Napoli and Firenze!

Il conto, per favore - the bill please!
Mi chiamo Kelly - my name is kelly

VENERDI 24
 Saturday 24th January 

What a disastrous day! Rebecca and I both woke up to lightning, very surreal! Then, because my phone was still set on GMT of the UK, we slept in, getting up at 9 =/  We ran, in the rain, to await a late bus, which took its time going around a village area before we ran yet again for the metro,somehow managing to get to the termini just before 11 to discover that the Naples train we had wanted to get at 10.30 had been delayed and therefore jumped on it before it began to leave. It was packed. there were no seats, we sat on the floor. but at least we had made it.
we eventually, after an hour or two managed to get seats together and ate our packed lunch. A long journey on the slow train, we didn't arrive into the station until 2pm, in which Rebecca and I argued as she was playing with the bag I had lent her, between us, and our cramming in of items, we managed to break the zip, causing yet another fight as she tried to fix it and I told her it wasn't possible (I do study fashion, I've had the same experience with zips before) We eventually got moving, followed the directions on my Pompeii printout to the other part of the station and purchased tickets (direct cheap at less that 2 euro for return) he mentioned something about soon and we presumed he meant the train for Sorrento which we were meant to get. But it didn't arrive. for ages. In the mean time we randomly got looked at hungrily by some Italian lads, who, since we couldn't speak Italian and they couldn't speak much English, decided to talk to us in French..as you do. A woman also tried to speak to us about something when we told her we were going to Pompeii, the only English she said was 20 and pointed to her watch..we soon learnt what she meant.

The train ride was a slow one, after 45 minutes we arrived at "Pompeii scavi" the place seemed empty. It was raining again. We were excited, Pompeii, finally, the home of Grumio, Matella and Caecelius of our first to third year Latin texts. it was 3.50. No one was at the ticket desk. we walked down. we got turned away. Last entry 3.30...I m not going to lie about the situation. I was overtired and stressed. I may have cried.

Once calm, we bounded aboard our train, a shorter journey to the station (TYPICAL) On our way I used my phone and took idea from our travel book in which we decided to go to Museo archeligio Nazionale the former Neapolitan home to the Farnese family. It was so vast, huge sophisticated architecture. The floor height seemed 3 stories tall, full of artifacts, antiquities and sculptures collected from over the centuries, Roman, Greek, Egyptian, many of which were used in the popular Renaissance pleasure gardens; Hortos. Lots of Apollos , Aphrodite's, Roman gems, Marble busts of Emperors such as Nero, all in beautiful marbled floored rooms. The grand spiral staircase to the second floor featured a huge lion statue at the bottom and a Roman God, 5 times the height of me on the second tier landing of the staircase. It was the second floor that held all the artifacts, frescoes, mosaics and statues recovered  and now protected, from Pompeii and Herculaneum.

These mosaics  were very well preserved, could still see the structure, shade and form in them, particularly some of the frescoes that hadn't darkened too much, hard to believe these were made in the 1st century Ad!
The best, most hilarious section however, had to be "Pompeii Erotica" as its been dubbed. The collection mainly gathered from the Pompeii Brothels, frescoes and mosaics of the various sex acts that could be performed, aroused statues, flying penis' with bells attached (apparently a good luck thing) down in the souvenir shop you could actually buy a miniature calender based on Pompeii erotica, oh my!

The mid section on the 2nd floor was again about 3 stories in height and marbled, the ceiling had a fantastic fresco from the Renaissance with lots more statues recovered from the famous areas of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Cant image in living in such a glorious Villa. There were more outside, a converted bank like area was spectacular looking, no designated for i sort of indoor shopping area. It was around here, the Piazza Cavour area that we browsed some great shops, not too dear and even managed to get ourselves some nice clothes (I got a lovely leather studded green jacket)We then devoured our cheapest meals yet, pizza for around 6 euro! back on the metro (which may I add is all brand new and beautifully decorated, much nicer than Rome's) We got the slow train back to Rome, only to discover it was quicker and took only 2 1/2 hours! unfortunately for us, we were laughing and joking too much and didn't notice. the conductor banged on the window. The metro had a delay strike, we missed the last bus from Anagnina and had to pay 30euro for the taxi...so yes. quite a disastrous and very wet, cold day!

