Here are some emails, photos and greetings from my travels abroad this past year. Hope you enjoy!
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So what’s the longest vacation you’ve ever taken?
After two months of roaming around Europe, it was almost time to come home. But first, one last stop—From Rome, back to Florence (Firenze). Gabriel stayed behind at the camp ground working on his laptop while Regina & I toured the city. Florence was the soul of the Renaissance. The time and the art. The key players were the Medici family. They were bankers beginning back in the 1300 & 1400's. We saw their buildings and palaces all over Florence. I don't want to get into too much of the history-- you can learn about them through a Google search. But suffice it to say they established themselves in an almost Mafia-like fashion. One source says: "They clawed their way to the top, sometimes through bribery, corruption and violence. Those who stood in their way could end up humiliated - or dead." They also joined themselves at the hip with the Catholic Church. Becoming known as the bank of the pope -- with immense influence. A source: "Medici bank collected 10% of your earnings for the Church. If you couldn't pay, you faced excommunication - a one-way ticket to hell." At least one Medici member became a pope....Giovanni de'Medici was made Pope Leo X |
So the Medici's were rich, powerful and built buildings, churches and palaces all over Florence. They were also huge patrons of art. Lorenzo de'Medici had an art school. He spotted the talent of a 13 year old student. His name?
Michelangelo.
Lorenzo took this young artist under his wing to nurture him at the royal home.
Regina and I got to the Academy Museum around 10:30 am. This is where they house some 5 or more sculptures by Michelangelo. It took about an hour but we were finally inside the entrance. They didn’t allow photos. But I’m sure there was a sign somewhere saying if you travel all the way from Chicago you can sneak some pictures, with no flash. Ever point a camera discreetly from your waist hoping you get a decent shot?
I’ve seen some incredible statues all over Europe. But the David statue sets itself apart if for no other reason than its size. 17 feet tall. Awesome!
We stayed over an hour looking at other works. Then it was off to the Medici Chapel.
Tons of ornate silver and gold stuff. Statuettes, ornate table top sized glass vases with chunks of bones from dead people (relics). A genealogy chart showed how the Medici family with their wealth and influence married Kings & Queens from other countries in Europe. Regina asked a curator where particular tombs were located in the chapel. I followed her and walked into a large room where 7 more Michelangelo statues decorated the tombs of Medici family members.
So all together from France, to Rome & now Florence I saw about 16 statues from the Master.
There were surprises all over the Florence area. From the chapel Regina & I took the hop on/hop off bus up to a town about 10 miles away. Fiesole is where the Wealthy Tuscan Villa homes are.
Also on top of this hill is a Medieval monastery and an Ancient Roman amphitheater. A museum is filled with Etruscan and Roman artifacts.
The next morning we fired up the Camper Van and headed back to Switzerland taking the scenic route. First stop? The leaning tower of Pisa. Two huge churches flank a football field sized lawn with the tower in the background. It’s pure white color stands out from the bright green grass. As many times as you’ve seen pictures, and as beautiful as it is with 7 stories of columns you still have to laugh. You keep telling yourself: the thing is on an angle!
Traveling up the coast of Italy Regina excitedly told me to look out the window. Off in the distance you could see the Carrara mountains. The little bit of white toward the top of these mountains wasn't snow. It was marble. Michelangelo came here to select stone blocks for his statues. We passed companies with blocks and blocks of quarried marble the size of cars in their lots.
Later, Gabriel met my request and pulled off the road to a beach. Call me crazy but I just wanted to touch the Mediterranean Sea. I took off my shoes and walked through the waves. The water tasted very salty.
As we continued north the Italian coastal towns were beautifully set off by the blue Mediterranean. It was fun throughout the day to watch the scenery change to the velvet green mountains of the Swiss Alps.
The first thing we saw when we opened the door of Regina’s parents’ house was another pumpkin for me to carve—it was twice the size! They bought it because the first one didn’t last long and rotted. Between this and packing I had a full last day of my vacation.
The next day and many time zones later I arrived back home in Chicago.
Home to a lot of catching up to do. I’ll never forget this trip. And let’s see what influence it has on some of my artistic ventures.
Thank you all back home for accompanying me in my travels. Your responses have been wonderful and I wish all of you could have been with me.
I can’t say enough about my hosts Gabriel & Regina (Switzerland), Andrea & Richard (Muenster, Germany) and the wonderful new friends I met overseas. Izzy, Marianne, the Zielinski family, Marie Mirbach-Harff and many others.
Don’t forget to take the second graffiti contest. Let’s see which country wins this round.
Take care.
-Fran
Michelangelo.
