PADUA, FLORENCE

Padua - an interesting combination of architectural styles all beautifully blended.

 

On from Venice, to the pretty town of Padova (Padua)...

 

 That night I finally saw my dream destination: the beautiful Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel with its 38 frescos by Giotto.

It was as glorious as I had imagined, covering the walls in a pageant of the lives of Christ and his mother Mary.

It is Giotto's distinctive, human, style which appeals to me so much.

Yes, we have already seen more churches and chapels than I can count,

but this one, for me, is Queen of them all.

 

Of course, no photography was permitted, to preserve these delicate and ageing paintings, completed in 1305, but here is a Google look:

 

 

 

 

Of course, we visited the Basilica of St Anthony, patron saint of lost items...

frankly, we need his help these days, losing (and finding) essential travel items at an alarming and daily rate..

 

 

We left Padua in a flurry of cardinal feathers, standing at the wrong end of the platform when the train roared in for a two minute pause...

hurray for wheeled bags, as we each have one small and one medium, and ran them to the other end of the train...the whistle blew before we reached our door, and a lovely woman helped load us, the final two passengers, onto the train.   Phew!

 

 

and so to Firenze (Florence), and we are having the most marvellous time:

 

 

Armed with our Florence Passes, we have been to all the major museums, and walked in the steps of the Medici...

 

Michelangelo: Tomb of Lorenzo 1531-32



 admired many of Michelangelo's best works..



Michelangelo; Bacchus, 1497

 

Always wanted to see his famous staircase, so graceful, at the entrance to his superb architectural triumph, the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana...

and adored the library, with hand-written captions indicating the subject in each section at he end of wooden stalls which formerly held the manuscripts:

 

 

I am very fond of Donatello, too:

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry, his David is very dark, it being quite early in the morning - and no flash permitted, of course.

 

 

Did I tell you how much I enjoyed doing Renaissance art history at University?

I was beside myself with excitement to see these two panels:

'Sacrifice of Isaac', one each by Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi in 1401, a competition to judge the best artist to design the bronze doors to the beautiful Baptistry at the Duomo.

The competition began one of the greatest artistic rivalries of all time.

The judges could not decide between these two, and declared a tie suggesting they both work on the doors as partners.

Brunelleschi was so offended he withdrew and Ghiberti completed the series of panels for the doors.

However, Brunelleschi pursued his career in architecture, and is the genius who designed that incredible feat of engineering the dome of the Duomo of Florence.

 

 

If you have read this far: Congratulations...

but this place is not just about the art.

My mission was to purchase a leather jacket, possibly black or a dark neutral.

But no, I have purchased a red leather jacket from a tiny shop near the Arno..

Well, we all know I love bright colours, but how did that (male) sales assistant work this out?

 

 

Our hotel is located within a 500 year old Palazzo, above a Prada store.

How cool is that?

I love the fashions in the shops, and the big labels are all about us, providing inspiration for some of my own 'interpretations' when we return to our nest in Australia.

 

I am eating icecream nearly every day, counter balanced by tuna insalata...

 

 

 

Next stop: Rome

 

Have a great weekend

 

XXXX

 

 



VENICE

 

Venice:  a cornucopia of architectural delights and sensory overload..

we arrived in the evening, our introduction a water taxi ride along the Grand Canal...

 

 

Nothing really prepared us for the astonishing array of palaces lining the waterways, a collection of antique, slightly decayed, wonders..

 

 

culminating in the Doge's palace, 3 doors along from our hotel.

 

 

Beautiful St Mark's Basilica, unfortunately (for us) partially shrouded for restoration.

 

 

 

Inside: photography forbidden, but so many people ignored this, that at the end I did a couple of quick ones as we left the building.

Gold mosaics, breathtaking... astonishing...

 

 

An elegant relief sits above an arch at the back of our hotel..

right by a bar and several trattoria..

 

 

Detail of a beautiful Bellini, in a church about 20 metres from our door..

 

 

 

An ancient water fountain runs day and night outside our window:

modern tourists fill their water bottles..

 

 

The winged lion of St Mark, patron saint of Venice..

 

 

We walk and walk, along the alleys and canal paths..

 

 

and found our way to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection,

a chic array of early and mid 20th century abstract and surrealist art:

 

 

Kandinsky..

 

 

Man Ray..

 

 

Delauney

 

 

Brancusi

 

and on to the Academie and back to Tintoretto and Giordano..

 

 

We enjoyed a concert at Ateneo di San Basso:

Vivaldi, Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini - what bliss!

 

There are far too many tourists, many of them Australians..

there are gypsies and pedlars, beggars and thieves, touts and rogues..

 

and I have fallen in love with this intriguing, fascinating and sumptuously gorgeous city.

 

 

XXXX

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



PARIS

 

Bonjour, my friends, from beautiful Paris..

 

It is as charming as always - but of course!

 

 

Our location is near the

  Musee de Cluny, a treasury of French history and culture from medieval times..

and we enjoy wandering the streets of the Sorbonne.

 

Internet connection is weak so I must be short, and quick..

here's a quick round-up:

 

 

 

 

 

Love the Musee Jacquemart-Andre ... so much

 

French culture is exquisite..

 

Off to Venice tomorrow

 

Au Revoir

 

xxxx