The Dutch Golden Age

 

I just recently finished Dominic smiths book, “The last Painting of Sara de Vos.” Plunging you between 1950’s America, 21st century Australia and the 17th century Netherlands, the overlapping treasure was the Dutch art of the golden age that connected the characters and times. A book review is coming, fear not but for now my mind is still swirling around the art of the Dutch Golden Age.

The legendary Dutch Guild of St. Luke’s had a limited number of women admitted to its ranks. While Sara de Vos did not exist her character was said to be by the author a sort of collage of many of these female painters of the time. My interest delved into focusing on these women painters of the time. While many of their works have not survived like in the case of Sarah van Baalbergen ,a few have but even they faced issues such as misattributions.

This blog post series will focus on these artists of the Dutch golden Age, predominantly on the female artists.This blog post concerns the Dutch artist Judith Leyster – born in Harleem she was the second female artist to join the guild of St Luke, taking up apprentices within her workshop. She specialised in daily life notably scenes of merriment and jolliness. Strongly utilising light in dark play in her paintings, her style only emphasised the emotive tides of her paintings.

The Proposition, 1631, oil on panel

Two Children with a Cat, 1629

Serenade, 1629, oil on pane

 

Judiths paintings really left an impression on me. I feel the light play is so good, entwining into the emotion and creating the ‘dramascape’ for the paintings character.(I say feel because purely going off what I get from them, no art historian here unfortunately :p)

Her paintings evoke a unique perception in me – one of long gone people, portraying joy and emotions of once living beings centuries ago…the time gone by adding another layer of emotion to her works.

Her works range in their homes these days: from private collections to art galleries throughout the world. The two works featured above are located in the Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, private collection and the Rijksmuseum respectfully.

For more information:

http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/features/slideshows/judith-leyster.html#slide_3

http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/list.php?m=a&s=tu&aid=5898

 

 

Spring is in the Air!

“Spring time is nature at its best.” ― Lailah Gifty, Akita

Spring! That excitement when you throw off your cardigan and coat, and feel the sun pouring down on your naked shoulders (the shoulder obviously featuring a dress strap just to confirm before I start saying I’ve joint a nudist colony :p), where the leaves of nature have started to show colour again,furiously blushing and blooming once more, and when the it just seems oh so easier to get out, nay jump of bed!

I am determined to make this spring a chaotic affair of Melbourne, love, adventures, nature, food, museums and so much more!  Before I blab on about empty words of plans and goals, I’ll say just check back every now and then and hopefully you’ll find some random and interesting/amusing from reviews, to outfits, to cooking,photography, travel plans dreams and past recollections, blog posts of adventures ranging from horse riding to dance classes to forest walks. Well- if that’s what one may be interested in, i can assure-

“Spring is the time of plans and projects.” ― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

Hehe :p

I shan’t disappoint 🙂

Love,
Maria xx

A Taste of Paris

Paris. The word itself sums up beauty and magic…a grand city with spectacular buildings and romance and mystery in every corner. Well at least for my little romantic, idealistic heart! Now…how to describe my week in Paris?

Well…it was a mixture of beauty, of history, of culture… of daily adventures- of mornings spent in cafes trying the freshly baked croissants  that lived up to their reputation,   enjoying a petite gateaux a day, of a an tiny cramped elevator we barely fit in, of walks by the seine, overdosing on art and history a bottles of french wine, pulling all nighters for Nuit Blanche 2013, buying macaroons to give them to the homeless,  the friendly Parisians we encountered, walking down beautiful alleys with amazing buildings and monuments at every turn, attending violin concerts framed by the exquisitely detailed windows of Saint Chapelle, practically living in the Shakespeare & Company bookshop in the latin quarter were we would sit in utter, content silence reading with a room of complete strangers with their own stories, all of us melting into the old ragged couches falling into our books while a light breeze would flutter the room and the notre dame church watched over us from the window. breathing in paris from the heights of the l’arc de triomphe, evening strolls through the latin quarter, trying to speak french to a kind response, eating numerous vendor crepes with nutella, always a shared cheerful Bonjour or Bonsoir, befriending the local cafe waitress who sneaked us free macaroons and made our nightly hot chocolates as we chatted with her over the meaning of local radio hits. (the main one is currently playing in the very cafe i am sitting in writing this blog post..Passenger- Let her go 🙂 )

A walk in the park  by the Eiffel Tower!

