A Christmas Postcard



Ponte Vecchio, at night

Today, I spent a quiet Christmas sending emails, skyping, and chatting with friends and family. This after getting up late, having a 2 hour walk this morning, followed by a lovely ham and cheeze omlette for lunch.  It was sunny and 12 degrees today, so I walked up to Piazzale Michelangelo, which is basically a big parking lot with a copy of Micheleangelo's David in the middle of it.  There was hardly anyone around, and there are the most fantastic views of the city from the Piazzale - watch my video below if you don't believe me! 

Yesterday, I took myself to a gospel Christmas concert (see blogpost: Pump Room on the Arno) performed by the Sue Conway Victory Singers and the Orchestra della Toscana. It was great fun. I also stayed up late and went to the midnight Mass at the Duomo, which was grand in every way. It was especially nice to see the cathedral "in action" as a church and not just a tourist destination.  The usually dull inside was all lit up and Vasari's dome interior remains truly breathtaking. It's hard to see it now if you just visit the Duomo, so seeing it in its full splendour made going to the Mass all the more worthwhile. What I won't do for the sake of art!


Glass mosaic tile ceiling of the Baptistery (mid 11th Century) - stunning!

I've also been playing tourist this past week, visiting the Palazzo Strozzi, the Baptistery, and the Palazzo Vecchio - all places I haven't been before and it was fun exploring the city on my free time before classes start again on Jan 2.

Detail of Baptistery Ceiling

I also bought some new clothes, and had dinner out with one of my teachers (Franscesca) which was fun.  My gym also had an Xmas party on Friday night, so Francesca and I went together, which really made me feel like a local.  All in all, it was a fun and relaxing run up to Christmas Day. Buon Natale.

These luminous street lights on Via Tournabuoni actually contain olive trees - very fun.

Buon Natale a Te

Santa Claus translates into Italian as "Babbo Natale" This life-size Babbo Natale is on the merry-go-round in Piazza della Repubblica.  I am hoping that Babbo Natale was good to you today, and that Christmas was a joyful occasion for you and yours however you chose to celebrate it.

Buon Natale da Firenze.

On the other side - a Christmas Tree

The Merry-Go-Round in Piazza della Repubblica

Pump Room on the Arno

The 45 members of the Orchestra della Toscana walked on stage at the Teatro Verdi, as orchestra members do, one by one and in pairs, from all directions.  Each had an instrument in hand if it were not already on stage. The men were dressed appropriately in tuxedos. The women wore full-length ruby red gowns.  After the sound check and instrument tuning, the evening’s Maestro, Mr. Steward Franklin Wilson, arrived and took the podium.

After a very brief pause, Maestro Wilson was followed on stage by six African American women, elegantly dressed in black with bright red scarfs adorned with a hint of sequines, and two African American men dressed in tuxedos.  They took their places behind standing microphones and thus began a wonderful two-hour gospel and spiritual “Concerto di Natale” by The Sue Conway Victory Singers. 

The Sue Conway Victory Singers hail from Chicago, and Sue Conway is apparently a fixture on the Chicago blues/jazz/gospel scene, and for good reason. She has a magnificent voice and the stature of the recently deceased Cesaria Evora.  Firenze was the last stop on their seven day, seven city Tuscan tour.  I suspect they received excellent reviews along the way because il teatro was full.

I Fiorentini can be a bit stodgy at times (OK, most of the time) so it was interesting to watch the clash of cultures as the concert started.  Ms. Conway started by saying “Hallelujah” and reached out, arms spread widely towards the audience, expecting a reply from the audience.  Well, I Fiorentini are not comfortable with audience engagement unless they have initiated it.  So it took a few more prompts and hallelujahs from Ms. Conway before the crowd responded.  About 20 bars into their first song, the Victory Singers were clapping vigorously and I Fiorentini were not quite sure if they should be clapping along or not.  By the end of the third song, I Fiorentini figured out that it was acceptable, and even expected, that they should clap along and enjoy themselves, so their collective guard went down and the Victory Singers responded accordingly.  The orchestra, for its part, was the most animated I’ve ever seen - clapping along when they weren’t playing, constantly bobbing their heads to the gospel beat and standing up on several occasions, reminiscent of a 40’s big band. They were clearly enjoying themselves.  The Victory Singers sang their hearts out in a wonderful performance that concluded with a gospel arrangement of the Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus and a rousing encore.  

