Cinque Terre, land of wine and pesto
(hey! found this old draft I forgot to post last week about the Uffizi...)
Went and saw the Uffizi gallery last week, which was fun, but overwhelming and sooo crowded. But we had a good time strolling through stuff, making little art student in-jokes, (oh, to be married to a fellow art student... ) and being "oh, i saw that in art history class! I totally forget why that's important : P "
Random thoughts from Uffizi...
*The roman busts are AWESOME. they're like crazy cariactures of such weird and bizarre faces. Just great.
*I think I enjoy late byzantinan/ early gothic icons of the virgin mary for their graphic flatness now that I work in animation: for some reason, I totally dig the black outlines, flattened fabrics and bold colors... much more than I did before, anyway
*Such detail in these paintings! detail and scale.. and makes me want to learn how to use gold leaf effectively
Ok, quick recap of this past weekend before we take off (again) for this weekend's adventures!
This past weekend Damon and I went to Cinque Terre, which is like the mini-Italian riveria. Much more cute and low-key than Pontofino apparently, and super worth it. Beautiful weather, charming towns, fun and "just strenuous enough" hikes and CRYSTAL clear blue waters.
-we stayed in vernazza, which is (imo) definately the best. Perfect size, beautiful views, great little harbor, and gorgeous colors. First evening there, we hiked to the top of the town and watched the sunset from the castle overlook. We then hiked the whole trail from Monterosso to Riomaggiore (the five towns are connected via hikes, of varying difficulty- our trail was about 7 miles long) over two days, went swimming, and ate like kings. Kings, I tell you! The region is known for pesto, limoncello (a different northern variety, different from the normal Amalfi coast type), foccaccia bread, and regional wine. Oh, and awesome seafood/ anchovies. I thought I didn't like anchovies- I was wrong. They are quite delectable when had fresh and not drowned in salt and oil, apparently.
-Riomaggiore was our second favorite town. much bigger, more beaches, (waay more crowded in parts) but fun.. we went swimming, bought some goggles so I could see all the fish (I saw an octopus!! in the wild! eeee!!!) and then we stumbled across a random wine tasting festival. whoo! I loved the random ruins of an old statue of Neptune from the 1910 overlooking a beach...
-monday we rented a little beach umbrella and chairs, alternately swam/ sunned alllll day long, and got a great massage from a lady who came by selling them for $15 each. Very luxurious! ha ha!
-it was such a romantic weekend! highly recommend for anybody passing through the area.. however, it did feel like the majority of American tourists were there on recommendation of Rick Steves, which is annoying in that "is everybody reading from the same book here?" type of way. Yes, I have his book, but so does every other middle aged mid-western american PBS watching person, apparently. Damon and I revel in making fun of the book whenever we can, but I do have to give it to him that he has solid recommendations. Damn you Rick Steves!! (shakes fist)
-What I had to eat (because it was very yummy!)
-trofie pasta with pesto
-"neptune's surprise" appetizer platter, which had a type of ceviche with octopus, etc in it, lemony anchovies, and some type of fish
-rock lobster and grilled fish (perch)
-stuffed mussels
-a local speciality with anchovies baked on potatoes and tomatoes. Not as heavy as you'd think- very light!
-gnocchi with a gorgonzola/ pesto based cream sauce
And of course, lots of wine, and a special dessert wine called Sciacchetrà (made from raisins) that was really good, and I tried limoncello as well. Damon and I have gotten into drinking apertifs after dinner... we're such boozehounds...
*Back in Florence, busy teaching (going well, except that one of my students came down with Swine Flu, and was hospitalized. poor thing... so he's been missing a lot of class...). They're all making films about some aspect of Florence- it's neat to see what they come up with and their different perspectives...
*heading out to rome tomorrow AM for the weekend... excited, if not still a bit tired from last weekend...
Went and saw the Uffizi gallery last week, which was fun, but overwhelming and sooo crowded. But we had a good time strolling through stuff, making little art student in-jokes, (oh, to be married to a fellow art student... ) and being "oh, i saw that in art history class! I totally forget why that's important : P "
Random thoughts from Uffizi...
*The roman busts are AWESOME. they're like crazy cariactures of such weird and bizarre faces. Just great.
*I think I enjoy late byzantinan/ early gothic icons of the virgin mary for their graphic flatness now that I work in animation: for some reason, I totally dig the black outlines, flattened fabrics and bold colors... much more than I did before, anyway
*Such detail in these paintings! detail and scale.. and makes me want to learn how to use gold leaf effectively
Ok, quick recap of this past weekend before we take off (again) for this weekend's adventures!
This past weekend Damon and I went to Cinque Terre, which is like the mini-Italian riveria. Much more cute and low-key than Pontofino apparently, and super worth it. Beautiful weather, charming towns, fun and "just strenuous enough" hikes and CRYSTAL clear blue waters.
-we stayed in vernazza, which is (imo) definately the best. Perfect size, beautiful views, great little harbor, and gorgeous colors. First evening there, we hiked to the top of the town and watched the sunset from the castle overlook. We then hiked the whole trail from Monterosso to Riomaggiore (the five towns are connected via hikes, of varying difficulty- our trail was about 7 miles long) over two days, went swimming, and ate like kings. Kings, I tell you! The region is known for pesto, limoncello (a different northern variety, different from the normal Amalfi coast type), foccaccia bread, and regional wine. Oh, and awesome seafood/ anchovies. I thought I didn't like anchovies- I was wrong. They are quite delectable when had fresh and not drowned in salt and oil, apparently.
-Riomaggiore was our second favorite town. much bigger, more beaches, (waay more crowded in parts) but fun.. we went swimming, bought some goggles so I could see all the fish (I saw an octopus!! in the wild! eeee!!!) and then we stumbled across a random wine tasting festival. whoo! I loved the random ruins of an old statue of Neptune from the 1910 overlooking a beach...
-monday we rented a little beach umbrella and chairs, alternately swam/ sunned alllll day long, and got a great massage from a lady who came by selling them for $15 each. Very luxurious! ha ha!
-it was such a romantic weekend! highly recommend for anybody passing through the area.. however, it did feel like the majority of American tourists were there on recommendation of Rick Steves, which is annoying in that "is everybody reading from the same book here?" type of way. Yes, I have his book, but so does every other middle aged mid-western american PBS watching person, apparently. Damon and I revel in making fun of the book whenever we can, but I do have to give it to him that he has solid recommendations. Damn you Rick Steves!! (shakes fist)
-What I had to eat (because it was very yummy!)
-trofie pasta with pesto
-"neptune's surprise" appetizer platter, which had a type of ceviche with octopus, etc in it, lemony anchovies, and some type of fish
-rock lobster and grilled fish (perch)
-stuffed mussels
-a local speciality with anchovies baked on potatoes and tomatoes. Not as heavy as you'd think- very light!
-gnocchi with a gorgonzola/ pesto based cream sauce
And of course, lots of wine, and a special dessert wine called Sciacchetrà (made from raisins) that was really good, and I tried limoncello as well. Damon and I have gotten into drinking apertifs after dinner... we're such boozehounds...
*Back in Florence, busy teaching (going well, except that one of my students came down with Swine Flu, and was hospitalized. poor thing... so he's been missing a lot of class...). They're all making films about some aspect of Florence- it's neat to see what they come up with and their different perspectives...
*heading out to rome tomorrow AM for the weekend... excited, if not still a bit tired from last weekend...