Encountering David

Since being in Italy I have come into contact with a HUGE assortment of art... namely, renaissance art. Not only am I in a class called 'The History of Renaissance Art', but I tell you, art is everywhere. From the thousands of galleries and museums to the fresco adorned churches and palaces, from the statues in every courtyard to the doorknockers and sewer grates. I swear, everything is ornate and the italians have run out of room for 'normal' art, so they take to exploiting the smallest and most obscure things.
Last weekend I went to Florence and spent almost the entire thing looking at art. Florence is one of the art capitols of the world, and they say there is an art gallery per resident... I'm sure that is an exageration, non the less, there are a ridiculous number of small hidden galleries... I only visited two and a couple churches. Friday I spent the whole day in the Uffizzi gallery looking at the paintings we've been studying in class... only when I got all the way through did I look at the time and realize I had been in there for over 4 hours.
Saturday was the duomo, and climbing it, and other fun churches. It was also my visit to Academia museum... home to Michelangelo's statue of David. Now, for some reason, last time I was in Florence (in high school) I did not go see David. I guess I figured that there were hundreds of replicas of him not counting all of the touristy memorabilia... He's everywhere, everybody knows what he looks like and in what position he is standing. I didn't think seeing him would be that big of a deal.. boy was I wrong. Nothing had prepared me for David.
For one, he's huge, much bigger than one expects, but there is a grandure about him that you just don't get with the replicas. Everything realized about him, is completely and breathtakingly accurate! I don't know how he does it... but Michelangelo somehow transformed marble into perfect skin and hair textures. The furrow in his brow and the fear in his face make one contemplate what David is thinking... is he looking ahead to his big battle with Goliath? Who knows. His sligshot taught against his back, David's arms and hands are flexed showing off his perfect veins and tendens, drawing attention to the wrinkles in his knuckles.
My favorite spot on David, the one I stared at forever and still can't quite get over, is his bellybutton. I don't really understand how, but the skin is pulled tighter to the pucker of the belybutton. There is a small dimple right next to it with amazing charm. How can a marble bellybutton be so accurate and so perfect?!

'Lucia'

The other day I finally got to go to the opera since being in Italy. We got slightly dressed up and commenced to our nosebleed side seats and experienced Donizetti's 'Lucia di Lammermoor.' And let me tell you, everything about the experience was fantastic.
For one thing... the theater in Ferrara is a 17th century style opera house, completely round with layers upon layers of box seating. I felt like I was in a movie! At the very top, where we were, was just benches for us to sit on and lean way over the balcony so we could see the action below. The only draw back to this was that it was so hot up there, other than that, it was the perfect spot for me because it provided and interesting angle and let me observe much of the audience as well.
The second great thing about this evening was that it was Anne's first opera experience. I love being there when people are introduced to the art of opera! She was so lucky that her first one was not only so incredible, but in Italy, the capital of opera! She was so cute for me to watch and it was an experience in itself just to see how pleased she was!
The woman who sang the part of Lucia was phenomenal. There is a part in the second act when the character has gone mad and murdered her new husband. She is standing there in her wedding dress, covered in blood and with a knife in her hand. The aria she sings, "Il Dolce Suono," is fantastic and so moving... its a very grotesque and parodoxal scene to watch because the music (and the acting!) are so incredible, but the context is so heart wrenching... she's mad, she's about to die, she has lost her love who upon hearing the news of her death kills himself. I know its the typical tragic love story... but I still had tears streaming down my face by the end. There is this one moment in her big aria where she lies down and having an arial view of it was so great! And then another moment where she is singing an interplay, a dialogue between her and the flute... Words cannot describe it!

"Leave the gun, take the cannoli"

So the sister and brother and law came to Italy to visit me! Well, I guess for vacation as well... but anyway... it is always fabulous to see people from home! We had the best time! I showed them around my town, they were mostly impressed by food, gelaterie, and Kjersta by the oldest chocolate shop in Italy, I heard all about it. Then we went to Venice and spent our days there getting lost!
I think the company was so incredibly great cause there was no specific agenda, we were just enjoying each other's company in such a wonderful foreign place... maybe thats why we were late with everything and missed several different trains...
Its a bit of a let down to no longer have their visit to look forward to, but I guess now that I have only 5 weeks (yikes!) left in Ferrara I get to look forward to seeing all of the shining faces at home! Love!