By this point, I Fiorentini were thoroughly enjoying themselves – to the point of swaying back and forth in their seats (who can’t to rousing gospel music?) taking pictures and sharing the encore via their cellphones with loved ones at home.  For two hours on Christmas Eve, il Teatro Verdi was home to The Pump Room on the Arno and what a delightful place it was to be.

A Funny Thing Happened....

This post is for my friend Clarence Yue:

A funny thing happened in town this weekend. There were men, dressed for a day on the golf course, wandering about il centro with golf bags in hand.

Their destination: the venerable Ponte Vecchio, where a tournament of sorts was taking place.

A driving range was set up in the centre of the bridge.

Seems the objective was to hit a golf ball ....

...  onto one of these floating greens.

 

 

And the just reward for all this hard work.......a lovely cocktail on the banks of the Arno.



When I am back in Canada, Clarence will have to teach me how to play golf!

Seeing Sophia

I’ll admit that I didn’t know who Carlo Ponti was until a few weeks ago when my friend Anna invited me to a concert in Roma.  It was a benefit concert for a charity called “Gregorio Fun and Safe”, which promotes motorcycle safety to young kids.  As with most charities, its founding was the result of a tragic motorcycle accident which took the life of Gregorio Brianzoli, aged 26.  Gregorio’s mother, Chantel, along with her sister, Desireé, are some of Anna’s closest friends from grade school.  And Gloria is the matriarch of the lot (see my blogpost from November – A Roman Weekend.) The draw for a Monday night concert in Roma was none other than Sophia Loren.

Never one to pass up a good charity event, I graciously accepted Anna’s invitation and didn’t think anything more of it until I was about to leave for the weekend.  The concert was entitled: Omaggio di Carlo Ponti.  If you search on Carlo Ponti you’ll discover a great many things, but the most important facts are he was a big-time movie producer, and he was Sophia Loren’s husband.

Sophia meets the paparrazzi

The concert featured Carlo Ponti Jr. who is a conductor, and Edoardo Ponti, an actor/director/producer.  Carlo Jr. got Sophia’s looks; Edoardo got Carlo’s.  Carlo Jr. conducted the Roma Sinfonietta orchestra and they played music from three of Ponti’s movies: La Strada, La Ciociara, and Il Dottor Zivago, connected by a family narrative/tribute read by Edoardo. If you haven’t seen La Ciociara (Two Women, or The Women) you should run out and rent it. It’s the movie that Sophia won her Oscar for Best Actress way back in 1962 and it’s pretty fabulous in that post-war, late fifties/early sixties gritty Italian realism kind of way, but I digress.  The second part of the concert was Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony.

Anna and I got smartly dressed, met up with Sonia (another friend) and off we went for aperitifs (drinks & a bit of food) and the concert at Parco della Musica, a 2002 Renzo Piano building and site of the Rome Film Festival among other things.

Sophia Loren

The pre-concert entertainment featured a parade of famous Italians (all of whom had to be pointed out to me) and a very well-heeled crowd – all the fur and all the jewels were real, followed by a photo-op of Sophia herself.  It was fun to watch the real paparazzi in action!  The concert started late, naturally, and just beforehand, Sophia arrived in the auditorium. Everyone got up and applauded as she took her seat – I imagine kind of like what happens when the Queen arrives at a function. Sophia sat 5 rows directly behind me, so it was a bit difficult to gawk, but you knew you were in the presence of aging-gracefully greatness!

Mayor Alemanno (left), Edoardo, Sophia, Carlo Jr. The blonde woman is
on TV, but don't remember her name.

After the concert, Sophia joined her children on stage and accepted a present from the Mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno.

Edoardo, Sophia, Carlo Jr.

More paparazzi and a few words of thanks and the evening was finished.  The crowd lingered longer than it normally would have, all in the hopes of catching more Sophia sightings or better yet, a chance to meet her.  Alas she avoided us lesser beings and probably went out for a smart dinner with her sons, as she should have.  It was a most memorable evening.

The Sistine Chapel - Online

Statuary on the facade of  St. Peters Basilica

OK, this is just fun.
http://www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/sistina_vr/index.html

Once the picture loads, click and move your mouse for a 360 degree tour.  You can also zoom in quite close. Of course, it's better in person but that requires some time and fortitude (or money and you can have your own private tour!).  Thanks to Anna for sending this to me.

