Saturday, May 31, 2014

Salerno, Saturday 31 May, Day 38


We managed to be extremely efficient getting out of the Hotel early, and catching a bus just as we got to the stop, which meant that we got to Rome railway station more than an hour before our train departed. On a Saturday morning the station was packed both with people heading off somewhere, and a steady stream of other people whose role in life seemed to be to ask as many people as possible if they had a spare Euro. Some of them weren’t particularly polite about receiving a negative answer, and it was a relief to get on the train and be hurtled away from Rome at around 289 kilometres per hour. 

Under 2 hours later we were pulling onto Naples, then rolling past Vesuvius, then through a mighty long tunnel to emerge at Salerno. We headed off to walk to our hotel, which took us a bit longer than the GPS’s optimistic estimate of 28 minutes, due to us taking a few wrong choices at forks in the road, the steepness of the terrain, and the GPS’s inaccuracy. We missed our destination by about 200 metres today which caused us a bit of walking backwards and forwards.

After we checked in, we were feeling in serious need of lunch, and we set off to search for a restaurant recommended by the lady in our B & B.  Finding it however proved too hard for us in our enfeebled condition, so we stumbled into the first open restaurant we come across, and had one of the nicest meals of the trip so far. The food was great, and the Signora was lovely.

After what seems like weeks of blue skies and sunshine it started raining as we hit Naples, and as the day proceeded there were some mighty thunder storms over the mountains which ring the coast. Which gave us a perfect excuse to do not very much for the rest of the day.

The place we are staying has a magnificent view of the town, the port and the bay, and we spent the afternoon watching the lightning, listening to the rain pour down and the thunder reverberate off the mountains, enjoying the incredibly fragrant lemon blossom scented air, and, eventually, admiring the double rainbow over the nay which appeared near sunset.  Here is part of the view from our little terrace.


There is a lift we discovered, quite close to the B & B, so we caught that down to near sea level. (The lift, as is only right, has a siesta each day from 2.30 to 4.00pm)

After dinner we went for a walk along the sea front, admiring the crescent moon appearing over the mountains in one direction, and the huge electrical storm lighting up the sky far out to sea in the other. Found our way back to the lift through tiny winding streets, and managed to negotiate the rather bewildering series of locks to get back inside. So all good so far. We are very glad to be somewhere a bit quieter for a while. Lots to explore tomorrow.


Friday, May 30, 2014

Rome, Friday 30 May, Day 37

Today we wanted to slow the pace down a bit, as we were both noting a decrease in our genial spirits yesterday. It gets a bit tiring to have people trying to sell you things all the time, and it feels like the whole place has got busier in the time we've been here. Anyway, we slept in a whole 15 minutes and had luke warm showers as a result.

We planned an outing to mix culture with practicality, and caught a bus over to the area near the Piazza Della Republican, dropped our washing off at a sort of laundry service, then after an invigorating espresso - we've become hooked on them - walked to the church of St Maria del Vittoria, which is home to Bernini's famous sculpture, the Ecstasy_of_Saint_Teresa.  Appreciating the sculpture was made difficult by the crass commentary which a tour guide was delivering sotto voce to his client. I guess people have to make a living, but especially in a church where there is little other sound, it really detracts from the experience of other people.

We collected our washing then went to wait at the bus stop, which we shared with an older Italian gentleman with a shopping jeep, who had both no English and something amiss with his voice box, so we communicated with elaborate mime. After an interminable wait, our bus came along packed solid. It drove off leaving us all still waiting, to be followed by an empty bus with a sign saying the equivalent of 'not in service'. Our Italian friend taught us some new and very expressive gestures as the bus sailed past. After another interminable wait he gave up and trudged off into the crowd, so we decided to walk it as well.

It was actually an interesting walk though, over the Quirinal Hill of ancient Rome, past Trajan's_Column and the ruins of the Basilica_Ulpia.

Back at the hotel, Anne wanted to finish a book she borrowed from the hotel's collection. I walked through lots of little winding streets over to Castel_Sant'Angelo over the little bridge that has been carrying people since 134 AD, and was for centuries the only bridge across the river in Rome.

There's an internet meme put-bird-on-it which has come to cover 'any design trend which as reached its peak, and is bordering on saturation'. Today as I walked through the Castel, having crossed the Pont's Angel lined balustrades, past the space which was once called the "Courtyard of Executions" for obvious reasons but which now has a statue of an angel and so is called "Courtyard of the Angel", to the very Castle itself, with its massive statue of the Archangel Michael, I wondered if "put an angel on it" might not be equally appropriate.



There was however a very interesting exhibition which documented the Catholic Church's interest around the 16th century in the early Christian period and the surge of archaeological activity that went with it, in an attempt to demonstrate to erring Protestants that there was indeed continuity between the first Christians and the church of the day. Also had a 16th century guide book to the major sites of Rome, open at the page showing a plate of Trahan's Column.

For dinner we headed back to the little restaurant in the square near Santa Barbara di Librari, and, supporting my theory that the invasion has really begun, where last time we ate there we seemed to be the only non Romans, tonight the tourists were around 80% of the clientele.

We've really enjoyed our time in Rome, and right up to our last walk round tonight we are still discovering new areas we'd like to explore further. Next time, I think come earlier or later in the year though.

Tomorrow were are off to Salerno and the Amalfi Coast for a spot of R and R.

