Florence

After a few days in Rome, it was time for the both of us to discover something new together. Carin had been to Florence 18-19 years ago, but since it had been a while we both looked forward to a bit of exploring! On the train up north!

We had booked ourselves into a really lovely hotel in the middle of the city center, only about a 5 minutes walk from the train station. So of course we went right out on a walk to have a look at our famous surroundings.
Starting with the Duomo, which was only a few minutes away from the hotel, so pretty! And impressive!

This, the largest brick dome ever constructed, really dominates Florence, no other building stands taller in the city. The size is typical of the Florentine determination to lead in all things! At the time of its construction it was the largest dome to be built without scaffolding. It is double-shelled, where the inner shell supports the outer.

We didn't go inside, because it was free the queue was absolutely ridiculous. But we had a good look all around it, at all the colourful marble panels in green and pink.

And obviously, we checked out the Bapistry Doors. These ones here in the photographs are copies, the real ones are in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo (which we couldn't get in to as the tickets were sold out unfortunately). They were designed by Lornenzo Ghiberti in the beginning of the 1400s, after he had won a competition.
They have many different images on them, for example Abraham sacrificing Isaac - a story I am well familiar with now after the Letters of Light exhibition.

Lunch time. I had so much gorgeous food this week, different antipasti all the time, and delicious wine. We tried as many local specialities as we could.

Carin had a friend who works as a tour guide in Florence, so she met up with us and took us on a bit of a walk about. Here Piazza Della Signoria with the equestrian sculpture of Duke Cosimo I, a member of the Medici family.

Then we got down to the river Arno, to have a look at the iconic bridge Ponte Vecchio. Although our photographer didn't do a very good job of getting it into the picture of us... ha ha!

But there it is!

It was built in 1345 and was the only bridge in the city to not be destroyed by the Nazis during the WWII.

There used to be butchers, tanners and blacksmiths in the workshops on the bridge until the end of the 16th century. Then they were rebuilt, and the goldsmiths moved in. To this day, there are still jewellery shops lining the bridge, specialising in new and antique jewellery.

The view the other way, of one of the more modern bridges, the Ponte Santa Trinita. It is attributed to Michelangelo and considered to be the most beautiful bridge in Florence.
Originally it was built in wood in 1252, it was rebuilt in 1567, blown up in 1944 - and restored again.

Dinner time, more wine - yum!

Rome - Palazzo Barberini

Day 2 in Rome, and we continued our alternative sightseeing and decided to go visit the Palazzo Barberini, which houses the Museum of Antique Art, the main national collection of older paintings in Rome.

Bees, bees, bees, three bees are on the crest of the powerful Barberini family. This family, originally from Tuscany, made their fortune as wool and textile merchants; and it was also the family to which Pope Urban VIII belonged.

In the ceiling of the salon there is an amazing masterpiece by Pietro da Cortona, a fresco of the Allegory of the Divine Providence and Barberini Power, 1639.

The famous helicoidal staircase by Borromini.

We also did a little walk around the city, and I encountered another very familiar artwork. This tree by Giuseppe Penone, is reminiscent of the tree we have at the museum.

We had afternoon coffee at a really quirky place, the old workshop of Antonio Canova and his protégé Adamo Tadolini.
To have coffee seated down in the cafés here is really expensive, most Italians just grab a quick espresso on the run, standing at the bar counter. But here we thought it was worth paying three (!) times as much, to get to sit and enjoy this beautiful place for a while.

Rome - Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna

For our first day excursion we decided to go somewhere that Carin had been wanting to visit herself for a while. I've already seen the "main" sights in Rome, so I was game for anything. So we went to the Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art.

It was a great visit, as there wasn't many other people there at all; and I enjoyed both the beautiful building and the exhibition immensely. The museum offers a view on art starting from the 1800s to today.

I so enjoyed walking around the galleries delighting in new artists to me, and recognising very familiar ones.

The space was amazing, large and airy.

