Final additions

We acquired our last major addition to the apartment this morning: weights! Luckily there is a store in town that offers free shipping, so they arrived at our doorstep. I'd hate to have to carry all those metal plates across town! Since I haven't been doing much yoga lately (instead, I have managed to run every morning since arriving, though a shorter distance than what I did on Prospect Hill), I am going to start lifting weights a few times a week, too. No more flabby arms :P

I filled in the other important apartment items two weeks ago at Ikea--a dish rack and a shower curtain, which I had not seen ANYWHERE else. Figures I had to go to an 'international' store in order to keep water from flooding out the bathroom!

In addition to keeping water IN the bathtub, the curtain also helps to trap the heat from the water. The past couple weeks have really cooled off to the point where we get the chills really bad, especially after showering. The temperatures have been similar to that of Waltham--I think it was in the mid-40s last night. We could see our breath this morning! I hope this is below average, because if temps continue sinking we will be in bad shape this winter. At least we have a nice big down comforter to wrap up in :o)

You would think that with cool weather the mosquitoes would have subsided. However, they seem to be totally oblivious that it is nearly October and no longer hot outside. We kill several in the apartment every day, and even though we use a mosquito net over the bed they continue to attack. Two nights ago I woke up to buzzing in my ear--the mosquito net was touching my face and the stupid thing bit me in the middle of my cheek! The last thing I wish we could get is screens for the windows, but since Ikea didn't have them this seems doubtful. Ergh...

A bit off topic, but poor Seth has still been having problems with one of his post-wisdom tooth holes. He had them pulled about a month before we left, but now, two and a half months later, he is still having issues with one of the extraction sites. In fact, to our shock, a couple weeks ago he pulled out a fragment of tooth that was left after the operation!! So disgusting!! However, we did get close-up photos of it and he is saving it in a special espresso cup that sits on top of the fridge. He calls it his relic. I have yet to break the news to him that he isn't a dead saint, but I don't want to make this process more painful for him than it needs to be (supposedly when fragments are left behind they can cause pain for months). Poor guy :o(

I Tatti

The Harvard-owned villa where Seth works is a truly remarkable place. It really isn't very big--the facility consists of several buildings of varying ages (from mid-1500s to a few new additions), but the property itself is very large and winds through the hills that extend from Florence. Lucky for the rest of us that they try to keep much of the land more-or-less undeveloped, with the exception of the highly maintained gardens and farm. Apparently when the art critic and historian Bernard Berenson left the property to Harvard in the mid-1900s one of the stipulations was that the farm and garden must be kept. As extravagant as the villa is, strangely, it is almost completely hidden, with no real signs marking its location.

Each year I Tatti hosts perhaps 20 appointees, including 15 fellows and a few visiting academics, and houses a relatively large staff of about 40. The staff includes 8 gardeners and farmers, 13 cooks and house staff, 9 librarians, and a bunch of supporting administrators. Besides the beautiful property, many people are attracted to I Tatti for its Renaissance library--the best in the world. There is also a significant art collection and photograph collection left by Berenson. Apparently there was a break-in a number of years ago and since then the entire property has become highly secure, with 8 security guards, video surveillance cameras on every corner, and almost every single door requires a swipe card to enter. Needless to say, I would feel safe leaving my backpack unattended, though I would think twice about sneaking into the kitchen for an extra cookie!

The fellows are treated very well. Every day those who come up are fed a homemade Tuscan-style lunch made with food produced on site, which includes their own olive oil and wine. They also plan events, private museum tours, and two weekend trips. Partners of fellows are invited to some things, but it is really catered to foster the 'fellowship' of the fellows. Everyone here is a Renaissance scholar, but specializing in different fields. Seth, for example, is the only musicologist this year, but he may benefit from collaboration with fellows in Renaissance art history or literature, etc. I mostly like coming up a few days a week to work in Seth's office, enjoy the scenery, be around other people, and have afternoon tea to snack on cookies (these are no ordinary cookies!). The task at hand though will be to figure out how to gain access to the fig trees that dot the property...

Here are some pictures from the farm tour and potluck dinner earlier in the week:

The nondescript garden entrance from the main road

Where they make the wine
Parts of the farm

One of the Sangiovese/Merlot vineyards (left, in the fence) and olive orchard (right).

