Front of the Villa

More Pictures of the Boboli Gardens

Giardino di Boboli

The Boboli Garden are a famous park located in Florence which is full of 16th century sculpture. It is located behind the Palazzo Pitti, a Renaissance palace which was home to the Medici family, where it was created for the wife of the first Cosimo de' Medici. I don't really have more to explain just that it was an endless Garden full of statues, fountains and exquisite nature. I went there with my friend Brie and it probably took us about 2 hours to get through half of it so its is a huge peice of land and there are a few too many uphill climbs but they were totally worth it. The top picture on the right is one of the amazing views from the top of the garden. There were tons of pathways that were covered and just went everywhere, it was very Secret Garden-esque. And Seriously who can ignore an amazing statue of Pegasus, I wish I had my own flying horse, that would make life a lot easier.

Tiziano a.k.a. Titian

Titian is one of the most amazing Italian Renaissance artists of the 16th century. We saw lots of Titian's paintings in Florence at the Uffizi and at the Pitti Palace but there were also a ton in Venice like at the Gallerie dell'Accademia. On the last day, before the long train ride home, we went to a church, called Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Ferari, which holds Titian's painting the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It always amazing when we actually get to see a masterpiece in its original location and not just in a museum. Now don't get me wrong, I could spend all day in museums, and trust me we did. But I just wanted to share this stunning painting with all the of you. It's really interesting to break down the layers in the compostion from God at the top, to the Virgin, to the Apostales at the bottom. I also found it interesting that if you look at the top of painting, which represents the virgin going up to heaven, and then the bottom of the image, which is living people on earth pushing her up, there is a clear circle formed by the curved top of the piece and then the curve of the cloud under Mary's feet. This was very interesting to me because at the time of image it was believed that heaven was above the spheres of the universe and that it was perfect like a circle. So it would make sense for Titian to show her going to heaven in circle and to frame the bottom half of the image in a rectangle keeping it more grounded. Just some crazy art history thoughts to think about. P.S. I know the picture is dark at the top but I took it myself in a dark church so what can I say. But thats God up there with angels, surrounded by little baby heads with wings (Cherubs or Putti.)

Venezia Continued...

One of the things Venice is famous for are its canals. Beautiful winding water ways, that serve more as roads, with houses and buildings on either side and elegant bridges curving above them. The houses found here are so interesting, built right on the water with boat garages and some with personal bridges to their front door. The buildings come in all different colors such as red, orange, yellow, tan, green etc. which radiate off the surface of the water. Though Venice has many famous landmarks and museums the most fun we had was just walking around and seeing the actual city. The little shops, the local people, we even got lost a couple of time which was fun too, a little scary at night but we always made it back to the hotel. The night picture on the right was taken on the Accademia bridge, very close to our hotel. The water was just magical at night. On the second day we had a free afternoon so we decided to go to the island of Murano, which is famous for its glass work. The glass was so beautiful and the island was as well. Murano was such a nice escape because it wasn't as touristy as the main island. Oh and I got the most amazing meringue it was light and fluffy but gooey in the center, it was so huge. There was a beautiful stone church on the island that didn't look like any of the churches we'd seen in Italy. On our last night in Venice we went to a Classical musical concert which played Mozart and Vivaldi. Then we went to one of the expensive cafes in San Marco square and listened to live music there too. After that we danced around in the middle of the square and my friend Shaun bought all the girls roses, he is such a gentleman. Venice is such an amazing city that is so unique, and to be there with all my new friends was such an amazing experience.

Venezia, City of Water

First of all, let me just say that it rained when I was in Venice, a lot. I know, I know, A.) I shouldn't be complaining about rain because I'm from Oregon where it always rains and B.) I was in Venice, HELLO!?!?! Why should I be complaining. Anyway... apart from the soaked clothes, and shoes, Venice was beautiful. The rain even made it more beautiful, all the colors of the sky blended nicely with the buildings. Venice is a city of bridges, there are no streets, no cars just lots of little passageways and canals. It was very dangerous traveling through the tiny streets, walls on either side, and everyone having umbrellas, we were very lucky no one lost an eye. We spent 3 days and 2 nights in the wonderful city. After getting off the train and taking the very crowded waterbus to our hotel our first stop was the Piazza di San Marco, one of the most famous squares in the world. The nice thing about Venice being a bunch of islands because it made it impossible for boats to make it into the city and therefore they were unconquerable till Napolean finally figured it out. During the time before their defeat they had their own government and rule apart from the Catholic rise in the rest of Italy. So the Church of San Marc is a basilica not a cathedral, which basically means there was no bishop. San Marc's is actually the person chapel to the doge, who lives next door in the Doge's Palace. For the life of me I can't figure out the name of the bridge to the right but there are lots of famous paintings of it with people holding umbrellas by Prendergast, which I really like (so does my Mommy.) This was day one of Venice but I'm going to leave it as a to be continued till next time...