the agony . . . the ecstasy

here is michelangelo's pieta, from my gigantic pile of photgraphs that i took in italy. before i left on my trip, i was told to read "the agony and the ecstasy" by irving stone. i took one look at the 700-plus-page novel in the library and decided, eh, i'll read that some other time. after visiting italy and experiencing michelangelo firsthand - his frescoes in the sistine chapel, his oil and tempera doni tondo in the uffizi gallery, his marble david (i just visited the replica), and this pieta, a marble located inside st. peter's basilica - i really couldn't resist picking up the novel.

it was a fantastic book and well-worth the challenge of its heft. i was lucky to have 45 minutes on the train to and from work each day to read it. every morning before work and every afternoon on the way home i was transported to renaissance italy into the world and mind of michelangelo. with each new peice of art that michelangelo created, i followed along by studying a photograph of the piece from another source. i loved the color and violence of the renaissance world and particularly michelangelo's passion for his craft. it was invigorating and inspiring. i highly recommend it!

and here's another photo from italy, just for fun.


this, my friends, is the best pasta i have ever eaten. after a long day of sightseeing in florence, we relied on rick steves for an out-of-the-way place for good pasta. good old rick! the place was called 13 Gobbi (meaning 13 hunchbacks), and the dish was a thick al dente pasta dressed with garlic, olive oil, hot pepper, and pancetta. it was fantastic and i was sad i had to split the entree with sm, though we also split a most-excellent osso bucco. but oh the pasta!