We weren't sure if these chairs were part of the interior, for the museum 'guards' or if they were - art? They were really beautiful nevertheless.

I found many of the same artists we are displaying at the Louvre Abu Dhabi, like Michelangelo Pistoletto:

To end, here's a couple of favourites, Antonio Canova and Giuseppe Penone - and me!

Ciao Roma!

It is hard to believe that these two photos are taken the same day - but it is indeed true.
This is my very good friend Carin, who lives in Rome since 30 years back. We both work as guides and share an immense passion for all things art, history and culture. We also both turn 50 within a few months of each other (well, she's already turned the corner, congratulations!) so we decided we deserved a bit of a celebration.
We agreed I would come see her in Rome, and that we would travel together to explore Florence.

I landed early in the morning (5.15 am, ouch!) and she ran a bit late coming to pick me up. This made her stress through the airport to find me, and in her excitement she missed a small bollard and went flying - crashing into a big bollard chest first. She didn't even have the time to use her arms to protect herself. It looked really dramatic and violent.
She lost her breath completely and it was so bad the passing police called the ambulance for her. Although, by the time it arrived, she was already feeling a bit better, so there wasn't much for them to do other than plaster up her knees, that also had taken a bit of the fall. After a bit of a rest, we could go back to her house.

Later in the day we went to visit the Modern Art Museum (that's for another post) and even though she had trouble walking, and such a sore chest I wasn't allowed to make her laugh; we had a great visit. We stayed at the museum for lunch, and sat outside in the sun for lunch. Glorious!

Flooded

Late yesterday evening, while watching TV and just at that moment when we contemplating going to bed, there was a strange loud bang from somewhere. Nathan and I looked at each other, and while we texted Linnea if she was doing something upstairs, she texted us the same. Strange.

Then we could hear - the rain?? Or..?
Nathan went to have a look in the hallway, and discovered a flood of water coming through from under our front door. We could hear it GUSHING just outside, and all of a sudden we had to leap to action as the water kept coming in at a raging speed!

It turned out there was a major water pipe that had burst, right outside our door, and the - warm - water was quickly filling up the corridor, seeping into every apartment. There was an alarm blaring and people shouting, neighbours making sure everyone was ok. This photo below is after it had all stopped, but as the water was warm, it was completely steaming.

We used every available towel in the house to create mounds to stop the water from going further into the apartment than the hallway, as there are no thresholds on the whole floor apart from into the bathrooms (where we would have actually liked the water to go, as they have drains!). At the same time as we were struggling to stop the water, we also had to start swabbing it up, as there was just SO much water. Even though we have an industrial Kärcher, the best method turned out to be a scraper and a shovel.

Finally the maintenance crew managed to turn off the flood and we could start the major clean up. Even though it was not exactly what we wanted to do on a Sunday night, we were so relieved we were actually home. If we wouldn't have been here, the whole downstairs would've been destroyed by the water as it would have entered all over. Phew.

Not only did I have to wash all the towels in the house the next day, but there was window cleaning scheduled, so I couldn't dry them on the balcony. Fun, fun, fun. Ah well, it could've been worse.

Korean BBQ

We had some things to do in the city on the weekend so we took the opportunity to try a new place for lunch. I had read about this Korean BBQ place that I wanted to go to, and we were not disappointed. So much food, fun to experience, and fairly cheap and cheerful!

We'll go back for sure. Yum yum!

With a great big hug, and a kiss from me to you

It was Flag Day today in the UAE. This gets celebrated in most places by a flag raising ceremony accompanied by the national anthem. So we started our work day outside by the flag pole.

I came to work having chosen an all over monochromatic purple theme for my MOOTD (=Museum Outfit Of The Day, ha ha!). Purple is my colour, I felt joyful and happy!

That was until one of my colleagues exclaimed when she saw me:
-"Oh cuuute, you look like Barney!"

*Duh*...
But I guess Barney's nice!