Verona on My Mind

Alan's Italy Show # 132 on Verona is finished and downloaded to Youtube. It is pretty much the show I had planned complete with three videos of the Roman Arena, a fun group of videos we took when Alan's Italy was not even a dream. I also focus on two people, William Shakespeare and John Hawkweed, who both had dubious connections to Verona. It is a good summary of the Verona experience from a tourists point of view, far removed from my usual type of show in which I feel that I am intimately involved such as just about anything related to Florence and Tuscany, or even Venice and Varenna for that matter. I did a lot of research and came to the conclusion that relying on a lot of elements of Verona's history would have been too boring since there was nothing to distinguish it from most other Italian city states during the Middle Ages. Instead of I took the viewer on a rather superficial, yet interesting tour of the major sites focusing on our personal experience and speaking about how we would up in Verona during June 2007 complete with several descriptive maps.

I played with a lot of special effects and the result is a nice presentation that even Laura was impressed with. In fact she usually has several suggestions to make, but made absolutely none!! I liked it also and it is good to be back on the horse. I will be dealing into a lot of areas that interest me now including doing a show on Botticelli's art in the Uffizi, the Peggy Guggenheim Museum, and a lot of show in which Laura has focused her attention over the years like the Doors of Italy and Panoramas.

That is now where we stand.

Whew!!! That was a close call.

I snapped out of it. For several days I honestly thought Alan's Italy had come to the end of a great run. Then I was browsing through some old albums and my interest came to life. I am currently working on a show on the City of Verona in Northern Italy. I have put in some work researching and assembling the images, and now have a good idea of how it should be presented. I will begin to shoot probably this weekend. Today I will probably plan out the sequence of events with greater detail and an eye towards how the show will develop. I am sort of excited by it. One of the problems with the Verona album is that for various reasons, back in 2007 when we took the trip that included the storied city, we only took about 45 photos. It was an overnighter with us staying in a lovely hotel right in the city center (which everyone should know by now is what we always do - as opposed to staying out of town at an agritourismo or some other place in the countryside). We hardly photographed the hotel, and even left out several key sights. It was a rainy day which always puts a damper on attempts at sightseeing. We did take 4 videos which are fascinating, but with such "fertile" territory as Verona, we should have many more.

I suppose the cause of the problem rests in three areas. First we were very new at using digital cameras; this was only the second or third time we were using it for the trip. Second, we had no idea that four and a half years later I would be producing the TV show. Had we gone to Verona now on a future trip, we would surely plan to take more videos, and even many more photos, and certainly not leave out some key sights even if we had to stay over an extra day. And finally this was a long vacation and I suppose that by the time we arrived in Verona after having already traveled for almost two weeks to Vienna, Salzburg, Bolzano, and Venice, we were probably a bit worn out; especially since we had rented a car in Salzburg and driven across some pretty daunting mountains and, if I recall, treacherous roads through the Dolomites. I recall the drive we made from Bolzano south around (but into) Trento, east to Roveretto, and then south southeast to Venice. The drive once we left Roveretto was, up to that time - I believe the fourth time I had driven in Europe - very anxiety producing, with the road winding, sloping up and down, and with the typical blind curves I later had to deal with to an even greater degree. I remember Laura saying, hey look at that view, and my hands tightly gripping the steering wheel and my eyes fixed on the road ahead. Needless to say I missed that photo op!! When we finally pulled into the Tronchetto Parking Lot just outside of Venice, I was happy to give up the car for a few days. Then back in the car we decided to stop in two places on the way to our next destination of Varenna on Lake Como (the first time we ever visited that area). As I always do and certainly did back when driving was a part of just about every trip, I studied the map to see what was between Venice and Varenna. It turns out that Verona was my first choice among the three main Veneto Cities of Vicenza, Padua, and Verona. I almost made it to Verona back in 2002 during my third solo trip, and then as I was buying the ticket to board from Venice as a day trip to Verona, I found that there was an imminent railroad strike and if I went to Verona, I may not have been able to return.

