Memories of Tuscany

I am lucky that I had the chance to enjoy the beauties of Tuscany. I lived in Florence for a year (2006-2007), and during that time I visited Pisa, Chianciano, Fiesole, Arezzo, Tavarnelle in Val di Pesa, Prato, Lucca... and I fell in love with Siena.

I will start with Florence, since I lived there and it is the place I am most acquainted with. It is a beautiful city. A smelly, old, dirty, unfriendly, beautiful city. It lives from it's old glory, that is the numerous monuments, palaces, churches, squares, and streets, so that the new things being built are on the outskirts of the city, and are just plain, normal buildings. The main university has been transferred from the center to the periphery of the city, but with not much success since at night the part is known to be a gathering place for prostitutes. Ok, this was a fact at the time I used to live there, which is five years ago, so I hope it has changed during these last years. However, Florence is situated in a valley, so there are very few higher points to climb. My personal favorite was Piazzale Michelangelo. I adored that they organized concerts on that piazza, with the view of the whole city.

However, being in a valley, Florence in summer is hot. And not normal hot, but HOT hot! There is no breeze, just damp hot stinky air. I keep emphasizing stinky and smelly because the whole city is consisted of narrow streets, which during the night get peed on in large quantities, so during the day wherever you go you sense the smell of piss. That during summer is even more emphasized.

Besides Piazzale Michelangelo, my favorite place in Florence was Piazza Santa Croce. The large empty (only on occasions filled with bancarelle) piazza in front of the beautiful church has always given me a sense of serenity, which I can not explain. The church is very famous also because inside are the tombs of famous persons like Michelangelo, Galileo, Ugo Foscolo, Vittorio Alfieri etc. However, for me, the inside of the church was not something I enjoyed. In fact, I visited the church only once, also due to the fact that there is a ticket you have to pay to get inside.

The third place I thoroughly enjoyed was, of course, Piazza della Signoria, and especially the Loggia, where I used to sit for hours and just look at the people, or listen to the music the street artists would play, or laugh at the jokes the street clown would do to the passers-tourists. One time, me and my friend were lucky enough to meet an elderly Florentine man who told us hundreds of stories about the city. He took us to a private tour and showed us some of the hidden gems you don't usually get to see with the guided tours, or you don't notice by yourself. He showed us the hidden face of the artist on the back of one of the sculptures of the Loggia, the carved face in the wall of the Palazzo Vecchio, said to be made by Michelangelo himself while watching a public execution. He took us to see The Olive Tree of Peace planted at the place where a bomb exploded in '93 near the Uffizi Gallery, places with remains of the big flood (1966), etc.

Another place I often went with my friends was the terrace of La Rinascente, overlooking Piazza della Repubblica. Beside the fact that the coffee was exquisite, the view, especially when there was sun, was beautiful. Even though the coffee costs more than anywhere else, it is well worth it.

One obvious building that has to be mentioned when speaking about Florence is the Duomo (Santa Maria del Fiore) which is one of the biggest churches in the world (5th biggest in Italy, after 2 in Rome, Milan and Padova). It occupies the central place of the city, and its vastness is really breathtaking.

Another symbolic place not to be missed if you are one of thise tourists who roam a city looking for places from postcards is Ponte Vecchio. The "old bridge" (literal translation) was built to connect Palazzo Vecchio and Palazzo Pitti, which is on the other side of the river and together with the Boboli gardens is well worth a visit.

The other side of Arno is where young locals gather at night, mostly in Piazza Santo Spirito, but also everywhere around in the old narrow streets.

View of Florence with Ponte Vecchio from Piazzale Michelangelo

Florence is believed to be one of the cities with most art in the world, so it has tourists almost all of the year. While it is a good thing for the city, it is not such a good thing for the people who live there. It used to take me 40 minutes to get from the Duomo to my appartment (which was on Piazza Sant'Ambrogio), a distance I could pass in 20 minutes when the streets were empty. I think that it is the main reason why i Fiorentini are so unfriendly. They are literally the most unfriendly people I have ever met! And they are rarely to be found IN the city, because they go to places that aren't visited by tourists, bars and clubs that only they know. It happened more than once that someone was really rude if I asked something, like direction or the time. Oh, and they speak the most uncomprehending Italian in all of Italy! Words like Hoha-Hola (Coca-Cola) and Hasa (casa) remained a recurrent joke when speaking about Florence. I must say that all of this was a major throwback the first month I arrived in Florence. But, after a while I got used to it, and didn't really pay much attention.