 

The night of Nuit Blanche! Stay up all night for culture! 🙂

 

Le Tour Eiffel et moi

 

View from L’arc de Triomphe

 

Always look up in European museums! You’re sure to be in awe!

Shakespeare & Co

Saint Chapelle…the setting of the concert we attended that featured Vivaldi pieces.

Tomorrow I am going to be in Paris! I’m excited like crazy..one week of me practicing my french, of adventures, of wine and Nuit Blanche, great museums, of french bakery goods and beautiful structures! I’m going with a wonderful  friend, Kat who is also a fellow blogger!

Here is her blog which I completely recommend if you’re interested in good quality travel blogs.

http://katrippon.wordpress.com/

To jumpstart the trip, I thought to make a dream checklist to be ticked as we complete them.

Paris To Do List:

From random and general things, to the big things you do when you go to Paris.

• Try to speak french as much as you can
• Try a baguette
• Try a croissant from a french bakery
• Try macarons
• Have at least one fancy dinner!
• Have a picnic (or a few in a beautiful parisian park…I’m talking baguetes, brie and cheap wine)
• Cycle through some areas in Paris
• Try Absinthe (maybe ;))
• Wine tasting at The Annual October Wine Harvest in Paris.
• Walk along the river seine
• Walk around the Latin Quarter (5th arrondissement) • Walk around the Luxembourg gardens
• Explore montmatre
• Visit Sacre Coeur
• Visit Shakesepeare & Co (buy a good book as a memento)
• Visit the Moulin Rouge
• Climb Arc de Triomphe
• Palais Garnie
• Visit the L’eiffel tour
• Visit Notre Dame de Paris (bonus for listening to Belle)
• Pere Lachaise cemeraty
• Visit the catacombs
• Pull an all nighter for Nuit Blanche
• Visit the Louvre (and-)
• Museu Oragnie
• Musee D’Orsay
• Musee Rodin
• Go to a bar, and soak up tha atmosphere (still vague at the moment.
• Take a french cooking course (Julia Child anyone?)
• Go to a vintage market

…and many more to be added. Flexible is the motto for this Parisian adventure!

With love, excitement and a bottle of white wine waiting,

Maria

We rented bikes and set of to explore chianti. Our destination? The medieval village of Barberino! Biking up and down the rolling hills, faced with a postcard view, we finally with the help of an extremely friendly old Italian man reached the medieval village. Apart from occasional cars, it really seemed as if time had not touched the town at all, the light  almost brown bricks and just oh so Italian charm.

 

We had a delicious lunch of Pasta with sage and butter and then cycled off. A local wedding was taking place at the church and it offers a little humour in my heart to know in some local families wedding album that their friends or grandchildren might look at one day, there will be three random and exhausted, sweaty but incredibly happy bikers, enjoying their pistachio and chocolate gelato in the shade in the background of some of those pictures.

 

Backpfeifengesicht

One of my favorite foreign words..is Backpfeifengesicht. Its German, for ‘A face badly in need of a fist.’

You have to admit…there will always be people like who are Backpfeifengesicht in your life. Not saying you’d necessarily ever hit them, but there are some people who you do feel would sorely benefit from it. There are luckily very  few in my life now… but allowing me to term it like that allows me a hearty inward chuckle every now and then.

Backpfeifengesicht No.1

Source: http://www.cracked.com/article_17251_the-10-coolest-foreign-words-english-language-needs.html#ixzz2gILJ7nEL

Autumn Poetry

” The falling leaves drift by the window
The autumn leaves of red and gold” – Eidth Piaf

Decided to take a break from travel posts and try writing some speed poetry! I challenge you all to do the same. Choose a word, in this case ‘Autumn,’  and in few  minutes write the best poem you can, free verse, on what images it summons up for you! Criticism is welcome! Hope you enjoy, and have fun! I choose autumn because its almost here! Its already in the air!

