New York, New York: Whitney Museum, the High Line, and Empire State Building

Posted on August 11, 2016 by Patty

There is no place like it, no place with an atom of its glory, pride, and exultancy. It lays its hand upon a man’s bowels; he grows drunk with ecstasy; he grows young and full of glory, he feels that he can never die.
– Walt Whitman, American poet, essayist, journalist, and humanist

We celebrated Father’s Day on our fifth day in New York. It was another great outing – except that David didn’t get the Father’s Day gift I was hoping to give him, but more on that later. In the morning, we headed to the Whitney Museum of American Art (99 Gansevoort Street, 212.570.3600), in the Lower Village and Meatpacking district sections of lower Manhattan. As we walked through Chelsea Market, we passed Budakkan (75 9^th Avenue, 212.989.6699), a cavernous Asian fusion restaurant where David and I had a memorable dinner back in September 2008. It was one of the best meals I ever had. We went to the Budakkan in Philadelphia a few summers back, but it was not as good as the one in New York.

View from the Whitney Museum terrace (photo by David).

View from the Whitney Museum terrace, with the World Trade Center Tower in the background (photo by David).

View from the left of the Whitney Museum terrace. You can see the southern entrance of the High Line Park (photo by David).

You can see the Empire State Building to the right (photo by David).

The Hudson River is behind the museum (photo by David).

The Whitney Museum: for modern art aficionados
The Whitney Museum, which was founded in 1931 by socialite, sculptor, and art collector Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, moved into its fourth home in May 2015, along the Hudson River. The new main building of glass and steel, designed by Renzo Piano, comprises nine stories and spans a total of 200,000 square feet for indoor galleries, outdoor exhibition spaces, theater, research areas, dining, and other spaces. It is an impressive piece of architecture, embracing industrial, sculptural, and contemporary aesthetics. The top floor boasts an outdoor terrace with amazing views of Lower Manhattan buildings before us and the South entrance of the High Line Park below us. The next two levels below feature outdoor galleries, and all three floors are connected by exterior stairways.

Outdoor sculpture.

David’s architectural shot, looking down at one of the terraces.

My interpretation of the terrace below.

The museum’s collection focuses on 20^th and 21^st century American art, with more than 3,000 artists – mostly living, which is an emphasis – represented. More than 22,000 paintings, sculptures, photographs, drawings, prints, videos, films, and other artifacts compose the museum’s permanent collection. Back in 1907, recognizing that American artists with new and innovative concepts were finding it difficult to show and sell their artwork, Whitney became their advocate by purchasing their art and building a formidable collection. In 1914, she opened up the Whitney Studio in Greenwich Village to showcase these artists. When the Metropolitan Museum of Art declined Whitney’s offer to contribute more than 500 pieces of art from her personal collection and the newly opened Museum of Modern Art’s collection focused on European modernism, she decided to exhibit her art by founding a museum in 1930. The first museum, which was located in Greenwich Village, opened in 1931. The museum moved in 1954 to a building connected to the Museum of Modern Art on 53^rd Street, but moved again to Madison Avenue on the Upper East Side in 1966 when it needed more space for its growing collection. Growth was again the reason for its move to its current location, which is such a lovely, open-feeling space.

Self-portrait by Edward Hopper (photo by David).

Self-portrait (oil on canvas), 1925-1930, by Edward Hopper (photo by David).

Summer Days (oil on canvas), 1936, by Georgia O’Keefe.

Metropolitan Life Insurance Building (gelatin silver print), 1955, from the series The Americans, by Robert Frank.

Nine Jackies (acrylic, oil, and screenprint on linen), 1964, by Andy Warhol.

Cool wire art that is reflected against the wall (photo by David).

This enormous statue is made of wax that continuously burning (photo by David).

This enormous statue is made of wax that is continuously burning (photo by David).

