sunday. 14 february 2010::

the past couple weeks have been filled as we have visited florence twice, civita, and participated in a wine tasting and cooking class. below are some photos that i have uploaded to help illustrate the travels and experiences since the last post:

visited florence friday/saturday. 05/06 february 2010::

shown above is the duomo complex complete with the baptistry (10th century) in the foreground, duomo (1296) with campanile (1334), and the completed dome (1420) rising above in the background.

a view of the frescoes added centuries later to the interior of the dome. originally the interior was painted white but in the 1500s frescoes were added over the 3600 meters of the interior illustrating the final judgment. the dome was not a part of the original design of the duomo by arnolfo di cambio in 1296. the span of the 140 foot dome was originally left open.
the height at which the dome begins is 180 feet above ground. better translated: 463 stairs to the top of the dome, completed by brunneleschi starting in 1420. the dome is slightly pointed to reduce outward thrust of the dome onto the existing drum below. large and small ribs of the dome leave space to walk between the two domes–one exterior and one interior– solving the mystery of putting a dome on a church already built. being at the top of the dome allowed for great views of florence seen above.

visited civita. monday. 08 february 2010::
on the way to civita, these trees were seen hugging the road with their high canopies. definitely something you don’t see in the u.s. and probably for good reason since trees are often a visual impediment.
this is our next challenge to tackle: re-designing the left portion of our client’s home (located in lazio) for either a bed and breakfast or apartments to be rented.
we stopped and enjoyed many views back at our town of orvieto throughout the day. these help give a perspective of a typical italian hilltown that used natural elements for its defense.
i took this photo for you mom! the cemetery for orvieto is seen in the foreground while the city is seen in the background. the brown cylindrical shaped structure in the cemetery–located in the center of the photo–is for cremains to be placed after cremation.

civita–the italian city our professors don and carol call home–can be seen here. this is another typical hilltown, but considered to be dead since there is a continuous population of 10 people. it was once a thriving town but an earthquake caused many to leave and destroyed a good portion of the city. the edge of the hill is also eroding, but many tourist enjoy visiting for the day. the city does not allow cars to enter, so the pedestrian bridge seen in the foreground can be quite a hike if not prepared. the steep climb is about equivalent in height to a 10-story building.
a view of the city from a different angle. here the bridge’s elevation can be seen as well as the valley separating the city from its surroundings.
a view from don and carol’s house looking beyond their olive tree to the countryside. this photo is taken from their bathroom–also known as a loo with a view. their garden home hugs the hillside offering views similar to this throughout.

completed a wine tasting. thursday. 11 february 2010::

only in italy are cancelled for tasting wine. our only class on thursday, italian, was cancelled to participate in a wine tasting associated with our cooking class. we tried three wines, and a lady from the orvieto wine bar described the grapes, process, and types of wine found in italy.

visited florence. friday. 12 february 2010::

we went back to florence to visit the uffizi and see works by michaelangelo, raphael, and da vinci. it was great to see these things and to see the actual uffizi building built by the infamous medici family.
the ponte vecchio in florence is the famous bridge that has shops almost literally extending out of the sides. the walkway starting in the bottom right corner and extending over the bridge was built for the medici family to cross from the uffizi to their other home, the pitti palace, across the arno river.
the palazzo vecchio houses government offices today, just as it did when it was built. the monumental scale of this building as well as the amazing heights of the tower symbolize power and authority. from the medieval period, if defeat happened, often the towers were chopped and a new one built to recognize the new leader and their domination over the place. outside of this building are famous statues, including a replica of michaelangelo’s david seen immediately left of the entrance doors to the palazzo.

completed an italian cooking experience. saturday. 13 february 2010::

as part of our semester’s expenses, we participated in an italian cooking experience at zepplin’s, a world-class restaraunt in orvieto. we started at 8:30 with a trip to the saturday market to buy some ingredients for our lunch. after cooking all morning, we sat to eat at 1:30 and were hardly hungry since we had been eating since being at the market. unfortunately i do not have photos of the actual cooking time, but luckily don and carol were in my class and snapped some shots of the group that can be found by clicking here.

lorenzo, head chef and owner of zepplin’s, is seen at the market describing the types of vegetables that are in season and who we should buy them from. at this farmer’s stand, lorenzo cuts a type of radish to pass around for us to try.
a view from a typical market stand, revealing the secret to great italian cooking:  fresh ingredients. only the finest ingredients make the finest foods–something we have all been made aware of as we cook in our apartments.

after a busy week and a day of indulging, almost to the point of gluttony, i went into a coma at 4:30 pm saturday and woke up at 8:00 am sunday.

Advertisement