Klimt

I read a little book about Gustav Klimt; interesting life.  He lived at home with his mother and sister, never married.  He was a smart man, but quiet, and seemed to stay out of scandals, except of course those created by his original paintings.  He had a studio, where he worked most of his time.  He had lots of models, who spent the days with him at the studio.  He was a nice man, and the models were completely at ease with him.  They wallowed around all day, clothed or unclothed, and allowed him to paint them, whenever he caught them in a pose of interest or a moment of ecstasy.

Gustav Klimt Portrait of Eugenia (Mäda)Primavesi(1912)

He had a couple serious relationships, but not a lot is known about them.  Some of his models probably had children by him, and he accepted them.  One story tells that when a model didn't show up for work, he demanded someone to search for her; she reported that she did not show up because she was pregnant, Klimt had her come to work anyways, and she is probably the model in many of his paintings of pregnant women.  Interesting also, is that in most of his preparatory drawings and sketches, the women are naked, however, in the final works, their bodies are covered up with his delicate designs.

Klimt also painted many portraits, in which he kept very true to his style, even though he tried to adhere to the person's taste.  In these portraits though, we see more emphasis on personality, than in some of his leisure works.  This one, of Eugenia Primavesi, is a stark contrast to Klimt's relaxed females, but it strikes me with it's beauty and sense of confrontation.

Venezia

There is something not right about a city that is absolutely beautiful, absolutely romantic, and absolutely enchanting.  There is something not right because it is only one city, because there is only one city this absolute out of all the cities in the world.  When you arrive in Venice by train, you walk out of the station and see this, what is on the first picture.  No, this is not a postcard, nor did it take me twenty tries to take this shot.  It’s just there, it’s real.  Venice is just like the pictures except real.  That is what was going through my mind for my first half an hour in Venice.  This is in fact the Grand Canal.  I crossed it on the first bridge I saw, and immediately found myself in a maze of tiny streets and canals.  You can walk around Venice by foot, without a boat I mean.  But it is easier by boat, because the canals actually act like streets, going vertically and horizontally, and intersecting.  Streets are something else that winds around the canals by means of hundreds of little bridges (or maybe thousands?).

Anyways, I was walking through the streets at a rather quick pace, because I didn’t have that much time in Venice.  Running up and down bridges, bumping into dead ends and canals, touching both walls of a street as I walked down it.  I had a map in my hand although it was pretty useless.  Eventually I found street signs that pointed to the main tourist attractions and followed those instead.  It’s true that there are signs for the same place pointing in opposite directions; I don’t know if they do it to fool the tourists or to enchant the tourists.  I made it to St. Mark’s Square, which with my luck, was of course partly under construction.  But my mission was to go up St. Mark’s Campanile, or Bell Tower, which I did.  I called my experience, “8 euro to go up to heaven.”  The view from the top was unbelievable.  Imagine one of those times you were touring and climbed to the top of some building and admired the city panorama, and now imagine this in Venice.  All you see is red roofs and the sea, and the shining sun that reflects off the sea and lights up the roofs.  The bell tower is small, there are probably about ten windows on the top.  I circled around and around, and I think took a picture out of every window with every circle.  There was an Italian man who was also mesmerized by his own city, and he kept saying “Ah, Venice is so big! Ah, Venice is so beautiful!”  It only made the view more magical.

From the Bell Tower you can also see dock, shining with blue covered gondolas.  People sit on the steps of the dock, letting their feet in the water, to get a break from the day and the heat.  I found an empty spot and joined in – another beautiful Venetian moment.  The sun was warming my skin, but the breeze from the sea made the air perfect, and the waves hitting my feet were even more refreshing.  This dock is also interesting because it is very long, but like any other land in Venice, constantly interrupted by canals washing out into the sea.  So as you walk along the long large dock, every two minutes you have to cross over a small crowded bridge.  Sitting there on the edge, gazing at the waves, were my favorite few minutes in Venice.

I had heard many times that the most exciting thing to do in Venice was get lost.  I was very excited to learn this because that is what I usually do anyways.  So in between especially enchanting experiences I let myself and my thoughts wonder around freely.  Finally I bought a deck of Venetian cards for my collection and sat down to look at them, to decide what else I might like to see while here.  I made my next stop the famous Rialto Bridge, biggest bridge in Venice I think.  But before that, this is where I sat down with my cards.

