It's a hot Fry-day in Firenze!
I recall writing yesterday that the group eats a normal amount of food...well, I can't say that this was completely true of our five course meal last night in Osteria de Pazzi (Translation: The Osteria of Madmen!).
Our antipasto was a pomodoro bruschetta, which is a slice of toasted Tuscan bread topped with a mix of chopped tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil, salt, and a dash of balsamic vinegar. Then came the primi, served family style, which included penne al pesto and a Tuscan summer fave, Papa al pomodoro. Italians like to translate this as Tomato Soup, but that's quite a misrepresentation. As with most Tuscan food, Papa al pomodoro is a rustic dish, invented by peasants to make use of everything in the pantry. Papa uses day-old bread, which has become too hard to eat, but is not yet fully stale. When the bread is broken up into small chunks and mixed with a hearty tomato base, and seasoned with the three must-haves, garlic, olive oil, and salt, it becomes a delicious stew that can be served chilled or hot (in our case hot) on a summer day. Our secondi, or the meat course was a chicken dish, pollo al vino bianco, which was served in a white wine and lemon sauce. As for the vegetarians, we were served a caprese salad that was topped with tasty oregano. Oh, and in Italy, you can't eat meat without your contorno, or side dish, so we were given heaping serving dishes of french fries to accompany our final course.
We were full.
But we were hungry enough again this morning, as the students eagerly accepted a delicious breakfast of French pastries provided by none other than Arthur Kian, Abbey Road's founder and Managing Director. Arthur has travelled down to Florence from Nice, France, where he has been running AR's Nice program, to say hello and photograph the students for next year's brochure. Arthur brought the treats, which included pain au chocolat, croissant with almonds and powdered sugar, and raisin pastries, all the way from Nice, France. Merci, Arthur!
The morning classes will wrap up on Monday, so the staff offered a sort of finale to their lessons today. The Italian students spent class in Lorenzo de Medici's beautiful student kitchen creating a full meal, which included gnocchi and apple tart. All the directions, of course, we in Italian and Francesca, la professoresa, ensured that the students communicated with one another in Italian as well, making use of the many grammatical structures and vocabulary they have picked up in their sit-down classes and their excursions out into the city. The students have learned not only how to speak some Italian, but they have also learned an Italian attitude--how the kitchen and food is central to Italian family life, how caring for oneself and one's family can be a rewarding and fulfilling experience, and how food preparation, done thoughtfully and with attention, can enrich one's life in ways that we forget when we eat a meal standing up, on the phone, or in front of the TV. Bravissimi, ragazzi!
The painting class visited the Uffizi today, as Antonio was intent on showing his students the rich portraiture created during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The students also saw Botticelli's Primavera and The Birth of Venus. These paintings are considered masterpieces because they combine technical skill with the art of storytelling. By focusing on such groundbreaking works, Antonio hoped to inspire the students to more richly develop the theme and tone of their artworks, hopefully adding yet another level to their Master's Projects.
The drawing class is finishing up their contemporary art week--and what a great finish! Lindsay and Stefano brought the students to Le Cure, a neighborhood outside of Florence's center, which has a tunnel used by graffiti artists to make public art. The students were able to study the pieces and deduced the various themes that are presented again and again in graffiti work: political messages, personal tags, and ars gratis artis. Then they had the chance to make their own art, imitating this style of expression by devising their own message in one the above-mentioned themes. The students each had their own blank poster, which they decorated with spray paint, markers, pastels, and acrylics, which they were to ds. But there was a catch--when the students finished their own poster, Lindsay challenged them to line their work up one after another along the tunnel wall creating a 50 foot poster. The students were then to find ways to connect each individual poster into the work as a whole, finding cohesion and points of intersection amongst posters. Tthis is a central tenet of public graffiti--it belongs to everyone, and everyone may contribute and adjust the art as they see fit. Wow!
Now the students are taking a break before starting their afternoon classes at four o'clock. Then, after that we will be having our Iron Chef contest, which is always a riot, and then we're going to a dicoteca with the Western Civilization group! What a day!!!
More soon!
Janet
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