Researching the Sites and Learning the Language!

 Knowing in advance that we would be going to Italy, I decided to take a class to learn the Italian language.   This spring I enrolled in a class at Sarasota Adult & Community Enrichment called Italian for Travelers, Conversation, Architecture taught by popular teacher, Professore Sabastiano Liseo.  The first day I heard Italian music as I walked up to the portable classroom and I float into class being transported by a fantastic melody.  "O Sole Mio"(Its Now or Never) sung by Caludio Villa filled the room as I found my seat in the vacant table in the back of the room. Sabastiano passed out the words to the song and asked us repeat the chorus. Then  he started the song again and he had us sing along con molto passione. He informed us that when we go to Italy, we would be gazing at architecture, viewing art, and dining at restaurants.  So in the course of our study, we would be visiting an Italian restaurant in Venice, Florida and taking a trip to the the Ringling Museum to see Renaissance  architecture.  Our distinguished professore wrote a book on the architecture of the museum and asked us to purchase it and read before our visit.

       At the college book store I also bought a book called, Conversational Italian in 7 Days which included two CDs to help with pronunciations.  This was a good investment as I am still learning the language while I driving my car speaking Italian to every unsuspecting person I meet!
     We then got down to business and learned the most useful phrases to get us through our travels:  Dove il bagno, (where is the bathroom), Quanto cuesta questo? (How much is this) Vorrei il taxi ora!, (I would like a taxi now!)  I will skip all the phrases about getting a hotel, since we will be on the ship in the evenings. In class we learn the numbers, days of the week, names of colors, and members of our family.  He had us make a family tree and learn the names for all the relatives:  la nonna, la zia, il padre il figlio, il nipone, etc...

From this study I discovered that the word "nepotism" came from the word "nipote" meaning "nephew." The origin comes from the fact that in the Middle Ages if the Popes wanted to extend his "dynasty," it was common practice to appoint their nephews to cardinal positions to continue the legacy.  Political leaders in our day are not to grant favouritism  to relatives without merit.
     A month into the course, we launched into learning to order food at a restaurant.  Il professori brought a menu from the restaurant, Made in Italy in Venice, Florida.  This is the restaurant he chose to visit because it is owned by Italian family.  He informed us that we would only be speaking in Italian to the waiter.  So we had to look at the menu and chose as if we were ordering something from each part of the menu: the Antipasti, Insalate, Zuppe, Secondi, and Dolci.  Our mouths watered as we looked at the many Pizza possibilities! Since I don't eat a lot, I like to share with others so we had fun ordering all sorts of dishes: Tatare di Salmone, Insalata Amalfi, Zuppa del Giorno, Linguine con Cozze e Asparagi, Scaloppine di Pollo, Regina Margherita Pizza, and Caprese Dolce.

      I went home and put labels on a place setting so I would remember the names of utensils we would be using.  Then I got excited and continued labeling everything in our house to help us remember the names of things in our living space!
     Near the end of our class course, we made a trip to the Ringling Museum.  Il professore explained that the Ringlings loved Italy and wanted to build an art gallery in Sarasota to hold all the works of art that they brought back from Italy.  The outstanding stature of the museum is the David.
It is a bronze replica of Michelangelo's "David" cast in Chiurazzy Foundry in Naples, Italy around 1920.  It is 16 feet 3 3/4 inches tall where as the original is 17 feet in the Academy Gallery, in Florence, Italy.
      Michelangelo was 26 when he undertook the massive sculpture after the initial undertaking by  Agostino de Duccio in 1463 and Antonio Rosselino around 1866.  The "Giant" block of marble sat for 25 years until the commission was given to Michelangelo. No one wanted to touch it even Leonardo de Vinci.  Michelangelo worked on it for three years in his Florence studio. Originally the six ton statue was to be placed at the top of the cathedral, but it was obvious that lifting it to that position was not going to happen, so it was finally decided that it should be placed in the Palazzo Vecchio.  It was later moved to the Accademia Gallery to protect it from damage.
     Our professore explained that the statue was a symbol of the Renaissance depicting the sentiment of the people of Florence breaking traditions of the Middle Ages held by the church.  A defiant gaze from the eyes of David looks to Rome.  Michelangelo's David does not stand on the face of Goliath as previous sculptures showed. He stands in contemplation with his weight on his back leg ready to begin combat.  Defying the church that  proclaimed all parts of the body to be covered,  Michelangelo carved out David in the nude, to celebrate the perfection of the human body. 
To the Medici family it was definitely a political statement forging ahead with Ideals of the Renaissance.

     Indeed John and Mable Ringling were obsessed with Venice.  They designed their mansion, the Ca d'Zan meaning the "house of John,"  in the Venetian style.  The Ogive arches allude to Middle Eastern Arabesque architectural motif, and resemble buildings like the Casa di Oro on the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy.  It might have also been influenced by Mable's favorite Venetian hotel, the Danieli.  The mansion is 22,000 square feet of living space with thirty-two rooms and fifteen bathrooms. The south end houses kitchen, pantries, servant quarters. Thousands of terra cotta tiles for the roof were sent from Bacelona.  The walls of the bell tower are set with herringbone facade interlaced with a rainbow of color tiles that shine brightly in the Sarasota sun. Walkways and balconies are adorned with decorative fillaree wrought iron. The windows are fitted with handmade European glass. The doorways, columns, tiles, balustrades and arched windows, all depict the Venetian Baroque Renaissance style.  The terrace that meets Sarasota Bay is 8,000 square feet.  Thirteen steps of English marble lead to the dock where the Ringling' yacht, the "Zalophus" once docked.  Mable also had a gondola that she used to ride to a near by islands. It took two years to build the Ca d'Zan for the cost of 1.5  million dollars.

 

      On our last day of class, Professor Sabastiano played Andrea Bocelli singing "Con Te Partiro".  This put me in the mood for our Italian voyage.  So now we are ready to start our trip to Italy beginning in Venice to see the beauty that inspired the Ringlings to build a priceless architectural treasure dedicated to the people of Sarasota. Grazie il signore Ringling!