Day 2 Italy – The Oltrano and The Food So Far

July 31, 2009UncategorizedSteve Stern

Today we wandered the Oltrano neighborhood, south of the
Arno and made our way to the Santa Maria della Carmine, home of the Masaccio
frescoes Cappella Brancacci then over to the Pitti Palace for some
post-Rennaisance art. The
relationship between art, its patrons, and their motivations is constantly on
view here. We are fortunate that
the feuding families chose art as a battlefield and had such a magnificent set
of champions. But art is not all that
Florence has to offer.
There is food! Yesterday’s
highlight was the gelato – we limited ourselves to canteloupe, apricot, and
extra dark chocolate but only because we were too late for that day’s special:
caramel and red Himalayan salt. We
are going to continue sampling this regional delight! We had a great meal last night at Mama Gina’s which may or
may not be the wonderful place Steve & Michele stumbled upon 8 years ago
when our trip to join them was interrupted by 9/11.

Our hotel is near the Ponte Vecchio with an amazing tower
where we can unwind a bit at the end of the day and enjoy views like this:

If you like travel blogs (or our extended family) be sure to
check out the Grubbs/Rider clan’s blog on their trip this summer: http://3generationsontheroad.wordpress.com/

Richard

Day 1 Italy- The frescoes on the ceiling of the Duomo

July 30, 2009UncategorizedSteve Stern

We visited the Duomo today, after admiring the sheer magnificence of the dome itself, I felt the tears welling up (but not quite falling) at the site of Vasari's fresco on the ceiling. Not so amazing I guess that such an incredible location (to some the pinnacle of architectural, religious, indeed, human ingenuity) would be devoted to depicting the end of the earth and humanity as we know it (according to the Catholic Church). But a stunning piece nonetheless.

I loved the fact that although Christ is depicted in his human form, God is present solely and completely by the light that streams in through the very top, or lantern, of the dome. No old white bearded guys here or fingers reaching down to touch Adam, just the unspeakable light piercing the realm that lies just beyond the reach of the prophets dangling their legs from those perfect trompe l’oeil pillars. There is something very refreshing about the divine abiding in a realm beyond words, beyond depiction, beyond our capacity for understanding.

About an hour later, when we climbed the 300 or so steps to the balcony near the bottom of the fresco we were greeted with an up-close-and personal view of only the hell realms, as Christ hovered much further up on the fresco. Nothing like looking directly up and at the boil infested ass of Satan or the twisted smirk of one non-believer turning his head from the fist-clenched rock that is about to do him in. Ahh religion.
Tracy.