Goodness gracious

This is just a post to remind you all that I am still alive and healthy. I haven't written anything recently because I've been BUSY! I just got back from a 3 day long trip to Rome with my art history class, and I am so very tired. But here is what I have in store for you:

1. Bologna: City of Fat!
2. Rome: The Pope of Rome!
3. I Have Midterms This Week*

*So don't expect these posts until at least next week, also the Fabulous Mother and Aunt are arriving on Tuesday and so I will be busy SHOWING THEM THE BEST FLORENTINE EXPERIENCE EVER. To keep you entertained here are some photos of me shooting lasers out of my eyes, courtesy of my friend Ben. Featured below are Laser Me, Friend Hank, Friend Ben, and Friend Jessica.

My Afternoon With Marilyn

Just a quick post on something cool I did today. Fashion Class had a trip to the Salvatore Ferragamo museum, which was pretty awesome. We had a nice tour guide who showed us all the amazing shoes that Ferragamo designed -- he was both resourceful and intelligent and was famous for making incredibly comfortable shoes without sacrificing style. Way to go, Ferragamo. The exhibits were chock full of shoes, because he very cleverly always made two pairs of shoes when he had a client -- one for her, one for him. So there are 14,000 pairs of shoes in his collection. Whoa.

In addition to the shoes, the museum had a really big exhibit on Marilyn Monroe. I've always known who she is and her iconic-ness and all that, but this was very cool. Marilyn was smart. She did a lot of things to enhance her image that were both clever and awesomely sneaky. For instance, we went through a big room full of Renaissance art juxtaposed with photographs of her. Marilyn did her homework -- Botticelli's Venus, Leonardo's Leda and the Swan, Michelangelo's Dying Slave...she quoted them in her poses!

They also had some of her journal entries on display, which were...sad. That girl did not have an easy life. She said in one that she wanted to die, but she didn't know how to do it. She thought about jumping from a bridge, but they were all so beautiful, she loved bridges...so she couldn't do it. Not quite sure what to think about that.

They also had a letter that she'd written to a director that she wanted to work with. It was a good letter. And she basically said "look, I'm still getting through a lot of stuff, but I can't get anywhere unless I work. And I want to work with you. And I've talked to Marlon Brando about it too so it's all good."

The photos above I took sneakily in the last room of the exhibit ("E VIETATO FARE I FOTO"). It's a giant collection of the dresses she wore in many of her movies. Can I just point out that the white floaty dress from The Seven Year Itch is there? Like, the one she actually wore? Yeah.

So, that was actually really cool. Who'da thought I'd go off to Italy and learn about one of America's biggest icons?

Siena, city of wolves!

I promised like a million years ago that I would recount my trip to Siena. SO here I go.

My first views of Siena. We were all miserably tired because, as I have said before, these field trips start at the point juuuuust when night can be considered to have become day. It's that early.* It was a bit surreal getting off the bus as well, as the entire city was wreathed in fog. It was quite beautiful, actually, but strange. 

The town hall of Siena, which looked very cool and creepy in the mists. Strangely enough my phone camera captured the fogginess very well.

We went for a tour of the civic building, which was very interesting, for two reasons. 

1. Our main point of focus was the frescoed room that represented the effects of Good Government and Bad Government. Alas, no pictures were allowed, so I can't supply any photos. Sufficeth to say** that it was quite beautiful and very important in the timeline of Italian Art History, as it depicted a detailed landscape. The first of its kind!
2. Helen (my professor) brought in a colleague of hers to discuss this very mysterious fresco in the adjacent room. A horse and rider in yellow and black livery on a landscape depicting two castles. Not that stunning in itself, but for ages there has been controversy on who the guy actually is, needless to say who even painted him.

