Leaving Florence

Posted by Elizabeth. We're on the train to Venice and so sad to leave Firenze. A beautiful city and a wonderful family as our hosts. Anna and Doreen, thank you for everything and we hope to see you again. Your home and family are beautiful and we felt part of the family. 

We're on the fast train to Venice. Not sure it's very fast since it is stopping quite a bit but it's the most comfortable train I've ever been on. Plush seats, power, high tech lighting and lots of room. Amtrak could learn a thing or two. I'm a big fan of trains and this one tops the list. 

A few days ago Beth, Leo and I went to the Stibbert museum near our apartment in the hills above Florence. The Stibbert family lived in a lovely villa just off Via Bolognese and amassed a vast collection of armory. When the last of the family died they left the home, garden and collection to the city as a museum. We had the extra treat of walking there from our own villa down windy ancient roads. 

I've included some photos of the collection but I'm not sure they do it justice. There were rooms and rooms of Knights in armor and a massive hall full of Knights on horseback, all fully clad in stunning metallic gear. Such a different concept of warfare than our own which seems so crude and ugly in comparison. 

They also collected swords and guns and other weapons which had their own artistic beauty. 

On to the city of water...

Knights and fresh air

Stibbert Museum Florence

Posted by Leo. Yesterday when we went to the Stibbert Museum I was expecting it to enrage me. I enjoyed the first half of the museum where it was a collection of knight’s armor and weapons. There were spears to muskets. I got to try on some chain mail and it was really heavy. After this part it went to paintings and that just ticked me off. From awesome to dullness. I was hoping for more stuff.

One suit of armor stood out to me. It was all black with chain mail inside and on the outside it was shiny and had design on the helmet with a slit for eye holes. It was shaped like a lion’s head.

There was also a garden there that looked really pretty. If you didn't know, gardens are one of the few things from the past that I enjoy. It’s so nice in gardens with a fresh smell and dirt on the ground. Many people might be surprised about this but I love fresh air, nature and anything like this. Once in Barcelona there was a museum and there was a massive garden with a pond with fish, flowers, bushes, trees and much more. I liked the garden.

Street art

Florence has amazing street art. Blub is the artist above and Clet the stickers on street signs. We snapped a lot of shots on our walk around town today. 

 

A boy's best friend

Posted by Elizabeth. One of the hardest parts of traveling for six months is being away from our pets. We know they are well loved by Betsy, Loree and Duke but we miss them. This week we get some pet time at our lovely Italian villa. Leo likes to run and throw the ball with Xara in the olive trees. She's just a puppy and she and Leo are well matched in energy.

Today we head to the Academy in Florence for a look at David. Leo has been studying street art so we'll go from there to the studio of Clet who is the Florentine street artist of the moment. He creates stickers that he puts on street signs with humorous and political statements. It's illegal and they're removed but people love to try to spot them around the city. 

We have a few more days here then we are headed to Venice. Italy feels so different than Spain. Spain was incredibly vibrant and alive. Florence feels historical--the powerful things that happened here hundreds of years ago still seep into every day life. It's a more subdued feeling  than passionate Spain but just as beautiful. 

The Uffizi

Posted by Griffin. This week we went to the Uffizi. The Uffizi is largely considered to be the most important collection of Italian Renaissance art in Europe, so this was very exciting. It's an architecturally stunning building, construction began in 1560 under Giorgio Vasari and was completed under Alfonso Parigi and Bernardo Bountalenti in 1581. While the exterior design is in the style of 16th Italian palaces, most notably displayed in the Piti Palace in Florence, the interior design is largely that of 19th century European museum architecture. As you enter, you are greeted by hushed voices that reverberate in the colossal entrance hall. The collection of paintings that greet you in the first few rooms are amazing, they range from the international Gothic style to the quintessential early Italian Renaissance works of Botticelli. The Botticelli room was one of the definite highlights of the Uffizi. This room featured his "Birth of Venus" as well as "Primavera", these works go beyond what words could ever accomplish and whisk you away from the crowds in the Uffizi to a different world. As you gaze at the "Birth of Venus" you can no longer see the crowds of people clamoring to get a look, and instead all that is visible is the vulnerability of the young goddess, and the strength of the zephyrs. Needless to see I loved this museum.

In 1993, in an act of terrorism, the Sicilian mafia detonated a car bomb in front of the Uffizi. This killed five people and damaged the extensive collection. Now 22 years later the museum has not yet recovered from this horrific act. A large collection of classical marbles in the Niobe room were damaged, as well as this room's Neoclassical interior. Finally after a long struggle, the Uffizi was able to completely restore these figures, however the frescos on the walls were irreversibly damaged. The Uffizi is one of the greatest art museums in Europe, and not only stands for the beauty that humans can create but also for the resiliency and strength shown by the art community in Florence.

