After our power nap (don’t you just love those), we headed to the infamous Uffizi. The Uffizi is basically the best and largest art gallery in Italy, and houses some of the worlds finest paintings. Anyways, you have to have reservations to get in otherwise you are sitting in a line that can take a few hours. However, our line didn’t seem to be moving much faster even though we had reservations…and it ended up taking about 45 minutes for us to get in. After we finally got in it was time to admire the artwork and how old some of the stuff actually was. It amazes me that they can have artwork that is nearly 1000 years old, and yet some of it looks like it was just made yesterday.

The Uffizi is set up with a bunch of separate rooms that are connected by a “U” shaped hallway. Each room seems to focus either on a particular time period or an artist. I must admit there was only a few paintings that I really wanted to see, mainly b/c I had just finished reading a book on Leonardo Da Vinci. However, some of the other art was very interesting and shouldn’t be overlooked. It was actually interesting to see some of the artwork of people that I had read about in the Da Vinci book, and be able to understand who they were and what their life was partially about.

So, there are 3 main pieces of artwork by Da Vinci in the Uffizi, and they are all in the same room. The first one painted was “The Baptism of Christ“. This painting was actually mainly painted by Verrochio, whom Leonardo was an apprentice for many years. According to the book, Leonardo only painted the angel on the far left, but research using ultra-violet lights has shown that he also painted a portion of Christ. Anyways, back in the day when it was painted people were absolutely in awe by this one angel since it stood out from the rest. Looking at the painting today you can’t tell much of a difference b/t it and the rest, but it was one of Leonardo’s first public displays of talent.

The second piece of artwork is “The Annunciation“. This is an impressive painting. According to the book all the flowers/shrubs that are under the angel are precise and very detailed. Leonardo was into details and spent countless hours studying the exact shapes and sizes of things in nature. Also, the wings of the angel were considered to be one of the first realistic paintins of how an angels wings would actually attach to a human frame. Leonardo studied human anatomy indefinitely and wanted to make the wings seem like they were actually a part of the body and not just something that was glued on. However, despite his efforts, apparantely somebody actually altered the wings slightly and made them look less realistic. However, this painting is still very detailed and impressive.

The third piece of artwork is the “Adoration of the Magi“. This is an unfinished painting (much like many of Leonardo’s works) that was commissioned by some monks in a monastary. However, what was unusual about the commission is that they didn’t want to pay with money, but instead they would give up some land. Therefore, there could be no upfront payment, and no payments during the course of the painting, so Leonardo was basically poor during this time. The details of this painting are that Mary and baby are surrounded, although not crowded as there is plenty of space which was uncommon at the time, by a bunch of people in complete “adoration”, however there seem to be two people who do not care…an older man (hand on his chin) on the left and a younger man to the right (looking away). Unfortunately I forget the theories behind why Leonardo put them in. Also, if you look in the background of the painting, although not finished, Leonardo was planning on putting fighting scenes with men on horses to show the chaos of the city and the world at that time, yet there was still this adoration of this one baby.

There is another sketch by Leonardo in the Uffizi named “Arno Landscape“. From what I remember this is a sketch of the landscape that Leonardo would have seen if he had gone into the hills near his hometown. I am not certain of this, but that is what I somewhat remember.

Finally, there is one painting by Michelangelo named “The Holy Family with St. John the Baptist“, and is one of his few paitings on canvas since he did not particularly like to do it. However, this painting absolutely stands out above the rest of the paintings in the room where it sits. The vibrant colors and details are amazing, and to think he considered himself a sculpture.

The Uffizi was definitely an enjoyable time, and shouldn’t be missed if you go to Florence. After the Uffizi we ended up heading to dinner, and then left back to Munich the following morning. Italy was great, and I can’t wait to head to Rome sometime in the future.

