Field Trip--Venezia, Vicenza, e Mantova

The next day we had the option of going to Venice to see art with Domenic, or going to see Palladian villas. I chose Venice of course! It was beautiful and magical...We saw Titian's famous Assumption of the Virgin at the Basilica dei Frari, and saw Tintoretto's amazing decorations for the walls and ceilings of the Scuola San Rocco. We also visited the Accademia where we saw Giorgione, Bellini, Veronese, and more Titian and Tintoretto! It was a lot to see, but it really made me appreciate the Venetian artists on a whole new level...it was really inspirational!After all that art, we wandered the streets of Venice getting thoroughly lost. It was surreal seeing all the places I'd been before, Venice is like a dream...but we found St. Mark's and had a nice dinner on our way back to the train station.
The next day, we saw one of the famous Palladian villas, the Villa Rotonda, and played in the bamboo forests.
In Vicenza, we saw an amazing opera house..the space was so deceiving, beautifully lit..I can only imagine what a performance would be like there. We grabbed a delicious lunch before hopping back on the bus. I tried some polenta con vitello--the polenta is so so good in the Veneto region!
Our last stop was Mantova, which seemed to step right out of my Renaissance Art History text book. We saw the Palazzo Te, frescoed by Guilio Romano, and then the Palazzo Ducale which was immense, but housed Mantegna's famous Camera Picta.
And that concludes our whirl-wind Northern field trip. Until next time! I need to paint...so maybe I'll be posting some art soon!!

Field Trip--Ferrara and Padova!

On Friday, we left for our Northern Field Trip! We spent some time in Ferrara to see the Castello Estense and Palazzo Schifanoia (and eat a really yummy pizza with rucola and ricotta, and a free beer!)We played in the park

And then continued on to Padova where we saw the Basilica del Santo, which was stunning. It was huge, but not overly dark like some churches tend to be...it was full of light, dramatic scuptures, colorful frescos...and lots of creepy reliquaries.
Then, to our very nice hotel in Padova for a group dinner. We had lasagna bolognese, guinea fowl with creamy polenta and some kind of yummy green cooked with pancetta...and some yummy and odd cake (dolce pazientina)
Then we spent the evening playing pictionary telephone with friends!

Rainy Day Hiking Adventure!

Ok, so I am finally caught up to the present! There isn't really much to write about for the last few weeks...I haven't really gone anywhere exciting, just school and the usual sorts of adventures. But today, we went up to Piazzale Michelangelo...and beyond! We went up and up, and found trees (an amazing sort of discovery in Firenze)...It peaceful and green and rainy. We ended up leaving Florence entirely; it was quite the hike!








A dopo!

New Years!

Ok, New Years is only a few weeks late...but after returning from Spain, we threw a little festa at our apartment (the art colony). Jeana and I made deviled eggs and homemade brownies!We went to Piazza della Signoria for the countdown. It was insane how many people were there. Fireworks going off in all directions.
At midnight everything got even crazier and bottles were launched in the air, glass shattering...it was so so loud and smokey...
We escaped and ended up going to a rave/dance party in the outdoor mercato at Sant'Ambrogio where I buy my fruits and veggies, it was awesome!!
Overall, a very exciting New Years, especially since mine are usually very low-key. I drank lots of spumante, gave an early morning tour in the rain, and didn't go to sleep until 8 am....

Back to Madrid...el fin!

Sorry for the excessive food posts! I can't help it...the tapas were amazing! When we got back to Madrid, we got grilled shrimps and sweet house wine at Abuelos.After walking around town and doing a little shopping, we went back to the Oreja del Oro for more champignones...
We also tried grilled pig ears!! Really weird....a little crunchy, but delicious!
Ok, one non-food picture...
And then, we went for dessert and tried Spanish cheesecake!!
And that concludes Spain! Go here for more pictures. Adios!

Last Night in Sevilla..