While I’ll admit that some of the artwork didn’t resonate with me – I’m thinking of the videos of this one Chinese-American artist who put together vignettes of her mother’s life in an enclosure surrounded by objects from her childhood and home – I did appreciate the opportunity to be exposed to these types of avant-garde works. When the kids and I descended one flight of exterior stairs to the lower level and were confronted by a flat-screen television exhibiting (literally) one artist’s penis-filled video, they turned around and smirked at me. Isabella wanted to know how this was art. I just shrugged. It’s in the Whitney Museum, so it must be art!

Jacob, David, and Isabella with New York skyline.

Next stop: The High Line Park, below the Whitney Museum.

High Line Park: revitalization at its best
As I mentioned earlier, the southern entrance to the High Line Park is right next to the Whitney Museum, so once we were finished with the museum, we ascended the steps to the linear park, which was a great revitalization project that began in 1999. In its heyday, the early 1930s, the train line was part of the West Side Improvement Project, running from 34^th Street to Spring Street’s St. John’s Park Terminal. “Designed to go through the center of blocks, rather than over the avenue,” trains on this line carried goods to and from Manhattan’s largest industrial district, according to the park’s site. The interstate trucking industry all but displaced the trains by the 1980s. When a group of property owners banded together to get the train line demolished, Peter Obletz, a Chelsea resident, activist, and railroad enthusiast, went to court to preserve the line.

Along the walk you can see the old rails with vegetation happily filling in (photo by David).

Interesting buildings all around. Here are three different styles side by side, with a block in black seemingly inserted into the brown building (photo by David).

Interesting buildings all around. Here are three different styles side by side, with a block in black seemingly interlocked into the brown building (photo by David).

And artwork rising up from the grasses.

More cool buildings (photo by David).

In 1999, Joshua David and Robert Hammond, who lived in the High-Line neighborhood, founded Friends of the High Line, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the High Line and converting it into a public open space. Design competitions took place, the transportation agency that owned the line donated it to the City in 2005, and groundbreaking began in 2006. The entire process took 15 years, with section 1 from Gansevoort Street to West 20^th Street completed in 2009, section 2 from West 20^th Street to West 30^th Street completed in 2011, and the final section, which is the northernmost section of the park, to the Rail Yards, completed in September 2014.

All different styles of buildings along the High Line – some modern, some older (photo by David).

Art on buildings in between buildings (photo by David).

Echinacea flowers abloom along the way.

Two twin block-long buildings of an older vintage (photo by David).

Various activities are scheduled throughout the High Line, from dance parties to performances to star-gazing and arts events to horticulture tours. A covered section of the High Line features vendors peddling organic popsicle, gelato, and other tasty treats, as well as photographs, artisan goods, and High-Line swag. We walked almost to the end, getting off to make a direct beeline for our next destination of the Empire State Building. The temperatures were climbing and at some points we were walking in a line like bumper-to-bumper traffic, but we had our moments of just enjoying a walk through this elevated park and enjoying the fruits of preservationists’ labor.

While Jacob and I shopped, David played with his camera (photo by David).

More experimentation with the camera (photo by David).

Steel walkway with Jacob in the foreground and me in the background (photo by David).

Greenery everywhere.

I noticed when we were heading from our apartment to our friend Mason’s condo in the Queens along the Hudson River an abandoned elevated stretch of train tracks that ended abruptly. As this part of town, the Hudson, is being built up, I’m imagining another such park in the sky waiting in the wings.

Cool modern building (photo by David).

Pedestrians beware!

Resting under the shade of trees.

Railway and plants living harmoniously together.

Empire State Building: the center of Midtown Manhattan
When I think of the Empire State Building (350 5^th Avenue between West 33^rd and 34^th streets), I am reminded of a story my father told me and my sisters when we were young. Every morning on his way to work, he used to walk by the Empire State Building as it was being built. My father was in New York around 1929, and construction began in March 1930. My father loved New York. He called it the City. When he and his cousins moved to Los Angeles in the 1950s, after WWII, he called Los Angeles the country, and when he moved to Terra Bella – between Bakersfield and Fresno in the Central Valley of California – he called it the camp. At the time of his storytelling, my initial reaction was, “Wow, Dad, you’re old!” Since then, however, I marvel at what he was witnessing – the building of this great building. Once construction began, the building rose 4 ½ stories each week. In 1931, the building, with its beautiful art-deco interior, opened, with President Herbert Hoover hitting a button in Washington, DC, that turned on the lights of the Empire State Building.