Comings and Goings

“Fortaleza”

A new word (Portuguese), but then again, I’m learning lots of new things these days. 

When the Tatianas were in my class, I learned what it’s really like to live in Russia.  Tatiania #1 left on a Friday, and the following week José (aka Dacio) and Nilza arrived.  They are a lovely couple who’ve been in class for the past 4 weeks. He’s a Scorpio and she’s a Sagittarian so they’re a lively couple.  I told José to stop talking and listen more during his first week, but he thankfully ignored my suggestion and I let it go. It’s hard to argue in a second language.

Over the past month, I’ve learned a great deal about José and Nilza, and the country they are from – Brazil.  He’s an government auditor; she works in the Customs office, and the Brazilian government grants its employees a 3-month leave after 5 years of employment to study abroad. That’s how they came to be in Italy. They’ve been married 25 years, have 3 grown kids, like to travel, eat, drink, and have that Latin spark which I’m coming to appreciate.

José and Nilza

Along with my other Brazilian classmate William, I learned that the president of Brazil is a women, that there are 190 million people in the country, soccer is a BIG deal, corruption is rampant, and their politics are very interesting when so many people in the country are truly poor. I also learned that Brazilians are warm, friendly, and proud people.  It’s a shameful thing to admit, but I think before José, Nilza and William, I had only met one other Brazilian in my life – a student from Rio de Janeiro who was studying at Rotman when I was volunteering there.

José and Nilza were great classmates and today was their final day.  It was also Nilza’s 50^th birthday so I bought her a cake and we all celebrated with Prosecco.  Seemed like a good way to spend our class time!  Afterwards, my Brazilian trio and I went out for lunch and talked like the friends we have become.  Never mind we didn’t know all the right Italian verb tenses or words – somehow we just understood each other.  It was a great lunch, and then I learned another new word: triste – sad.

At school, change seems to be a constant. Students come and go – sometimes for a week, sometimes longer; teachers get changed around and classes merge - as mine did this week which added 3 great new students: Maria from Lyon, Carlos from Mexico City, and Manoj from Goa. I’m learning to deal with constant change and valuing celebrating in the moment.

José and Nilza are off to Verona tomorrow for a few days (writing letters to Juliette, no doubt), then meeting their kids in Roma before going to Berlin for Christmas and New Year’s, then Napoli and then home to Fortaleza. (Travel itineraries are very important at an international language school!)

I did not know that Fortaleza existed until 4 weeks ago.  Nilza proudly showed me this video yesterday on her iPhone.  I think Fortaleza and Brazil just might make it onto a future travel itinerary. Pretty stunning!

A Single Baby



Can you EVER get tired of this view?
Ponte Vecchio on the left, Uffizi on the Right, the River Arno. Sigh.

There are about 500,000 people in Firenze, and about 250,000 of them were out shopping this afternoon. Today was a national (religious) holiday celebrating the Immaculate Conception (all the more immaculate if you think that today is the 8^th of December and Mary gave birth on the 25^th, but that’s another story altogether!) Even though I had school today, I took advantage of the very lovely weather and went for a passeggiata.

Most streets here are pretty, and pretty narrow. And the correct English word for how Italians like to walk is saunter. They saunter.  They also like going out with their friends and families, and they really like to saunter arm-in-arm.  It’s charming, really.  I just don’t have anyone to link arms with yet so I'm a bit jealous.  Però, the more people you can link arms with the better.  Throw in a baby stroller, a grandmother, another toddler, and of course, your dog, and go for a walk!  No destination is required.

Quite a few streets in the Centro are pedestrian-only – except for some errant cars, taxis, lots of bicycles, delivery trucks, police cars, and a scooter or two.  It seems customary – especially if you have a baby in a stroller or better yet, a full-on baby carriage (think: 4 large spoked wheels with a retractable canopy) - to try and occupy as much of the street as possible.  The more street space you occupy, the better the passeggiata.