Siena

While Florence is the most famous city in Tuscany, Siena was the true gem for me. It is a BEAUTIFUL city. Not crowded, more laid back, but with all the important historical sites and structures. I used to go there often just to get away from the crowds, relax on the main Piazza, walk around in the streets, go up to the Duomo, and just enjoy the views of the city. Naturally, Siena is also cheaper than Florence, which is another advantage.

Siena's main square

Another small city I thoroughly enjoyed visiting was Lucca. Its center is surrounded by a wall that was built to protect the city, and now it is a limit to the city center, where you can walk for hours and discover small streets, shops and cafés. As in all Italian cities, the main square has its big church, and the stairs where you can sit and relax.

Arezzo is also a town in Tuscany well worth visiting. It is the setting of the film La vita è bella by Roberto Benigni, and everywhere around the town there are signs that show which scene was shot there. If you are into poetry and have read Renaissance poets, you can visit the house where Petrarca was born in Arezzo.     

Chianciano (photo by Elisa Correa)

Finally, you can't say you really visited Tuscany if you haven't been in the smallest villages in the vast beautiful fields and hills, almost deserted and centuries old. Centuries old can also be said about some of the inhabitants you might encounter there.. I guess slow food and fresh air really do make a difference. 

Madame Bovary

I just finished reading the book. Why on earth did I wait until now - I don't know. However, here are my favorite parts from "Madame Bovary":

(Part 2, Chapter I) The chemist answered: "I have a religion, my religion, and I even have more than all these others with their mummeries and their juggling. I adore God, on the contrary. I believe in the Supreme Being, in a Creator, whatever he may be. I care little who has placed us here below to fulfil our duties as citizens and fathers of families; but I don't need to go to church to kiss silver plates, and fatten, out of my pocket, a lot of good-for-nothings who live better than we do. For one can know Him as well in a wood, in a field, or even contemplating the eternal vault like the ancients. My God! Mine is the God of Socrates, of Franklin, of Voltaire, and of Beranger! I am for the profession of faith of the 'Savoyard Vicar,' and the immortal principles of '89! And I can't admit of an old boy of a God who takes walks in his garden with a cane in his hand, who lodges his friends in the belly of whales, dies uttering a cry, and rises again at the end of three days; things absurd in themselves, and completely opposed, moreover, to all physical laws, which prove to us, by the way, that priests have always wallowed in turpid ignorance, in which they would fain engulf the people with them."

(Part 2, Chapter IV) … Her husband, was he not something belonging to her? As to Emma, she did not ask herself whether she loved. Love, she thought, must come suddenly, with great outbursts and lightnings--a hurricane of the skies, which falls upon life, revolutionises it, roots up the will like a leaf, and sweeps the whole heart into the abyss. She did not know that on the terrace of houses it makes lakes when the pipes are choked, and she would thus have remained in her security when she suddenly discovered a rent in the wall of it.

(Part 2, Chapter VII) The flames, however, subsided, either because the supply had exhausted itself, or because it had been piled up too much. Love, little by little, was quelled by absence; regret stifled beneath habit; and this incendiary light that had empurpled her pale sky was overspread and faded by degrees. In the supineness of her conscience she even took her repugnance towards her husband for aspirations towards her lover, the burning of hate for the warmth of tenderness; but as the tempest still raged, and as passion burnt itself down to the very cinders, and no help came, no sun rose, there was night on all sides, and she was lost in the terrible cold that pierced her.

(Part 2, Chapter X) But she was so pretty. He had possessed so few women of such ingenuousness. This love without debauchery was a new experience for him, and, drawing him out of his lazy habits, caressed at once his pride and his sensuality. Emma's enthusiasm, which his bourgeois good sense disdained, seemed to him in his heart of hearts charming, since it was lavished on him. Then, sure of being loved, he no longer kept up appearances,

and insensibly his ways changed.

He had no longer, as formerly, words so gentle that they made her cry, nor passionate caresses that made her mad, so that their great love, which engrossed her life, seemed to lessen beneath her like the water of a stream absorbed into its channel, and she could see the bed of it. She would not believe it; she redoubled in tenderness, and Rodolphe concealed his indifference less and less.

She did not know if she regretted having yielded to him, or whether she did not wish, on the contrary, to enjoy him the more. The humiliation of feeling herself weak was turning to rancour, tempered by their voluptuous pleasures. It was not affection; it was like a continual seduction. He subjugated her; she almost feared him.