So, we arrived in Florence on Friday (Jan. 2nd) evening. Unfortunately we couldn’t find our hotel despite the great navigational skills of Barbie. Basically, downtown Florence is a bunch of one way streets where there are no designated lanes. Everyone just fights for a spot, and you just hope the car next to you sees you. Eventually we just pulled over, and someone from the hotel came by and we followed them. We stayed at the Grand Hotel Minerva…which is located right next to the Santa Maria Novella church and hospital. The hospital is actually where Da Vinci did most of his studies (ie. autopsies) of human bodies. He was considered to be the first one to be able to accurately document (with 3-dimensional drawings) the human body. Anyways, our first night we were somewhat tired from the driving so we didn’t do too much and just ended up going to some local restaurant and walking by the duomo.

Saturday we got up and decided to see the Santa Maria Novella church and then head to the main duomo of Florence known as Santa Maria del Fiore. Now this is an impressive church that made entirely of marble (white, red and green), and painted on the inside of the dome is a huge fresco of the “Last Judgement”. Here is a link with pictures of both the inside and outside…Duomo Pictures. Anyways, we waited in line for about an hour to be able to walk up to the top of the duomo and look out over Florence. Unfortunately it was absolutely freezing b/c the wind was really gusting and we were on the shaded side of the church. It was all worth it though b/c of the great view. It was an absolutely clear day, so much so that we could even see the snow topped Alps in the background. After our little sight seeing adventure we settled down for most of the rest of the day which included Lunch, a nap, a good dinner, and more rest.
Sunday was our BIG day since Barbie had reservations for us at the museum Galleria dell’Accademia and the Uffizi museum. The Accademia is where Michelangelo’s David is located. I had always heard how big it is, but I must say I was still awestruck by it’s enormous size. And to think, the Michelangelo created this out of a piece of marble that no one else wanted. Anyways, David was more than impressive, but the rest of the museum didn’t have much else to offer. After the Accademia we headed to the Baptistry which is considered to be the oldest building in Florence and is right next to the Duomo. It is mainly known for it’s bronze doors that are on three sides of its octaganal shape and portray different scenes from the Bible. Here is list of links regarding the Bronze Doors. Also, there are some statues that stand on top of one of the doors that were partly created by Da Vinci…here is me standing in front of the baptistry’s statues. Inside is another array of frescoes on the roof that portrays the Bible starting with Adam and Eve all the way to the “Last Judgement”. After the Baptistry we still had a couple of hours before our reservations at the Uffizi so we grabbed some lunch and headed back to the room for a nap. More on our Uffizi trip in “Italy Part III”.

After arriving back from Miami, Barbie decided we should throw caution to the wind and head to Italy for almost a week. Actually, the whole trip was planned b/c I had just finished a book on Leonardo da Vinci called “Leonardo: The Artist and the Man“, about which I will write later. So, on New Year’s Day we headed south for the winter. Our first stop was in Milan. Our only reason for going to Milan was so that we could see the Last Supper by Leonardo. So, on New Year’s Day evening we arrived in Milan, but we couldn’t see the Last Supper until the following day when we had reservations. So we decided to just walk around Milan and see what we saw…which ended up being a pretty cool looking castle. Unfortunately the interior of the castle was closed, so all we could do was just walk around the outside and in the courtyards, but still good to see. The following day we woke up a little bit early and headed out to the Duomo of Milan…which just happened to be undergoing some facade work, so pictures were a no go. However, we did a couple on the way, including one of me next to Leonardo’s statue.

Afterwards we headed to the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie where the Last Supper was painted. The Last Supper is actually a frescoe (i.e. painted on a wall), which I didn’t know until reading the book since my grandmother had a replica hanging in the inside of her house. Anyways, the painting was pretty cool, although you could tell it had gone through it fair share of degradation despite the restoration attempts, but what can you expect from something that was painted in 1495. Interesting story about this painting is that Leonardo left the painting unfinished for over a year with just the face of Judas missing (every face except for Jesus was from someone he had seen). After a while, the church friar or priest began to complain that Leonardo was no longer working on the painting, but in fact he was just searching for someone that looked like they could be Judas (ie. someone that would betray Jesus). After many complaints by the friar, Leonardo finally found his man…although it is rumoured that he incorporated many of the facial features of the church’s friar into the face of Judas. Moral of the story: don’t mess with an artist at work.