Babies, and very young children (which are cute, but I tend to avoid them) garner a lot of attention on the street.  If they are not attracting enough of the attention of passersby – parents, along with grandparents and other assorted family members and friends (and the dog) will stop – no, plant – the baby carriage in the middle of the narrowest part of the street and do something. Perhaps they will smoke a cigarette. Perhaps they will adjust the baby’s cute little hat and blanket to keep it warm.  Perhaps they will have a discussion about the results of last night’s soccer game. Perhaps this armada of people will stop to give the dog a bit of water.  In any event the armada will come to a full stop.

Italians have a bit of a mob mentality.  They move in packs (even if it’s just a pack of two) and they definitely like to be where the action is.  So, when the family armada parks the baby carriage – width-wise, I might add, across the street and said carriage has a baby in it, well, everyone just has to stop and stare at the baby.  And since Italians like to talk a lot (see previous blog post), all it takes is a single baby in a carriage stopped in the middle of the street on a national holiday to bring 250,000 people to a complete and utter standstill.

And that’s how we roll over here in Italy.



Observations

1.       There is a difference sense of Time here than in North America.  The trains are very punctual, but a 9:00pm start time to a movie is really just a marker.  The first movie I saw over here (the new Twilight installment) actually had a 10 minute intermission in the middle.  Kind of classy, useful from a bathroom break perspective, but mildly annoying to about three-quarters of the audience.

2.       It takes two weeks of daily patronage at the local bar before the nice counter staff recognize you as a regular customer.  After that they’ll ask if you’d like your usually order. Nice.

3.       Late Saturday and Sunday afternoons are the busiest times in the stores. Sunday at 18:00 the streets are packed – people, dogs, strollers, kids - shopping is an event here. You can spend 2-3 hours shopping, even if you only need 1 thing that takes 5 minutes to buy. 

4.       You always were a scarf – at least in the Fall. I suspect the same will hold true in the colder months. I’m going to have to ship all of mine back in a steamer trunk!

5.       Christmas is big here, and the city looks enchanting with all the lights.

6.       Grocery shopping is a full-on contact sport. Enough said.

7.       Italian men don’t wear shorts at the gym – they wear nicely tailored, form fitting track pants.  Foreigners wear shorts, so I’m sticking out like a sore thumb – I hate working out in track pants.

8.       Cyclists in the city don’t wear helmets; think they own road; will ride anywhere; but surprisingly they won’t run into you. There is a hierarchy on the streets and everyone seems to know their place.

9.       Italians like to talk, so simple transactions often result in lengthy conversations. Must be their Latin blood.

10.   Always smile and say “Salve” (Hello) to a store clerk or shop owner.  You will always get what you want even if you don’t know how to ask for it in proper Italian.

Hard to believe I’ve been here for 5 weeks now. Time sure is flying by!

Deck The Streets

Lights on the Corso

It was a lovely warm evening last night, so I took a stroll after dinner and this is what I saw. The shop windows are all done up nicely was well for the season.

La Rinescente in Piazza della Repubblica - the Italian version of Holts.

Piazza degli Strozzi

Via Pietrapiana - in my neighbourhood

Via Calzaioli - one of the main streets

Getting Out of Town

Getting out of the city is a real treat.

Two weekends ago I spent Sunday morning visiting Fiesole, a small hilltop town perched 800 feet above Firenze.  The nice thing about Fiesole is that it’s only a 20 minute bus ride away.  It was a beautiful day and there were only a handful of tourists plodding around.  There was a craft fair in the main piazza, but otherwise things were quiet.  Fiesole boasts an ancient Roman bath and an amphitheatre, but mostly people go to take in the views of Firenze below, and they are splendid views.  I would have taken pictures, but the valley below was a bit smoggy and the lighting was all wrong.  But the sun was shining and the air was fresh and the Tuscan hills looked beautiful and it felt absolutely right to sit on a park bench and stare down at my new adopted hometown and listen to Handel’s Hallelujah chorus on my iPod.  Truly heavenly.

Elin, Corona, Katherine, & Pete in Cortona, Nov 2011

Last Saturday, I spent the day a little further out of town with my friends Elin and Peter, Peter’s daughter Katherine, and Corona the Chihuahua (woof!)  The destination was Castiglione del Lago – a small town just inside Umbria on Lago Trasimeno – the 4^th largest lake in Italy after Lakes Como, Maggiore, and Garda in the north.   I met Elin and Peter several years ago in an Italian class at the Instituto, and at the time Elin was in the process of renovating a house outside of Castiglione del Lago in a village called Gioiella.  As happens with anything that involves construction over here, the house took forever to be renovated, but the final product is splendid.   I arrived by train and Elin picked me up at the station. We headed to the house, had some prosceco and pear juice, got caught up, and toured the property.  The house is perched on a hill with a 270 degree view, an olive grove, a swimming pool, and a just-completed outbuilding.  Click here for a link to Elin's Website and to see the house! It is all pretty stunning! 

