intensity

monday, june 21

[note: i'll fill in the story of the previous weekend later...i just feel like moving forward with the blog now!]

this day was very low key, met for professor biow's class at the school and discussed raphael (i almost forgot how much i LOVE him until we talked about his masterpieces in detail in class...love that guy). after class i went out to grab lunch and just walk around for a while, bought some BEAUTIFUL italian silk ties, had italian class and then just headed home. martina was over when i got there (always a pleasant surprise) and i just love that girl so much. i interviewed her for my italian class and she wants to be a veterinarian (i did at one point also...and she's left-handed!...so much in common - friend soulmates <3).

tuesday, june 22

class with antonella, lunch from our favorite italian supermarket (despar) and then off to the MUSEI VATICANI!! so much to see and take in and definitely emotionally (and physically) draining...sistine chapel, le stanze di raffaello (with the school of athens, among other masterpieces), the laocoon sculpture, paintings, statues, amazing art history overload galore. seeing the laocoon and apollo belvedere statues was incredible and walking through so many grandiose rooms packed-full of art was like a dream come true. and intense.

my favorite part of the museums were definitely the rooms by raphael, especially the school of athens. i stood in front of it for probably thirty minutes and then went back after the group left about two hours later for another thirty or forty-five minutes. it's just breathtakingly beautiful and detailed and a true marvel to see in person. standing, in awe, at the scale and beauty and fun and detail and movement on the school of athens is literally like nothing i've ever experienced before. i laughed (weird but there's a really funny detail of this guy pointing at and judging the figure of diogenes), i cried, i stared, i blinked, i got really really close to it and stood really far away, everything. just loved it and truly fell in love with raphael (mr. peavy, my high school art history teacher, would be proud). love you raph!

the sistine chapel, on the other hand, was an entirely different experience. it's one of those things that i'm glad i can say now "oh yeah, i've been to the sistine chapel" but was nothing like i expected. it was SO crowded and hot and generally uncomfortable, for me at least. i don't want to undermine how awe-inspiring it truly is, i couldn't take my eyes off of the last judgment, but i think some major changes need to be put in place in terms of how many people they let in at a time and the way the guards treat people and the lighting and yeah. enough complaining. I WAS AT THE SISTINE CHAPEL!!! woo.

after that we walked through the picture gallery of the vatican and saw some some leonardo's, more raphael, and a beautiful depiction of the garden of eden by wenzel peter. like i said before, i went back to look at the raphael's again after the group left, wanted to see a particular statue that was closed :( , bought some postcards, and made my way out. one minute i was there, one minute i wasn't. then it was raining and i was hungry :/ a very intense emotional day for me. then i went home and had a really intense discussion about homelessness and religion and life (all in italian! great success!) and then to sleep. quite a day.