 

SABATO 25
SATURDAY 25TH JANUARY

como si va a... uffizi galleria?    how do I get to Uffizi gallery?
per gli studenti?                         for a student?
riduzioni?                                   reduction?
Firenze                                       Florence

Well what do you know...another disastrous morning for transport!
We got up at 5.45 and got the bus and even the metro okay,arriving at 7am, half an hour until our train. However, the slow train was from platform 2est.....we presumed this was just the normal platform 2 and chilled at the waiting room. WE WERE WRONG.
You have to walk, ages, on the far left side, for 10 minutes to an outside platform area. THIS is 1 and 2est! disaster.The next was not until 8.58 as the rest were reserved fast trains. SO annoying!
We made sure we were early for this, which was a pretty empty train. The countryside of Tuscany is lovely, we read, daydreamed out the window and had our lunch, arriving 4 hours later in Firenze SMN. It was finally sunny and I could peel off some of my many layers (I came prepared after being cold and wet the day before!)

We passed the beautifully tiled Santa Maria Novella Church on towards the breathtaking centre Duomo, a marbled church, huge and so very unexpected. All in marble, I felt more compelled towards its beauty than the Sistine chapel, especially with the interior dome, started by Vasari and finished by Zuccaro in 1579 is breathtaking and outstanding in its beauty, with its illusions to heaven, hell and purgatory with its angels, the saints, the living and the dead and of course the devil and his minions in hell. Underneath this gothic Dome, they have excavated just below the floor to reveal the original 13th century church foundations along with the crypt of Chiesa di Santa Reparata. This UNESCO site is free into as it's a church, however the Baptistery and the crypts have an admission fee.

We continued on towards The Basilica of San Lorenzo, one of the largest churches of Florence situated in the market area, originally a church and burial area of the Medici family, in particular the famous Cosmino il Vecchio to Cosmino III. It is here that there are famous works by Donatello. Unfortunately, even though this is a Church, they wanted you to pay an admission unless you go via the side for prayer. The interior was also getting refurbished so we decided to go via the prayer area. Due to the refurbishment we were unable to see much, but what we did see was vast. From here we browsed the markets, getting several cat calls from men, all able to recognise we were sisters, that we were "beautiful" that I resembled "Lady Gaga" and at eh same time "Hannah Montana" white different styles but okay....upon ignoring one black vendor he started saying "white people are shit" charming. It was funny to be honest. We purchased some Venetian masks and browsed happily, admiring the beauty and charm of Florence, a place deeply steeped in Renaissance history, particularly with with the large pedestrian only area of the older town, everything was easy to find, the buildings were beautiful and in great condition, and there was NO graffiti! Brilliant. In ways it was like stepping back into the past, and I really felt like it in my long cathedral stained glass inspired skirt.

We visited Palazzo Riccardi a previous Medici villa (Student I.D is necessary for a reduced price for this, as Rebecca found out the hard way having left hers back home) The interior courtyard was fantastic, 3 stories in height, marble of black and white, with columns and arches leading to the side garden with let in rays of sunlight (with the high surrounding stories not much light was let in from above, however it felt reclusive and secretive in an exciting powerful way, a personification of architecture to the Medici's) Some of the windows were designed by Michelangelo (he was based in Florence and on the other side of the river on can visit his home)

Up the marbled steps of the courtyard we entered a beautifully frescoed room designed by GOZZOLI based on the journey of the Magi set in a contemporary renaissance design with members of the papacy such as Cardinals along with prominent members of society, in particular, the Medici family. The most stunning room was not the famous room were Charles VII and Medici basically declared war (it did have a HUGE sparkling chandelier!) was the "Mirror room" by Bartolommeo. Fantastic full ceiling fresco, again, like the Duomo we see a clear correlation to heaven and hell with the devils, demons, angels, cupids and God. but was made it truly stunning was the mirrored walls all along the room with gilded edges, making it seem like a dream like golden room of royalty. each mirror then, was frescoed on top of, around the edges, beautiful flowers, animals and vines with cupids. Stunning. A perfect place for a marriage ceremony!

After this we had a much needed coffee! We took a wrong turn missing the sign (Florence is much better with directions and signs than Naples and Rome!)  we ended up at Palazza Della S.S Annuziata which had a beautiful Church and an interesting museum, "Museum of the Innocents" There is so much beauty, knowledge, history and art in this city, I NEED to live here!