Restored art-deco interior of the Empire State Building (photo by David).

As far as the eye can see (photo by David).

David singles out the Flatiron Building.

Close-up of the Chrysler Building (photo by David).

Thankfully, we encountered short lines and small crowds. Again, I think this is because it was mid-June and people hadn’t all gone on vacation yet. We ascended to the 86^th Floor observatory. I’ll admit to being acrophobic, so I took photos with caution. The sky was clear and you could truly see forever. According to the guides, you can see five states on a clear day – New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. The views were amazing, and the kids were in awe of all those buildings all around us. As we descended, David and I mentally crossed off going to the Empire State Building from our list of things to do in New York.

Hudson River in the background (photo by David).

I believe that is the East River in the background (photo by David).

Coming around with the view (photo by David).

Moving to the left (photo by David).

I believe this is the Hudson River in the background (photo by David).

Inglorious ending to Father’s Day
The only blot on our day was planning our evening around what we thought would be a Golden State Warriors Finals victory and celebration. We bypassed the recommended Katz’s Deli (205 E. Houston, 212.254.2246) on our way home. We walked in, but nobody was in the mood for foot-tall sandwiches that just seemed too much of a good thing. Instead, we grabbed Subway sandwiches – slumming it – back to our apartment. Suffice it to say, the Warriors lost the championship that was theirs to win, and there went my Father’s Day present to David. Not that Isabella cared in the least. We tried to remember that we were still on vacation. By morning, at least for me, I woke up thinking about the day’s adventure before us.

Building close-ups down there, looking like building blocks.

More close-ups with the Chrysler Building peeking out.

The smaller skyscrapers!

Fox on a building on our way home (photo by David).

The blooming garden

Posted on June 8, 2016 by Patty

I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it was always June.
– L.M. Montgomery, Canadian author, from Anne of the Island

Here it is already, June. School lets out tomorrow for the summer. I’ve gone through week number three of my annual Korematsu Middle School auction bouquet donation. How did this happen? And where did spring go?

It does no good to search for an answer, especially as time hurtles forward. So, I tell myself, just enjoy the burst of color from a smaller blooming garden. I lost a lot of dahlias this season, though I don’t know if El Nino or the years of drought are to blame. I do know that a little puppy is responsible for tearing out several pots of dianthus. But one hopes there is time this summer to replant and nurture.

So here is my parade of bouquets – some for the auction winner, one for a birthday, one for a friend’s open studio (a tradition), and some for a dear friend in my mom’s group who is recovering from cancer surgery. Flowers for life.

A birthday bouquet.

For the artist: A standing tradition for Tana’s open studio – a bottle of red and a late spring bouquet.

Tana, flowers, and her beautiful artwork.

The first Korematsu Middle School auction bouquet of the season on May 20th.

A bouquet, dinner, and snacks for Mimi, who was in the hospital for nine days for two surgeries. Thankful that she is now home and recovering.

A Korematsu Middle School auction bouquet for the last weekend in May, Memorial Day Weekend.

Third bouquet of the season for the Korematsu Middle School auction.

Exquisite closeup of this week’s auction bouquet.

Flowers and a visit for Mimi this past weekend. Cherish friendships and time spent with friends.

The End of summer: a reflection, a pictorial

Posted on August 22, 2015 by Patty

August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time.
– Sylvia Plath

On Monday school starts. I need to catch my breath. How is it that summer is over already? After our trip to Italy in June, I was trying to find my easy pace of summer, my groove. It was not to be this year. As soon as we came home we prepared for our traditional Fourth of July visit with my cousin and her husband Tim (aka Timbuktu), which includes the Oakland A’s fireworks game, City of El Cerrito Fourth of July celebration at Cerrito Vista Park, Fourth of July feast, Alameda Flea Market, and lots of science experiments, board games, catching up, and sometimes we sneak in a hike.

