Tag Archives: Abby

Apr20

Christmas in Italy – A tale of two churches

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Christmas in Italy – A tale of two churches

In keeping with the tradition of adventure, Sarah and I went on a big trip for Christmas and New Years!

This year, we met up with Sarah’s family in Italy, traveling to Rome and Florence; not quite a perfect midpoint for everyone, but it was close enough. And, also, you know. Rome. Florence. Amazing!

Please forgive me for some of these being a bit out of order… the posts are organized somewhat chronologically… but also organized by theme and location.  Some may not be exactly in chronological order, so for reference please see the initial summary post, which has a complete day-by-day, blow-by-blow account of the adventure.

 

Wednesday, 03-Jan

Of all the churches in Italy, I’m glad we walked into this one. It’s called the Abbazia Di San Miniato al Monte, and while it’s not the biggest in Florence, it was definitely the most memorable for me.

While this wasn’t the most ornate, impressive, largest, or… really any adjective like that, this church was honestly the most real church that we saw over the course of the whole trip. It was being renovated, with some sections closed off for work, but even with those blockages this place simply seemed more human than any other.

The building itself was unobtrusive. Even though it was perched on the high hill above the Piazza De Michelangelo, in full view of the entire city, it somehow seemed subdued. The walls weren’t gilded, and the doors were simple wood. Inside there were exposed rafters, simple wooden pews, and monks quietly cleaning the floors. It was… austere? Almost? This building still rivals the Cathedral in Boston in size, of course, but still somehow had a humble air about it.

It simply seemed lived in, as if it were used by everyday people.

 

Further evidence of everyday use lay surrounding the building, in the cemetery and tombstones that we walked through. This was honestly the first real graveyard that I’d seen in Italy; most churches seemed to have crypts, but none had the beautiful headstones and monuments that I’ve grown used to. I ended up just wandering for nearly an hour (I think), looking at engravings and memorials.

One of the most memorable ones was the tomb of a World War 1 pilot, and his family. It was done in marble and bronze, with a shattered propeller cast on top. Somehow that shattered prop was really moving to me, especially with the weather-etched bronze staining the marble below.

 

 

Our second church of the day was a lookback at the first day in Florence, when Sarah and I had been wandering around after the Uffizi – the Basilica di Santa Croce. A large church near the middle of town, with a huge Star of David adorning the front.

Turns out, this church houses the tombs of some rather famous people. You know, those guys named Galileo and Michelangelo. Their tombs were arrayed around the perimeter, above beautifully inlaid stone walkways. The kind that also have tombs inset in them… which always slightly messes with my head, since I don’t like the idea of walking on top of someones grave.

I steeled myself, though, since the tombs of the giants of the Renaissance were completely worth seeing. Their sarcophagi were fairly simple, but the adornment around the sarcophagi was what stand out in my memory – beautiful sculptures that seemed nearly lifelike, as if they were simply mourners who had been frozen in time.

See, most of the sculptures that we’d seen so far had been figures in obvious poses. The technical skill was obvious, but the figures didn’t look lifelike… they seemed stiff, as if they were flexing for the camera and holding a specific pose on command.

The figures surrounding the tombs here seemed alive. They weren’t posed, they were simply standing nearby, mourning the loss of those within. Cloth was draped over the step, or a hand was stretched out, steadying the figure against the wall. Simple motions that conveyed life and emotion.

I probably spent a bit too much time here, but I wanted to somehow get the perfect pictures… I’m sure I didn’t, but I’m still proud of how they turned out.

Jun7

Spring Break 2014 – A rest day in France

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Monday, 19-May-2014

Location: Cassis and the Provence region in general, also Avignon!

 

My second full day in France, it rained.

 

I woke up being a little surprised – We had spent a lot of time planning climbing the previous night, but I couldn’t hear anyone else around the house getting ready… as I left the room, everyone was sitting on the couch looking a bit dejected.  The rain pattering against the bay window told me why.

So, instead of heading directly to the climbing, we took a light breakfast at the house and then all rain-geared-up, and jumped in the car to look at Lilac fields.

 

The first stop?  The Abbaye Notre-Dame de Senanque, a small Cistercian abbey that’s known as one of the best examples of it’s style of architecture.

