I’m proud to be an American again

I’m ashamed to say I haven’t felt proud to be an American for a while. For the past eight years, I’ve felt our government was moving further and further away from representing the things I believe. In 2004, when “W” was re-elected to office I was stunned and have continued to feel amazed at just what this administration could get away with. I mean, we impeached a President for a blow job—well, for lying under oath about a blow job—but no one does anything about “W” lying (albeit not under oath) about reasons for taking our country to war, and... I could go on and on ranting about the things I hate about the current President/Administation, but we have to put all that behind us and focus on the change that will come.

We have made history! We have spoken, and we’ve gotten a taste of the power we hold if we’ll just stand together. Obama will need us behind him; he can’t do it alone, and it will be hard and it will take time, a lot of time.

One Day in Paris

We arrived in Paris today at noon, dropped our bags at the hotel, and set off to explore. As we only have one day, we’ve decided to spend our time walking around versus spending the whole time at the Louve. We headed first to Notre Dame, crossing over the Seine on our way. The cathedral is gorgeous, and we hope to come back in a couple years so that we can explore the inside.
















Next, the Louve. We would really like to spend a few days just exploring the galleries of the Louve, but today we must be satisfied with just viewing the exterior. Spanning a couple of blocks in a “U” shape, the Louve is huge. There are two courtyards, and in the second is the glass pyrmid.











As you walk up through the courtyard, pass the pyrmid, there is a large arch, water fountains, and a park beyond.

We walked from here up the Champs Elysess to the Arch of Triumph and then cut back to the river toward the Eiffel Tower. It was very cool to catch a glimpse of the tower every now and then as we walked.

We made the trip up for the view...incredible! All the way up the Parc du Champs de Mars to Ecole Militaire.

My Italy Diary: Florence, Part 5

Our last day in Italy was spent visiting Palazzo Vecchio, which is still used as the town hall and Palazzo Pitti, which we didn’t get enough time in when we visited early in the week with Donna and Mary. There is a replic a Michaelangelo’s “David” in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. The original is now inside the Galleria dell’ Accademia.

The grand salone is lined on both sides with statues of the “Deed of Hercules” by De Rossi—striking in their homoerotism.


















The Geographical Map room, “Mappa Mundi”.














Ciao!

My Italy Diary: Florence, Part 4

Yesterday, Mr. Man and I met Donna and Mary at our usual spot for coffee and then headed for Mercato Nuovo, the local straw market. Donna was looking for a leather jacket, and we are looking for one for Manda, so we wanted to find a market a friend told them about near Stazione Centrale, but after walking around a bit “hunting” for it we gave up. Luckily we passed a leather store on our way back and decided to stop in. The salesperson, Liz, is from the U.S., and she made it such a pleasant experience, as did her boss Tommy. We actually wound up buying five coats; one for each of us, plus one for Manda.

We are back on our own today—Mr. Man and I managed to go to Santa Croce this morning; both Galieo’s and Michelangelo’s tombs are here. The altar was being restored so we were unable to view the crucifix, but we did go into the museum where there are many wonderfully restored pieces. We managed to spend about two hours in all at this wonderful Church (c. 1294).

Next we headed for the Bargello, which we had missed earlier in the week, but unfortunately it closes at 1:00pm. So we headed for San Lorenzo with its unfinished facade—it was designed for the Medici family by Brunelleschi in 1425-26. We were unable to take photographs inside and for some reason they close the cloister with Michelangelo’s staircase at 1:00pm, but we were able to see Donatello’s beautiful bronze pulpits. There is also a beautiful modern painting by Pietro Annigoni, St. Joseph and the Christ Child. This is one of the few mordern works seen in Florence. We had to pay separately to access the Cappella dei Principi, The Medici Mausoleum. It is massive with extravagant marble walls in burgundy and green. The funerary figures, again under restoration, are by Michelangelo and are considered among his greatest works.

We had reservations for the Galleria dell’ Accademia at 4:00pm, and were both feeling fatigued, so we skipped Palazzo Medici Riccardi (a must for tomorrow) and San Marco and opted to go straight to the museum, settling down close by for a glass of wine for an hour until our appointed entry time. Other than Michelangelo’s David, which is, of course, magnifisant, the Accademia didn’t hold much interest for us. It is small and only has paintings of religious motifs from the Byzantine era. There are several unfinished sculptures, the subjects of which seem to be struggling to free themselves from the marble.