My drawing of the rider and notes on the CONTROVERSY. So this painting was thought originally to have been done by Simone Martini in 1330, of the famous general who fought for Siena, Guido Riccio. Many many many (many) elements of the painting and history contradict this, however. First off, Guido abandoned Siena for another city, one of Siena's enemies as it turned out. If this painting was of him, they would have destroyed it, blacked out his face, and thrown things at it -- this was the way of things. Secondly, the horse and rider float really weirdly out of the landscape, suggesting that they were done at different times. Thirdly, there were no representations of family coats of arms in the Palazzo until 1355. Fourthly, the heraldry on the horse's trappings and the guy's clothes were definitely added after the two of them were painted. Several parts of the wall aren't original, including those bits. FIFTHLY, they uncovered a second fresco below this one, much more skillful in execution (which suggests that Simone Martini did it instead of the first one, as the first one isn't so great) AND there is a general type guy there with a sword, whose face is surrounded by gouges in the plaster suggesting that people threw stuff at it. Perhaps this is our Guido instead. Anyway. No one knows to this day.

About two hours later, you can see the fog has definitely cleared and it is a beautiful sunny day!

Next we visited the cathedral of Siena, which really shows how Siena lost the contest of awesomeness with Florence. Not that the church isn't fantastic -- it is! But it's unfinished! They pretty much finished it, and then they saw the plans for Santa Maria del Fiore in Firenze: the most famousest of Duomos. It was a lot bigger than the Sienese cathedral. So naturally, as Siena and Florence were neck and neck in the Race to Be the Best, the Sienese tried to build their cathedral up...a lot.

The campanile (bell tower). Note the similarities to our Dear Duomo!

Aha! Now this is pretty cool -- when we stood in this square, we were inside the unfinished portion of the church. So there were arches and windows and the like that were simply enclosing an empty square. It was like being in a ruin, only it wasn't a ruin, just an unfinished.

Another example of where ceilings should be that ceilings are not.

The facade -- in my opinion they could still give Florence a run for their lira, but Siena fell behind in the contest because the plague of the mid 1300's killed off almost all of their population. There was no one left to work on the cathedral.

Inside the cathedral. Look at dem pillars. Not bad, eh?

This lovely piece of loveliness was the decoration of the mini-library inside. We had to go through it quickly, without talking, so naturally I can't remember any of the information Helen gave us about it, and I could only get 2 pictures. 

Here's a pretty picture of a book anyway!

The Sienese cathedral also had some really beautiful floors. We came to visit at one of the times during the year that they keep the floors uncovered. They periodically cover them up with cardboard so that the constant wear of feets doesn't degrade them beyond recognition. Not that we were walking on them anyway -- all the prettiness was roped off, which led me to get some really weird, distorted photos of them.***

Okay, let me explain. This will also help with the title a bit. Siena's founding legend is that Romulus, brother of Remus and founder of Rome, also had twin sons, who were also suckled by a she-wolf. Oddly enough. One of the twins, Sienus, went on to found the city of Siena. That makes sense...somehow. Anyway, this medallion depicts Siena surrounded by the representative animals of nearby Italian cities.

A sibyl! That's how you spell it, right?

Some fightin' guys. I love the way that these floors were done -- black line! I do love lines.

Good god this is turning out to be a long post, and we haven't even gotten to San Gimignano yet. So let's jump ahead to there. As some of you may recall, I visited the Manhattan of Tuscany**** when I was 16 with the PGC Italy trip. It was much the same as I remembered, which was nice. It was the same feeling I got in Lucca. We did see some very different things, though, so here they are.

The main square -- I have a distinct memory of following Blair through here.

Also, the torture museum! Blair bought a postcard from here to send to Matt! Most of my memories of this town seem to concern the sister, strangely enough.

This is just the sign for the museum we went to, but the lettering is so cool I couldn't resist.

Little sketches I did inside the museum, of Mary, piggies, and feet. The piggies were a huge mystery to me -- they appeared in many many frescoes in the civic building and I was confused...so I drew them wherever I saw them! It turns out that the little peeg belongs to St. Anthony the Abbot. He had a pet baby boar for some reason. Anyway, it was a cute lil' thing, except for when it was making an "I am an angry squeely piggie" face.

Our trip concluded with climbing the really really tall tower of the civic building. It was a bit terrifying going up, as it was...tall, but boy was that a fantastic view. Sundrenched Tuscan hills dotted with those iconic terra cotta roofs. It was pretty lovely.

