George's marathon across Italy & Greece

George and I finally got some time to sit down and write this blog post about his trips. He has been so busy (and will be even busier as the semester goes on) so that is why it has taken us a week to share with all of you his adventures! (Also there is a lot to share so be forewarned this is long...)

So the adventure started on Wednesday, October 10th. The students took a train from Rome to Venice in the afternoon after one of their classes. When they arrived in Venice, the dropped their stuff off at the hotel (a hotel that ended up having bed bugs in one of their rooms) and then headed out into Venice. They wandered around until they were exhausted and starving finally stopping at what ever restaurant was near them at the time. The place ended up being horrible; high prices for nasty food.

Thursday, they went to see many buildings around Venice. Two of George's favorites were built by Sansovino.The first favorite is the library, which a famous architectural historian said was the most beautiful Renaissance building built. The second favorite being the loggetta in Piazza San Marco.  It is a small covered balcony area that the business men would meet in before going into the Ducale palace. It is located at the base of the Camponile (the big bell tower). He did not take pictures of either of these buildings, sorry.

They toured two Palladio churches, San Giorgio Maggiore and Il Redentore.

San Giorgio Maggiore

The Veneitians pledged to build Il Redentore if relieved of a plague and during the building of the church the plague subsided. Every year Venetians used to build a bridge of boats making a pontoon bridge in order to have a commemorative procession from San Marco to Il Redentore.

Il Redentore

For dinner that night, the married men went to a restaurant that had some of the best food George has had in Italy; radicchio risotto.

After dinner, George sat outside Santa Maria della Salute in the rain and sketched the drawing below. When I asked him on the phone what his highlight was on Thursday, he said it was sketching this drawing.

Before leaving Venice on Friday, the students went to a Ca' Rezzonico on the Grand Canal in the morning.  It is currently a beautiful art museum with frescos by Tiepolo.

In the afternoon, they took a train to Vicenza. This is a small town that is filled with and surrounded by buildings designed by Palladio.

On Saturday, they saw about a dozen Palladio buildings in about 4 hours. George's favorites were Teatro Olympico, Paladio's basilica and the Villa Rotunda. The Teatro Olympico is one of first classical theatres and part of academy that Pallidio was part of. Only tragedies were played in this theatre since it was thought that tragedies articulated the important things in life.

Palladio's basilica is the town meeting hall of Vincenza. (It is a basilica in the classic Roman understanding not the Christian understanding.) It is renovation of the Gothic town hall that sat where the Roman town hall sat in ancient times.

George did a drawing of little loggia designed by Palladio across from the basilica.

The Villa Rotunda is one of Palladio's masterpieces. It is still owned to this day by a family that lets guests come in once a week. The interior was amazing.

They took a bus to another Palladian building, Villa Badoer, which is a working farm that influenced many later architects.

From there they took a bus to Ferrara. When they arrived they went out to dinner; pumpkin ravioli in a ragu sauce. “Stunning” is how George describes this dish. A fellow classmate brought some home for his wife who then shared it with the other wives. I was surprised but I really like pumpkin ravioli!

On Sunday, George went to mass twice. Both time he went to mass at the Cathedral.  As he was leaving the first mass, the next mass began. Hearing Palastrina being sung, he turned right back around and sat down. Classic George! They sang Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli. After mass, he walked past the choir director and began talking to him. The choir was from a local parish, Santa Spirito, that had been singing for 20 something years. The cathedral had asked them to sing that mass that day because the city’s major solemnity was that day, the Solemnity of Mary of Childbirth. The choir director thought George was living in Ferrara and invited him to sing with them! Too bad he could not join them as I know he would love to sing with them!

After mass and then lunch, the students meet at the train station at 3 pm only to find out that the trains were on strike. So they ended leaving at 6 pm and arriving in Florence at 9:30 pm (they were supposed to arrive at 6pm).

After taking their professor’s advice on where to eat (advice only offered to George), he went out to eat with Stephen and Rob. They liked the place so much they ended up going back again the next night and he even ordered the same thing!

On Monday, the group toured the Duomo baptistery, San Lorenzo and the cloister attached to San Lorenzo where Michelangelo’s Laurentian library is.

In the afternoon, George went shopping in the pouring rain and went a little leather crazy. Ended up getting a few leather bound sketchbooks, wallets, a bookbag and a briefcase!!! Christmas and his birthday are all taken care of now! ;)

Tuesday, the group went to Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens. George says the palace was the most beautiful series of rooms he has ever seen and the gardens are the most beautiful gardens he has ever been in. They are one of the most famous gardens in Europe.

In the late afternoon, the students got on train heading back to Rome! It was nice to have him home even if it was only for 24 hours!

After a day in Rome, barely enough time to do laundry and repack, he was off to Athens. Keep in mind he was visiting during a country- wide public and private strike as well as a series of demonstrations/ riots. Their flight just missed the strike hours. They landed at 2 pm  and the air controllers’ strike ended at 1 pm.

Thursday afternoon, they arrived safely in Athens (phew!). The cabs that picked them up came in unmarked cars because they were breaking strike to pick the students up.

On the way to meet the dean of ND graduate architecture program, the students walked through remnants of tear gas a few blocks from the Parliament building where the riots were. They could feel the effects of the tear gas after they walked through it. When I talked to him (after he had been in Athens for three days without hearing a word from him), this was the first thing he told me about! 

They met with dean at a hill over looking Athens, where he introduced them to the city and told them about his experiences growing up and living there. Then he treated the students to dinner. They ate so much food that they all felt ill afterwards. Dinner lasted four hours!

On Friday, one of the ND professors gave them a tour of the Acropolis. While there, they met up with the architect in charge of the restoration of the Parthenon. She took them around the Parthenon and into it (where no tourist is allowed). George was able to hug the columns!! (Unfortunately there is no picture of the hug.)

Temple of Athena Nike

Parthenon

This is the architect that gave the tour and she is showing the students a part of the Parthenon in which Alexander the Great mounted shields from his conquests.

The entire Parthenon was give optical corrections when built. In order for the human eye to perceive the perfection of the building, the curved the building like the curvature of the earth and the columns slightly lean inwards.

After the tour, he sketched this drawing on the Acropolis of the Erechtheion.

In afternoon, the group went to a restored 19^th neo-classical theatre lead by the chief architect of the restoration.

The Dean took them all to dinner again. This time George had learned his lesson and ordered a much smaller entrée. The dean kept on asking him if he had eaten enough and if he could please order him some more food. 

On Saturday, the students toured many different building lead by dean and the chief restorer of modern Greek monuments aka Neoclassical buildings. His favorites are Schliemann's home, the Academy and the stadium where the first modern Olympic games were held. 

Schliemann was the archeologist who found Troy. Many of the artifacts found in Troy were frescos which he had reproduced in his home.

The Academy is not the Academy of Aristotle and Plato but the modern form of it named the Academy to piggyback off of the original Academy. (The original Academy is in ruins near Colonus, then outside Athens now its is just a more modern part of Athens.) 

The Olympic stadium was also used in the recent Athens Olympic games.

After finishing all of the touring and a kebab for dinner, some of the students including George went to bar and watched the ND game against BYU. We won!!

On Sunday, George went to the Agora (what the Forum is in Rome, is what the Agora is in Athens) and then went to mass.

Before the flight out in the afternoon, George did a little shopping for souvenirs in the Plaka district (where there hotel was as well.) He bought a small little Spartan helmet for little George.

This building was burned out by the rioters in the recent riots.

He returned home late Sunday evening and this time staying home for more than 24 hours!!!! It is wonderful to have him home again!!