An Autumns Day

The smell of crackling smoke that rises over petite houses,

The fresh pine breath of nature,

a frisky, fresh chill caressing you,

faint fleeting crystal white breath,

memories of mugs of steaming wintery teas,

and mulled drinks of exotic lands,

of cuddles and over sized musky smelling jumpers

of big thick, stacks of crinkly pages of books

that smell and read of another century

thats what autumn speaks to me,

and I await for it, with a the kettle ready,

and stack of books and jumpers waiting…

Hope you liked it! Poetry isn’t my strongest point, but I thought it was worth a try! 🙂

http://marthinaceline.tumblr.com/post/61490362724/cold-air-and-oversized-sweaters-via-tumblr-pa-we

Tips for Florence

Took this off my recent article for fear of length. Here are just the basics but more will be added.

Tips for Florence:

• A night walk is recommended…preferably in the wee early hours of the morning…I’m talking 1-3 am. There is no massive pressing crowd, the majority gone. (To be SAFE please only do this if in the company of big no. of safe and known companions)
• There is a table charge – usually 2 euros per person. Usually to avoid this, its best to supermarket and eat in a park, but we decided to treat ourselves – Italy in addition to many other things, is famed for its food, after all!
• Try Gelato…I’m serious its a must! True for anywhere in Italy but my favorites were in Florence. My personal favorites -pistachio,peach/mango, goats cheese and fig.
• Take into account waiting times for museums -even with bookings their are only shorter waiting lines.  For the Uffizi, around an 1:30 to 2:30 hours, the galleria around1 hour. They let 30 people in every 30 minutes. I think its a great policy, because even with that restriction its still quite crowded…I didn’t even want to imagine how it would be without the restrictions.
• If you are from an EU country, bring your ID or passport! It gets you half price on museums. It’s worth it – 11 euros is a lot to pay, compared to 5.50 euros.
• The red wine of the region is a must try!

Exploring Florence

We rose early and rushed to the local bus stop to  catch the bus from Tavernelle to Florence. The four of us ended up just falling head over heels in love with the enchanting scenery we saw through the bus windows…the beautiful scenery of countless vineyards and rolling hills that seemed to have jumped off a postcard and stapled itself on our windows…then to a contrasting neglected building with Italian charm that had the lyrics of The Cures song ‘Friday I’m in love’, lovingly penned on a wall. Good music transverses all borders!

The view from the bus, of vineyards and green hills waving at us.

Then we arrived in to the destination – the city of Firenze.

We walked through the charming alleys were we succeeded in discovering the most beautiful structures and monuments with no intention…we ran into ivory figures in the midst of dramatic battles and stances…unknowingly we had run into the famed Piazza della Signoria  and barely a breath-span away, the  Loggia dei Lanzi.

Caught in the midst of depictions of mythology and proud statute animals guarding the stairs, I could have dared anybody to not be impressed – and I’m pretty sure they would have failed. Florence is a city for those who appreciate history, art and culture…those three epitomise the essence of the city. A replica of David was also in the piazza – it gives you a taste and prepares you for the real one in the Galleria dell’Academia.

Loggia dei Lanzi

One of the two marble Medici lions.

The Rape of the Sabine Women – by Jean de Boulogne, or rather, Italianized Giambologna!

Hercules beating the Centaur Nessus – Giambologna again!

We waited in the shade by Cathedral Santa Maria Novella  for the free walking tour that had reached our ears through hostel brochures. Now an opinion…It was very well done, but had its cons: it was  a bit to crowded. You can get pushed to the end of the group and can barely hear much of what the guide was saying. What you do hear though, will be undoubtedly interesting. For example…What do you think these are?

