Cracked...

As we made our way down Boboli Hill, we encountered one of the coolest statues in all of Boboli Gardens.

It is apparently (there is very little signage in Italy) the Tindaro Screpolato sculpture by Igor Mitoraj, a Polish artists from Krakow.

Boboli Gardens

Amazingly the weather cleared very quickly and we were able to walk the gardens under blue skies and puffy white clouds. The gardens rise behind the Palace and we climbed Boboli Hill until we reached the top where we found some truly panoramic views of Florence and the surrounding area.

There are a few hills surrounding Boboli Gardens that offer even more commanding views - and some of them come with castles.

Rainstorm...

Thus far on our trip the weather had been wonderfully accommodating - even if Rome could have been ten degrees cooler. On our last day in Florence though this would change.

Under foreboding skies we crossed the Ponte Vecchio to Pitti Palace and the Bobali Gardens. We were scheduled on an early afternoon train from Florence to Venice and were hoping to spend a couple hours anyway at these gardens which were part of Pitti Palance, the home of the Medici family which ruled Florence for so many years.

Once we bought our tickets, the skies opened and the rain came down. We waited hopefully in the courtyard watching the water stream from the rooftops.

Moon over Florence...

As our night walk around Florence came to a close, we again passed by the Ponte Vecchio and were treated to a view of the moon peeking down on the Arno. The moonlight worked with the cloudy sky and the lights of the city to produce a very special moment for us Vermonters so far from home.

Tomorrow would be a travel day - off to Venice. But before we boarded the fast train, we planned to take a quick tour of the Boboli Gardens across the Arno near Pitti Palace...

The White Giant.

Later in our night walk, we came by a very crowded piazza with live music. As we made our way across it, we found this beautifully lit statue of Neptune.

Apparently the original dates from the 1500's and is now housed in the National Museum while the copy does dangerous duty out among the boisterous crowds. It has been damaged several times over the years, most recently restored in 2007.

Florence at night...

After dinner one evening in Florence, we ventured out for a walk about town with the camera and tripod. The streets were generally quite crowded with tourists despite the late hour (for us Vermonters). Walking around with tripod and camera in the city was a bit new to me and I was surprised that the typical reaction was was to assume we were doing something very important! Also somewhat refreshingly, the local authorities seemed not to have the same issue with tripods and public places that we saw in Washington DC for example.

This lone pedestrian by contrast paid us no attention at all.

Shadows and Light...

As we embarked on the morning ritual to fill the bird feeders, we were privileged to see the morning light at play with the leaves of our young maple tree.

Tomorrow after today's holiday, we'll return to Florence for some night shots and maybe a gelato or two...

September Hosta...

Our hosta here in Vermont has had a tough year. Early in the year, it was pummeled by hail which perforated some leaves and beat it down. Later on deer, for the first time in my experience, decided it looked like good food and munched on it repeatedly.

Now however, it's moving gently into retirement and enjoying some of the low light of our luscious sunsets.

Vermont bugbane

Again taking the weekend off of my slightly obsessive recollection of our recent trip to Italy...

We have a couple bugbane plants here at the house. They start slowly and sometime only "bloom" days before our first killing frost. During the late summer (I cannot believe its September) they start to smell like the best grape candy you can imagine. We're not there yet, but the leaves are delicate and very finely detailed and a joy to see up close.

 

Higher Authority...

As we were crossing the Ponte Vecchio and admiring all the tiny shops with piles of gold jewelry, I snapped this image of a nun consulting a motorcycle cop. It was a fairly lengthy and intense conversation and I would love to have heard - and understood - the subject matter. Alas I'll have to speculate.

The Ponte Vecchio...

After arriving in Florence, we immediately hit the pavement to make our appointment at the Uffizi Gallery (thank you Rick Steves' for that suggestion). To get there, we walked along the Arno and right by the Ponte Vecchio or Old Bridge.

It's less of a bridge and more a boulevard of commerce. The bridge is covered in colorful shops selling mostly gold and other precious goodies. From the west side looking back on the bridge, it looks like this.

And a bit closer up:

I can't think of anything quite like this around here. We have the Bridge of Flowers down in Shelburne Falls, MA and the floating bridge in Brookfield, VT but those aren't really quite the same thing. Oh and the Ponte Vecchio dates from 996. Wow!

Firenze!

We took a bus from Siena up to Florence which took just over an hour and was accompanied by a strong dose of Massive Attack which made for a particularly atmospheric approach into town.

After disembarking and rolling our belongings along the bumpy sidewalks for a bit we were delighted to find that our hotel had a commanding view of the Arno River. It was a stunning day and our first vision from the hotel was of the Ponte Santa Trinita.

Heirloom.

Before we head North to Firenze, let's pause here in Vermont to savor the deliciousness of the local heirloom tomatoes.

