Pressing the "PAUSE" button

This part of our trip is coming to an end, for us as a family, and for Ozayr's students as well. The Rome portion of the study abroad is an intensive drawing course, culminating in a hand-drawn map of Rome by the entire class. Now, these are architects and design students, so it's not just any map - the students are encouraged to add layers, perspectives, through their research and experiences here. Relevant areas can be bigger, more detailed, or interpretive; there can be commentary, even pop culture references. You can see a glimpse on the student blog: here, here and here. So, in Rome, when the students are not working on their maps, they are walking the city with Ozayr, drawing, drawing, drawing...

Drawing is something that Ozayr has always done in his personal life as well. He brings a new moleskine sketchbook with him whenever he travels, and tries to fill it with sketches and notes. Turns out that it is one of my favourite things that he has brought to our family as well, when 2 years ago we started bringing individual notebooks with us on our trips. It is something I wanted to share on the blog today as a way to look back on the last month here in Italy.

The moleskine sketchbooks Ozayr got us for our first trip

It has become a lot more than drawing actually, and I have been struggling to find a way to articulate that. In fact, I would say that any improvement in drawing skill for the girls has been an added bonus. This notebook becomes a container for so many memories of their trip. There are no "rules" about what they can put in there, or how it is used, except that they must write the date on each entry. The girls draw, sometimes in earnest, but also doodle, play tic-tac-toe, glue in ticket stubs, press flowers in it. They cut up and make collages from the flyers and brochures we pick up at places we visit. In Venice, they scooped up handfuls of confetti and glued that in too. Hafsa's heading reads "Confetti Sprinkled by Little Kids." Their notebook becomes a very special keepsake, of their own making - how great is that? A truly priceless gift (as I fully realized when Hafsa left hers in the Blue Mosque last year and we raced back to retrieve it).

But the real gift here is something I did not anticipate. It is even richer, and one of which I think the girls are unaware. When you say "wow, I am really enjoying this view/moment/experience. I'm going to stop here awhile," you are truly pausing.

When you stop to contemplate or analyze even the aesthetics of the experience at hand, you are choosing to be awake in a moment that could have passed by very quickly. You are taking the opportunity to reflect on what you are seeing and experiencing within the moment itself. It has become a defining and meaningful lens through which to see the "view" - the culture, the aesthetic, the details, the generalities... It is the single most important thing we do while traveling, in my mind.

It's different from taking a picture, which I think does the opposite - it removes you to certain degree from the moment at hand, as you contemplate more what you will want to see or remember later. You are actually placing yourself in a moment much further away from where you are in the present, by saying "what will I want to remember of this moment next year? Or five years from now?" I actually saw tourists today with their backs to the view, as they were trying to take selfies with their phones...

So we stop. Ozayr draws, the kids draw or doodle. You might ask what I am doing during these moments?  The answer to that is that my notebook is lined - I mostly write. Many of the blog posts here were thought up or scribbled out during these quiet moments. When I'm not writing, I pause as well, and I watch my little family draw and I hand over the eraser, or find dry places for them to sit. I make sure that everyone is close by and I enjoy the view.

I relish in my gratitude.

I would say a year or two ago, I encouraged these stops for drawing for them, because I was trying to facilitate this experience for them. But now it has changed. The girls and I went to the Palazzo Altemps last week, and it was them who asked to stop and linger at various works of art. At one point I was sitting on a bench while Hafsa drew at my feet, and Maymuna stood in front of me, giving me a lecture on the mythology behind the statue's subject. I could not have enjoyed that afternoon more, thanks to them and this little tradition now so ingrained in our family culture.

Over the last month, I have accrued many, many photos of Ozayr and the girls sketching in various locales. I will include some of my favourites :-)  Thank you Roma for the memories, and thank you Ozayr for bringing something so precious to our family.

Maymuna sketching the archangel Michael, Castel Sant'Angelo, Rome

Sketching in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Sketching an archway in Orvieto, Umbria

Ozayr sketching in the Boboli Gardens, Florence

 

Hafsa drawing in St Mark's, Venice

Maymuna drawing in Venice

a sketching totem pole

All 3 of them, plus student, drawing at Villa D'Este, Tivoli

Ozayr drawing at the Colosseum, Rome

Catching up on ticket stubs etc after Venice

Hafsa adding the last of her Italy scraps

Uffizi Gallery - take 2

I wanted to share our experience at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence this year. It was so great because last year it was not so great...

The Uffizi Gallery is one of the best and biggest galleries in the world, housing works of art by all the big names of the Renaissance. It was pretty clear to me when we came to Florence last year that this one day - if played correctly - could inspire an entire school year's worth of art education. (Yes, always thinking like a homeschooler!) Of course any time at all spent in Italy will be imbued with the names of Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, et al., but I was thinking the Uffizi was going to be the Big Deal I had always heard it would be and the kids would come away positively enlightened.

Wrong!

