Sunday, September 22, 2013

Dolce Vita


I love traveling. To me it's like getting a break from my everyday life, from my everyday little stupid stresses that burden my mind. Visiting new country, watching people far far away from my hometown that are living their own everyday life is quite calming for me.

Nima and I just came back from a trip to Italy. I can't say how beautiful, how charming how amazing this country sounded to me. We visited 7 cities in 9 days, quite hectic I should say. We walked 8 to 10 hours everyday to catch up with the beauty of this Roman country.

I still remember how I felt the moment I looked up and saw Duomo in Florence.God what an ambitious project. What wowed me even more is that there are a lot of these grand monuments all over this country.  




Imagine  how would a building which took 300 years to be completed under supervision of 400 art master would look like. Well that would be something like Siena Cathedral. Every square feet of this building is a master piece. We didn't know where to look at, up on the roof or down on the floor. This church owes her beauty to rivalry between Florence and Siena and of course good fortunes of rich merchants who wanted to buy  their way up to the heaven by donating a lot of money to church. 





I loved Tuscany landscape with those pointing pine trees, sunflower fields, hill towns that made me feel like I went back in time.

I loved Amalfi coast. Mountain reaches the Mediterranean sea with colorful houses decorating them was very charming to me. Dolce Vita :)


Rome is a city of art. Everywhere there is a trace of a great artist. If you ask me Romans had obsession with sculptures :). There are numerous bust, granite statue of Greek gods, stories of  bibles, I can go on and on. We visited Borghese Gallery which made me familiar with the phenomenon called Bernini. He was a genies sculptor who made several famous monuments when he was quite young.

I believe every trip that we go changes something in us. Travel has its own subtle way of changing us for a better person. Give us some insight, takes us out of our everyday life. Taste new foods, see people's passion on another continent at different era. I understand better now a difference between original art and a copy.

One last thing before I close this post.  In St Peter's Basilica we saw a beautiful sculpture called Pietà, a sculpture showing the Virgin Mary grieving over the body of Jesus. This is one of Michelangelo's most famous works at the age of only 24. There is something about Mary in this sculpture. Her face is calm, sad and as Nima said like she accepted her son's fate. How much you can show all of these feeling with a  piece of stone.
All photos credit goes to Nima :)