Tim, Janet, and me at the Oakland A's fireworks game. Tim took pleasure in entertained us by photo-bombing the group of women in front of us.

Tim, Janet, and me at the Oakland A’s fireworks game. Tim took pleasure in entertaining us by photo-bombing the group of women in the row in front of us.

The A’s lost – again – but at least the fireworks were fun!

We all agreed that this Fourth of July's fireworks show was the best we've seen in four years.

We all agreed that this Fourth of July’s fireworks show was the best we’ve seen in our four-year tradition.

One of the things Janet and I love to do while at the El Cerrito Fourth of July festivities is to buy a necklace from our favorite Himalayan Jewelry guy. And check out other artisan goods. These earrings are by Moon and Leaf.

Enjoying a conversation with talented jewelry designer and Harding Elementary School mom Kristen Satzman of Moon & Leaf. You can see more of her work at http://kristinsatzman.com/moonandleaf/

Salmon and steak, potatoes and salad, and the fresh corn that Janet and Tim brought up from the Central Valley for our Fourth of July feast.

Up bright and early for a Girls' Day at the Alameda Flea Market - our group selfie with the San Francisco skyline in the background.

Up bright and early Sunday morning for a Girls’ Day at the Alameda Flea Market – our group selfie with the San Francisco skyline and Golden Gate Bridge in the background.

Beautiful 1920s French marcasite necklace from Gypsy Road Studio, which happens to match well with the marcasite earrings from Firenze.

In the summertime, Janet and I love looking at lawn art. For old-time San Francisco Giants fans – See the crazy crab.

I'm forgetting this Oakland artisan, but I loved the poems and adages burned into various found wood objects. One of my favorites - a poem by Pablo Neruda, one of my favorite poets, whom I studied while at Syracuse University.

I’m forgetting this Oakland artisan, but I loved the poems and adages burned into wood, stone, and other found objects. I immediately gravitated to this poem by Pablo Neruda, one of my favorite poets, whom I studied while at Syracuse University.

Then after they left – such a short visit this time around – we offered our home to a French exchange student for three weeks. All the while, I was trying to edit my manuscript, and then proof and go through the production phase of the book. The month of July, I think I averaged 3-4 hours of sleep. Wait, that’s normal. At any rate, every evening and weekend was filled with reading the manuscript over and over and over again. While trying to entertain our exchange student.

Isabella and I took our exchange student for a day-long walk along the Embarcadero. At Pier 27, we chanced upon a free concert by the San Francisco Symphony - lovely!

On a beautiful Sunday in July, Isabella and I took our exchange student for a day-long walk along the Embarcadero. At Pier 27, we chanced upon a free concert by the San Francisco Symphony – lovely!

Sunday brunch at Butterfly Restaurant at Pier 33. California-Asian fusion and a nice view of the Bay.

We rarely venture to Pier 39, but I forget how spectacular the views can be, so long as you look outward!

The end-of-our-walk view of the San Francisco piers….

And in the midst of our hosting duties, I flew out to Portland for a week for my company’s annual sales meeting in mid-July. Every time I come to Portland, I fall in love all over again. I had to edit/proof in the evenings while there, but I really enjoyed spending time with my colleagues since I only see most of them twice a year.

Downtown Portland – my view from my temporary office at my company’s headquarters.

Lunch outside at the The Portland Regency with my colleagues.

The courtyard of my boutique hotel – the Portland Harbor Hotel.

On the menu? Of course.

Our company took in a Portland Sea Dogs game at Hadlock Fields. The Sea Dawgs are the Red Sox’s AA team. They played the farm team of the Yankees. Classic.

Normally I go to baseball games to watch the game, but I had too much fun catching up with my colleagues. Here, with Eric and Cathleen. And this is after my third hot dog! Yup, I was hungry.

One street down from my hotel, I found a true gelato place – Gorgeous Gelato!