A view from Cortona

Then we jumped back into the car and headed for Cortona.  Cortona is back in Tuscany and is a hilltop town featured in Under The Tuscan Sun.  With no tourists, Cortona is cute in every way, but I could only image what it’s like in the summertime – UGH! We had a lovely lunch at “Flufluns” a hole-in-the-wall trattoria with excellent food and took a leisurely stroll through the main streets.

Corona, Elin & Zak in Cortona

Elin, Corona, & Pete in Cortona

Once the stores opened again, we all did some shopping, Katherine had a gelato, and then we headed home for dinner.  Elin introduced me to Fennell pollen, which she used to spice a small pork roast, and the mushroom risotto she made rivalled my own! YUM!  A splendid day ended all too early and I hopped back on the train to come home to Firenze. Thanks to Elin, Pete, Katerine & Corona for their wonderful hospitality.

Scuola - La Terza Settimana

Going to school is my new job!

For the past three weeks, I've been getting up regularly at 7 or 7:15am, leaving the apartment at 8:40am, and taking my morning cappucino at this bar.

La Caffetteria Loggia

Having your morning caffe at a bar is a ritual here.  I started with a cappuccino and a brioche (croissant or another pastry) but my waistline protested.  After three weeks of steady patronage, the nice women behind the counter recognize me and say hello, and now I don't have to 1) order my cappuccino, or 2) pay before I drink it. Being a regular has its perks.  All tolled, it takes less than 5 minutes to stop, drink, pay and leave and it is worth every 1.10 euros I spend there everyday.

Via dei Macci

I walk to school on streets like this - crowded with cars, scooters, and bicycles, with sidewalks that are no bigger than a small open umbrella.  My destination is Instituto Michelangelo, which is located on the second floor of what is probably an early 18th century building.  It is located on Via Ghibellina, and there is a lot of history behind the Guelfs and the Ghibellines which I will not recount here, lest you think this is a history lesson and that I'm lecturing you! Besides, Wikepedia is a much better source for these sorts of things.

Mia Scuola (My School)

Via Ghibellina, looking east

Class starts with the bell ringing promptly at 9:00am (just like grade school) and we generally start a few minutes later. My teacher Francesca is wonderful, as are my classmates and the other students in the school.  The physical classrooms are tiny and cold but the atmosphere is warm and friendly.

One of the teachers, with Carlos (blue sweater), from Mexico

the student "lounge"

We have a 20 minute break at precisely 10:55am and classes end at 1:00pm.  Lots of bell ringing again.  There is a bar around the corner from school where I have my mid-morning caffe and its nice to know I'm a "regular" there too.  Italians are a very habitual bunch.

My lessons are pretty intense, and we cover a lot of material in the course of a week.  The first part of each lesson is grammer and reviewing/correcting the previous day's homework.  Part two is the verbal part, and that's the most difficult for me.  My comprehension is getting pretty good. Reading is still a bit of a challenge, and I'm OK writing if my dictionary's handy. But speaking - that's where I need to practice.  Oh well, I still have 3+ months to go.

On the Friday of my first week in class, Francesca took us out at the break for a walk through the Centro (downtown).  It was two people's last day in class - Tatiana (#1) and Janna - both lovely women from Moscow.  The day was glorious - sunny and warm - and our destination (after stopping for a cappuccino at Gilli - a very very famous bar on Piazza della Repubblica) was Hotel Torre Guelfa. The hotel is right in the heart of the city, and occupies a medieval tower (torre) which is a couple of stories higher than any of the surrounding buildings.  At the top of the tower is a small roof-top terrace, where we took pictures and had the remainder of our lesson. All that was missing was a waiter to bring us drinks!  It was the best way to end the first week - with views of the city that are hard to come by.

Looking East

Looking North - Yes, that's the Duomo

Looking West

Palazzo Vecchio