On the way over, we stopped in the small fortified town of Gordes first, to grab ourselves a bit of lunch and exploring before we subjected ourselves to the silence and reverence of walking through a working abbey…

  • Gordes is an old city… it was founded far before Roman times, but the majority of the architecture still shows the Roman influences – it’s tight up on a hill, full of narrow streets, winding staircases, and fortified walls.  Some of these walls even have cacti growing up around them… though whether that was a defensive measure or simply nature reclaiming it’s own I couldn’t tell.
  • Walking around the city was beautiful – we did stop into the castle / Chateau quickly, but it was honestly a bit of a let down.  It had some history, but not really all that much.  I found the real joy in just wandering around town, looking at all the little doorways, small corners, and little streets.
  • Lunch!  Always a good thing to have when it’s lunch time, and we had ours on one of the mid-layer walls, overlooking the fields and a whole bunch of cacti.  Panninis were the word of the day, from a little shop in what looked like an old wine cellar.  So good, though it did remind me how little French I understand, when I had to ask Daniel how to find the bathroom :/  Slowly but surely, I’m picking up what I need to know…

 

After exploring Gordes we made our move on the abbey – there was some debate about walking over to it, instead of driving, but time constraints kept us in the car.  Hindsight showed that to be a very good decision, as the road down to the abbey was rather terrifying to drive down… though the trips to Luminy and Morgieu would show us just how bad French roads can actually get…

  • The Abbey is Catholic… though you’d never guess from looking at it.  Ornamentation is strictly forbidden here – the only “pretty” things here was a statue of Mary & Jesus, a small demon-face to remind the abbot about the stakes of his work, and the cross itself.  Beds were far too luxurious for these monks, as was finished walls – the dormitory simply had straw mats and rough, unfinished stone walls.
  • The tour was conducted solely in French… very interesting for Daniel, but not so much for me.  I admit that I may have gotten a little bit bored while listening to our guide discuss the intricacies of the courtyard and the numerology inherent in the number of arches, but it was still quite a relaxing time, and a good chance to take many interesting pictures.
  • The grounds were amazing!  The Lilac’s weren’t in bloom just yet, but the whole area was just… serene.  The monks definitely chose a good valley to build their abbey in all those years ago…

After the Abbey tour was done, and we successfully navigated our way back up the terrifying road out of the valley, Daniel turned the wheel toward the old city of Avignon, where we were planning on doing a bit of exploring, and a bit of dining… But the drive took a bit longer than anticipated.  You see, the GPS system that Daniel got for his iPad has a double-negative for the “do you want toll roads” setting.. it asks “would you not like to avoid toll roads?”, and we may have chosen the wrong option… which led us down a horrible series of tiny little back roads.  Somehow we survived though, and saw the walls of Avignon ahead of us…

  • We drive through a tunnel through a fortified wall, and park underneath a castle.  Dude.  USA?  This is why everyone thinks Europe is cooler than you.  Back in the States we have oil fields and McDonalds.  Can you feel the difference here?
  • The castle we parked under was called the Papal Palace… unique, because no popes ever lived here.  One’s buried here though, so it’s a very popular pilgrimage site I guess.
  • Pictures!  So many pictures!
  • Walking through French cities is a bit amazing – the buildings are these contrast of gigantic and imposing stone structures on the main boulevards, and then tiny little streets with tiny little houses and shops on the side streets.  I’m sure some cities in the US are the same way, but it’s just so… old, here.  People never spread out, and so much effort was put in to fit so many houses within the walls of the city…
  • We scouted a ton of places for dinner – starting on the main drag, then following a few small streets, before we finally settled in to eat at one of the earlier places that we saw.  As is traditional in this area, fish was a big part of the menu… so I ended up with Salmon again – not a bad thing at all.  A quick walk found us gelato, and a quick purchase found that I can almost order stuff in French!  If I watch three people do it first.  And memorize how much it costs, so I already know how to give him change…  aww.
  • So I never took French in school… but if I had, I guess I would have heard some poem / song about a bridge?  In Avignon?  Daniel and Erin took French in school, and they’d heard a song about a bridge in Avignon.  The song is about dancing, so… off we go to Dance!  Nope.  Bridge is closed for reconstruction.  So instead, we all dance UNDER the bridge!  Aww yeah Chili Peppers.

Thankfully, the drive back to the Villa was a lot less… adventurous… as the drive to Avignon.  We got the GPS working right (after a few miles…) and made a beeline on the main roads back.  Nice, simple, and efficient.