Thursday, April 13, 2006

The Day I fell in love with David.....

How do I fit into a half-page travelogue the experience of 5 full days in Italy??
How do I capture the feeling of walking around
the Colloseum in Rome ,
the Sistine Chapel in Vatican,
up the Leaning Tower of Pisa and
the pathways of Venice

in just 500 or 1000 words?
How do I pen down my Fascination of staring at the amazing masks in
Venice??

I know it is difficult, but try, I shall…

Italy is very similar to India –it is quite dirty, has chaotic traffic and people even dry their clothes out on a clothesline!!!
but the amazing fare it has to offer would ensure that an art enthusiast’s hunger is fully satiated.

Walking around the Colloseum in Rome, you would want to imagine all those gladiators and animals who were killed to the applause of the cheering spectators (this is when the movie Gladiator helps you…)

Staring at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel might leave you with a bad (s)p(r)ain in your neck but it is worth it – especially after seeing ‘the Creation ‘and ‘Temptation of Adam’ by Michelangelo.

And then I chanced upon David , standing tall and mighty, in the Academia Gallery of Florence and I instanly fell in love with this statue.

Trivia says that Michelangelo's David is based on the artistic discipline of disegno, which is built on knowledge of the male human form. Under this discipline, sculpture is considered to be the finest form of art because it mimics divine creation. Because Michelangelo adhered to the concepts of disegno, he worked under the premise that the image of David was already in the block of stone he was working on — in much the same way as the human soul is thought by some to be found within the physical body.

So herez a picture of a replica of David (which comes nowhere near the original but still, somethingz better than nothing...)


And as to the masks of Venice – they are so fascinating that I found myself dreaming about them for nearly a week .


Ok, so before I sign off, lemme wish myself a ‘Appy Blogday for having the patience to hang around on this space on the world wide web for exactly a year now.

39 comments:

Mr. J said...

Appy budday blog.

Ok, now out with the secret. How do you manage to do these trips? I mean is it like a packaged tour or something?

Lady you are living it up I tell you.

Trevor Penn said...

I wouldn't be lying if i said i was kinda getting jealous, right about now. :)

Crouching Tigress said...

Oh welcome back Princess Virus! So Italy eh? Awesome. Coming to France sometime?

Shankari said...

Happy Blog day n all, Swati! And David-mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!:)

Weary Hag said...

Absolutely beautiful!

Thanks for sharing these great pictures with those of us who will never get to see them in real life.

I'm glad you're back and YES! Congratulations to you for your one year anniversary of blogging! I'm glad you stuck it out this long too ... believe me.

Shruthi said...

Beautiful snaps!
Happy blogday :D

Arunima said...

happy buuday bloggy!!

you are a damn good travel writer. Now, somebody take me there.

gvenum said...

Awesome pictures! I wish I could live there! I recently finished DVC and had similar pictures and places in mind when I was reading it.

Post more pics no!

sinusoidally said...

Do you live in Europe now?

RT said...

Lovely pictures!! And am most J.. :-)
There I said it..!

~RAUL~ said...

Yo girl...nice pics...

And yeah, when r u back in town?

remember the T :D :D :D

jac said...

I envy you.

Congrats on this day, Swathy.

Sin said...

Happy Blog Anniversary! I had mine on April 10th! :)

I'd love to visit Italy!! Always wanted to and almost booked a trip for May, but going to the Swiss Alps instead. Reading your post has taken Italy to the top of my list now. :) Glad you had fun!

Anonymous said...

wicked mate.. keep it going..

Swathi Sambhani aka Chimera said...

@me
same as u i guess.
work!! and put up with bad workmates...

@seashells
but i bet it is I who should be jealous for u guys being near to ur dear ones n of course wholesome indian food.

@tigress
long time,no see :)
yeah i thot i shud meet up with u in France but unfortunately i have only 'other week here.

@shankari
thanks and yaa David is awesome,aint he?

@weary hag
i suggest u make a trip to this side of the world with ur hubby dear n yeah i am glad too 'bout sticking to blogging.

@Shruthi
thanks a ton,dudette

@Arunima
thanks n now i am on cloud9 :)

@gvenum
oh ya having seen the Pyramid at Louvre i could well imagine the scene from DVC.but wait, isnt the movie going to b out in theatres soon?

@sinusoidally
i am here on work n thankfully pushing off to India in a few days.

@rt
after ur recent trip u shudnt b saying tat!

@raul
of course i remember n it is all red and blue in color :))

@jac
therez this saying "I've learned that you shouldn't
compare yourself to others - they are more screwed up than you think." , so dont envy me :0

@rahul obla
oh! 'nother Rahul, welcome to my blog n the usual ...
Spain was in my list too but at a lower priority n hence is gonna b struck out soon.dun miss Italy.

