.
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| This contains the middle finger of Galileo's right hand |
In Florence I began to study the huge variety of what I call 'Mary' art. Catholicism reveres Mary. Artists generally portray Mary in four ways: The Annunciation (when the angel tells her she is pregnant with Jesus), the Nativity, (Jesus' birth in the stable), the Madonna and Child, and Jesus crowning her as the Queen of Heaven. Here is a marble statue of Mary and Jesus in a niche on the front of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in the Duomo Plaza
The building with the tower in the Piazza della Signoria was the center of Florencian government during the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque era when the Medici family ruled the city. Today, this is another museum which is mainly weapons and armor. We skipped this one. Can you believe there was actually a museum we missed?
Arriving at the Uffizi Museum, you climb four flights of stairs and enter the museum to see some of the most iconic pictures and statues ever produced.
When you head to the famous Uffizi Museum (part of the art collection of the Medici family) you arrive at the Piazza della Signoria where "David" stood for hundreds of years. (Today a fake David (a perfect replica stands there). There's still a collection of original statuary underneath a portico just before turning into the street where the Uffizi is located. During the 'high season', you can wait in the piazza and the street for several hours in order to enter the museum. In December, we just walked in.
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| Piazza della Signoria |
One of the most famous statues in this piazza is by another famous sculptor, Cellini.
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| Cellini's sculpture of Perseus holding head of Medusa - 1545 |
Here's one of the most famous paintings in the Uffizi.
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| Venus by Botticelli |
The Uffizi, as well as the other Florencian museums, hold multiple versions of the Madonna and Child. Here is Fillipo Lippi's version
Lippi's version includes Angels holding the Christ child
Raphael's Madonna includes John the Baptist
handing a goldfinch to Jesus
Another artist Florence introduced me to was actually a family of artists. The Della Robbia family produced ceramics for four generations beginning with Luca della Robbia. Here's are some examples of their ceramic work which are four portraits of Mary: The top is the Annunciation. The bottom left is the Nativity. The center bottom is crowing of Mary in heaven, and the bottom right is the Madonna and Child
The Medici family loved luxury. They furnished the Pitti Palace with their decorative art collection as well as their lesser paintings which didn't make the cut to hang in the Uffizi. When Napoleon conquered Italy, the Pitti Palace was his headquarters. We walked through room after room sumptuously decorated with inlaid tables, ceramics, clocks, paintings, statuary, and furnishings. There were intensely decorated ceilings which were so lavish they were overwhelming.
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| This is only a small portion of one lavishly decorated ceiling in the Medici Pitti Palace |
The impetus for the Italian trip was the Art History class I took last spring at an Arizona community college. I arrived in Italy with a 'list' of iconic paintings and sculptures which I wanted to see in person thanks to that class. Some works were obvious: Michelangelo's works for example. However, in Florence one particular art piece I was looking for was the fresco that started the idea of using perspective in paintings. The name of this artist is almost unknown today. He's Masaccio, and here's his fresco that started it all.
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| Masaccio's "Holy Trinity" - with Mary looking at the viewer & inviting them to Christianity over the dead body of Adam - a cautionary that death comes to every human being |
As always, I took tons and tons of pictures. I split them up into separate albums, so they wouldn't be so overwhelming. Pick and choose as you wish. My pictures of Florence include museums, cathedrals, monasteries, and the Gallileo Science Museum.
Duomo Plaza, Cathedral, San Lorenzo Church & Santa Maria Novella Church
https://photos.app.goo.gl/9bGQXm7nC8Dm2A537Galileo Museum
https://photos.app.goo.gl/GTrp9AYNSDZMdrXv8
Museum of San Marco (Fra Angelica's Monastery)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/RvPqxjD8zdm1HSXG6
Academia Musuem (home of David & other Michelangelo sculptures)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/E3oSkLo8R3Z3N2zT7
Uffizi Musuem (Medici art collection)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ckmqax2JBsSi6WP88
Bargello Museum (Donatello sculptures)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/KrY49PbtCrrVtFLWA
Pitti Palace & Boboli Gardens (Decorative arts)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/odz7WAd9UeXLc8bC7
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