Siena!

Ciao tutti!

Sorry my friends, it's been a little bit.  I had an internet problem.  I got a new internet "key"/modem device that seems to be faster than the last.  I was even able to have some partial skype conversations.  I thought I had gotten the super awesome connection device this time but, turns out it is just partially awesome.  Oh well.

Well!  I must catch you all up on some events!  Here you can see a trip to the lovely Siena!  Siena is in Tuscany about a 1.5h bus ride from Firenze.  The historical center is designated a UNESCO world heritage site.  How many of those things ARE there in Italy?  A billion.  Just to start off, here is my favorite thing in Siena....  Panforte!  It is a dense spice cake made with nuts & dried fruits.  Very chewy & yummy!  It comes in various flavors ranging from fig/walnut to chocolate/hazelnut, etc, etc.  I love these types of treats.  Some may know about my affection for energy bars, seed bars, fruit logs, etc.  I think this stuff was developed ages ago for soldiers to combat hunger during the crusades.  

panforte!

I still haven't been able to find any of this stuff in Roma.  May have to start making it!  Like a lara bar but, tastier!

 A major claim to fame in Siena is the famous Palio!  The palio is a horse race that occurs twice a year in this main piazza in town.  Piazza del Campo is huge, slightly sloping, with a nearly round shape.  During the palio dirt is carted in to form a track around the edge of the piazza & walls of the surrounding buildings are padded with straw & such to create a race track.  Each neighborhood around Siena (about 10?) enter a horse & rider in the race & each has it's own coat of arms & pennant flag waving.  No saddles are worn!  All the spectators cram in the center of the piazza & also onto narrow balconies ringing the square.  They do several laps, the crowd goes wild & it sounds crazy!

the Palazzo Pubblico in the Piazza del Campo!

people actually just lounge out here like @ the beach!  good people watching.

 We hoped to climb that bell tower @ the Palazzo but, typical... we arrived about 5 minutes after it closed.  You've really gotta time things right here in Italy.  Many things close during the middle of the day, close early, close on certain days... you never know.

Siena was of Roman origin & the symbol of the town is the good old she wolf suckling Romulus & Remus.  It was cute to watch these pigeons tip toe down the wolf's nose to get a sip of water.  So dainty.  

Colorful fruits!  On display for tourists, not sure if these were all local & likely not in season.  Pretty though!

 The Duomo of Siena was absolutely spectacular, I can honestly say that I think it is my favorite Duomo!  And believe me, I have seen a lot at this point!  The outside is fairly standard for a gothic Italian duomo, very ornate & fabulous.  Just wait until you see the inside!

shoot!  should have arrived slightly early to snap a sunny shot of the duom.

 First, however, we scale up a neighboring rampart to get a sweet view of the town.  Here you can see the Piazza del Campo.  Also, a bit of trivia for you...  Can you think back to your box of crayolas growing up to picture the color burnt siena?  Well, get this, it was named after these brown rooftops in Siena Italy!  From up top here all you see is a sea of burnt siena rooftops, it's nice.

just imagine that piazza down there jammed with people & a horse race!

wow!  there you go!  had to find a photo on the interweb to show you.  

why am I always making this face?  

burnt siena sunset...

 Now we go into the Duomo!  What is different about it, that I really liked was the color scheme.  It was all black, navy blue, white and gold as you can see.  I found it unique & very beautiful.  The floors have impressively intricate mosaics & the ceiling & dome are just stunning.

WOW!

I think that the sacristy zone was my favorite, the walls are painted with a series of exceptional panels by Ghirlandiao but, what I liked the best of all was the ceiling.  It was so vibrantly colored & intricately designed.  Then there was this sculpture of the three muses in the center.  It was a really beautiful moment to be in there.  I think it is usually full of people but here we were in the early evening with the place to ourselves.

 Italy really does up the Christmas/winter street decorations right.  In every town you will find something cute strung up in the narrow streets.  It is magical & classy rather than overdone & tacky as you might find in some suburban neighborhoods in the US.

like this one, isn't that pretty?

Hope you enjoyed!  I'm going to try to blast off another blog entry real quick to catch up.  I had a wonderful trip down to the Amalfi Coast this past weekend that I am dying to share with you.  I needed to get out of the city & it was awesome to be out at the ocean.  At some points it was warm enough to have short sleeves on....  in anticipation of spring & summer!  However, today in Rome it was gloomy & gray all day.

I've been thinking about how much I miss bragg's liquid aminos, that mochi that comes in a big block & you bake in the oven, kombucha (gingerberry flavor), the occasional burrito...  Also awesome yoga classes, really missing those right now!  I have been doing a ton of reading.  I loved the Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer.  I also really enjoyed The Help & am currently almost finished with One Day.

And, that's it for now.  I hope that you are well!!  I know Seattle has been getting some snow which is always a bit special.
xx

Firenze!

Ciao tutti!!  I hope that 0-12 is treating you well so far! I wish you happiness & prosperity!

Back to Elysia's visit of a couple weeks ago... we took the high speed train "la freccia rossa" (the red arrow, only about 1h15min!) up to Firenze to spend a few days.  Tuscany was AWESOME!!!  I had been dying to go to Florence & I saved it for when I had a visitor to go with me.  It is the birthplace of the Italian renaissance!  We hit a ton of sights & museums.  Once we maxxed it out with 3 museums IN ONE DAY!!!  It was a marathon & I admit, a bit much.  We had found out at about 9pm that it was free museum night!  So, of course we had to get one more in.  Well worth it.