Our visit just did not go the way I had planned. The girls did not seem that impressed with the "interesting" facts we tried to press upon them as we walked through. They were distracted by the crowds, by the sheer number of pieces of art on every wall... They wandered past works of art that took years to create, in mere seconds. I had envisioned a full day of wandering, followed by a trip to the magnificent bookstore where we would let them pick out a book each on their absolute favourites - a keepsake of a truly meaningful experience.  In reality, we were probably done in under 2 hours, and they left with only a vague whiff of the awe and inspiration I had wanted us to be steeped in. I was disappointed.

This year I was determined to make more out of our amazing SECOND CHANCE at the Uffizi. How many people get a second chance? After (briefly) considering a private guide specifically for children ($$$!!!) I came across a website online about visiting the Uffizi with children. I found 2 highly valuable pieces of advice which I wanted to share on the blog for any of you who may have the chance to visit galleries or museums that are once-in-a-lifetime moments you want to make the most of:

1. Researching the specifics of the gallery you are visiting is worth it. The Uffizi, for example, is not a child-friendly place. There are bathrooms at the beginning and the end. None in between. Also good to know that there is a cafe in the gallery. It is sure to be overpriced, but with kids, low blood sugar can put an end to the whole excursion pretty quick, even at 7 and 10 years of age. You can smuggle some crackers in with your bag, but that's no good if you are required to check your bags at the door like at the Borghese Galleries.

2. This advice is probably what changed our experience this year the most dramatically: the website recommended buying a book of the complete (or almost-complete) works of art of the gallery, and go through it beforehand. Select together the pieces that they respond to the most, and look at them together, read about the artist if they are interested, etc.  Depending I suppose, on the ages of your kids, this could be 5 things, or it could be 20. And I'm guessing that's probably indicative of what they can handle anyway, right? This was backwards from the approach I had taken the previous year, which was to think that the "surprises" in store at the gallery would be what would hold their attention.

I have to say that it really worked like a charm. We purchased 2 books ahead of time - one for Maymuna of the paintings, and one for Hafsa of the sculpture. While Ozayr was busy with students one afternoon, the girls and I went back to the hotel and started flipping through them, turning down the corners of the art they thought they would like to see in person. In the end they had over 40 pieces they wanted to see, and we spent the whole afternoon researching the stories behind them and making note of the famous artists who created them.

The next day we went to the gallery and our experience was so different than the one we had the year before. They greeted so many of the artworks like old friends. They moved methodically through their list, not letting us skip any rooms. Hafsa brought her book with her and loved roaming the corridors, matching the photos in her book with the actual sculpture in front of her. We stopped and sketched several times. It took us an hour to get through the first hallway!

I feel so fortunate to have gotten a second chance at the Uffizi. I wanted to pass on these little tidbits - you never know what will help you get the most out of a great opportunity.

Our last few days in Italy are underway - packing and laundry have begun, along with lots of gelato and walks to our favourite places. I hear it's raining in Istanbul ;-)

Libreria Acqua Alta

I don't know if anyone else saw this article online a few months ago: 10 Inspiring Bookshops Around the World? It's quite a fun list, I saw when a friend posted it on Facebook. When Ozayr and I saw the bookshop in Venice, we made a mental note to surprise the girls and take them there.

Such a fun place! As the name implies, this store floods regularly, and being playful with it, they have stored all their books in boats, bathtubs, barrels, even a huge gondola right in the middle of the store!

Enjoy the pictures!

 

Dad!

the transformation of Venice

Our general sense of Venice when we arrived was that it is generally a pretty sleepy place. The grand piazzas were empty most of the time, and we could walk to dinner in the evenings barely meeting a soul on the street. Apart from the main tourist attractions, we never saw crowds or even big groups of Venetians hanging out. After being there a couple of days, we saw a sudden change on the Friday night - you could literally hear the wheels of the suitcases (which make a terrible racket on cobblestone streets) rolling into town. The beginning of Carnevale had come, and the city suddenly began to swell with the tourists and party goers.

Carnevale di Venezia is an annual festival held in Venice. It has taken place on and off for hundreds of years, officially established during the Renaissance, but outlawed and reinstated several times since then. Historically it has been a celebration of a victory of "the people" over "the establishment," with merry-making and festivities, and the wearing of masks, symbolizing resistance to established social and class hierarchies. This tradition mixes with the theatrical nature of Venice and the tradition of Commedia Dell'Arte. The different mask styles can be traced back to different characters and types. There is a great webpage describing them HERE.

Now mainly though, it is a festival for tourists. Apparently as many as 3 million people come to Venice over this few weeks. Sounds like most Venetians use this opportunity to get extra work, or they get out of town (perhaps accounting for how quiet Venice was prior to the start of the festival). Whatever it was, or has morphed into, it was fun for our kids and the students to witness this for a couple of days before we left Venice.

Forcole, fonts and musings on the sharing of knowledge...

There are so many things to appreciate about Italian culture. There's food, for one. Italy is the birthplace of the Renaissance and countless other arts. Right now though, I am having a whole other appreciation for something culturally inherent in this country, and that is the sharing of knowledge with young people.