@truth fairy
thanks buddy n hope u have recoverd from that sad event. n Happy Blogday to u too.Having bin to Swiss also i can say both r equally beautiful - while Swiss is all about the Alps ,Italy is about the ancient art and architecture.njoy ur trip

@zombiee
no more, i wud b off to my native land in no time now.

Trevor Penn said...

you got that all worng... i'm farther away from my near and dear and wholesome indian food than you are... so you've got that going for you as well .. :)

~RAUL~ said...

Yayyyyyy !!!

Am just waiting for it now :) :)

And upload some more pics girl. Jaldi se....

Anonymous said...

aaaawww . thats better.. me too off to motherland. in just a few days. cant wait.

M said...

Nice description of "david".
right now I am reading "agnoy and ecstasy" (about michelangelo) hence that appealed even more :-)

VHS said...

It's a small blog world out here, isn’t it?

It's raining travelogues in your blog and looks like you would very soon put Jules Verne to shame!
And since you’re back at Hyd, it’s time for some musings from home!

Happy Bloggin’ Anniversary... :)

Sweety Maruth said...

yupppiiee blog day !!!
nice fotos!!!

u wrote so well ..keep it up girlie!!!

Deepak said...

hey great post! I know the odds are low, but would like to see one on the Paris trip as well ;-)

Keep blogging from back home too

Swathi Sambhani aka Chimera said...

@seashells
oops, the necessary amendments have been made...

@raul
some more pics?? not until i get my treat n it better be in one of those newest places in town

@zombiee
having already landed here, 'am jus chilling out in the Hyd'badi summer

@om
oh, dun get me started on David - I think it is the most amazing and stupendous work of art I have seen
till date (and yes I am counting the Mona Lisa in this list..)

@vhs
dude, 'am glad u landed on my blog, so atleast there wud b a few folks i personally know who
can read what I write :)

@sweetymisha
so u seemed to have njoyed my rant, btw the photo on ur profile is so beautifully shot (or did u edit it??)

@deepe
u know what, now u r almost tempting me to write 'bout my Paris trip :)

Anonymous said...

Hey first time here... Kinda nice blog. Oh and 'appy blog anniversary!

Mr. J said...

Where you be at?

Vinod Rajagopal said...

nice piece of writing.. transported me...

Vinod Rajagopal said...

and yes - "Belated Blog Birthday Wishes"

now that gives a whole new meaning to BBBW

have a great day

-[V]

Anonymous said...

WOAH - u actually said chilling out .. man .. is it a state of mind or is it cos the heat doesnt affect you or are u contributing to the ozone depletion! as in using an AC?

Anu said...

First time on your blog and on the blog Anniversary! Happy Anniversary! Also you seem to have done the same route that my family did 2 years ago in April. Having read Agony and Ecstasy I loved tracing Michaelangelo's journey through his art. The Pieta brought a lump in my thoat and tears to my eyes!

Lalit Singh said...

I know.. how can one fit travel desc in a page, in a mere 1000 words... exactly my dilema...so i come up with the idea of 1 post for each day ...

Nice pics n nice account... esp liked the michaelangelo-david theory :-)

the Monk said...

ah, but you're a lucky one....and great pics...

david raphael israel said...

Swathi!--
that's much less than 500 words!
But nice highlights.
Doesn't Florence have a pleasant atmosphere? Even without considering the artworks -- the streets themselves . . .

cheers,
d.i.

FlyingHigh said...

no updates? :(

Shakes said...

your sistine chapel picture is gorgeous

Swathi Sambhani aka Chimera said...

@Grey shades
thanks for dropping by

@Me
me , very much at home at Hyd'bad

@THI
wud like to know where it transported u to? ;)
n thx for those wishes

@zom
hee hee - yaa,call me a masochist but i do luuuuurve summers at Hyd

@Anu
Agony and Ecstasy is big on my list esp. after seeing 'David'

@Lalit
who better than fellow-travellers to understand my plight :)

@Monk
long time, no see... fyi i am nolonger lucky having come back to gud ole Hyd

@d.i.
thanks for dropping by..
yes Florence has a lovely atmosphere to it and when questioned by Italians as to my favorite
place in Italy I alwayz say 'Florence' (of course 'David' being there is jus a coincidence ;)

@Shradha
shall post one soon (shall i say 'watch this space...' ) :))

@Shakes
oh!i think no one can do much justice to Sistine Chapel in terms of photographs
-itz jus incredibly beautiful .

Crouching Tigress said...

Were you in Venice twice? Cause I swear I saw you sitting on the stairs outside the train station!

Mr. J said...

No blogging..? What's up?

Saher said...

sweet...enjoyed the journey you have managed to create through your words...

Smiles!
Saher

Abdul Bijur V.A. said...

wicked! the masks were awesome.. wish i had one of those :) .. niiiice!