The other curious thing about the Last Supper was trying to decipher what the book “The Da Vinci Code” was referring to when it says there is an extra hand in the painting. If you look to the left of Judas (guy to Jesus’ right with his elbow on the table), there is hand there holding a knife. According to the theory portrayed in the ‘the da Vinci Code’, this is an extra hand as the angle of it cannot possibly be from any of the apostles. Although, upon my close inspection it looks like it should, or could, belong to the guy leaning over Judas…but it is still a weird angle. In any case, I like Barbie’s take on the hand with the knife…she says it was Leonardo’s way of showing that Judas was a ‘back stabber’. Use this link and the Image Viewer to get a detailed view of the Last Supper.

After Milan we headed south to spend the next few days in one of Barbie’s favorite cities, Florence (a.k.a. Firenze in Italian), and regions, Tuscany. However, I will have to write about that in the next post.

For the Christmas holidays Barbie and I headed south for the winter…as in South Miami. We pretty much had enough of this whole “white christmas” thing, and preferred the warmth of the Florida sun. Unfortunately when we got there it was a bit colder (40’s) than we expected, but it probably helped in avoiding us getting sick since the temperature change wasn’t so drastic and all of the sudden. Anyways, the total travel time was something like 20 hours, which included a 4.5 hour layover in London…so needless to say we were a little bit tired.
Instead of giving you the day by day routine I will just fast forward through the highlights of the week. Saturday (12/20) night I went to Morton’s Steak House to have a semi-bachelor party for Julian. Nothing crazy…just hanging out telling stories of his life and eating some good food. I was the only one to order the NY strip steak, and it ended up being the biggest steak I have ever eaten. Good steak is one thing that is lacking in Deutschland.
On Sunday my parents, Barbie and I headed up to hang out with the Railsbacks for the afternoon for a bbq. I forget what they were celebrating, but we were all invited to join in the fun so it ended up being a really good dinner (steak, chicken, shrimp, sweet potatos, etc.). My dad and I did get a chance to take on Nick and Troy in a little 2 on 2 basketball…we won’t talk about the results.
Monday was Julian and Tina’s wedding. Now this wedding has been a long time coming (since ‘93)…it just took them a little while to realize it. The ceremony was held out Old Cutler Presbyterian Church, and the reception was at the Red Fish in Matheson Hammock. Barbie and I spent most of the time hanging out with Jon and Jan, and I must say that the food that was served was excellent!! Here are some pictures of the happy couple.
The next few days are a bit of a blur…although I know I had a good time. Most mornings were spent shopping for christmas gifts for the family, and the afternoons were usually relaxing from what I can remember. I know I did play some tennis, hit golf balls, go to see a couple of movies, etc.
Christmas Day started with the traditional breakfast at our house…only this time the Pichardo’s joined us. Normally it is just us and my grandparents…but this year we added a few extra to the list. Anyways, after breakfast they all watched as Barbie and I opened a ton of gifts from my parents. I am pretty sure my mom had a great time shopping for Barbie this year…and she sure as heck didn’t forget about me. We were overly surprised! That afternoon we headed up to Hal’s for Christmas with the family. We had a great time just sitting and talking with everyone, but the true fun began with Santa and his little elf stopped by to pass out the gifts. Here are the pictures of Santa and his elf. I don’t recall what happened that evening, but it probably included a movie and relaxation.
The rest of our time in Miami we mainly relaxed and just hung out…which is a good thing. Most times you go on vacation and come back more exhausted than when you left. By the time we landed in Munich out Schaferhunde was ready to come home and join the family once again…Kymba seems to truly enjoy the snow.