Santa Maria Della Novella

You are probably right..well, I wasn’t. I don’t know what I thought, but I was wrong. We were told they were the tombs of  nobles…In those days, in the extremely religious country, it was a common belief that the closer to a church you were buried…the closer you are to god and thus your chances of going to heaven are increased. And the nobles who had money for this, unsurprisingly paid for this privilege.

Another particularly interesting story…The church, Santa Maria Della Novella was funded by a rich businessman…on the condition that it features his name displayed on the church. His name was connected to his business which consequently flourished. This church, the guide had chuckled, had essentially worked as an advertising board in old Firenze!

We lost the group being charmed by the fresh fruits on display in one of the many stalls in the alley and were not really fussed about catching up. It was time to explore ourselves. Feasting on fresh figs and small peaches as additives to our breakfast of our lovely friends granola bars, we set of to explore on our way to the Uffizi museum.

The Uffizi museum.

Second breakfast time!

‘

Now, two warnings – there is a long line…secondly, don’t expect to take pictures. It is forbidden. I saw people with smooth hands who subtly managed to take mementoes on their phones. I tried – a friend was going to take a picture, I walked in the direction of the security guard preparing to ask him a question if he so much looked the way of the phone camera. And then before I could so much as glance at the guard, an echoing ‘click’ muted the hushed chatter in the hall for barely a second. Wincing, I turned around the same time the guard did. Idiotically wanting to distract him I asked him if you can’t take pictures, a fact any idiot with a brain can see advertised in the countless signs. He gave me a undoubtedly practiced dark look , reading my intentions and muttered ‘no,’ before raising his voice and instructing my friend to get out. We all panicked for a minute –  especially me. It would be my fault as I was prepared to explain…but fortunately my friend was only sent outside the room, and I subtly joined him under the guards dark stare, feeling guilty for even trying – like a little kid whose teacher had snapped at them. Obviously some people  are just not cut out for sneaky pictures. Trust me to not turn the sound off. A mistake… It ended relatively well, but I was still annoyed at myself for the whole scenario. Looks like no more forbidden pictures inside museums for me…I had learnt my lesson. I’ll just have to live off  fading memories, or better yet, the pictures my more subtle friends can take.

I can say  I would not have minded to see Ezio Auditore running on the rooftops, or that my mind may have wandered on multiple occassions to analysing how I could climb the countless bell towers and buldings with the hand-holds and ledges…I also may have been tempted to shout very loudly ‘ASSASSINO.’ I resisted, but barely. An aim for another day, when I return to my beautiful florence.

After the museum we set out for lunch, being thwarted and charmed by gelato! Onwards we continued and found a cute little restaurant in one of the many alleys. We sat down and scanned the menu. ‘Per mangiare.’ I assured the waiter, when he came, and we ordered what appealed to us. I choose a strange salad consisting of rucola, juicy raisins, sliced pears and percorino cheese. Mouthwatering. A clear winner.

A clear 10/10 I assure  😀

Then as we left, we did some shopping – looking at much needed shoes for one friend whose shoes looked as though they survived every war this century, looking at the leather the city is famed for, looking at suits to bookstores – as we passed by a certain suit/leather shop, a steaming pizza piled with cheese and cherry tomatoes, still warm teased us greatly sitting right by the door of the shop. The owner must have seen our wistful looks, because he tumbled out with one hand on his phone another on around his glass of sangria and cheerfully told us to try it! Suspicious, I smiled and posed a question I had become accustomed to saying and consequently seeking confirmation after traveling on such a tight budget. ‘Gratis?’

‘Gratis’ he laughed nodding.

We each took a piece, scanned the store out of courtesy, and tumbled away, covering our mouths as we spoke rushed ‘grazies’ He laughed and waved us off. How nice these Italians are to us! As we walked off it occurred to us that it was also an essentially brilliant manoeuvre to get people into the store – free pizza by the door! On another note, unsurprisingly it was an amazing pizza – a tiny slice offered for free by a random Italian business defeated many high establishment pizzas I had eaten in Australia or Dubai – not very sup rising. The Italians know how to do it.