   So we left Venice, heading west on the autostrade for a very easy and welcome drive to Verona from Venice. That drive was not, however, free of worry. Before GPS use, I studied the map so I wouldn't get lost exiting Venice, and almost as soon as I left Tronchetto, took a wrong turn!! Amazing, but true. Nonetheless, we did arrive in Verona just after noon, drove to our hotel, left our luggage there as we usually did when pulling into town, and then I had to find a distant parking lot and walk back to the hotel, all in the rain. Then probably around 2:00 PM, we headed out to various places that will be covered in the show. We left Verona the next morning and before we took our next stopover in Bergamo (southeast of Varenna and Lake Como), we stopped in the amazing town of Sirmione on Lake Guarda. Verona was a place I read about via William Shakespeare (to be explained during the show). Sirmione was a town that was described to me by a friend at the college many years ago. Bergamo was a town which my former principal at the high school told me about. Thus the plan for the two days between Venice and Varenna.

I am detailing all this because I probably would not describe such things during Alan's Italy. I should point out that although we did have a great drive from Salzburg to Bolzano and the parking lot in Bolzano was close to the hotel (LOL), I did have a harrowing experience that I never wrote or spoke on the show about. We went to the Reiferstein Castle just north of Bolzano on our drive south from Salzburg. We parked the car, and walked up the hill to the very, very charming castle when I suddenly realized I may have left my lights on. I left Laura and ran down the hill, saw that I did not leave my lights on, and headed back up the hill to the door of the castle where Laura was waiting. I saw three young women hiking up to the castle (I thought they were anyway). After about ten minutes I realized they were not going to the castle at all, but just going for a leisurely hike. I panicked, and tried to find my way back to the parking lot and got lost!!! Now minutes were ticking away as I could not find my way back to the car and the regular route up to the castle. Eventually I found my way, but Laura was indeed concerned about where I had been, and I was sweating profusely on a humid June afternoon.

I mention all these trials and tribulations to put in perspective what had transpired during this particular vacation in June 2007 which I will summarize on the show. But the bottom line.........I am back!!!! I hope.

A Change of Plans

I began the long awaited, How to Plan a Trip to Italy, by videotaping a few short clips of my explaining the process. I then downloaded to IMovie. After a modest beginning, it was disappointingly boring to me, which is a bad sign right there. It was simply me sitting in a chair talking endlessly about all the facets of the planning process. I became bored not only watching what I had produced, but also trying to create an interesting show. Laura agreed. The whole thing just really was awful. A flop!

Worse than that, I have found myself in a state of inertia regarding Alan's Italy. I am only slightly concerned, but since this has happened before, I am assuming it will pass. After doing a show, I usually am very eager to produce another, but this time, I have hit a wall. After the "planning show,"I was going to do several tours of the big cities, but even that seems stale to me now. It is not that there are no possibilities; actually I have a few potential shows on my mind. I just can't get started. Odd also because I finish my college teaching job Thursday and will then have six weeks during which time I was planning to do several shows.

I am not worried. I will probably go to my albums and choose one that interests me the most and get to work. Laura was trying to motivate me by telling me to just choose a place that interests me and get started, even offering to scan pre digital camera photo albums and creating photos which could be used. To wit we looked through an album from 2004 which had some very interesting stuff.

If the chance arises that show 131 was my swan song, I will let you know. Oddly 130 and 131 were two of my most rewarding and enjoyable, so I assume this will pass.

Posting A New Episode of Alan's Italy in Record Time

Five days after I posted show # 130 related to the art of Raphael, show # 131 was just uploaded. This was quickest posting of one video after another in five years. This show, centering of the fifteen minute interview with the owner Antje D'Almeida of the amazing store "Mio," also focuses on spending a lovely three hours on a 100 meter stretch on via della Spada. We begin by visiting the great and very unheralded Marino Marini Museum, then having lunch at our favorite restaurant, La Spada, ending up down the block at Mio, a very unusual, unique, and fun store. It took a long time to put together, although no where near the time spent on the Raphael show, but now opens the way for a project that I have thought about for five years, but never followed through on. It also clears the deck of material I planned for during our last trip to Italy. Although there are still a few loose ends from that trip that we photographed back in May and June, I can wait until after this project is competed to continue.