Niobe Room Uffizi

 

Museums make me mad and scared for my life

Leo at the Uffizi

 Posted by Leo. This week we went to the Uffizi and we saw a bunch of art there. Personally I do not care for art and it ticked me off (like many things that tick me off). While my family was enjoying the art and stopping at each piece for two minutes I was rushing towards the exit. It was dull there and there were so many statues that looked alike. They were all of gods that were buff with no clothes. The paintings mostly had the same picture as Jesus was crucified on a cross with two other people to either side. The paintings went on and on. Finally when my mom said I could leave I had to walk through the entire museum to get down to street level. It was a pain. Everything thing there just reminded me that museums aren’t meant for me and all they do is make me mad and scared for my life.

Hedgehogs and WiFi

Posted by Leo. The Wi-Fi everywhere we go isn’t very good, our computers either have a problem or can’t connect and so on. Today I am typing this days before it will get out and I apologize I cannot post every day.

Where we are staying is very nice and the family we are renting from is also nice. It’s their family villa and this house and the other 3-4 houses have been passed down by generations. They also own a full 11 acres of land and I love walking in the olive groves. It’s nice with a cool breeze and with the smell of fresh air. They have a dog named Xarra who is a German Shepard who is still a puppy but she is pretty big. She is really playful and follows me around whenever I go walking in the groves. When I find her and she starts following me is when we are walking past the chicken coop. She is standing there watching them. I have really been wanting to see a hedgehog. The people we are renting from say that they are 3 feet big! It would very much please me to be able to see one.

Room with a view

Ponte Vecchio

Posted by Elizabeth. We love Tuscany. We have found our favorite place so far. Our home here is a peaceful villa high above Florence with an invigorating bus ride down windy narrow streets into Piazza San Marco. We love the food -- fresh mozzarella, rich green pesto, bread right from the baker -- and the feeling of being part of a rich, layered civilization. 

We are staying with an extraordinary family of three generations, a dog who barks at hedgehogs and takes clothes hanging to dry, and an assortment of chickens with one very happy rooster. They have an olive tree grove which didn't bear fruit this year due to an overactive mosquito population. Good news for California maybe. 

Lots of art and culture while we're here and Leo is reading Pinocchio who came to life in this town. We're slowly learning a few words in Itallian although Griffin is already ordering food and asking questions like a native. He and my mom went to the Florence opera last night in a stunning modern cube. 



Griffin and Grandma

Outside the Uffizi

Window shopping

Posted by Elizabeth. Fashion in Italy truly is like nowhere else. And we haven't yet been to Milan and Rome. While known for leather and gold, Florence has a lovely, quieter sense of fashion. The spring wear is patterned, pastel and gorgeous.

We're in Florence

Our home in Florence

Posted by Leo. Everything in Florence is the same as Barcelona, just smaller. The thing I love most about Florence is our house. It's big and there are trails all around that lead to olive groves. I have not seen the groves yet but I am planning to spend an evening there watching the sunset.

Yesterday we saw the Duomo. It felt odd and strange. It was weird. It was not the biggest church I have seen but it was pretty big. My brother and mom kept scaring me about the statues moving. They got a laugh out of that one.

Well that's all I have to say.

The Florence Duomo

Recamper

 

Posted by Elizabeth. Those of you who are Camper shoe fans will understand this story. We discovered that the only Recamper store in the world is just outside of Barcelona. It's an outlet store for the greatest shoes ever. Sort of a cult trip and, as you can imagine, we had to go.

I found a dedicated "shopping bus" that leaves from downtown Barcelona every hour and goes to the outlet mall about a half hour away. Griffin and I got up early and hoofed it down to the stop (getting lost on the way and running up to the stop just as the bus was about to leave). Along with dozens of Japanese tourists we got off the bus at the Spanish outlet mall and headed right to Recamper. 

Wow! We had made it to Mecca. Discount Camper shoes from this season and last. We spent a couple hours trying on every pair in the store and came home very happy.

City bikes

City bikes in Barcelona



City bikes in Seville



City bikes in Seville

Posted by Elizabeth. There's a lot I love in Europe but one of my favorite things (after the bakery on every block) is the city provided bike service that exists in every city. All kinds of people from businessmen to students to elderly use them to get around. We used them in Seville and look forward to riding around other cities on the continent. 

It really makes sense in these packed cities with so many people. The traffic is crazy and parking even worse. I know we have city bikes in Seattle and I hope they become as well used as they are here.