I had to go to one of my favorite shops in downtown Portland – Waterlily.

The earrings on the left are made by sisters in Thailand. I had gotten a pair by them a few years ago at Waterlily. Thanks for Fay, we walked into Edgecomb Potters on the waterfront. This collective features artisans from around the country. The earrings on the left are made from vintage watch parts. I chose this very Art Deco pair.

The earrings on the right were made by two sisters from Thailand. I had gotten a pair crafted by them a few years ago at Waterlily. Thanks to Fay, we walked into Edgecomb Potters on the waterfront. This collective features artisans from around the country. The earrings on the left are made from vintage watch parts. I chose this very Art Deco pair.

More seafood, please. On the outdoor deck on the waterfront at the Porthole Restaurant and Pub.

More seafood and fresh greens, please. On the outdoor deck on the waterfront at the Porthole Restaurant and Pub.

Dinner at the Flatbread with Jack, Fay, and Mia. One last view.

Upon my return home, it was back to editing and proofing. My publisher Eastwind Books of Berkeley and I were a week late with getting everything to the printer. You would think that a great weight would have been lifted once Harvey, my publisher, said, no more comma deletions; we are done and you can’t touch it anymore. But all that stress over typos, commas, widows and orphan lines still resided in my upper back. One morning in August, I awoke to chest pains and after talking it over with David, we decided to be safe and head to the ER. Thankfully, at 7am on a Thursday, I was the only one who walked into the ER waiting room. No risk factors. All tests came back negative. I went home in a record two hours and yes, came back with peace of mind and stern warnings from the ER doctor and my NP and physical therapist that I need more hours of sleep. Well, okay.

The day of my ER visit, the kids, on their own initiative, made dinner and a wine cake for me. In fact, Isabella made my lunches on the weekends while I was hunched over my laptop editing. Yes, I am filled with gratitude.

After the production process, however, I dove into the marketing/promotion tasks that need to be done. So I’m immersed in that right now. Press releases. Press release list upon list upon list. Creation of postcards and posters. Approval of ads. FB author page. Twitter handle (gulp). Author website. Reaching out to academics in labor, history, Asian-American disciplines with a little help from a history professor at the University of Maryland. Scheduling reading events. Networking. It’s all exhilarating, empowering, and validating! But hard to do when you have to do it all after hours.

My friend Wendy Johnson and I attended the Stand Up for Books Comedy Night, a fundraiser for my publisher’s bookstore, Eastwind Books of Berkeley (landlord raised the rent – boo-hiss) at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center. And you didn’t have to be Asian-American to appreciate the jokes, I think….

Yup, I dragged David to the Jackson Browne concert at the Greek Theatre in August. I bribed him with beer while I had wine. The last time we were at the Greek Theatre? Twenty years ago when we saw the Counting Crows with our friends John (and best man) and Tracy!

I was thrilled when Jackson Browne introduced his heartbreaking song Sky Blue & Black by saying that it was one of his favorite songs. Me too! His latest CD is very political, a call to environmentalism. The title song, Standing in the Breach, is about rebulding a school in Port-au-Prince in Haiti after their devastating earthquake. Browne was very proud to be a part of this school, which he says educates 2,500 students every year for free. Yup, respect him in bunches.

We managed to have some fun, though. But now school is staring me in the face. Time to be co-chair of the high school’s Investing in Academic Excellence. Lunafest 2015-2016 season will be commencing soon. Work will start getting busier. And my book comes out September 4th, with readings and events, and more marketing and promotions.

We are winding down with our season tickets for the very painful Oakland A’s season. A weeknight game with the Dodgers’ Kershaw on the mound versus another pitcher called up from the minors. We went with great trepidation. When our hapless bullpen blew a 1-1 tie in the top of the 8th, a common occurrence this year, we hesitated but still stayed. We were rewarded: First walk-off win, 5-4, in 10 innings. Nice way to end the summer – Country Breakfast (aka Mr. Double Play) getting a pie and Gatorade. My first win since Opening Day. I know, pathetic. Back to the right-field bleachers next year! Still love the summer classic.