And, as a treat, Helen gave us some special San Gimignano treats: pecorino cheese, wild boar sausage, and WINE. As I was one of the handy-outy helpers, I didn't get to have any cheese, but I snagged some sausage and wine for myself. Not a bad day, all told.

*Okay, I may be exaggerating. We meet at 7 am. ON A SATURDAY, THOUGH?

**I know that it's supposed to be "suffice it to say", but I have always thought that people were saying "sufficeth to say", which I like better, so I'll use it, thanks very much.

***We're supposed to pick a work of art to write a paper about at the end of the semester. I asked Helen if I could possibly write about these fantastic floors, which were done by -- let me just check my notes because I forgot -- Beccafumi. She said "Sure, only you'll have to come back to Siena to see his paintings". Of course I didn't say this aloud to her, but I definitely thought "yeah that's not happening". Not that it wouldn't be nice to visit Siena, but it would be a pain in the you-know-where to get there on my own steam. My solution? Lie and say I did see 'em!

****That's what they call it, don't blame me. San Gimignano used to be bristling with towers (there are now only 7, as they have been torn down over the years or bombed or just collapsed), as having a big tall tower was both a. a status symbol and b. a damn good idea to protect yourself and your family in the Olden Days. There used to be over 70 towers, so I guess it did kinda look like Manhattan. You know, if you squinted.

ps. Here's just a comparison photo :) Totally CREEPY in a sweet way.

2012.

2008.

Well that was unexpected

See that? So did I. Just now. In the Piazza della Signoria (where the Palazzo Vecchio and copy of Michelangelo's David are located). I was walking home from painting class in the Boboli gardens -- we've been doing landscapes -- when I heard drums and fanfares and the like. And I came across this parade.

Well that was pretty nifty. There were all sorts of people in those feathered hats and colorful tunics and dresses and there were flags and trumpets and drums and everything. I had no idea what was going on, but it was a pretty fantastic thing anyway. Now that I am home and I have given the internet a quick peruse, I learned that today is the Festival of Saint Reparata, and the historical parade was in her honor. Well, cool! Good going, Miss Saint!
But now I just want to go to a Renaissance fair.

Other updates:
a. I went to Siena and San Gimingano yesterday, I have a wealth of pictures and information to share. I haven't gotten around to it because
b. I am suffering from Extremely Painful Left Shoulder Disease, or EPLSD as I like to call it. I believe it is keyboard related, but it is also brought on by the following activities: drawing, reading, putting on clothing, taking off clothing, lifting anything heavier than a glass of water lifting anything at all (sometimes even with my right arm!) In other words, everything. I am also out of aspirin. Time to visit Carlo the Pharmacist again.
c. I found my headphones that work! Now I can listen to music with both ears instead of just the one. It was getting frustrating. Thanks to the Boyfriend for donating these headphones to my cause -- I'm sorry they were lost for so long. They were at the bottom of my backpack.

ps. Ransom negotiations with the captors of my contact lenses aren't going well. I brought my paperwork to Sam at the front desk of SACI, who told me he would call the people and get them to tell him why I don't have them yet. Protip for future packages: we must lie about the contents. Sending me explosives? Tell them it's socks and it will go through. Way to go, Italians.

Christmas

When I was younger, I'd start anticipating Christmas once October hit. Well, Christmas Longing really came on in November, but October always reminded me: "Christmas is not all that far off! Only a few months!" Now I'm daydreaming about Christmas for another reason.

It's not that I'm not enjoying myself here, because I am. For some reason, though, with every passing day I think "Only 3 months left. Only 2 months, 3 weeks, and a few days left." I know it's horrible. I should be enjoying myself so much that the days just fly past.
Maybe this place just hasn't become normal yet. It feels wrong. Every experience is tinted with the knowledge that I won't be returning home when it's over. I'm just going to the place that's acting as a poor intermediary. And as spoiled and ridiculous as this sounds, having room mates puts me on edge. It's turned the place that should be my sanctuary into a place where I'm constantly worried I'm stepping on someone else's toes. That does not make things any easier.