We didnt have time to stop, and when we got to the Galleria dell'Acamedia I realised we were at the wrong place, our 4pm ticket was for the Uffizi Galleria. we had time to spare and on our walk down past the Duomo square to the gallery (everything is pretty quick and easy to get too) We did some present shopping. Some beautiful and soft things, particularly the scarves! The area of the Uffizi Galleria at the PALAZZO VECCHIO is stunning. A large David stands outside the Signoria Palace (Now a museum and Gallery) along with statues of Hercules and Cacus. The area was full of life and people. A beautiful artistic area full of statues, historic buildings and vibrancy. We got our tickets and entered the very busy Uffizi Gallery.

The top floor 2was a huge gallery, frescoed ceilings throughout. The main hallway also had portraits of the leading male and female Florentines, Particularly Cardinals and the Medici family.Although you aren't allowed to take photos (like most of these places) I took some sneaky ones as my camera doesn't have an exterior zoom and isn't noisy) There were room upon rooms of art; Madonnas, the Apostles and Saints, Christs and Popes. Works by Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Vivaldi, Lippi, Botticelli, Raphael, Titian, to name a few. So many masterpieces to take in, utterly amazing. Gold paint, frescoes, azures, marbles, some hundreds of years old, many having been refurbished to save the beauty and the masterpiece for future generations. Saw2 of the most famous Venus',  Venus of Urbino by Titan & The birth of Venus by Botticelli. FANTASTIC!
I was really impressed seeing Titian's Venus because i had studied and written about it in my last Disertation, about the new female nude, Provocative and not demure, sensual and sexual, teasing to the eye with her directness and nudity, the idea of nearly touching herself, a provcative form, stylized in the traditional female form but more alluring and interesting to the eye. I was able to see a painting of Catherine De Medici who became the Queen of France,the beautiful Duchess of Lorraine and the famous Cosmino II Medici, along with the renowned ancient sculpture known as "The hermophrodite" 
On the upper corner of the gallery hall one can look over the river and see the famous "Ponte vecchio" all the more stunning in the declining sunlight of sunset. onwards, at the rooftop cafe we gazed at the beautiful Tuscan sky in the sunset, the beautiful pinks, purples, blues and oranges highlighting the historic architecture skyline such as the Duomo, Bargello and Adia, a beautiful image to remember of our time here.
On the ground floor we admired more beautiful works, Borini, Botticelli, Griotto, Piero della Francesa etc. could easily spend my life in this gallery, there's just so much! So fascinating, so beautiful.
We grabbed some iced coffees to perk us up, and headed back towards the Galleria. The first European art college established in the Renaissance period. Again, like in Naples, the ground floor is about 2/3 stories in height.The central entrance held lots of religious arts, as did the upstairs, including amazing woven textiles (amazing because textiles decay so easy!) The central statue the "Rape" was amazing. From each position you look at it something different is happen, each angle is perfectly sculpted to entice the viewer, I loved it! to the left was a music room showing Renaissance instruments along with letting you try some of your own and listening to music from different eras, quite fun, Then, to the left, after several half completed Michelangelo statues was the famous and amazing "David"

 He is so huge, a giant of a man created to the ideal of perfection in the hardest marble to carve (old marble, like the Pieta at the Vatican) viewed from any angle, he looks amazing.The self flagellation is something i had never noticed before in the piece, is this perhaps a symbol of self power and control? of not being good enough even in this humanist ideal of perfection to God, hence the self punishment, it is only obtainable through god? perfection is a flawed and sinful ideal or an impossible dream? (The penis is small in Ratio to the rest of him) Its a beautiful striking piece, which makes you wonder the reasons of design, appearance and statement, something I love to ponder while admiring a masterpiece. I let out a squeal of delight upon seeing him and we spent quite a while sitting studying the famous icon.
To the left was a partially closed gallery area stuffed full of marble statues from the Roman era along with paintings. Upstairs continueing more of the first room, with religious art, some beautiful, others strange in the structure and form (ie. odd shaped heads to the point were i felt Jesus looked like quite an unnatural child, then again, he's almost always depicted as white, very strange for any child from the Middle East eh?)  Another startling piece was a crucifixion of Jesus were the blood from his wounds was pouring out so strongly in a flow upon Mary's head that she looked like she needed an umbrella. A bit over the top and unrealistic i think.

Hilarious bathroom graffiti in the toilets of the Galleria

We did some quick shopping on our way back, admiring the night time elegance of the old city lit up with the street lamps and show window glow. we returned to the station, paying for the reserve high speed train, doing up to 250km an hour and arriving back in Rome in an hour and a half! never gone so fast in my life!