Mardi Gras in Florence

On Tuesday night, I went for a walk with Avery and we stumbled upon a random mardi gras celebration for the last night of Carnevale in Florence. A truck blasting techno came rolling down the street out of nowhere--followed by a HUGE crowd. We followed them into Santa Croce where a strange sort of open air dance party broke out, complete with firedancing and strange creative costumes..it was quite surreal.

Carnevale!

Last weekend I went to Viareggio (a beach town near Pisa) with Gaby to celebrate Carnevale! There were amazing floats, tons of confetti, costumes, music...it was really amazing...here's a video I took:



I'll post some more pictures from that later...I just finished up my first week of the new spring semester here, I'm pretty excited! More to come...

Blue skies in Firenze!

Yesterday was so gorgeous! Clear skies, sun...still kind of cold but I walked around for a few hours just to enjoy it (I swear spring is almost here..) People were basking by the Arno, and I found some secret paths to go down by the water...

I climbed up to this garden (I think it's called the Giardino Bardini) the view was great, and I can't wait to go back when there are flowers!

I painted a portrait of my friend Geo, and then we had an impromptu dinner party potluck! We had pasta with squash and pancetta, roasted chicken and vegetables, potatoes, stuffing, salad...so yummy. We tried to go dancing, but that failed, and we just ended up sharing a big pitcher of sangria at Salamanca...

Amsterdam! day 3

We went to the Van Gogh Museum on our last day! A new exhibit, "Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night" had just opened, so we got to see a lot of amazing night landscapes...along with the permanent collection.
Canals and bikes at twilight...
We ate our last meal at a nice Indian restaurant...saag paneer, mango lassi, naan with lamb....

Sorry for all the food pictures!! but it was the most wonderful thing to be able to eat delicious spicy ethnic food once again, we've reached the halfway point, we deserved a delicious reward :) go to my shutterfly to see more!

Amsterdam! day 2

After getting some well deserved rest, we explore the canals...
...in search of bagels!!
Half lox and cream cheese on an everything bagel, half banana maple syrup on a cinnamon raisin bagel....
It was so yummy, and Avery made a friend that showed no intention of ever leaving her lap
After our brunch, we went to the Rijks museum, which was amazing even though only part of it was open..I saw a bunch of Rembrandt's including "The Night Watch."

Then we had another yummy dinner at an asian fusion place, EM's eat mode! We ate yummy soups--udon, wonton, chinese noodle soup with japanese curry.....and Ben and Jerry's ice cream for dessert.
If you haven't noticed the theme of this trip yet, it is eating wonderful ethnic food that we can't get in Florence :)

Amsterdam!

Well, I just got back from spending the weekend in Amsterdam with Avery, Sara and Gaby! We had a very interesting time, considering we had to travel in the middle of the night...here we are on our 6 am flight, that we had t catch a 3 am bus for!When we finally arrived in Amsterdam, it was snowing! The cold shocked us into being awake..
Then we found shelter and our first meal of the day in the Pancake Bakery! We had amazing dutch pancakes...with apples and bacon, ham cheese and onions, brie spinach and cashews, and a special Indonesian pancake!
Afterward, we wandered the canals, and saw the Anne Frank House.
After resting at our hotel for a bit, we went out to discover Bazar--an old church converted into an amazing restaurant serving North African, Turkish and Iranian food. We had hummus, a wonderful couscous dish with a skewer of all kinds of meats and vegetables, and then some veal spareribs.....so so good. And this was after deciphering the menu in Dutch! It was one of the best meals we've had all year.

For dessert, I had fresh mint tea, with a plate of Turkish delight, and baklavah...covered in this strange spun sugar...it was so good! We also had amazing Turkish yogurt with honey....

A wonderful first day in Amsterdam, despite the lack of sleep!!

painting!

Finals are over!! Last night, in between studying, my friend Finn modeled for me! It's been so so so long since I've painted a portrait...but he was a great model and entertained himself and me by playing his guitar. I finished in under 2 hours, on top of the time to do a quick under painting the night before. Here it is!I want to keep doing these...but for now, I'm going to pack and get ready to head out to Amsterdam for the weekend!

Finals Time

Finals are approaching! The weather is still indecisive...pouring rain with breaks of sudden sunshine....oh, how I miss the sun!!
Santa Croce is stunning after a storm..

Tomorrow I will go back to the Uffizi...to do "research" for my Museum Studies paper :)

Primavera?

It's been a strange stormy/sunny week in Florence. Right when I think spring is almost here--the sun is out, the sky is blue, you barely need a coat--and suddenly you wake up to rain. But I can't complain...Florence is just a beautiful gray and dreary :)The other day, I painted a landscape from the window of my studio/art hole. It's still a little too cold to sit outside for long. But I was pretty pleased with the results...I love painting on cardboard!!
Today, after a leisurely morning of sleeping in and making crepes, we went to the Uffizi! It is sooo nice getting in for free with our Accademia librettos. I love knowing I can go back at any time :)
(this is just a neat street art piece that caught my eye on the way...I thought she looked like a Judith, and then I saw several beautiful Judith Paintings from Botticelli to Artemesia Gentileschi at the Uffizi...maybe she'll be my next subject)
After the Uffizi, Gaby made a wonderful dinner, and our first couch-surfer arrived! Now we are in for our last week of class before finals....time to write papers and finish paintings...and study D: