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Hello everyone! Time came for my yearly European vacation, which is taking place this year in Italy. I am here with my mom, and after a bumpy vogage with canceled flights and almost 24 hours traveling, here I am in Trastevere, Roma. I will try, as usual, to catch performances, but there is no ballet during the period I am staying. 6 days in Roma, 5 in Firenze, 4 in Venezia and back two more in Roma before flying back. I am very excited! Love: Cristian

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Absolute artistic musts.

Florence

The Michelangelo's, especially the David, at the Academia.

The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli at the Uffizi.

This time of year you can get into both these museums much faster if you reserve in advance. You hotel receptionist should be able to easily do this and I don't think that it costs extra. The David, for a man, and the Birth of Venus, for a woman, could be the most beautiful representations in the world.

Rome

The Sistine Chapel especially it's ceiling by Michelangelo.

Michelangelo's Pieta in Saint Peter's Basilica along with the entire architectural complex.

View Michelangelo's statues like a sort of dance. Walk around them very slowly in both directions. They can change in feeling and meaning with each new step.

Venice

The magnificent residences along the Grand Canal. I spent one entire afternoon just riding the boat up and down the Canal looking at them.

Have a great trip !

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You might be seeing this all over Venice. Sounds pretty good.


“Venice hosts International Contemporary Dance Festival” (June 19-29)


"Running concurrent to the Biennale's 14th International Architecture Exhibition, dance of all varieties will tumble forth over 10 days at the city's many squares, theatres and performance spaces. The Corderie dell'Arsenale will host ongoing dance activities, with six stages specially set up for the events."



(posted at Balletco)

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Florence is my favorite city in Italy. It was everything I imagined Italy to be the first time I went. The food was amazing! Venice took multiple trips to like. I found it to be a total tourist trap like Disney World in summertime. Then I went in Winter and fell in love with that city. Rome is bombastic and has its own terrific spell.

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Hello everybody! I'm back, exhausted and working already. Italy was all I imagined to be and so much more. Me and my mother had a great time. We ended up going to Roma, Firenze, Venezia, La Toscana, Pisa and Pompei. We used to set foot on the streets early in the morning and sometimes it was 11 pm and we were still out after many hours of churches and museums visits. In Roma we visited the Capitoline Museums, Villa Borghese. the Vatican Museum, The Da Vinci Museum, Villa Doria Pamphilli and countless churches, including the monumentals Basilica di San Pietro and the Arcibasilica Papale di San Giovanni in Laterano. In Firenze we went to Galleria dell'Accademia, Galleria Uffizi and Palazzo Vecchio, and in Venezia to the Palazzo Ducale. To La Toscana and Pisa I was invited by a neighborhood friend from my childhood days, who was wonderful to us. I was completely overwhelmed by all the richness and opulence of the sacred places, and at one point I felt sort of over saturated with all that amount of beauty. In Venezia we went to La Fenice for the opera. It was Stravisnky's "The Rake's Progress", in a VERY daring production that portrayed a full orgy scene with all the sexual combinations imagined, inflatable flying animals and a bearded woman-(Baba La Turca). It was amazing to just step into churches and watch Tintorettos, Verocchios and Bronzinos right on the walls, without paying fees or making long lines to see them. We really had a great time. flowers.gifflowers.gifflowers.gif

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Oh, that sounds amazing, cubanmiamiboy! I am so happy for you that yuo got to see and do all those things.

About the opera: that sounds like the sort of things which are often done in Europe, as the theatres are usually quite well-subsidised and they feel that it is their job to "educate" and not to "entertain". :)

(I have mixed-feelings about the education vs entertainment thoughts, as I think they should overlap... but - oh, well)

When you mentioned that you did not have to pay to enter the museums nor stand in long lines: is that always the case there? That would be marvleous!

-d-

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Yes, I meant the free visits to churches, although as Mashinka notes, some of them DID have a person in the entrance collecting a fee to tourists. On the other side, almost all of them had written instructions for parishioners or just for those who solely wanted to pray, in which case there's no fee. Now, many churches have their best paintings in the sacristy-(as with Tintoretto's "Marriage at Cana" at Santa Maria della Salute)-for which you have to pay a separate fee, even if the church itself is free. Some other works were just there in plain view in hidden churches, almost invisible to tourists, like Bernini's"L'estasi di Santa Teresa" in Santa Maria della Vittoria, which I bumped into almost by chance...

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Hi Cuban,

For as long as I could remember, Italy has been my dream destination. I think everyone has a place or several places that resonate with them on a completely personal and intimate basis. Italy has been my special dream place.

This year, after much tight-fisted savings, we managed to finally go to Italy.

I'm thrilled to report that it actually lived up to my inflated expectations. Rome made me feel like I've always secretly wanted to see myself. Sophisticated and cosmopolitan, even though I am neither of those things.

Sipping Asperol Spritzes while seated at an outdoor table at a trattoria with my husband, while gazing upon Ponte Cavour each evening was like a dream come true.

But, it was Venice that made me feel like I had plucked myself out of one of my own daydreams and set me down in my heart's desire. I remember thinking to myself after getting off the train and boarding the water taxi up the Grand Canal, "This can't be happening! It's all some strange, wonderful dream!". Venezia truly made my heart sing and pump into a happy and contented rythmn. It's what I imagine being able to dance Balanchine choreography feels like.

It's been awhile since I've posted on here, but your post compelled me to respond. Thank you for sharing your trip.

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