Imagine if this was the entrance to your house, or your favorite restaurant…how beautiful.  Just the fact that there is a whole staircase that is meant for only one door!  And if this was your favorite restaurant, you better not walk out of there drunk!

I would like to see Venice at night.  Even as the sun starts to set the city becomes magical in a new way.  The air calms down, the water becomes quiet, all the vibrance and the rhythm of the day’s heat settle down.  You see a few last gondoliers finishing off their work day.  The people start to stand around bridges, and settle into bars and restaurants.  I watched all this from the Rialto Bridge.  The bridge itself, although the most famous in Venice, is not very big.  It spreads over the Grand Canal as if it could understand the importance of its purpose.  It’s quite spacious.  In structure it is similar the Ponte Vecchio in Florence with shops on either side.  However this one also has walkways on either side of the shops, so there is lots of room to pause and watch Italy’s hot sun sink into the soft waters of Venice.

Poste Italiane

My first post-modern art piece...

Milan

Milan is a beautiful quiet city. After a month in Rome, a city in my opinion even louder and busier than many world centers, this stop was the perfect break from the noisy Italian style. Milan is usually called an industrial city. In many ways it is. It is clearly business centered, with lots of navigable wide streets and clean stores. Nevertheless, Milan doesn’t lose its inherent Italian beauty, which comes out in the gardens, portals, and colorful balconies.

This photo was taken not far from Santa Maria delle Grazie, the church that holds Da Vinci’s “Last Supper”. I noticed that almost every church in Milan is called Santa Maria. When I was wondering through the old central part of the city, all I found was a web of small streets (following the traditional style) scattered with Santa Maria’s. Milan also has a wonderful trolly system, whose trains run almost soundlessly through the city. The trains have only one headlight, and my friend said they remind him of the ones in San Francisco.

When I walked out of one of the Duomo exits, I wasn’t sure where to look for the cathedral. But as I walked up I looked on the building in front of me, and saw the distinctive shadow of its many towers. I turned around and there it was. Il Duomo really has a strange structure. In general it is just a normal rectangular cathedral. However, the triangular roof and the towers look more like a magic castle and sometimes even remind me of Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia. Opposite the cathedral is a large horse statue, probably of Vittoria Emanuele, decorated on the bottom with a beautiful band showing a procession. It is also guarded by a large resting lion, looking over Il Duomo. During the day the piazza is covered with pigeons. But at night the arrangement creates a beautiful peaceful ensemble. 

Although unusual, the Milan Cathedral is still undoubtedly Gothic. This is even more visible when you enter inside. This is the prettiest Gothic Cathedral I had seen before finally walking into Notre Dame de Paris. It is extremely high. The arches around the main nave reach almost to the ceiling. There are numerous rose stain glass windows that are very interesting because of the decoration. As always, at first it seems like the windows are just a beautiful arrangement of colors. As you get closer, you see not only the size of the windows, but also the images, displaying hundreds of stories from the life of Christ. There is also a fairly large art collection displayed along the isles of the cathedral, however, it is hard to admire them, because they are not labeled, and visitors are not allowed to walk through all of the isles. 

To the side of the Cathedral piazza, you find the Galleria Vittoria Emanuele II, Milan’s famous shopping center. Overall, it is similar to any other large shopping mall, but the architecture makes it quite exquisite. It is arranged with two crossing galleries, connected with huge beautiful arches. Because the entrances to the Galleria are large open arches, sometimes when wondering through the center of town, you walk inside the mall without even noticing, then walk through it, and end up again on the Piazza del Duomo.

My last evening in Milan I was looking for a snack. I was walking down the main street next to my hostel and saw a Café Miró sign across the street. It wasn’t anything too special. It was a café with a large bar, but it was also decorated with Miró’s paintings. I ordered a glass of white and a slice of tiramisu. The place was cool and empty, other than the familiar loud Italian barmen.

Napoli

So much effort I had put into learning the Neapolitan Folk Song back when I sang in a children's choir, so many delicious chocolate Napolitanos I had eaten on lunch breaks in Spain, so many times I had heard Neapolitan this and Neapolitan that; and finally, I made it to Naples, Italy.

Now, it wasn't as good as it sounds.  We only had two days in Naples, and the first one was mainly spent dealing with accommodation and traveling problems.  We got to see a glimpse of the bay as the darkness fell over the city.  Other than that sight though, we spent most of the afternoon wondering around the train station and our hostel right next it - an area filled with dirty streets and tricky street vendors.  We got a clear view of the city's street life.  And although we were all worried about finding a place to sleep and making the most of the trip, I let myself feel the vibration that ran through these unruly streets, and the life, that is so much more vivid in a city where law is just a piece of paper.

