UPDATE: Here’s a great find. It’s an ad from AmEx for the doomed cruse. Immerse yourself!
Something I learned after leaving Florence for the Christmas break was that I haven’t really seen much of the touristy stuff in the city. Now that I’m back I’m committed to seeing more of what’s available here.
West from the Ponte alla Carraia, the bridge I cross every morning to school.
Gene invited me to the photography museum that houses the Fratelli Alinari collection, apparently the oldest photographic archive in the world. Along with some very beautiful old daguerreotypes and albumen prints from around the world there was a room lined in back-lit negatives and a wild collection of photographic albums, some of them huge sculptural assemblages with metal hinges, gemstone covers and painted edges.
I thought the famous Florence lion was a monkey until I was corrected.
With school on holiday I’m on my way home. First stop San Francisco, and the Italian consulate general to apply for my student visa for the rest of the term. The process was a lot smoother here and—knock wood—I’ll have my passport returned to me just in time to get back to Florence in the first few days of 2012.
While here I stayed with my friend Nikolas, a gracious host and one of the resident artists at the very cool Main Street Theater, a space that he’s been working on and building up together with three other friends. I’ll be back through this way for New Year’s Eve, hopefully then I’ll have the presence of mind to take some photo’s of the place, but first I’m Montana-bound.
These are a few of the choicest examples of the Florentine street artist Booe or Booey. There are very few tags, mostly you see the big gumdrops and the popsicle is an anomaly as far as I’ve seen. They have become little totems for me walking through Florence, just as the little men and sasquaches of the Wellington street artist Neonate kept me company while I was studying theater in Wellington.
Whoever this Booe/Booey is, I think the number of pieces he’s got around town will stay the same. All of the one’s I’ve seen are a bit weathered or painted over and I haven’t seen any fresh paint. Maybe he’s grown up or gotten arrested too many times or just moved out of town. In any case, I’ll keep snapping photos as I find new pieces, and I’ll be keeping them here.
Peter and Barbara hosted a lovely brunch this Sunday that included haircuts and Uno. I met their friend Martina who stopped by with her special pair of sissors to give anyone who wanted one a haircut.
