inside Rhodes

How do!

I’m finally getting out of the midsemester cycle of illness that comes with going to college– it walloped me good this time– and I got out of my room to see this:

Yeah, I did something touristy, again. I visited one of the landmark churches in Florence, Santa Croce, which is a goldmine of famous Italians’ tombs. Take a look around!

Santa Croce Grounds

Santa Croce Outdoor Walkway

Spleen Cafe Ha! that’s not a church, but it is worth mentioning

To Machiavelli

Hmmm Lots of tombs, all right?

Precursor to the Statue of Liberty ”The Liberty of Poetry” by Pio Fedi, 1877, dedicated to Giovan Niccolini

Hymnal/Missal

Even the Rafters Are Fancy

Fresco Uno by G

Fresco Due by G

Paintin the Saints Up in Gold

Santa Croce Square

Santa Croce Square Due

Professional Street Performers These guys were breath-takingly wow good. They played a tune I recognized from my Gypsy Violin book! That is, my now authenticgypsy book! (yay)

Dante Statue

Good news! The construction by my place has moved on up the street and I can nap again!!! Thanks to all of you who kept me in your thoughts during this difficult period in my life.

All right, so most of my friends know that if there is one person in the world they can count on for being terrified of something mundane, it is their pal Jenny. Confession: I can’t stand driving, which has now developed into not wanting to be a passenger in a car either. (It seems I should stick to planes.) That’s great, you say, but why are you telling me this?

Because I am quite used to the terrors of American traffic, but there was nothing I could ever watch on TV that would have made me believe the bizarre reality of traffic patterns in a European city. The experience is surreal. But with little EuroCars, what can they do that’s so amazing? They can do a one-point turn out of cramped parallel parking. Pure magic. PLUS the side-view mirrors are hinged, so that when you park on a curb you can FOLD IT IN! HAHAHHAHAHA…yeah, space is precious in Florence. In short, I constantly think that I am about to be in a devastating accident, and then the stick shift does something that defies the laws of physics, or the car is smaller on the outside than it is on the inside, eccetera, and nothing happens… frankly, I’m puzzled. Here, let me show you little of what I’m talking about:

Here is some nice American driving. Notice how the cars stay neatly between the lines, in one particular lane of traffic. Cars pass on the left, and slower traffic keeps right. Everyone feels relatively safe, even if there is a bit of parallel parking going on.

And this is what I’ve seen drivers do in Florence. Please note that the cars drive steadily on top of the lane divisions. They are more of a suggestion than a rule, non vero? (Isn’t that true?) Passing is done on a bent crescent course around the intruding vehicle, neither of which are likely to do anything but accelerate during this spectacular, bloody battle of wills!

Right, well, I guess that gives you an idea. In general, I close my eyes and pretend I’m on a rollercoaster. Hairpin turns, stomach-lifting drops, pedestrians and bicyclists with the mindset of invincible teenagers… it won’t be easy to forget this part of living in Florence!

My experience at the Teatro Communale was excellent! I saw Elektra , practically a black box production, everyone in plain draped black dresses and the two villains in white. I understood about fifty percent of the Italian, which is not bad seeing as it was translated first from German and based on story in Greek mythology. Could not understand anything they sang in German, unfortunately.

Midterms are coming up next week, hope everyone in TN enjoyed the break and the snow (I wish I could have seen it!), and rest assured that I will do something else interesting enough to talk about in the near future!

Jenny