But would I want it any other way? Heck no. But I will miss this summer. What a memorable time we had.

The last gasp from the garden. Is this truly the last bouquet of August, of summer?

The summer garden expires

Posted on August 15, 2015 by Patty

The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning. The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn, but the first week of August is motionless, and hot. It is curiously silent, too, with blank white dawns and glaring noons, and sunsets smeared with too much color. Often at night there is lightning, but it quivers all alone.
– Natalie Babbitt, American author, from Tuck Everlasting

The day before we left for Italy, I made a bouquet for my cousin Daniel for a mid-June brunch date with my sister.

In August, one hardly expects a garden to expire, to be withered and barren of not only flowers but buds that are already blackened or dried. Taking a look at my garden, especially the side yard, one would think that we are in late September instead of the middle of August. Yes, the drought has impacted our trees and our garden.

When we came back from Italy, I was able to make bouquets for delivery before the 4th of July. The garden was looking great!

The dahlias were big and beautiful.

The blooms were healthy, though the plants were noticeably not producing as much as in past years.

In better times, over the summer, you wouldn’t be able to see the neighbor’s duplex from our row of windows in the family room because the magnolia trees would be thick with leaves. But sadly, you can see the dirty-white plaster walls. Yes, the drought is to blame, but I also planted some 20 new dahlia plants in late spring and only two plants gave me a bloom each. Surely, I would have expected them to produce and not be affected by the years of drought.

July bouquet: normally the gladiolas are done by June, but the strange weather has thrown even the plants off their normal growing patterns.

July bouquet: normally the gladiolas are done by June, but the strange weather has thrown the plants off of their normal growing patterns.

One of my favorite dahlias had a very short season this summer. I’m glad I have a photo to remember that it even bloomed this summer.

This dahlia, too, had a short season. Normally an early-blooming dahlia, it didn’t last more than a month.

In my copious free time (not!), I tried to snip off the brown and black leaves to encourage the new growth that I was happily seeing on the dahlia plants. But while some are coming back and producing shiny, healthy green leaves, at some point the buds are mysteriously turning black. I can’t figure out what is happening, as this has never happened in all the years we’ve been at our home – dating back since 1995 – 20 years!

This July bouquet was a stretch.

Beautiful pink dahlia surrounded by blue flowers and healthy-looking ferns.

Toward the end of the surprising gladiola season.

Each week, I wondered if I would be able to eek out two bouquets for the El Cerrito High School and Korematsu Middle School’s auction winners. The blooms got smaller, which, of course, impacted the size of the bouquets. This past week, I was lucky enough to make one small bouquet. Maybe the garden has reached the end of its season, ignoring the calendar, the mild summer with practically zero days of fog, which would have been perfect for the dahlias all season long.

The last full bouquet in late July.

Thank goodness for my neighbor’s pink succulent plant to add height to the last bouquets!

Winding down….

Still, I’m encouraged by the new growth of the dianthus or carnation plants. Some of the dahlias are struggling valiantly to stave off powdery mildew and keep its buds healthy. Maybe, in keeping with our strange weather and garden patterns, the flowers have it in them to push through for one last bloom. A late summer, early autumn garden.

Last week's last attempt and putting together two bouquets in the same week.

Last week’s last attempt at putting together two bouquets in the same week.

The last bloom for this dahlia.

Wouldn’t that be something. I remain as hopeful as spring, even as I myself stave off my mourning. The last of this, the last of that. Perhaps not.

Is this the last bouquet of the summer for the Korematsu auction winner? Stay tuned.