I will now do a show on How to Plan a Trip to Italy, followed by a nuts and bolts look at each major city, Rome, Florence, and Venice. I will also take a look at Tuscany, Milan, Lake Como and the Amalfi Coast. Of course it depends on how long a person will spend in Italy to either focus on the "big three" of Florence, Rome, and Venice or add in the other few. All that will be covered in the series of shows. Some older material will be familiar to many of my long time viewers, but with my new concepts I learned on IMovie, it should be a clearer, crisper, and more efficient presentation. The idea germinated over the past several years as people continually wanted me to help them plan trips for them to Italy. I still will be happy to do so as I have, but now I can say, "Look at the series of shows, and see if that is helpful to you. It may be or not; that remains to be seen." Certainly it is much less difficult when an expert on planning like myself is doing the work, but I still like this idea.

Meanwhile over 30 people have viewed the Raphael show in five days, a new record for me. The only explanation could be that at Laura's opening at the Wired Gallery, I made several new contacts as evidenced by the dearth of business cards I seem to have in my wallet. To them I say, welcome aboard and I hope you enjoy all 131 and more episodes.

40,000 Views

In early January 2012 the experience of producing a TV cable access show was so delicious and exciting that I needed an outlet for my emotions. I began this blog with the intention of telling the story of how I managed to do Alan's Italy. It was simply an emotional outlet and perhaps an intent to tell a little history to anyone who might be interested in my tiny slice of life in Woodstock, New York. I can't seem to fall asleep tonight, but now I know why. Somewhere deep in my soul I just knew something monumental had occurred and until I digested it, I would not be able to sleep, so here it is. I awoke, checked my Youtube Channel; I apparently just went over 40,000 views on my channel. A few days ago I hit 140 subscribers. So I share the news now with my friends, family, and many supporters around the world. Thank you.

The Art of Raphael

I spent longer creating this show on IMovie than I did any other show since I started doing my own videotaping and editing with show # 124. The reason was that although I have good knowledge of art history, especially from the Florentine Renaissance, there was a lot to be desired with regard to Raphael. I then had to video several parts to the show which took place over the course of weeks. Most of the responsibility for the delay in finishing the project, however,  had to do with the fact that over the past week and a half, I was out of the house for about 75 % of the time.The end product is very satisfying, and although art history is still largely uncharted waters for me, I think I did ok. The other show regarding a solo analysis of the art of a famous Italian Renaissance artist was the one I did on Ghirlandaio. This was better than that, although that show has had a lot of viewers. Recall I have done several art shows with help from Rick Hirst, my dear friend and artist. The improvement was based on my new method of creating episodes on Alan's Italy. Each time I use IMovie, I find another aspect of the process I didn't know before. This always seems to enhance the finished product. There is no telling where I can go with iMovie, but it is both fun and exciting. Laura pushed me forward with this and as always I am very grateful to her. I tend to move slowly to change. She knows this and although it is very frustrating for her, she stays with it until I move myself in the right direction; it has never been the wrong direction. She has very good instincts. Laura herself has been heavily involved in curating a gallery show for Saturday, November 26, but still has given me a lot of her time including today when we honed the product to its current, finished form. The video was uploaded to Youtube only minutes ago.