Some more of the property (I don't think the church on the hill is a part of it, but one of the fellows lives in the yellow building behind it)

There is some story about this old well. I didn't catch it, though.

Grapes juiced to make the sweet Vino Santo

The Limonaia all lit up for the potluck!

Possibly the best potluck ever

Statues, stockings and stomach

Yesterday I think Seth had a fun birthday, even though we had originally wanted to go to Siena for a weekend trip. This was postponed, however, due to threats of rain, but at least Siena is close by (and hour and fifteen minutes by bus) so we can go whenever, really.

We started the day off with a special lunch, though from two different places. I bought a döner kebab for myself--these are really popular here and in Australia, and since I had never had one before I was really excited to try one. They basically take shavings from a big pile of slow-roasted mixed meats, then wrap this up with salad, sauce, and apparently french fries...

Where we bought the döner kebab
The "kebabaiuolo" in action

After picking this up, we went to the famous Lampredotto cart at the corner. Recall that tripe is from cow stomach #1, cow stomach #2 and #3 are rarely eaten, and lampredotto comes from cow stomach #4, which is inedible to all but Florentines. It is such a local specialty that even those living just outside the city don't have access to it. I can't imagine why. Actually, most people here really, really love it, and certain visitors acquire a taste for it and go completely mad when they leave and can't get it any more. We pass the cart every day and the salty, saucy smell is actually pretty nice, and Seth had been waiting every since we arrived to try a sandwich. So, he had one for his special day. I even tried a tiny piece, even though I didn't think I would (I don't 'do' organ meat). It wasn't very chewy, but did have a distinctive taste. At least it was extremely salty and pretty oily from the sauce, which probably masked some of the strong flavour. Ironically, after our lunches both our stomachs were a little uneasy--not because of the unusual meat, but more likely from having so much meat in general (Seth has meat sometimes for lunch at I Tatti, but I have had only trace amounts since we arrived), and moreover having so much salt and oil.

The lampredottaio. He is surprisingly elegant, yet fast--it is his art! Watch him chop the meat then dip the tops of the buns in broth. (Seth is to the right, talking to a guy from Arezzo who has apparently become addicted to lampredotto.)

The lampredotto father and son team in action
Seth with his long-awaited paninoTaking a bite......thinking...
...so far so good...
...uh oh, is something wrong?...
...he likes it!

totally disgusting
I think I prefer my kebab

In the afternoon--with the help of Seth's nifty pass!--we recovered by treating ourselves to the Bargello, a prison-turned-museum of Renaissance statuary. We knew it was going to be good, but we didn't expect it to also be quite so large. We didn't make it all the way through before getting kicked out for closing time. We will have to go back asap to finish it up! Besides, I want another good look at Giambologna's bronze turkey! A special treat was found in the special exhibit--Leonardo's St. John the Baptist (on loan from the Louvre). It made my jaw drop.

Leonardo, St. John the Baptist (1513-1516)

A South American themed shop we pass regularly--it always makes me smile!

We returned home and found some weird event going on below our kitchen. They were celebrating Firenze Park(ing) Day--different groups and organizations used art to turn parking spots into tiny parks to raise awareness for public parks and sustainability. It was a whole different type of art than what I'm used to at this point, but at least there was music so there was something to listen to in the apartment.

Park(ing) Day. Kinda weird if you ask me, but a good message nonetheless.

For dinner we had yet another treat--PIZZAIUOLO! I convinced Seth that his stomach was good enough to eat out again (otherwise he was going to make lentils for his birthday dinner!), and we lined up outside to wait for it to open. Florence isn't known for its pizza, but everyone claims this is best pizzeria in the city, and being just a few doors down made it the obvious choice for dinner.

Waiting for Pizzaiuolo to open

We wanted to eat inside, but even though we got their before it opened the seats inside were already booked up until 10pm. We were able to get seated right away outside, and now I know why--as soon as our prized pizza was brought out, it immediately started to pour rain! The waiters told us we couldn't come inside, so I threw them my credit card while Seth boxed the pizzas, we grabbed the glass of wine, and trotted home, all 72 meters of the way. Figures, we almost NEVER eat out, and when we do, we end up eating in! Also, it is ironic that while I typically go with meatless pizzas, I couldn't resist trying the Diavola with spicy salami. I was expecting some sort of hot prosciutto, but to my surprise it was basically like American-style pepperoni. At least it was very nostalgic of childhood birthday parties with pepperoni pizza! The night was topped off with cake (no gelato, unfortunately), and presents for the birthday boy :o)

AWESOME pizzas! (Just before the rain)

The best part about eating in, I suppose, is that you can do it without wearing pants.