Firenze day 2: Santa Croce, Bargello, Ponte Vecchio, Boboli Gardens, and Clet

Posted on June 26, 2015 by Patty

“But Italy worked some marvel in her. It gave her light, and – which he held more precious – it gave her shadow. Soon he detected in her a wonderful reticence. She was like a woman of Leonardo da Vinci’s, whom we love not so much for herself as for the things that she will not tell us. The things are assuredly not of this life; no woman of Leonardo’s could have anything so vulgar as a ‘story.’ She did develop most wonderfully day by day.”
– E.M. Forster, British novelist, essayist, and short story writer, from A Room with a View

We had our work cut out for us on our first full day in Firenze! We ended up purchasing a Firenze card, which gives you access to many museums in the city, gets you to the front of lines or at least to a shorter line as many people got those cards, and offered discounts for kids (European kids get in free) stateside. We tried to hit all the major museums on this visit because we wanted the kids to see the major works of art in Firenze. Maybe next visit we can hit the smaller museums and sites, as well as things such as the mosaic and leather schools that our friend Lori recommended to us.

Statue of Dante in front of Santa Croce Church.

The inside of Santa Croce Church.

More Santa Croce interior.

Our hotel, the Hotel Giglio, by the way, is close to Piazza de San Marco and the Accademia, which makes most points of interest within walking distance. That said, Mike wears a Fitbit, and we’ve logged some serious daily miles on this trip (the Coliseum/Forum, Pompeii/Vesuvius/Herculaneum, and today ranked as the days in which we’ve walked the most). The first stop was Santa Croce Church, a 14th-century Franciscan church that holds the tombs of the great Florentines, or as David says, the who’s who of Italian Renaissance. A statue of a stern-looking Dante stands before the 19th century Victorian Gothic façade. Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Dante, Rossini, Galileo, and other notables are buried in this church.

Tombs of famous Florentines every which way you look.

Michelangelo’s tomb. He lived to be 89 years old at a time when the average age of man was around 40 years old.

The domed ceiling of Santa Croce Church.

Right outside Santa Croce Church is a huge square typically filled with vendors in an open-air market type of atmosphere. This time, however, huge steel bleachers were set up for this famous match played on June 24th, which is Florence’s celebration of the festivity of San Giovanni Battista, the city’s patron saint. Our friend Lori, who spent a semester in Florence a couple of years back, told us that we could watch the Calcio in Costume final match, a Medieval style of football played in traditional costume. It’s apparently a violent sport to watch. Today, by the way, is June 23rd, so a day before the festivities. A description of the event conjured up scenes of rowdy crowds, so we decided we’d visit museums on the 24th instead.

At the Bargello, one of David’s and my favorite statues is this bronze statue called Fishing Boy (1876) by Vincenzo Gemito. Here is a detail of the statue. What we loved about it was the real-life pose of a boy struggling to hold onto the fish that he caught.

A detail of Michelangelo’s Bacchus (1496-1497).

One room or sala houses a series of Davids by the likes of Michelangelo and Verrocchio. Here is Donnatello's version (1440).

One room houses a series of Davids by the likes of Michelangelo and Verrocchio. Here is Donnatello’s version (1440).

Francis del Nora’s ethereal Placca di legatura.

The Bargello was our next step. It’s a small enough museum but dense with many statues. David and I had visited here before, but the building is pretty and I really enjoyed the statues. Once we walked through the Bargello, we settled for lunch and then headed over to the Arno and leisurely stroll over the Ponte Vecchio Bridge, which David told the kids was spared by the Nazis during the occupation of Italy because they thought the bridge was beautiful.

Lasagna lunch at Trattoria Palilottino on Via Iola dells Stinche.

Ponte Vecchio over the Arno River.

Family portrait on the Ponte Vecchio.

The DeMay family on the Ponte Vecchio.

Once on the other side, we went to the Pitti Palace (however, we didn’t have time to go through it) and walked around Boboli Gardens. I was so looking forward to going to the coffee house and ordering tartufo, which David and I deemed had the best tartufo among all the places we visited 18 years ago. Alas, the coffee house still exists, though we had trouble finding it, but they no longer serve beverages and dolci. This disappointment did not dampen our trip, however, because of the spectacular view from the top of the gardens. On one side you see the green hills and villas scattered across the countryside. On the other, the view of the city dwellings and, of course, the Duomo. As I mentioned, we didn’t get a chance to even blitz through the Pitti Palace, but we found time to stop at Pitti Mosaic, across the palace, where we bought a tiny mosaic of the Duomo on our last visit. There were some absolutely spectacular intricate mosaics, including a Tuscany villa scene and the Duomo, all for a mere 15,000 and 80,000 Euros, respectively. Sigh.

