Other posts on this trip: We Spent Last Week in Italy, Wandering Treviso, Cortina, and Bologna.
Our last full day in Italy, we drove almost three hours to Maranello, home of all things Ferrari. The cars are built there, the racing teams are based there, and we went to the Ferrari Museum there. Which was just stuffed full of beautiful red cars.
Other posts on this trip: We Spent Last Week in Italy.
Our first full day in Italy, we headed to Treviso, which was actually the closest city to the house. It’s much smaller than Venice, and we were there on a Sunday in August. It was practically deserted, but we ate some pizza at Pizzeria Sant’Agostino di Mansi Patrizia, and it was so good I’m still thinking about it, and we wandered the streets. Treviso has a mini canal system like Venice, it was fun to just walk along the water and in and out of the streets.
My grad school friend Tara was in town from Austin a few weeks ago, and we met up at the Met to chase H around and talk. It was wonderful. She moved away about 5 years ago, and I haven’t seen her since!
Read more on The Metropolitan Museum of Art with a Dear Friend…
We signed up for a membership at Monmouth Museum, our local county museum over at Brookdale Community College. My brother’s kids love this museum, and it’s been on my list of things to check out for ages. Their recommendation pushed me to check it out on a recent weekday when we needed something fun, local, and out of the heat. The museum is doing a deal in July that gives you 13 months on a membership instead of 12, and they had some great hands-on exhibits and playscapes for the preschool set.
A couple of weeks ago H and I drove out to Trenton after her Tuesday therapies to check out the New Jersey State Museum, which is FREE. I have a Groupon for the planetarium, but we got there around 2pm and all the shows were done for the day. Another trip, we will be back!
H, my mom, and I packed into the car and headed into Manhattan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art today. It’s the first Meredith Monday of summer 2012, and I plan on taking complete advantage of Mere’s access this year, mwah ha ha. There are rumors that the Met will start opening 7 days a week later this year, and if that’s the case this will be the last summer that we can take over the museum together when it’s closed. So H and I will definitely be going again (and I think my mom is on board for another round, too).
This is second only to watching the Thanksgiving parade balloons blown up as my favorite New York City thing to do. I even took my fancy camera and borrowed Adam’s favorite lens. I’ve been to the Met when it’s closed a few times now, once or twice in grad school when I took a class there and then a couple of times with Meredith. And she is by far my favorite buddy for this kind of stuff. An empty museum, time with a great friend, and lots of art. It’s like being in From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler but without the hiding and pesky brother.
We took it easy today since it was H’s first visit, and I think we got it down to a science. At the museum by 12 & out of the museum by 2, we avoided traffic on each end and basically avoided an overtired baby. And we didn’t keep Meredith away from her office TOO much. We went through the Costume Institute’s Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations. Baz Luhrmann directed several vignettes starring Miuccia Prada (as herself) and Judy Davis as Elsa Schiaparelli, just talking to each other about fashion. I loved the juxtaposition of their philosophies and Schiaparelli’s clear influence on Prada’s clothes. Very cool, and of course my mom commented several times, “I bet I could make a knockoff of that!” No photos allowed there, but H loved the clothes. Or she loved getting out of the stroller while Meredith carried her, not sure which. Either way, this exhibit was incredible.
On Monday Meredith and I went to see the Alexander McQueen exhibit at the Met. They’re opening on Mondays just for this exhibit, and you can pay more for a ticket but avoid the now infamously long lines. So worth it, the exhibit is incredible. They don’t allow photos at the exhibit, but check out the link to the exhibit’s blog: there are some excellent photos and videos of the exhibit highlights. Two of my favorite pieces are shown in the “Romantic Gothic and Cabinet of Curiosities” post, the wooden boots (with the leather top) and the spray painted white frock. I loved the stories behind those, the audio guide is a must.
Me outside the Louvre.
A short video of what we saw.
But before noodles…
La Bibliothèque nationale de France. We swung by on our way to noodles. Most of the books are in a new, modern building now. But this is the original.
I think this is an incredibly cool idea. The Queens Museum of Art has a giant scaled model of New York City, and you can adopt buildings in the panorama. The money goes to the museum, and you can be the proud owner of your apartment or school, or even a taxi. Apartments are $50, but it does get more expensive for things like schools, cars, and whole buildings. But I love this idea, I’m trying to think of great spots I would adopt for people on my gift list this Christmas.
We kind of took it easy today, I honestly think all 5 of us are completely exhausted. We all went to Belvedere this morning to look at the gardens and walk through the big gallery at the top of the hill.