Lorenzo took this young artist under his wing to nurture him at the royal home.
Regina and I got to the Academy Museum around 10:30 am. This is where they house some 5 or more sculptures by Michelangelo. It took about an hour but we were finally inside the entrance. They didn’t allow photos. But I’m sure there was a sign somewhere saying if you travel all the way from Chicago you can sneak some pictures, with no flash. Ever point a camera discreetly from your waist hoping you get a decent shot?
I’ve seen some incredible statues all over Europe. But the David statue sets itself apart if for no other reason than its size. 17 feet tall. Awesome!
We stayed over an hour looking at other works. Then it was off to the Medici Chapel.
Tons of ornate silver and gold stuff. Statuettes, ornate table top sized glass vases with chunks of bones from dead people (relics). A genealogy chart showed how the Medici family with their wealth and influence married Kings & Queens from other countries in Europe. Regina asked a curator where particular tombs were located in the chapel. I followed her and walked into a large room where 7 more Michelangelo statues decorated the tombs of Medici family members.
So all together from France, to Rome & now Florence I saw about 16 statues from the Master.
There were surprises all over the Florence area. From the chapel Regina & I took the hop on/hop off bus up to a town about 10 miles away. Fiesole is where the Wealthy Tuscan Villa homes are.
Also on top of this hill is a Medieval monastery and an Ancient Roman amphitheater. A museum is filled with Etruscan and Roman artifacts.
The next morning we fired up the Camper Van and headed back to Switzerland taking the scenic route. First stop? The leaning tower of Pisa. Two huge churches flank a football field sized lawn with the tower in the background. It’s pure white color stands out from the bright green grass. As many times as you’ve seen pictures, and as beautiful as it is with 7 stories of columns you still have to laugh. You keep telling yourself: the thing is on an angle!
Traveling up the coast of Italy Regina excitedly told me to look out the window. Off in the distance you could see the Carrara mountains. The little bit of white toward the top of these mountains wasn't snow. It was marble. Michelangelo came here to select stone blocks for his statues. We passed companies with blocks and blocks of quarried marble the size of cars in their lots.
Later, Gabriel met my request and pulled off the road to a beach. Call me crazy but I just wanted to touch the Mediterranean Sea. I took off my shoes and walked through the waves. The water tasted very salty.
As we continued north the Italian coastal towns were beautifully set off by the blue Mediterranean. It was fun throughout the day to watch the scenery change to the velvet green mountains of the Swiss Alps.
The first thing we saw when we opened the door of Regina’s parents’ house was another pumpkin for me to carve—it was twice the size! They bought it because the first one didn’t last long and rotted. Between this and packing I had a full last day of my vacation.
The next day and many time zones later I arrived back home in Chicago.
Home to a lot of catching up to do. I’ll never forget this trip. And let’s see what influence it has on some of my artistic ventures.
Thank you all back home for accompanying me in my travels. Your responses have been wonderful and I wish all of you could have been with me.
I can’t say enough about my hosts Gabriel & Regina (Switzerland), Andrea & Richard (Muenster, Germany) and the wonderful new friends I met overseas. Izzy, Marianne, the Zielinski family, Marie Mirbach-Harff and many others.
Don’t forget to take the second graffiti contest. Let’s see which country wins this round.
Take care.
-Fran
And the winner is!
To conclude my travel e-journal, Vienna won the second round of the best graffiti contest in Europe. I’m sure Isabella is gushing with pride. Congratulations!
Also I forgot to tell you my woes for security alerts at airports didn’t end in Europe. Coming home I had a layover in Atlanta, and was “randomly selected” for another security check, now by our own TSA. Not a pat-down. This time a tall gentleman stood in front of me, and asked that I show my hands--- palms up. He took what looked like a tab of paper and swiped it across each palm, then walked away. In the distance I saw him crouching over a machine of some sort. After a minute he called out that I was free to go. He was probably looking for gunpowder residue or other explosive stuff.
I guess Gabriel was right. I just have one of those faces, or hands, or something.
Until my next trip--
Take care,
-Fran
Also I forgot to tell you my woes for security alerts at airports didn’t end in Europe. Coming home I had a layover in Atlanta, and was “randomly selected” for another security check, now by our own TSA. Not a pat-down. This time a tall gentleman stood in front of me, and asked that I show my hands--- palms up. He took what looked like a tab of paper and swiped it across each palm, then walked away. In the distance I saw him crouching over a machine of some sort. After a minute he called out that I was free to go. He was probably looking for gunpowder residue or other explosive stuff.
I guess Gabriel was right. I just have one of those faces, or hands, or something.
Until my next trip--
Take care,
-Fran