(Part 2, Chapter XII) He had so often heard these things said that they did not strike him as original. Emma was like all his mistresses; and the charm of novelty, gradually falling away like a garment, laid bare the eternal monotony of passion, that has always the same forms and the same language. He did not distinguish, this man of so much experience, the difference of sentiment beneath the sameness of expression. Because lips libertine and venal had murmured such words to him, he believed but little in the candour of hers; exaggerated speeches hiding mediocre affections must be discounted; as if the fullness of the soul did not sometimes overflow in the emptiest metaphors, since no one can ever give the exact measure of his needs, nor of his conceptions, nor of his sorrows; and since human speech is like a cracked tin kettle, on which we hammer out tunes to make bears dance when we long to move the stars.

(Part 3, Chapter VI) … Emma was no longer there. She had just gone in a fit of anger. She detested him now. This failing to keep their rendezvous seemed to her an insult, and she tried to rake up other reasons to separate herself from him. He was incapable of heroism, weak, banal, more spiritless than a woman, avaricious too, and cowardly.

Then, growing calmer, she at length discovered that she had, no doubt, calumniated him. But the disparaging of those we love always alienates us from them to some extent. We must not touch our idols; the gilt sticks to our fingers.

How I remember (and love) London

Watching the Olympics and all the marathons through London, I was reminded of why I still think London is one of the best cities in the world. Even though 4 years have passed since I left London, the memories are still vivid in my mind.

The first thing that comes to my mind when thinking about my time spent in London are the long walks I would take from one part of the city to another. My own personal marathons. Walking for hours and hours, going from one neighborhood to another, noticing the differences and the similarities between them. I used to walk from Notting Hill, across Hyde Park, passing Oxford Street, going to Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square and Soho, finishing with a meal in Chinatown.

A view of Big Ben from Trafalgar Square

Or another route from Russel Square, all the way to Covent Garden, continuing to The Strand, then Trafalgar Square, Westminster, Westminster Bridge and then on the other side towards Tate Modern, one of my very favorite places in London. There were also long walks in Camden, Brick Lane, Chiswick, Hammersmith, Kensington... Sometimes alone, sometimes with my friends and sometimes with my then-boyfriend. Those beautiful days with plenty of sun... or the rainy days, with us under the umbrella. It was pure perfection.

Sometimes, the sunset would make everything even more perfect

By the second month I was there I had it all figured. The Saturdays were for Notting Hill and the Sundays for Brick Lane. I would eagerly wait for those weekends just to enjoy those wonderful markets! I have to admit I didn't buy much. I, being a well-known shopaholic, would be satisfied just by that atmosphere.

The colors of Notting Hill

Yes, London is expensive. Food is expensive, transport is pretty expensive, going out at night is ridiculously expensive, however the museums are free! Tate Modern, the British Museum, the National Gallery.. they are all free! Which is amazing!

Another thing that's amazing and free are the beautiful parks! My favorite was Regent's Park, however one should not miss St. James's Park, Hyde Park of course, and all the small gems throughout the city. I was really astonished of how they managed to have all those really well-maintained green spaces in every neighborhood.

St. James's Park

Another place I loved relaxing in (but not for free) were the pubs. I'd have a beer, mulled wine in winter, some snack or whatever. Alone, with a book, with a friend, or with a larger company. Sometimes I'd just have a conversation with a complete stranger, and it would all feel so familiar, so home-like.

Books are another thing I associate with London. I clearly remember people reading books everywhere. I admire their culture of reading and the variety of bookstores. I loved the small (and bigger) bookshops on Charing Cross with second-hand books hidden in the basement or in the attic looking older than the books themselves. (I hope they survived the economic crisis.)

In London, I loved going to the theater. Watching Kevin Spacey, Jeff Goldblum, Christian Slater, or singing along to the songs in the musicals was truly an extraordinary experience. So extraordinary that I could not afford it more often, since going to the theater costs a lot. However, I am happy with what I managed to see.

Finally, what I truly liked and could never forget about London was the politeness of the people. They always have some kind word, a smile, or an advice to offer you, even if you are not looking for it. I was stunned by people offering me help by themselves the first days when I was struggling with my map. Later I felt such pride when I was the one that could offer help to tourists!
Oh, I am so going to London again soon! :)     

When in Rome..