This year more than ever we've been enjoying not only their funky and flawed appearence but the hearty texture and mild flavors. I tend to take the easy availability (though not necessarily affordability!) of such things for granted here in the Upper Valley and I definitely should not.

I took this image in the bright sunlight of a beautiful August day...

More Siena Texture...

Before we leave Siena, I couldn't help but post one more "texture and color" shot. We were wandering around a slightly more modern section in Siena and came across this courtyard. There were beautiful trees as well as a small playground. Somehow that juxtaposition with the texture of the building made the courtyard even more fascinating to me.

Next, we'll hop on a bus and take the short ride north to Siena's longtime rival Firenze!

Siena back street...

All through Italy, it was eye opening to realize that the local folks live in these amazing settings so different from our own. The narrow streets, vibrant colors and physical intimacy (we're so spread out here in Vermont for example) seem like things conjured up by a theme park developer for our enjoyment. But no, these folks live here. They have laundry hung outside and basil plants on the windowsill. Oh and these streets and buildings are old.

 

I felt this recently when a new friend excitedly chattered about entering a real New England General Store which is an unheard of commodity in his familiar urban setting. We have something familiar here that we take for granted that is exotic (that might be just a bit strong) to our friends from several states away.

The art of doing nothing...

After descending from the heights of the Torre del Mangia, we took a seat on the piazza, ordered a delicious pizza and a bottle of wine and watched the folks - many of them clearly locals - enjoy themselves.

It was definitely educational.

Summer Color...

Taking a brief break from our trip through Italy I wanted to post this image of some flowers in front of the house. This year, for some reason, the deer have not decided to munch our brown eyed susans. They are finally coming into their own while we try to protect them from the onslaught of bee-balm and rugosa roses.

I took this image yesterday in the early evening as the sun neared the horizon. The light was warm and shadows long. Vermont has been showing off lately.

Siena from City Tower...

After visiting the Duomo in Siena, we walked back to Piazza del Campo, waited in line and climbed the claustrophobic steps to the top of Torre del Mangia, the clock tower adjacent to Siena's town hall featured in a previous post.

Torre del Mangia means Tower of the Eater and is an homage to the first guardian of the tower who must have been a prodigious eater indeed! The view of the surrounding town and countryside from the top was intoxicating.

Here is the Duomo from the Torre del Mangia. Apparently the tower was built to be taller than the tallest building in Florence (Siena's bitter rival) but also the same height as the Duomo's tower signifying equality between church and state. I hope this story is true because its a damn good one.

It was dreadfully hard to get a view down to Piazza del Campo from the top of the tower without actually crawling out to the edge of the tower. Here was our best shot at it.

After reluctantly descending from the tower, it was time for some food ... and wine.

Siena Duomo.

The Duomo in Siena. It is yet another magnificent church in Italy. The layered white and green marble is distinctive and striking. The interior is overwhelming. This happens so often in Italy it is easy to take it for granted.

We caught the Duomo on an equally striking morning with deep blue sky and lots of sun.

The day was actually too nice at this point to go inside so we made our way back to Piazza di Campo and the City Tower...

Catamount of Siena...

This cat actually represents the "Pantera" neighborhood (or "Contrade") which is one of the groups that race in the annual Palio horse race around Piazza del Campo in Siena.

Still looks like a Catamount to me...

Siena storefront redux...

Later on in the day as Siena sunk into the stupor of the daily siesta, we strolled by this wine shop. All indications were that the owner had turned control over to this small dog for a couple hours.

Some days at work I try to imagine a daily siesta where the entire office leaves work for a couple of hours to go home and nap - or perhaps slips out to spend some quality time with a good friend or a loved one. When viewed from the perspective of living well rather than the corporate bottom line, it seems a remarkably civilized approach to me.

Siena storefront...

Meg made this wonderful reflective image of an especially busy storefront in Siena. The streets there are filled with small storefront selling panforte, dried meats and wine. The fox and the bird were an added bonus. I was clearly entranced!

Night Statue in Siena.

After stumbling on one of the best meals of the vacation (ossobuco at Taverna di Cecco), we walked home to the hotel. On the way we passed this empty courtyard and Meg made a wonderful late night image which I aggressively converted to black and white.

This is the way the place felt to me. Quiet, extraordinary and alive. We were guests.

One of the wonderful things about the transition from Rome to Siena was the decrease in the tourist quotient. It's not just the number of people (Siena was actually quite popular) but the tourist culture of people hawking everything from camera tripods to umbrellas (they seemed to magically transform when the sky darkened) to the crazy guys in gladiator suits that surround the Colosseum. It just gets tiresome.

Siena didn't seem to have all that and the tourists seemed like us to be drinking deeply from the medieval well of beauty this city has to offer. Sometimes late at night, there was nobody around at all...

On to Siena...