I wonder sometimes if I would feel better if I had gone to Dublin with Quinn. So many of my worries wouldn't be worries if I had one person who made me feel connected to home and Vassar. Because it's just me in this country, where everything is confusing. It's just me, and I hate being so alone.

So that's why I'm looking forward to Christmas. I can just imagine how much relief I'll feel on December 20th when I can finally go home.

ps. Nobody be worried about me! Well, maybe a bit, but I'm really fine. Just hit a low spot.

I am now a VIP without intending to be

DISEMBODIED LEGS AND FEET! OH NO! Wait a second those are mannequin feet. Nevermind.

I had a very unexpected adventure today. As you know I have been taking a class on Italian fashion, which has been quite informative if a little strange. Today we went on a field trip and her little young son Arlo (an 11 month old baby who seemed to be distressed/amused by my glasses in turns) to the headquarters and factory of Stilnovo, the company of Emilio Cavallini, designer of high quality hosiery, in San Miniato. San Miniato is about 45 minutes away from Florence. We took a train out there, and I chatted with the 5 other girls and Annaluisa*, my teacher, while she tried to restrain her wiggling son. (ps. he is adorable)

So I wasn't really sure what to expect from this field trip. Annaluisa told us that she and her husband had both worked for Emilio Cavallini and had designed for him. So...naturally, I guess...Emilio's very stylish and very Italian son Francesco met us at the factory and gave us a tour. It was...so cool. I'm not even kidding.

 As weird as these photos look, they give you a little glimpse of what the factory offices were like. It was all very sleek, with black shiny furniture and glass and lots of strange leg-themed art. The photos above are not leg-themed art; those are displays of their newest designs. I have to say, even though I'm not a big tights girl, I was enchanted. There were probably 200 different designs on display, not including their men's line. Yes, that's right, they make tights for men.**
Francesco gave us a run down of the company while Arlo crowed and ate a cookie. He -- Francesco, not the baby -- was very personable and talkative, and of course gestured a lot while he spoke. He brought over some sample-clad mannequin legs for us to look more closely at, and when we had finished looking at them he just sort of gestured with them while talking*** (I found this really funny and managed not to giggle). After we'd looked through the fashion catalogs that Francesco handed around, we went for a tour of the actual factory part of the factory.

One never really considers what kind of machinery it takes to make regular, every day things, like tights, for instance.
Apparently it takes machinery that looks like giant spider monsters that hiss and spit at you and occasionally fire knitted stockings through pneumatic tubes.

Spider monster!

All of the stockings are made as single tubes out of white thread. I assumed that they knit together yarn that had already been dyed, but the dyeing actually comes after. Francesco took us back to see the computers that program the knitting machines -- there are 302 needles in each machine, so the armatures (basically patterns) for the stockings are 302 pixels wide. Each pixel represents a stitch!

After we saw the digital side, Francesco showed us the machines that sew two legs together and neatly stitch up the toes. This machine was also a big scary monster, with several moving parts that made interesting clanky noises. 

 Clanky machine! 

After that, we wandered around looking at other interesting parts of the process, up until the packaging stage. Emilio Cavallini makes tights for Zara, Bebe, Louis Vuitton, and several other huge companies. They themselves have only one small company store in Florence, because, as Francesco said, "it's very hard to sell  only stockings all year round.

That was the end of our tour. But that wasn't all.

We got presents.

I have two beautiful new pairs of tights from Emilio Cavallini, thank you very much.

*Annaluisa has probably had the most interesting life ever -- if you're interested in fashion, that is. She was, at one point, teaching in Venice, Florence, and Rome...at the same time. For a year. Why would someone do that to themselves.

**"Once we set up our web store, we noticed that a great many men were buying our products in large sizes. So we started making tights for men...they're selling very well."

***At one point Francesco held out one of the legs for Arlo to feel. He grabbed the toes with a chubby hand, looked up at Francesco, and squeaked. It was cute.