Interrail, #3: Siena

It’s the 7th of July, and we leave Florence in the early morning for a day trip to Siena. This is the Santa Maria Novella Station in Florence, which is very aesthetic, but also (in its origins) somewhat fascist.

After a sweat-inducing ascent from Siena station to the inner city, we are greeted at the gates by the Capitoline She-Wolf, who is something of a recurring theme in Siena, because according to the legend, the town was founded by the fugitive sons of Remus after the latter had been killed by his brother.

Siena is full of stairs and steep slopes. We’re nearing the cathedral, as the striped marble intarsia all around give away ...

There it is! The best gothic church facade in Italy after Orvieto. Now don’t get distracted by the gentleman in the foreground.

Inner sanctum.

As you can see, it is all about the stripes.

Weary wandering feet.

Sacred bums.

Dead babies, courtesy of Bethlehem.

I have such fond memories of learning by heart the stylistic characteristics of these stone pulpits created by several generations of Pisanos, it was kind of exciting to see one in real life. I can’t tell whether Max is being pious again in this picture, or just tired.

Squee! It’s the bowlshaped Piazza del Campo and the Palazzo Pubblico (which is one of the buildings I’ll be comparing to this tower for a seminar this semester).

These are infuriatingly meaningless tourist pictures and I apologise.
Next stop: Cinque Terre!

About not giving things to others.

Why have I never seen this before?

Lewis Takes Off His Shirt from Owen Pallett on Vimeo.

Fuck yeah, soaps as building blocks, fuck yeah, topless Pwen!
Also, the music, but you all know this anyway.

Interrail, #2: Florence

The second stop of our Interrail tour was Florence, a town where it’s very hard not to feel like a tourist, when you are a tourist. Luckily we had local support (Hi Alex!) and were shown some less obvious spots (like the wonderful Edison bookshop and the inside of a Florentinian home). On the other side of the spectrum ... the Uffizi, the Cathedral, everything else. Some of the places were so busy that I actually felt too uncomfortable to take pictures, which is why some defining aspects are missing from the photo documentary. I feel rather sad, for example, that I did not take pictures of the ridiculously enormous number of almost identical leatherware stalls at the market.
We stayed in Florence for three nights but had barely two days, because of the day trip to Siena (photos coming up next!). It was not at all enough time. We plan on going back, but avoiding the peak season.

The Menu Turistico: Duomo, Campanile, Battistero

That’s how the day started - checking out of Venice in the early morn.

Pigeon chilling on top of a rape in the Loggia dei Lanzi.

Imitating Paintings while waiting for our time slot at the Uffizi.

This was taken at the Edison bookshop (+café). I loved it there!

Night falls slowly. Too many pictures are being taken of me. Accidentally I really like this one.

Ha!

Some old bridge ...

Weird markings on the wall.

Imitating statues. Badly.

Catching some atmosphere ... San Frediano by night.

The To-Do list is endless! Danger: Stendhal syndrome

Inside the Cathedral.

Come prepared or you will be humiliated: With their zero tolerance attitude towards exposed skin, Italian churches show no mercy on the indecent!

Cooking in the beautiful, tiny flat that was Alex temporary home while we were visiting. Good times!

And one more thing, because it fits: READ THIS BOOK. DO IT!

The past has never been as beautiful as today.

 

I found out about Roger Mayne because the above picture of a ‘Girl Jiving’ taken in Southam Street in 1957 is the cover to my paperback copy of Ali Smith’s Girl Meets Boy (A fabulous book by an absurdly underrated writer that I can only recommend everybody to read. In fact you should read all her books!). After I fell in love with that cover photograph, I looked Mayne up and it turns out that he is someone I should have known all along. His pictures of urban England in the 50s and 60s (interspersed with the occasional country idyll, the odd portrait) are beautiful. I particularly like the ‘snapshots’ that remind a bit of film stills. 

Here is a selection, all taken from his website.

 

Interrail, #1: Venice

1. Venice clichee number 1: Canals and gondolieri.

2. Another typical looking picture of Venice that works well for introductory purposes.

3. The morning of July 4th. First hazy attempts at orientation after getting off the night train.

5. Our residence: “Ca’ Dario”. It had air condition.

6. Venice clichée number 2: Small canal, bridge over canal, preciously decorated gondola in foreground. I think this was taken was near Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari.

7. Public display of religion: In the face of outdoor icons of the Madonna, Max is turning increasingly pious.

8. Epic once-in-a-century storm, and we are ‘stranded’ at the Lido. Question of the moment: “Is a Vaporetto a Faraday Cage?" (I still don’t know.)

9. Day 2: Piazza San Marco. Isn’t the duomo pretty?

10. Star-struck by the tetrarchs.

11. Venice clichée number 3: Narrow walls lining a narrow canal. Laundry lines and boats.

12. In order to demonstrate our lack of interest in glassblowing, we visit Burano, not Murano. There are pretty, colourfully painted little houses there, and lots of people selling lace to tourists.

13. Oh yes, and this is us. We’re not that photogenic, but ...

14. Dusk in Venice.

I would like ...

All the colours ...

Assortedness.

As none of the avid observers of this blog will have failed to notice, I’m still putting off the formidable task of uploading, posting and commenting upon the enormous load of travel photos safely stored away on my hard drive.
Therefore, and meanwhile, a succinct representation in visual form of what I am chiefly occupied with at the moment.
Enjoy.

This is Max’s kitchen in a breakfast context.

This is the strange new doctor and his bitches.

This is couscous stuffed peppers with three kinds of cheese, aka devil’s cock and balls.

This is a page of the book on Herakles I was reading yesterday.

This is my stack.

Sign of Life.

I have been back in my native country for exactly a week, today, and thought it was time for at least a minor sign of life. Therefore the above proof of my uncanny ability to take anything literal - a picture of the quirkiest road sign in France, I assume, and one of what I believe to be over a thousand photographs taken on our Interrail trip through Europe. (Phaw.)
Hello again!
I have not grown a moustache over the last month, even though I never shaved.

Friggin Europe!

It's interrail time. Italy, France, England, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Poland here I come!

See you all in 30 days.

xxx