The lion, symbol of the Medici clan, displaying the city's coat of arms.

We liked Florence a lot!  The feel of the small city is quite different from Rome, also the feel of the weather was quite a bit colder than Rome.  There are many red roofs, many churches and lots of DAVIDMANIA!!! (Michelangelo's David, he's amazing!)  We were interested also in trying out new Tuscan foods!  Tuscany is famous for a lot of meats!  Elysia partook in some wild things like boar & rabbit...  Me?  I stuck to the veg & my favorite thing was ribollita.  This is a "peasant" soup including cabbage, kale, beans & bread, it is traditionally thought of as a good way to use up leftovers & old bread.  This peasant liked it.  We were also able to drink some nice Tuscan wines, like Chianti!  

Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge in town.  Lined with jewelry shops

the lovely Arno river flowing through town

the Duomo & Palazzo Vecchio on the skyline

view of the duomo in the afternoon light.

the campanile was designed by Giotto, one of the forefather's of the Italian Renaissance!

We scaled that dome with a herd of other people one morning, it truly is a marvel!  You squeeze through some pretty tight spots, sometimes with two way traffic of people.  Cannot imagine what it might be like in there in the hot & humid summer, probably gross.

hitting the steeps in the duom.

view from the top!

florence panorama

the inner duom is painted up like crazy!  not pictured, the rather gruesome burning in hell montage around the bottom of the dome.  those christians get cray!

fascinating floor inside.  apparently, i didn't take other photos of the interior.  sometimes i get churched out.

these bronze doors of the baptistry are pretty special!  there was a contest to see who would have the honor of creating them.  Can you believe how much detail is involved?  wow.

Michelangelo called Ghiberti's bronze doors the "gates of paradise"

pizza paradise can also be found in florence :)

fashion.   note the shiny puffies & also the extreme hamstring fadeout on those jeans.  this was Elysia's favorite fashion trend.  the "hammy fade".

We also visited the Uffizi gallery, AMAZING!  Lots of renaissance art including a TON of religious stuff.  Innumerable Madonna & Child...  We liked the Botticelli room the best.  There were about 8-10 of his works including the amazing Primavera & Birth of Venus.  It was fabulous to be in the room with those in particular.  We followed along diligently in our Rick Stevie's guide book to get the most out of the experience.  After about 4+ hours in there we had to get out.  I suffer from "the low back pain" after too much museum going (standing, that is).

here you see the trusty ribollita.  not too pretty but tasty, i assure you.

This was my favorite spot in Florence!  Piazza della Signorina & the loggia di Lanzi.  A huge piazza full of gorgeous sculpture!

the palazzo vecchio, was the seat of the government during the days of the medici.

Ammanati's fountain of Neptune

Giambologna's rape of the sabine women 

same one

Rape of Polyxena

Michelangelo's original David was designed to be placed atop Florence's duomo but, he got placed here outside the governmental palace instead & became a symbol of the florentine republic.  This is a replica, the original got moved inside of the Accademia museum to protect him from the elements & from vandals.  Michelangelo was 26 or 27 when he sculpted this masterpiece!  David is a true renaissance man.  (my god, I am starting to sound like Rick Steve's!)

replica of DAVID!!!!  David is 17 feet tall!!

They were selling DAVIDMANIA! bumper stickers in the museum...  But seriously, David was awe inspiring. (and I sort of seriously wanted a bumper sticker too)

Here's the actual David!!!!

This one was spectacular!  Perseus after killing Medusa

Giambologna's Hercules & Nestor (correction (Jenny) Nessus)

As I mentioned, I'm back in language class!  And whoa!!! it is really hard.  I'm in over my head in the "progredito" level.  I don't even know what that word means!  On top of that we've just started the subjunctive tense!  English speakers beware!  Just when I was finally getting the hang of combined & relative pronouns it's on to the next challenge.  At any rate, I like it.  My new teacher is funny & engaging.  I am also using my ample free time to visit some lesser known museums & sights, doing some yoga, doing some reading, suffering from a slight cold...etc.

To report to you honestly, since I don't know if anyone reads this anyway, I'm having some tough times in Italia so far this year :) (ten days, haha)  I'm sure it is obvious to those who have been reading the bloggy blog or keeping in touch with me that the work situation is not really working out here.  I haven't been working much which has been depressing & frustrating!  Also, along with the country of Italy I am now also in my own financial crisis.  I am giving "operation Italy" until about March to pan out into it's fantastic potential before setting my sights on other goals.  There, I've told you!  That being said, I really do want it to work out because I like it here a lot!  So, let's all keep some shiny, happy thoughts for me to realize my goal of becoming an Italian chiropractor!!!  I really do believe that there is great potential for it to really take off, it just has to happen before I go broke.

I've been really putting all my hopes on my chiropractic gig working out but, at this stage in the game I am open to finding some other work to try to stick around a bit longer.  Have I ever mentioned that becoming a financially successful chiropractor is not as easy as it might seem?  It takes a lot of integrity & perseverence.  In case you are wondering, I practice a very specific type of chiropractic that requires specialized equipment like xray & treatment tables so, I can't easily just work in another location or for someone else.  Because I don't "own" the equipment.  I suppose I am being stubborn because I could technically do a different type of chiropractic work but really, I don't want to.  So... if anyone has any brilliant ideas or supportive thoughts for me please feel free to share.  

In the meantime, time is of the essence.  If you are looking for an excuse to visit, do it now!! :)

Take care! XX  Still a bit more of the Tuscany trip next time! :)