It was, of course, challenging to try to give proper regard for anything involving one of the greatest artists of all time, Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino. I was assisted by the fact that I love his work, and have seen much of it throughout Italy and France (the Louvre has a significant number of pieces stolen by Napoleon during his occupation of Italy in the late 18th century). I did have several favorites at the Palatine Gallery which helped to narrow down the scope of the show. Nonetheless, to provide appropriate background material, I had a lot of research to do. One hold-up centered on the famous portrait of Agnolo Doni. The story I originally heard centered on Doni's relationship with Michelangelo. In the early 16th century Florence was privileged to have living in it at the same time the three giants of the High Renaissance, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Imagine that. All three played a prominent role in my show, but the story revolving around the so called Doni Tondo was the sticking point. The story I always believed was the one which Vasari told in his famous Lives of the Artists used by the author Irving Stone in the Agony and the Ecstasy, a book I read in 1992 before my first trip to Italy on the advice of a friend who told me it would enhance my visit to Florence (which it did). I then re-read the book twice more until I fell in love with Michelangelo and Ghirlandaio. That story told by Vasari of the Doni Tondo was widely accepted in the art world as well. Then I read another interpretation leading to the theory that the Dono Tondo should have been called the Strozzi Tondo. I didn't know what to tell my audience was the real story, so solved the problem by telling both stories. Other than that pretty much everything else was accepted by the art world. It is fascinating and reminded me once again that iconic figures in history were as human and "normal" as anyone who ever lived. I once sat on a bench in Florence and imagined seeing pass by me all three of the greatest artists of Florentine History.  If I spoke Italian fluently, I wouldn't know what to say except that they had no idea how famous they would become; or did they?

My next show will center on an interview we did in an extraordinary shop on via della Spada in Florence. I then realized that this street is a favorite of mine and will throw in some talk about our favorite restaurant, La Spada, and one of our favorite museums, the Marino Marini, both of which are on that street. I will not do too much on the two last ones, because each of them had their own shows years ago. I, of course as my viewers and readers know, love streets in Italy having already produced shows on via della Scala in Florence and via dei Fori Imperiali in Rome. I think I also did one on streets in general in Florence as I recall focusing on via Tornabuoni, via Calzaiuolo, etc. Anyway that will be show # 131 which I am eager to begin and will do so soon. My semester at the college ends soon and I will have plenty of time to get into a lot of themes that I am eager to do namely shows on the "perfect tours of..." I will include Florence, Rome, Venice, Milan, and Tuscany in separate shows. Then I will do my long desired show on explaining to my audience how to plan a trip to Italy the way Laura and I travel. I would also like to choose my favorite photos which have some extraordinary characteristic and base a show on that. So there is a lot to do and I cannot wait to begin.

More Tuscany

Yet another amazing day spent traveling in Tuscany with our friends. As I indicated in the show, the best days we spend are those with our friends, and this was no exception. This type of show is so easy to put together that the only thing that worries me is that I do justice to these wonderful people. Typical of the hospitality shown by people I have met and become close with over these 24 years, the show portrays their warmth, knowledge of their surroundings, and unflinching attempt to do everything to please us. We are very lucky to know such extraordinary people. It all began with Lidia more than 20 years ago and has blossomed into one of the finest parts of the great life I have been privileged to lead. After this last trip, we decided to double the amount of time we will spend in Florence giving us greater opportunities to experience these special moments.

The show went smoothly in production. I began using scripting from IMovie instead of creating text on my word processing program, taking screen shots, and downloading to IPhoto and then IMovie. It went well and today I did more research so you will see more of this. Otherwise I pretty much followed the same procedure I have in the recent several shows.

I continue to try to figure out how to provide newer shows to Woodstock Public Access, but so far to no avail. I will continue to try out of loyalty to the network and my wonderful engineer.

I now begin to create the next show # 130. That will focus of one of Florence's great museums, the Galleria Palatina at the Pitti Palace. I always liked that museum because it contains probably more paintings by Raphael than any other in Italy (the Louvre might have more, not certain). I will discuss those paintings as a layman not an expert, but then that is what my show has always been about, my thoughts and feelings about things. I will do my best, but a lot of research might be necessary so it could take a while. Stay tuned.