My next and last day in the area I completely abandoned any thoughts from the previous day, and embraced the cares of a tourist.  By ten in the morning I was entering Pompei.  Pompei is too large and too strange of a place to understand in one visit.  I didn't get to see even half of it probably.  I kept staring at the preserved frescoes and jars and trying to understand how distant, and at the same time similar, those lives must have been to ours.  And still it was so long ago that Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried the city.

There are three theaters in the city.  I'm not sure which one we found, but that was the highlight of the day.  As we walked up to the theater it didn't look extremely promising: less grand than any Spanish bullfighting ring, just a curved wall with openings.  So many doorways are blocked off among the ruins, that I did not even think we could get in.  But I walked up to an entrance, and we walked through a long, dark, cool tunnel, that led us right into the center of a huge open air theater.  It was amazing, so many steps were still preserved, the whole structure was practically unhurt; but that wasn't all.  "I wonder if we can go up into the seats," my friend said.  I went back to towards the entrance and saw a partly broken fence.  I signaled to my friend and in a couple of steps we seemed to transform into the audience in an ancient theater...

We ran up and down the stairs, in and out of all the top entrances.  We tried to imagine emperors and their court having their own viewing areas in the shaded archways.  It was amazing to think how long that structure has been standing there, and how real it still was today.

We returned to Naples to wonder around the city and the National Archeological Museum.  What a fantastic museum!  I have never seen so many statues in one place.  It is possible that I have never been to an archeological museum before, nevertheless, I was mesmerized, quite truly.  I wish the Laocoon statue that I saw at the Uffizi was in this collection.  It would look even better among the leaning Hercules, the gracious Aphrodite and the numerous bronze athletes.

On the walk to the museum, we saw part of the center of Naples.  I held the map and guided our group through the streets to all the churches marked on it.  But between every two churches on the map there were three more on the street.  I have seen many colorful cities, but Naples might be the winner.  Every church is different; white, blue, yellow, red...  

Napoli is Napoli though, it's shining narrow sunlit streets are an inescapable net.  It's not as busy as Rome, but the city is so full and energized that one does not even notice the lack of tourists.  I tried to capture the sun, the moist air, and the playful atmosphere as best I could.

two hot days in Florence

I got to Florence at noon.  It was HOT.  I made it to the hostel (it was right next to the train station, but it was still hot), showered, and went out.  After a quick meal and a cold beer, I found the famous Duomo.  I did not go into into the main chapel part.  Il Duomo is beautifully decorated on the outside.  It is of an unusual green and white combination with countless statues and designs.  And next to it, of course, is the Baptistry, with Ghiberti's bronze doors.  I barely looked at the doors, because of the heat and tourists.

I walked around the historic city center, trying to match the buildings on the street with the pictures in my Eyewitness travel book.  There is a church on every corner.  Each one is different, quiet, and beautiful.  And you never know when you might come across a jewel, like Filipino Lippi's "Annunciation" or one of Giotto's frescoes.

Towards the evening I went onto the Ponte Vecchio, and admired all the jewelry shops.  The best part were the weddings though.  Couple after couple posed on the bridge with a photographer following them.  There was also a guitarist playing romantic Italian songs, who I saw the next day at the Uffizi Gallery.

The next day was much more productive, from the point of view of a tourist at least.  I had a reservation to the Uffizi at 10 AM.  Surprisingly, the line for people with a reservation was actually shorter than the line for those without one.  I finally saw the "Venus of Urbino," which was the most impressive.  From there I headed straight to the Palazzo Strozzi, which happened to be holding an exhibition of De Chirico, Max Ernst, Rene Magritte, and others.  Also an awesome exhibition, and it couldn't be more timely considering my spring class on Modern European Art.  Finally, after standing in a line (where the reservation side was longer than the non-reservation), in the heat, and damning everything in the world, I saw Michelangelo's masterpiece.

People say that there are two copies of "David" in the piazza's of Florence, but they do not even come close.  It is the most realistic and living statue I have ever imagined.  He seems to be relaxed if you look from the front.  But his neck and muscles have so much tension, that it is easy to forget that this is only a statue and is not about to move.  I must say though, that Michelangelo's women, which are said to look like "men with breasts" remind me of anti-war Soviet posters, where muscular working class women demand that their sons stay home away from the army.  I got a deck of cards from Florence for my collection, and you can guess which part of the David was close-up on the Jokers.

