Holiday Cheer

Hello World,

Merry Christmas! I know I'm a day late posting this, but I think we can all forgive me considering yesterday was Christmas Day! It looks like the same might be the case the next two posts as well, because next Monday is New Years Day and the Monday after that I will be flying back! So look for more blog updates on Tuesdays.

Of course there was Christmas this week, but I'll start from the beginning when us interns took our day off to go to the lovely city of Verona. This is one of those cities I knew I had to visit since I'm living in Venice, and it was everything I expected and more. If you want to go to Verona, then this is the time of year to do it, because the Christmas market there is amazing.

November Guggie love!

At the start of the trip, on the train there, we all exchanged our Secret Santa presents. I got a lovely guide book and notebook inspired no doubt by my blog-writing skillz, and I got my secret santa a pretty, purple necklace/earring set. It was really nice having an excuse to get into the gift giving spirit! Then we got a delicious lunch, pumpkin-filled tortellini for me, before heading to the gallery of modern art to check it out. I have to admit, it wasn't the highlight of my visit, but I do think I'll remember it for some time.


Afterwards we caught a beautiful view of the city at sunset! We had to run , but it was 100% worth it. I mean, just look at that view! We still had a little time afterwards to see the amazing Christmas markets. I bought a pretzel there that I am still thinking about days after. They were warm, and cheap, and you could watch them get baked and go through a little salt-snowfall. Exactly what I needed to end the day.

On our way back to the train station we made sure to stop at Juliette's house, of course. It would have been a total shame not to go there when in Verona. A quick stop, photo with her statue, and on our way again.

Classic pose with Juliette

Doing strange poses at sunset

Teacher/Student/Crane

Later in the week I finally got to give my seminar! I switched up my original idea about discussing Kandinsky and went instead with talking about something I participated in this past spring. I helped curate a small exhibition on Japanese prints, and worked on educational programming related to that at the UNH Museum of Art. So at my seminar I discussed the work I put into this event, and helped show everyone how to do origami. I think overall it was a very successful, fun time.

What other after-hours museum activity did us interns get up to this week? I'll tell you! We had the extreme pleasure of accompanying one of the conservators down into the permanent collection storage area. This was super exciting, and they pulled out some works for us to see, at our request. One of the more exciting moments was seeing one of the boxes Duchamp made at the end of his career. The first one of the series he made he gave as a gift to Peggy. See below a picture of part of said box (suitcase), with a note written to Peggy herself.

Duchamp to Peggy

Last, but certainly not least, it's time to talk about my Christmas abroad! I did get the chance to call home and talk to my family, but overall it was just spent with the folks here. One exciting thing is that my roommates have all left the house to be with their families. So I've been able to play my Christmas music loud and dance around the house without anyone around to be bothered by it. I have made the  most of the situation for sure. 

Christmas Eve was pretty much me being at work all day. A surprisingly large number of people came, I think because there was little else open that day in the city. I think it was primarily non-Italians visiting. Christmas Day, however, was a lot of fun!

Group picture on the roof!

The amazing Caterina gave the interns an open invitation to her family's house for a Christmas lunch. Quite a few already had plans to be with family, which is wonderful for them, but I did not and readily accepted the invite. So a group of us met at the train station 10:30am and went on our way to Bassano del Grappa. If you have never been, I highly suggest you to visit. It's a small town, full of character, and famous for their grappa (bet you couldn't have guessed that one). Apparently if you go up to the mountains there you can see the trenches made during WWI, but I did not get to see them myself.

Are we not precious?

The house was beautiful, her family was super nice and welcoming, and the food was honestly some of the best I've had since getting to Italy. It was very Italian cuisine of course, and I left feeling so stuffed. After eating we went for a walk around town, particularly over the the bridge they are famous for. We ended the day trying some of their best grappa, and walked the long way around to the train station, so we got to admire some of the lights after the sun set. Truly a wonderful way to spend my Christmas here, and I'm sure I will remember it for a long time. 

I'm now looking forward to my last week of work before leaving Venice! It doesn't quite seem possible. I'm spending quite a lot of time planning my trips to Florence and Rome for my last week in Italy, and there is a lot to get done still. It might be a crazy few weeks, but I'm excited for all of it!

Until next time, a dopo

Caitlin