We walked out of a bookstore, and I in the middle of examining what I had bought followed my friends shoes, my head bowed. The sun was radiant – that summer warmness that lathers everything with a sharp golden glow. Thundering, almost deafening but clearly atmospheric bells started ringing. As the chatter of people around me increased I finally looked up from the text and I assume my jaw dislocated and my mouth fell – the scene that graced me was only made more impressive by the fact that I had sorely underestimated Firenze and not expected such an awe-striking structure, and the fact that the boisterous bells were thundering all around the piazza accompanied by the sudden flurried flight of a crowd of pigeons, the tip of ones wing grazing my cheek . I was just in pure awe: gazing at the beautiful Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. These simple words I write now, really can not breach what I experienced but hopefully they can at least give you an idea.

Santa Maria Della Fiore

We returned back to the hostel, and spent the remainder of the night drinking cheap 2 euro wine from the store and just sucking in the atmosphere of the evening while digesting all the beauty and adventure we had had that day. Florence had certainly captured all our traveller hearts.

Till next post, with love, grand statues, magnificent basilicas and delicious pizza,

Maria xx

Tales of Chianti

Our trip to Florence began with the decision to choose a hostel not in the centre, but in fact in the Chianti region surrounding Florence.

If that wasn’t a good decision, I don’t know what was…the hostel was brilliant…but getting there was the problem. Drama started immediately. Our Hostel was Ostello del Chianti…and we heard the good reviews and were excited to stay there, but just lacked the main knowledge…how on earth do we get there? We knew we needed to catch a bus as most people cited the only fault was the distance of the hostel from the centre of Florence, (in our eyes that was a sort of pro to see another side of the region) We, in a prime example of our lack of organisation, jumped on a bus google maps recommended..and about 10 minutes into the trip, on a bus going at quite a fast speed we came to the worrying realisation that it was the wrong bus.

Oh boy, did we panic. The ticket inspector had firmly told us that the bus was not heading the right direction…we needed Tavernelle…this bus wasn’t going there. We were bordering on panic. After a 20 hour boat trip from Split to Ancona, after exhausting ticket confusion from Ancona to Florence, we longed for showers and had only just barely discarded our massive backpacks before the trouble had started again. We just wanted to get to the hostel but had absolutely no idea what do do next.
My Italian was limited to a few phrases and an occasional helpful word. We felt stuck on a moving vehicle and not really sure where it was going…my panicking mind jumped to the worst- what if we ended up in another city and what of the cost it would take for us to come back to centre bus station to catch the right bus? The complications just piled on each other…Between panicked conversation with my friend, I spared occasional glances at the ticket inspector….he was speaking to the driver and making some calls on his mobile….was it about us?

Then almost at that same moment the though crossed my mind once more, he gestured to us and told us to put our bags on.

“We are getting off here. The bus going to Tavernelle will stop and pick you up”

We couldn’t believe it! He had saved us!The ticket inspector was simply put..the saviour of the day… He was under no obligation to, but he had helped us. He even waited with us! We piled out, and stood by the busy road under the scorching early afternoon tuscan sun.

As we waited the friendly Inspector shared with us an exciting and interesting list of things to try in the region.

“How long you girls here fore? 2 months, 3 months’?” He asked.

We fidgeted .”2″

“2 weeks, 2 months?”

Again we fidgeted, slightly embarrassed. “2 days”

“What? For Florence alone you need at least a month!”

We assured him next time we definitely planned to stay longer! We knew that is impossible get a taste of Italy and to not come back for more…especially in Florence! All I had seen of it was through my history books, and Assassin Creed and the jumbled rush to the bus that allowed us barely even a glimpse of the city…but all those together gave me the direct message that Florence was an amazing beautiful city with much to discover, that 2 days would barely scratch the surface of it. A month was the minimum. Saying that throughout our adventures we kept lengthening our time in Florence…2 days became 3, 3 became 4, 4 finally became 5 beautiful days, which I still barely consider to have skimmed the city. Florence I shall return!

Conversation continued pleasantly with the inspector.