It was time to move on from Rome to Siena and we were traveling by bus. The bus was a somewhat less performant version of the bus that we take from the Upper Valley down to Boston when taking such trips as this. It had the habit of very gently and rhythmically bouncing along the narrow (compared to US interstates) A1 heading north to Siena. I was tired and was resting my eyes but Meg would periodically wake me to show me scenes of classic Italian beauty along the way.

As we neared Siena, we remembered that there were four stops in Siena and suddenly it became import to choose the right one. A very helpful local businessman gave us all the info we needed in perfect English before departing and wishing us a good time in Siena.

We checked in and immediately walked down towards the city center to find out what is meant by a medieval city. Narrow streets with slits of sunlight were everywhere.

We settled at a nice bar in Piazza del Campo, enjoyed an adult beverage, and watched the sun set of city hall reminding us of why the crayola boxes have a burnt siena crayon in them.

Three coins in the fountain...

Young fellow throwing coins in Trevi Fountain...

Roman Griffiti

Spotted on a hill in Trestavere...

Trestavere

Across the Tiber River from Rome proper is the area of Trestavere. It's a charming, funky area and was a favorite on our trip to Rome.

The combination of textures and colors in Italy are completely new to me.

While in Trestavere, we found this alley that led up a hill to a gorgeous old church.

There was a wonderful view back over the river towards Rome from this vantage point. The big white building with the chariots on top is the monument to the King that united Italy Victor Emmanuel II. The immense size and burning white marble of the monument has made it a bit punching bag earning names such as the typewriter and the false teeth. It definitely makes an impression.

Return of Son of Rome...

There are so many pictures to post from our time in Rome, let alone the entire trip to Italy, that it's hard to choose.

That said, ere are a couple more shots from different locales in Rome. The first is of course the Pantheon. Sadly like much of ancient Rome, it's face is marred by reconstruction but this actually did little to reduce it's fundamental awesomeness. A place of worship, for all religions for over two thousand years. This was by far my favorite building in Rome.

The next image is of Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona. Piazza Navona was a blast, full of life, art, music and perhaps most importantly cold beer. This amazing fountain is the centerpiece of the piazza.

But perhaps my favorite place/experience in all of Rome was Largo Argentina. These ancient ruins lie in the heart of Rome and continue to be under active excavation. But what makes the place so amazing is that it is home to a cat sanctuary! This group feeds, neuters, and cares for the cats while opening every day, here among the ruins, working to get these cats adopted into good homes.

We wandered by late at night twice and both nights this fellow had staked out his (rather large) area for a good nights sleep. Ruins and cats? How awesome is that?

More Rome...

The Roman Forum on a hot Rome afternoon...

 

This is Capitoline Hill including the Mayor's Palace and the Museum. This square, including these steps and the statues, were designed by Michelangelo.

Colossus

The Colosseum is just amazing. It's astonishing that something so old looks so familiar to us today and when you discover all the nasty things the Romans did in there, you start to think really deeply about modern television and movies.


Anyway, here are a couple standard shots of the Colosseum. Whatever you think of what happened here, the place is amazing.

Little Cars...

While in Rome, we witnessed this convoy of Fiat's zooming by the Colosseum - we believe it was some kind of World Cup celebration/gesture. We've not seen this behavior in East Thetford before...

 

The Vatican

We toured the Vatican Museum while in Rome. It is truly amazing, endless, and not a little scary. This nasty little fellow was hanging over one of the doorways...

Łódź Poland

We've been traveling a bit lately and it's time to catch up and post some pictures! I spent a week in Łódź for work and was able to enjoy walking Piotrkowska Street (shown below) which is one of the longest commercial streets in Europe. It is full of cafes and restaurants, many of which are out on the street which is mostly pedestrian.

 

It is always interesting to see what is similar and what is different when you are in another country. I was certainly taken aback to see a sign, familiar in Vermont, for a snowboard shop!

Some of the older textile factories have recently been reinvented as an upscale shopping and entertainment experience called Manufaktura. The economy in Łódź seems to be booming; there is a surplus of well educated and affordable (compared to me for example) engineers which is attracting many companies to the area.

 

I really enjoyed my week in Łódź. There is an optimism in the air that I haven't felt here in the US for many years. Things are getting better and though many challenges remain (apparently you cannot safely park your car in Łódź without using a guarded parking lot), people are really enjoying themselves. 

Oh and the food was great! I got to have zurek again for the first time since 1999, I tried beef tongue for the first time and really liked it, and I was able to quench (momentarily) my fondness for Polish beer.

This last shot is from Liberty Square which holds a statue of General Tadeusz Kosciuszko, a military polymath who served as the head engineer of the Continental Army during the American Revolution (responsible for securing Philadelphia as well as West Point from British attack) and whose statue graces Lafayette Square near the White House.
 

Emerging...