In the United States, I feel we tend to think of education in mainly an institutional sense... That education is the domain of the "School" (whether that is brick-and-mortar, or another form) as opposed to the domain of the family or the community at large. This isn't a slight against schools - I'm just talking about the attitude towards education and how it's changed in the last couple of generations. A kid in the 50's could still go to school, but also might spend time at his neighbour's house looking at his stamp collection, or learn about the moon or stars from an uncle who loved astronomy. Now kids "check in" to school in the morning, and "check out" in the afternoon. Even while homeschooling it is tempting to do this, keep your education nicely squared away, so you can check it off when it's "done."

I live in a great place in the US today where there are lots of opportunities for kids to learn. My kids take lots of great classes. I just feel like I'm seeing something here that is more organic. People here see children and immediately want to show them things, teach them a little something about their profession, their craft. We've seen paper marbling and dress-making in Florence. In Venice we went to a workshop to see how they make the forcole (for-co-lay) which is the oar lock for gondolas - an art that incorporates math, physics, artistry and technique.

We stopped and peeked our heads in at a printer's shop because of some lovely prints in the window and were invited back to see the press, all the tiles and the project he is currently working on.








































This act of sharing is a truly lovely experience to behold. An older person, who feels valuable and proud; and a young person who feels important, and noticed, and excited by what they are learning about the world. These connections are so valuable and so memorable. They have made this trip to Italy something special.

So, it's got me thinking - again, as so often I say to myself while traveling - how can I bring this element of life here home with me? I believe that I am lucky to be surrounded with lots of caring adults and resources for learning. I guess I am looking for something more organic... experiences that have the ring of mentorship and community, of exposing children to different career paths or hobbies. I want the passion of the sharer to come through like it does here, and show our kids what it is like to spend your life doing something you love. An experience where the connection is as important as the content. Do people have passion like that for IT? Or factory-made clothing? Is this a tall order?

While dreaming, I can affect my own circle of influence. I really want to learn to slow down and see the other children in our lives, and consider what I can share with them... I have friends who are good at this, I'm going to try to be more like them. Lots to think about in the coming weeks.

Next time: gondolas and Carnivale!

Water

Just one of the crazy things about Venice is how beautiful it is. Around any given corner you will find a breathtaking view. It cannot be helped, especially when the sun comes out:

Before arriving in Venice I had not really considered HOW MUCH WATER there would really be. I understood in theory that there were canals etc. but really water is everywhere and the people who live here traverse it, overcome it, make money off it, and fight with it every day.

You can click on the picture to see them bigger

The dotted lines are ferries which cross the Grand Canal

The 200 canals of Venice are like roads - in fact, they are more like roads than the actual roads, since no vehicles are permitted in Venice other than boats. Since there are no cars, you would have to be sure that you can carry home all the groceries you bought, or that you can carry your stroller up and over all the stairs of all those bridges - there are 416 small bridges in Venice, and four that cross the Grand Canal.

But for all those bridges and alleyways, you can just as easily hit the end of a street or passageway and find that only water lies ahead.

There is a ferry system with ferries that run lengthwise up and down the canal, as well traghettos, ferries which cross from bank to bank. There are water taxis and gondolas (for the tourists mainly). I was surprised to see that there are lanes in the water. Even with "street" lights!

But just so you didn't think that the people of Venice avoid the hassles of parking, you can see that they still have to parallel park their boats! I laughed to see all the boats lined up in front of the houses.

Many homes that face canals have knee-high water-tight barriers to keep the water from seeping in through their front door in the acqua alta season.

My first impression is that it can be quite difficult to live here. I read that every year 2,000 people move out of Venice to the mainland. In particular young couples, and as a result the average age here is 50 years old. Apparently homes are very expensive and often require restoration and repairs that are extensive. Plus there is an increasingly limited amount of work here: many traditional crafts still exist, like glass blowing, paper marbling etc, but their main industry is tourism. In recent years even the number of gondoliers has declined - 200 years ago there were 10,000 and now there are estimated to be around 500. But our gondola ride is a story for another blog post....

In the meantime, we got to be happy tourists, and laughed every time we hit a dead end; tourists with lots of leisure time to wander to the bridge that was out of the way, or wait for the ferry. For our purposes of enjoyment and drawing, it just couldn't be beat.

A flood! Oh wait...

When we arrived in Venice it was dark. We wandered through the piazza in front of San Marco, amazed by the columns, the arches, the magnificence of it all.

The next morning we returned and were shocked, and delighted, to find that the piazza had flooded!

It was interesting to learn that Piazza San Marco often floods at this time of the year. Actually it is not always that the banks of the Grand Canal have overflowed, but that the gutters that are meant to drain the rainwater from the piazza into the canal run the other way and water from the canal flows into the square instead. 

The season between October and April is called the acqua alta. Due to the tide at this time of year, the winds off the Adriatic Sea and the gradual but steady sinking of the soil, water is routinely flooding into the streets and piazzas of Venice. The area of San Marco is the first to go under water, since it is the city's lowest point. But many canals throughout the city will overflow their banks during this time.

The evening before we had noticed stacks of boards in many squares, and even down some streets. The next morning we saw their intended purpose (which we had guessed) - to help people traverse the water. There are city workers whose job it is to move them about and position them appropriately, then re-stack them when they are no longer necessary.

In the meantime we were having a LOT of fun, splashing about!

 

More about Venice to come!