Cake!

'Socks' for Seth (aka 'ladies stockings'???). I swear I bought these in the men's department!

Giostra della Stella di Bagno a Ripoli

Last night Seth and I hopped on a bus to the neighboring commune of Bagno a Ripoli for their annual Joust of the Star. It seems like most towns and cities have some form of a palio, or Renaissance-style competition between their town districts, like the one we saw in Ferrara last year. This palio is not hundreds of years old but was initiated 30 years ago to recollect their Renaissance past. Regardless, it was sure nice to be in a small town for a couple hours to enjoy some local entertainment (there was no one on the bus from Florence with us when we arrived and when we left!).

I still can't get over the Italian night culture. Even though it was a Sunday, the parade didn't start until close to 9pm and we actually had to leave before the jousting competition, around 10:30pm. The fireworks weren't even scheduled until sometime after 11pm, and there were still so many small children out!

The parade:

Filing into the Joust Ring:

This totally reminded me of a scene in the movie Under the Tuscan Sun :P

Compleanno d'Italia

It was wonderful to hear from family and friends over my birthday on Friday--that made the day really special! I kicked it off with a variation to our normal early-morning run. Instead of trotting along the Arno River we headed up the hill to Piazzale Michelangelo to enjoy the best view of Florence. I don't know why we don't do this more often--it takes as little as 15min to get to the top, has a beautiful view (even surpassing that of Prospect Hill, if you can believe it!), you beat the tourists so there is NO ONE there to push in front of you, and it feels great to swap flat road for a hill. However, this also means coming back down on a hard surface, either on paved road or steps, steps being much worse.

Our neighborhood is just behind and to the right of the big church near the front-right (Santa Croce). The library (Biblioteca Nazionale) where I had been studying is on the river, the dark building in the middle, and to the left of Santa Croce.

We took the road back down...

And found bread marking someone's parking spot.

Seth didn't have any orientation activities during the day so he stayed in with me for breakfast and lunch, then we went to indulge in the Medici Chapels at the Basilica of San Lorenzo. One of Seth's I Tatti perks is a pass to enter any of the 13 state museums in Florence, which include the heavy hitters like the Uffizi, Pitti Palace, Accademia, etc. The pass has his name on it and all it says is "Allow for free entrance. Priority.", and since these are quite rare, not many ticket takers know what to do with them. When we got the ticket window the guy looked at it and asked for how many. Two, of course! Saving about $22, we will have to make sure to visit lots of museums... whenever we want.

We had been dying to see the tombs since we learned so much about them in our Renaissance Art class--it houses the remains of several less popular Medicis (this was the powerful family that led Florence for several hundred years and basically launched the Renaissance), but the real attraction is the architecture and sculptures, left incomplete by Michelangelo. As the icing on the cake we saw the tomb of Lorenzo the Magnificent, the inspiration for our own Lorenzo's name. We really wanted to take the little guy with us to see his roots, but we had to catch a bus right after, so it didn't work out.

We rode the bus up to I Tatti for an evening concert in the old library. It was an impressive performance by four young Russian pianists, playing a newly restored 200 year old fortepiano (the precursor to the modern piano). This was the first time I had been to the Villa since all the fellows, visiting academics, and remaining staff arrived, so there were lots of people to meet. The group was composed of several dozen people, a good sampling of the best Renaissance scholars in the world, speaking a mix of English and Italian, so needless to say it was very intimidating at first. Surprisingly, everyone there was really nice and many people were warm and fun to talk to. For example, I met Harvard's Dean of Arts and Science. When she asked, I told her I was interested in nutrition, then she told me about her Coeliac disease. We were a match.

Everyone was treated to a buffet dinner out on a terrace after the performance. The food was typical 'rustic' Tuscan cuisine, so we got to sample some traditional favorites. In case you were wondering, none of the 7 or 8 dishes consisted of pasta, but they each were very heavy in olive oil. Oh my.

The best part of the evening: a ride home (in a Fiat), which saved us quite a bus ride and a long walk. Needless to say, it was a good birthday!