We had some wonderful tapas to hold us over until after the flamenco show. We finally tried all the specialties in one sitting--paella, jamon iberico, and gazpacho! Plus Andalucian wine...light fresh and delicious.
We saw a great show at a cultural center. There was a male and female dancer, singer and a guitarist...it was amazing and yet completely different from the first show!
After the show we went to a really great local place for dinner! We had ribera wine at the bar, and then were whisked upstairs to eat octopus salad and the most tender wonderful fried eggplant with honey sauce....oh man!

We had some kind of weird dessert from Granada and a sweet sherry....
And that was the sweet, sweet ending to Sevilla. Oh wait, after dinner, we went to a bar in Plaza Santa Cruz...it was amazing. We had some more wine, and when in got late...the bar man lit the candles for the altar for the Virgen Mary, and a Flamenco guitarist played a tribute....and then some impromptu flamenco concert broke out...it was like a dream. A perfect ending for Sevilla...

Another lovely day in Sevilla!

Delicious Desayuno...cafe con leche, zumo de naranja, huevos revueltos, e pan!We visited the Alcazar....an amazing palace built by the Moors for a Spanish king. It was so so beautiful..the tiling, the architecture, the gardens that went on forever and ever....
We had yummy shrimps for lunch before hitting up the Flamenco Museum!
Unfortunately, the Cathedral was closed, but we admired the outer-awesomeness..
(it was rainy, but still beautiful none-the-less)

Lovely Sevilla...

We took the fast train down to Sevilla after our Christmas in Madrid. We explored the Barrio Santa Cruz, and admired the huge Gothic cathedral... The streets are all lined with orange trees that light up at night! It was so stunning, I immediately fell in love with this town.
We stumbled upon Plaza Nueva, where there was a cool craft market and an outdoor Rodin exhibition!
We had a lovey dinner of spinach and garbanzo beans at Carmella's, and then after getting very very lost, caught a free flamenco show at La Carboneria. It was so amazing!
The sangria was really cheap and good. The music was indescribable...the dancing was so passionate, I'd never seen anything like it. We were dazed afterwards and treated ourselves to a latenight churros and hot chocolate...

More Madrid

The day after Christmas, we crammed in as many museums as humanly possible! We started early, and beat the crowds at the Prado. It was so immense...we spent hours there and still didn't see everything. I discovered an artist I really really like in the very first corridor--Ribera. He was a 17th century Spanish painter who lived and worked in Italy and was strongly influence both by Carravaggio and Venetian painters. His work is amazing...oh, the way he paints flesh....After the Prado, we had a lovely lunch at La Platteria del Museo. We split the pote astoriano (a stew w/ ham, beans, and green beans) and a salad with feta and ham. We have realized by now that the Spanish are obsessed with jamon...
Then we hit the Reina Sofia for some awesome modern art. We saw Picasso's Guernica, and I got to see a few works by a contemporary Spanish artist I like--Antonio Lopez Garcia! After that we were completely drained and needed some afternoon tea...
Then, we hit the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. We had our old master fill from the Prado, so we mainly looked at the Impressionists and fauvists. It was a really nice collection, and a little less intimidating than the other two museums.
After our evening paseo, we had a drink and tapa at La Oreja de Oro. We drank Ribeiro and ate grilled mushrooms--champignons...it was delicious and a great local spot! Very smokey..
and here is Purta del Sol all done up in Christmas cheer!

Christmas in Madrid

After whirling through Barcelona, we had a nice rest day--on an 8 hour bus to Madrid! It was amazing to see such a huge busy city entirely shut down for one night. On Christmas Eve, nothing was open. Not even the kebab place. And yet everyone was out walking around, it was really great (and luckily we had a fabulous picnic ready in our room from La Boqueria)

On Christmas Day we walked around the city. I made Jeana try chestnuts...I'm still not sure if she really liked them :)
Festivities in Plaza Mayor
yay, Happy Holidays!