A view of the city and Pitti Palace from halfway up the steps of Boboli Gardens on a very hot day.

A view from the other side of Boboli Gardens at the top.

At the top of Boboli Gardens overlooking the Duomo and the city.

More spectacular views.

Coming back from the coffee house, we came upon more ways to show off the Duomo.

The fountain behind Pitti Palace.

We were scheduled to meet with Isabella’s friend Sophia and her parents, Charles and Lori (she who spent a semester here a couple of years ago), at the Piazza della Signoria, another area that I could spent hours simply gazing at the statues and taking in the Florentine experience. We finally met up after a case of mixed-up locations, and what a nice reunion it was for two friends who happened to be visiting Firenze at the same time.

Two friends from El Cerrito meeting in Firenze, Piazza della Signoria.

We walked to their favorite gelato place where they treated us to gelato. While we caught up in a nearby park, Lori told us about a French graffiti artist named Clet who lives in Firenze and cleverly alters street signs in the city. Thus began a game of locating his artwork. We found some but not as many as in a link that Lori sent us after our visit. But it was a fun thing to do and something your average tourist would know anything about. If you plan a visit to Firenze, see how many different ones you can find:

A Clet sign – bird pooping on a no-entry traffic sign.

More Clet.

After our visit, we wandered around, trying to find a good place for a Florentine meal. We settled on Caffe Italian Osteria, which had a Medieval vibe to it and very good food, which was only a few doors down from where we had a hearty lunch.

Dinner not far from where we ate lunch.

Picci pasta with meat sauce and a Chianti to go with it.

Picci pasta with meat sauce and fresh bean salad, and a Chianti to go with it. My plate was clean by the end of the evening.

David’s meat skewer and vegetables, beautifully presented.

Chef slicing prosciutto.

On our way home, we walked through the Piazza della Signoria and enjoyed the statues lit up at night:

The Fountain of Neptune at night.

One of my favorite statues: The Rape of Sabine – beautifully lit up with wonderful light and shadows highlighting the human body.

Here are some other photos from our second day in Firenze:

Enjoying “gelato” in a colorful way.

A stylish way to post letters.

Shopping for earrings at small shop, Stilelibero Monili, Via Ghibellina.

A pair of earrings purchased at Stilelibero Momili, which reminds me of earrings a woman from the Renaissance would wear.

Another full day. Tired feet and tired kids mean another round of sound sleep and dreams of what’s next in Firenze.

Welcome the bouquet!

Posted on June 4, 2015 by Patty

A profusion of pink roses bending ragged in the wind speaks to me of all gentleness and it enduring.
– William Carlos Williams, American poet, from The Collected Later Poems of William Carlos Williams

I have been so busy with work, business travel, trying to wrap up finishing the edits to my novel and my book’s dust jacket, and the end-of-school-year activities that always bunch of in the last month or two that I’ve neglected blogging. I’ve been meaning to write more blogs in May and now it’s a month later since my last blog. Now we are full bore into summer! And I can’t wait any longer, even if it means losing sleep to post.

The first dahlia bloom of the season.

As you know, for the last several years I have donated weekly summer bouquets to our children’s schools’ auctions. This year, emboldened by planting several dozen dahlia bulbs in early spring, I made donations to both Jacob’s high school and Isabella’s middle school, which she’ll be enrolling as a student in the fall. I thought about donating for her last year of elementary school, but I wisely decided that three bouquets might be pushing it, especially with the ongoing drought.

A magenta dahlia.

This Thursday marks the second week of delivering bouquets. Thankfully, the auction winners have been very appreciative of the early efforts. Just wait till all the dahlias are at full strength! Something to look forward to as we enjoy the end of school and the beginning of summer vacations and travels!