I've visited Rome in all seasons: in winter, in spring, in autumn, and this last time - in plain summer. Being the beginning of July, I was prepared for the heat, but one thing I wasn't prepared for was the humidity. It really felt like 100 degrees! Luckily, the Romans managed better with the heat than with the snow. When I was there in February, there was around 1 cm of snow and the whole city was literally paralyzed.

Since I had been there before I didn't need to visit all the tourist attractions, monuments, fountains etc. and that was such a relief. But it wasn't so easy for all the hoards of tourists, mainly American, that in 100 degrees Celsius sun would be brave enough to get on an open roof bus being driven around the city. Visiting Fontana di Trevi was a nightmare, at any hour of the day. I would literally just try to get away from all those people, completed with the annoying sellers of all kinds of stupid-things-no-one-would-buy! The Spanish Steps are always a little bit more relaxed because there is more space, however the annoying sellers there become even more annoying, throwing small glowing balls (I couldn't figure out what those balls were!) in the air ALL the time.

Anyhow, I should start from the beginning. My first "adventure" at the airport. My happiness of finally arriving, after the 6-hours trip from Skopje to Belgrade in the bus, was killed when I saw the line for passport control for non-EU citizens.With 3 transatlantic planes arriving at the same time and only two policemen working, I figured I'd be there in the next hour. I wanted to shout "Macedonia is IN Europe you scumbags! It's not in Africa!!!" But I didn't. I waited patiently.

Having gone through that, I decided I would take the bus to get to the city center, since it was the cheapest way (the train is 14 euro, the bus 4!). I bought the ticket, waiting for 5 minutes while the girl was talking on the phone explaining to her colleague how she flirted with the cute French guy who bought the ticket before me. I wasn't really in the mood to fight, so I just let her finish. Waited patiently again. The ticket bought, I went outside to find the bus that was supposed to leave in 10 minutes. Seeing a huge group of people waiting I knew that it was the place and that the bus was late. I tried to count how many people were there, but it was obvious to everyone there were TOO MANY! I stood in a strategic position, behind a guy who knew the woman from the company, who was standing there trying to make some order. When the bus arrived you can (or cannot) imagine the chaos, everyone trying to push their suitcase or bag in the bus, pushing people to get into the bus, while the woman was yelling "calm down, calm down"!! I successfully managed to put my luggage and find a place in the bus, and had to watch around 15 people outside being told just to wait for the next bus, who-knows-when! I felt sorry for those people, but in the same time I was proud of myself that I managed to act in Italian mode!

What unintentionally marked my trip to Rome was their win in the semi-finals of the European Championship against Germany. Seeing all the people on the streets celebrating, drinking, singing, yelling, breaking bottles, joking, laughing, chanting.. you would think they won the World Cup! It was the creation of this euphoria why their loss in the finals was so tragic. 100 000 people were gathered in Circo Massimo to watch the final.. and I didn't see (but I can clearly imagine) how they left it after they lost 4:0 from Spain.

I knew that the beaches around Rome are very crowded and not very nice, but with that weather the beach was inevitable. So, me and my friend decided to visit Ostia Antica, which is an archaeological spot on the way to the beach and then continue and just randomly choose where to go. I don't know what I'd expected from Ostia, but in that sun it might as well have been the Taj Mahal, I would only think of the beach and the water. A lot of ruins, a confused person at the entrance, no proper map or guide, a bunch of Americans, toilets with no toilet paper, a nice sandwich at the restaurant and we were good to go. Oh, and google-translated-signs:

We decided we would go to the last train station, hoping that the beach there would be less crowded, being further from the city. But, my eagerness and excitement was killed when we got close to the beach and we couldn't enter, because they were "private". I couldn't understand how can a person say that the sand or the water is their, and that you have to pay to "use" them!! We would not pay for something that is there for free so we decided we would look for a "spiaggia libera" (free beach). Luckily, we walked only for about 5 minutes and we saw the sign.. small, neglected, rusty sign. We immediately said we were going to the free beach, but the guy at the entrance would not let us in, instructing us to go up the stairs, pass the official entrance and explain there where we were going. I kept thinking how a tourist that doesn't speak Italian, would not menage with all that or would not want to be bothered and would simply pay. In the end, we got in, we found a nice spot and we enjoyed our day at the beach.

Another thing I truly enjoyed this time in Rome was Castel Sant'Angelo. I hadn't been there before and I always wanted to see it. It's really worth the money and the time. The view of Rome from there is spectacular. I'd recommend it to everyone!