“The red wine is a must!! You like red wine? Chianti red wine is beautiful! A local speciality! You are going wine tasting, yes?”

We affirmed that, and I practiced my most likely grammatically incorrect Italian and mentioned ‘L’aperitivo,’ a traditional custom I heard from a hostel worker in Milan.
He laughed amiably.”Ahhh you know of L’aperitivo! You speak true italian!”

Then before we knew it, the right bus had arrived! After many thanks we tumbled on the bus, finally set in the right direction. We finally arrived at the hostel!
The reception wasn’t open yet, but we lingered in the common room talking to our fellow hostel dwellers. Already, before we even checked in we made plans with others, preparing to cycle around to a wine tasting and maybe a medieval village the next day.

We checked in, showered, and with a new Canadian friend, us three set of to explore Tavernelle. A cute and charming small town, we walked past a cafe that offered wine tasting for 3 euros. Remembering what a girl at the hostel had said for the free wine tastings in the region, we decided to start with this. She had stated that they weren’t as pleasant as they should be. That when she had gone, they had barely had a chance to finish and savour the small portion in their glass before the next one was pushed down their throat. Also she disliked the pressure applied to them when it had finished to buy expensive bottles. She told us she would recommend paying for the ones that don’t rush you. Taking this insight into account we decided to walk in to this cafe.

It was charming. The interior was oh so old and italian. The people were incredibly friendly and they seemed eager to share the story of their wine empire. We tried four bottles of delicious red wine while the young man in charge told us the story of his family business, the attributes of each particular bottle, produced wine booklets and rankings where his wines were, talking about it all with such pride and passion it was a delight to listen. He was one of many sons and all were involved with the business. THe others at that moment were working in the fields, while it was his turn in the store/cafe.

A picture of one of the delicious Chianti red wines that we tried and the delicious plain focaccia behind it 🙂

We savoured and discussed, and just breathed in the atmosphere. The staff, being wonderful brought us out delicious plain focaccias and breads to enjoy with the wine, and later a delicious tomato focaccia all ‘gratis’! Also stories of the cafe were told. Apparently it was the oldest cafe in that city, and used to function as a stopover for many, in the old days when horses trotted through the stone streets.

A particular favorite was the 49, one of the wines highest in the ranking index. Absolutely delicious. The wines must have affected me, because being my painfully clumsy self I managed to not swirl the wine elegantly, but aggressively thrust it at the table, spilling it over a brochures. Sophiticatation at its finest. Even the young wine trader chuckled.

Overall it was a wonderfully pleasant experience! A definite recommended visit! It’s recommended on Trip Advisor so after I look through the wine-stained brochure, somewhere in my travel memories box, and find the name, I will leave the link here!

By this time we were hungry as hades! (I have this perk…i try to create my own sayings…I don’t know why Hades would be hungry? Was it just alliteration that caused me to choose that? I don’t know…moving on.) We asked at the hostel for a recommended place to eat and the lovely lady working gave us a map and recommended a local sort of community hall, where food was cheap, plentiful and delicious. We set off. The region was so beautiful. You can’t go for a 5 minute walk without running into beauty like this! I love running into amazing views like that.

Then I tried to utilise my italian to read the menu! (this time with success!) We all ordered pasta with pesto and fresh tomatos. As we waited we just savoured the atmosphere. Everybody seemed to know each other and there was the constant hum of conversation, beautiful Italian being sung at every occupied table.

The poster at the unoccupied side of the hall 🙂 I felt nothing more would scream tourist than if I whipped my camera out and started snapping away at the busy tables, so I meerly took this quick picture as a keepsake.

When the food came we were in heaven. It was the best pesto I have ever tasted! Only 3.50 euros, but it was a dish I could swear by!

Then we went back to the hostel, and did the traveller thing…talked to fellow travellers, from interesting guys from Madrid, awesome girls from America and Australia, to even some lovely Canadians. Then making plans to go to the city of Florence tomorrow we retired to our rooms for a good and well deserved rest! Alarms set, windows open for the barely there night breeze we drifted off.

Maria xx