My Verona....
so ive been walking around my first day of Verona, in the mist, singing "My Verona" (or Sharona). ive tripped and slipped probably 5 times on the same street. am i high? visually, Verona is stunning...enough cannot be said about the moorish style renaissance bridges and arches.
ok, so to update:
Family Health
nephew is going to Arizona for surgery on his brain and the aneuyrisms. brother is in pain, and is going to the hospital in SF when he leaves Tahoe/hangin' with the parents. i am glad David had the chance to go up to Tahoe, since our family has incredible memories of living there.
Urbino
I spent my full day in Urbino hiding from rain and slipping down insanely steep mossy steps grooved into the medieval streets. You can walk all of Urbino in less then 2 hours, and slip for one of those hours, weather permitting. The Ducal Palace was amazing. the wood doors were the finest wood inlaid doors ive ever seen. the imagery was three dimensional within the inlay, and this was carried out into the beautiful study:
also spent some time in the home of Raphael (Raffaello), his earliest fresco could be seen here. the house also featured his first chair, his first art table, complete with spilled oil, and many many studies of subjects.
went for a nice stroll along the outer rim of the fortress walls, that give huge sweeping views of the countryside below. the rain cleared and some cat followed me for about an hour. i love vacation. at around 5pm, Italians take a passeggiata, which is a stroll around and through the main center piazza. Urbino's passeggiata featured alot of men standing around, hats propped, overcoats on, watching and catching up on the day. i tried to stealth shoot some pictures since these are the types of images i like to paint, and i need source material for the upcoming show Skip and i are partaking in.
Verona
yesterday i woke up in Urbino early, took one last walk around the city at 6am, and then packed up my duffle and headed to the bus, to catch 2 trains for Verona. easy travelling compared to the other day, but arriving to Verona was a bit dreary. bad rain and some awesome lightning greeted me and i grabbed a cab to my hotel, grossly named Hotel Romeo e Giulietta. my room is adorable and wee. the rain turned to mist and I took a stroll around the city. so glad for my black wool hooded parka and my knit scarf. ran around looking for good food and an internet cafe. while Urbino featured a couple cheap ones, this was impossible to findhere in Verona. for food, pulled into a trattoria to have dinner...
...and had the best conversation with an American couple eating next to me. we broke out in talk after trying to hide from the smoke of cigarettes; Italians love a cig with their meal. So anyways, this couple (Megan and Eric) were from Thousand Oaks and were in Rome when i was there. turns out they got married there, in a beautifully small quiet ceremony. they chose Rome for its beauty and warmth. they also chose it strategically, since they both have huge families but wanted a small wedding. what better way to weed out the second cousins and unknown fourth aunts then to get married in Rome. they had to arrive a week before to establish some time in Italy and go to the Italian and US consulates. Italians love weddings and the couple were chased down the streets with congratulations and flowers from strangers. we also discussed politics, soccer, italian tv, Verona and what i need to stay away from when i go to Venice ("dont go to glass factories cuz they rip you off, and stay off of San Marco, or atleast the square from 10am to about 8pm, because you will only hear english spoken"). i havent really been around too much English on this trip, but i chose some off the beaten path destinations until now. anywho, they have gone to Rome, Siena, Florence, Venice and now Verona, and wouldnt stop talking about how Verona has been better then Venice. oh dear.
so today, im waiting for the rain to clear a bit more until i trek outside of the little area i am staying in. i already love the people here....god what a gorgeous city. lots of bicycles. lots of flowers. lots of umbrellas. Skip was actually trying to come out here during this leg. It's bittersweet to be in a beautiful romantic city and not to share it.
and now, some Googled verona pics:
one. (i am staying to the left, and onto a side street, of the colliseum)
two.
three.
four.
five.
six.
GO RED SOX!
ok, so to update:
Family Health
nephew is going to Arizona for surgery on his brain and the aneuyrisms. brother is in pain, and is going to the hospital in SF when he leaves Tahoe/hangin' with the parents. i am glad David had the chance to go up to Tahoe, since our family has incredible memories of living there.
Urbino
I spent my full day in Urbino hiding from rain and slipping down insanely steep mossy steps grooved into the medieval streets. You can walk all of Urbino in less then 2 hours, and slip for one of those hours, weather permitting. The Ducal Palace was amazing. the wood doors were the finest wood inlaid doors ive ever seen. the imagery was three dimensional within the inlay, and this was carried out into the beautiful study:
also spent some time in the home of Raphael (Raffaello), his earliest fresco could be seen here. the house also featured his first chair, his first art table, complete with spilled oil, and many many studies of subjects.
went for a nice stroll along the outer rim of the fortress walls, that give huge sweeping views of the countryside below. the rain cleared and some cat followed me for about an hour. i love vacation. at around 5pm, Italians take a passeggiata, which is a stroll around and through the main center piazza. Urbino's passeggiata featured alot of men standing around, hats propped, overcoats on, watching and catching up on the day. i tried to stealth shoot some pictures since these are the types of images i like to paint, and i need source material for the upcoming show Skip and i are partaking in.
Verona
yesterday i woke up in Urbino early, took one last walk around the city at 6am, and then packed up my duffle and headed to the bus, to catch 2 trains for Verona. easy travelling compared to the other day, but arriving to Verona was a bit dreary. bad rain and some awesome lightning greeted me and i grabbed a cab to my hotel, grossly named Hotel Romeo e Giulietta. my room is adorable and wee. the rain turned to mist and I took a stroll around the city. so glad for my black wool hooded parka and my knit scarf. ran around looking for good food and an internet cafe. while Urbino featured a couple cheap ones, this was impossible to findhere in Verona. for food, pulled into a trattoria to have dinner...
...and had the best conversation with an American couple eating next to me. we broke out in talk after trying to hide from the smoke of cigarettes; Italians love a cig with their meal. So anyways, this couple (Megan and Eric) were from Thousand Oaks and were in Rome when i was there. turns out they got married there, in a beautifully small quiet ceremony. they chose Rome for its beauty and warmth. they also chose it strategically, since they both have huge families but wanted a small wedding. what better way to weed out the second cousins and unknown fourth aunts then to get married in Rome. they had to arrive a week before to establish some time in Italy and go to the Italian and US consulates. Italians love weddings and the couple were chased down the streets with congratulations and flowers from strangers. we also discussed politics, soccer, italian tv, Verona and what i need to stay away from when i go to Venice ("dont go to glass factories cuz they rip you off, and stay off of San Marco, or atleast the square from 10am to about 8pm, because you will only hear english spoken"). i havent really been around too much English on this trip, but i chose some off the beaten path destinations until now. anywho, they have gone to Rome, Siena, Florence, Venice and now Verona, and wouldnt stop talking about how Verona has been better then Venice. oh dear.
so today, im waiting for the rain to clear a bit more until i trek outside of the little area i am staying in. i already love the people here....god what a gorgeous city. lots of bicycles. lots of flowers. lots of umbrellas. Skip was actually trying to come out here during this leg. It's bittersweet to be in a beautiful romantic city and not to share it.
and now, some Googled verona pics:
one. (i am staying to the left, and onto a side street, of the colliseum)
two.
three.
four.
five.
six.
GO RED SOX!