With all that, the best part of the trip was spending time with my friends and eating some really really tasty food. I ate some great home-made meals, and I went to some amazing restaurants. However, it's definitely the common rule: always avoid the places where you can see more than 5 tourists!! :)        

La Pianiste

It's been a long time since I've watched a movie that inspired such strong emotions in me to be disgusted and intrigued at the same time. To be covering my eyes and wanting to scream "Nooo!!", but curiously expecting what will happen next.

Apart from the amazing music throughout the whole movie, the extraordinary performance by all of the actors, the artistic scenery and camera angles, there is Haneke's mastery. The mastery of knowing how to shoot the face expression, of how long to make a scene last, of when to cut the scene and leave us wondering.

Even though the movie is made according to the book "La Pianiste" by the Nobel laureate Elfriede Jellinek, in my opinion no other director would be able to make that transfer from paper to screen more convincingly.

The main theme the book and the movie explore is the domination-submission relation. All of the characters are dominating at one point of the movie and are then submissive in other circumstances. It captures perfectly the reactions of the characters. How does the other part behave and react when one is dominating and how when one is submissive. Isn't love a game of submission and domination? Aren't all relations we form during our lifetime in one manner just a reflection of our position of dominating or submitting? Isn't the most essential relation of the individual and the society a relation of submission on the part of the individual?

Erika is firstly oppressed by the society which condemns the individuals like her. That is, individuals that do not conform to the general rules of socially acceptable behavior. She has to act strict and righteous in order to conceal all of her frustrations, sexual and non-sexual.

Then, there is the relation with her mother. Jellinek said that the character is based on her mother, and I am sure she is a representation of many other mothers, who are dominant and submissive at the same time. One moment inducing pity and the next hatred.

Finally, the relation with her lover. Benoît Magimel is really wonderful to watch as he goes through all the different stages of submission-domination. First, the woman is domineering, setting all the rules and having the power to command the boy, who being in love and younger is immediately put in that position. But, what can the woman expect when expressing her most hidden secrets, when completely opening herself to the man she begins to love? Only to concede her position of dominance and become completely vulnerable and in the hands of the man who now knows "the real" her. The boy doesn't immediately assume the dominating position, or isn't immediately aware of the change in their relation. When he becomes aware he is completely changed. Makes you wonder if it's not the exact same thing that happens in every love relation. The role of persuader changes gradually, and it's only after that we notice it.

I love movies that tackle so many different levels of the relations we form between us and the changes they provoke in our characters. I don't really know how come I haven't seen this movie earlier, but then again, I'm glad I didn't.
   

Le piccole cose

I found this lovely poem by Stefano Benni in one folder with papers from university. 

The small things (of you that I love)

1. Le piccole cose

che amo di te

quel tuo sorriso

un po' lontano

il gesto lento della mano

con cui mi carezzi i capelli

e dici: vorrei

averli anch'io così belli

e io dico: caro

sei un po' matto

e a letto svegliarsi

col tuo respiro vicino

e sul comodino

il giornale della sera

la tua caffettiera

che canta, in cucina

l'odore di pipa

che fumi la mattina

il tuo profumo

un po' blasé

il tuo buffo gilet

le piccole cose

che amo di te

2. Quel tuo sorriso

strano

il gesto continuo della mano

con cui mi tocchi i capelli

e ripeti: vorrei

averli anch'io così belli

e io dico: caro

me l'hai già detto

e a letto

stare sveglia

sentendo il tuo respiro

un po' affannato

e sul comodino

il bicarbonato

la tua caffettiera

che sibila in cucina

l'odore di pipa

anche la mattina

il tuo profumo

un po' demodè

le piccole cose

che amo 

di te

3. Quel tuo sorriso

beota

la mania idiota

di tirarmi i capelli

e dici: vorrei

averli anch'io così belli

e ti dico: cretino

comprati un parrucchino!

e a letto stare sveglia

a sentirti russare

e sul comodino

un tuo calzino

e la tua caffettiera 

che è esplosa

finalmente, in cucina!

la pipa che impesta

fin dalla mattina

il tuo profumo

di scimpanzé

quell'orrendo gilet

le piccole cose

che amo

di te.  

Water Serpent

Someone once told me that I looked like the girl in this painting while asleep.

It is still the most beautiful thing that anyone has ever told me.

I used to love that person.

I am now sure I fell in love with his words.

Now and then I still miss those words.