Finally, with two hours left, I made up my mind to go up to the Piazzale Michelangelo.  It's not really a long walk, but the heat and stairs, and standing up all day...  Anyways, it was well worth it; a view of the whole city from the top, of the Arno River, the bridges, and of course the Duomo marking the skyline.

Italia...

I arrived in Italy and waited for my pick-up by the meeting point, only to meet with the program representative half an hour later, who had been waiting be another meeting point.  I was not surprised to find out that different people knew of different meeting points in Italy, but I was surprised to run into this situation so soon.

After a nap, I left my cozy apartment to find the Piazza Navona and the Pantheon.  I walked through a maze of streets and walked up to the Pantheon from the back - a large circular old stone wall, sitting low in the ground, but that was it.  I felt like it crept up on me.  Unfortunately, half is under reconstruction.  Nevertheless, you clearly feel how old this building is.

Already I love the sunsets in Rome.  The sunlight is so tender as it falls on the buildings.  The sun doesn't shine as brightly as it does during the day, and sometimes you don't even notice it.  But it creates a very special atmosphere; quiet and soft.

After the sunset, however, it started getting dark, and I had not yet done any grocery shopping.  I saw a sign for a supermercato right off of my street, then realized I didn't have enough cash, asked a lady where the "bancomat" is, and made it by the time the shop closed.

Today I started of with the Colosseum - it turns out perfect in every picture.  The Colosseum is something absolutely majestic, it's huge, it's old; it is absolutely out of this world, and at the same time it is standing right there.  It was too hot to stand the line and go inside on a busy Sunday, but it was quite a site anyways.

I used both the metro and the bus, which turned out to be very manageable.  The metro is just like in Spain, and buses have clear stop posters on each stop.  I decided to go to the Galleria Borghese to get out of the sun.  It's not a huge place, but has a very nice Italian collection.  It houses some of the most famous statues by Bernini, including Apollo and Daphne, which really is remarkable, and many paintings by Caravaggio; at least those are what grabbed my attention.  I didn't have the strength to explore the Villa Borghese, the actual park, which is huge and beautiful, like the Retiro in Madrid, but I will certainly go back there soon.  Here is an image of the Piazza di Popolo and the Rome skyline from the park.

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young age, bye

When you're growing up, and especially when you're shy, you often find ways to stay in the background and follow what others are doing, when with lots of people.  And whenever you linger or look shy or confused you can just blame it on being young.  And you get used to it in any social situation, and no matter what you do, you think people will look at it as something you did because you're young and silly.  But at some point, you realize that you've grown up, and people around you, peers and not peers, see you as a person, not just a little girl.  So when you do something, it defines you, and not your age.

This Summer!

This might be my first blog, that will actually sound like every day life. I was extremely excited to see the new blogger design options the last time I logged on. It took me forever and I still couldn't decide on something I liked. Obviously I had just woken up and was still in bed while doing this, so eventually I had to get up and go and settle on something that seemed like it wouldn't at least ruin my blog. But the next time I got on there, oh god, it was perfect, it is perfect. It's green and beautiful, and has so much happiness in it. I wish I was one of those people who didn't care about the interface, but I do, I love it when internet looks nice and cheerful.

Well anyways, so now that I actually updated the design, I guess I should also update the blog. I'm not going to write about everything that is going on in my life, because that would just be one big mess. But I do want to say that I am happy because there are things in my life that are so beautiful, that I know that I cannot be sad while they are there.

I am also going to Italy soon, very soon. And I haven't been excited yet, but today there was something that made me think, "Hm, I guess I am excited." Don't remember what it was though. Well let's see. I might be living in Piazza Navona, a few minutes away from the Pantheon. New sights, new people, new thoughts, new things to add to my life. My goal and decision is to spend every second doing something. As much as I saw in Spain, there were so many days and weekends when I could have done something else. So now, when I am only in Rome for a month, I am planning to travel and visit as many places as possible.

And after Rome, I will be on the road for about 2 weeks. The most recent idea is to make to Paris, by bus, a few days in a city here and there. I am excited about seeing France, as well as just more Northern Europe in general. And then I will go back home to Russia, and spend the remaining time of summer break with my closest friends, and all the other wonderful things that make up homeland. So there's my summer plan.

And also, Happy Father's Day, to all the amazing men and father's in the world!