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Rome, Thursday 29 May, Day 36

Got up half an hour earlier and it was a different world down in the breakfast room with no students. We were out the door by 8.30 and wandered without a very fixed plan over towards the forum. Heading the shortest path in a straight line took us over the Capitoline Hill, and past the Capitoline_Museums.

It is claimed that these were the first museums in the world, and I wanted to show Anne the giant head and feet from the colossal statue of Constantine that is located in the courtyard there which I saw last time I was in Rome. It was free then, but now you pay 12 Euros, I guess that is progress. We paid up the entry fee, and it turned out to be way the best thing we have seen so far in Rome. The collection is phenomenal, from the bronze she wolf from 500 BC (a relative of the Chimera of Assezo I suspect) to the amazing 2nd century BC roman statue of the many breasted fertility goddess Diana Efesina (or the Efesian Artemis ), to the magnificent 4th Century BC bronze horse, to the views of Rome and the Forum from the terrace, to the super sized equestrian bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius, plus so much else besides, this one gets our 'museum of the journey' sticker by quite a margin. Lost some points for being almost deliberately confusing in layout and signage, but the collection and location more than made up for that, and it was all the nicer because we got in early before the rush. As an added bonus, there was a special exhibition of Michelangelo's work, which had drawings and sculptures which I had never seen before, including a marble bass relief which he completed at the age of 15.

Had pizza in the roof garden, then a bit of down time, then I headed back to visit the Forum. It really is extraordinary to walk down the same streets, and stand outside the buildings that have been the scene of so much history. The Curia, for example,  where the Roman Senate would meet, is pretty much intact, though the doors were purloined for a nearby church.

Before dinner we decided to revisit the Pantheon and to check out the Trevi Fountain, which turned out to be not such a great idea as the streets were choked with crowds of tourists and people trying to sell things to tourists. The Pantheon was filled with people chattering away excitedly and futilely taking photos with their flash on, all those little flashes getting lost in the vast dome. Despite the annoying fellow humans, the building itself is just wonderful. I realised tonight that it functions something like a sun dial as the light from the sun shines down through the open disk at the apex of the dome.




After the Pantheon we battled our way to the Trevi Fountain, which was an extraordinary scene - probably breaks some world record for the greatest number of people taking selfies in one place. My estimate is that less than 10% of the people there were actually looking at the Fountain.

It was good to get back to this side of town. Dinner in a restaurant with average food and nice wine. On the way home, we saw that the little church of Santa_Barbara_dei_Librai, which we have walked past many times and which has always been locked up, was open. It is a lovely little church, and provided just the antidote that we needed  to the tacky crowd scenes from earlier in the evening.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Rome, Wednesday 28 May, Day 35

A bit late down to breakfast, and had to navigate through the tribe of American students who are staying in the hotel as part of some graduate program. They are nice but they do seem to take up more space per person than most people.

After breakfast we headed off our separate ways. I walked down by the Tiber, past Circus Maximus, and on to the Palatine_Hill, where I spent a very pleasant morning pottering around through the different bits of buildings. A happy hunting ground for archaeologists, with so many layers upon layers of human habitation, with the added bonus of a written record that potentially illuminates parts of what they find. There are a number of active digs in progress, with people in hard hats with shovels and trowels earnestly burrowing away. 

After I'd explored as much as I could find I headed over to the Coliseum, largely for the guilty pleasure of walking past the extraordinarily long queue as my Palatine Hill ticket is good for the Coliseum and the Forum as well. An impressive but depressing building, all that clever engineering to provide a venue for killing animals and humans for entertainment.

Today's picture is taken from the steps outside the Coliseum looking back along the Roman Road to the Arch of Titus, which celebrates his victory in Judea in 70 AD. The pic has the elements which seemed prominent today - the amazing vestiges of the Roman world, the touts waiting to prey on the unwary,  the crowds and crowds of tourists, and even an archaeological dig on the left.




Anne had returned from her morning excursion when I got back, and we had lunch up on the terrace of delicious artichoke pizza slice from the shop round the corner. A quiet afternoon, next stage of the Giro (a bit dull after the dramas of yesterday) then off for dinner and a walk back round the fountains in Piazza Navona.  We were worried that Rome might be as wearing as Florence but in fact it has turned out to be very relaxing. Yesterday in one of the little streets we had a fleeting encounter with a teenage girl who turned to her parents just as we passed and said, with a sort of wonder and enthusiasm,  "I love this place".  We know just what she meant.

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Rome, Tuesday, 27 May, Day 34

We woke up super early so we could take advantage of the hotel's 7 am breakfast and set off to Saint Peters through the relatively quiet streets. There were streams of persons in all manner of clerical garb out and about. A chap in a fetching bluish robe whizzes past on a bicycle, another with white robe and impressive facial hair, a group of purple clad nuns, lots of chaps in basic black and dog collar, nuns with white dresses and black cardigans, others with black dresses and white cardigans. There is obviously a language in the garments, which must be apparent to the cognoscenti. I wonder if there is an equivalent to my Field Guide to Australian Birds available for cleric spotting.  The other thing which became apparent to me is that my dinner outfit last night - dark pants and a black shirt - is very similar to off duty clerical wear. I thought I was getting a few extra hard stares last night when Anne and I were strolling along hand in hand. Jeans and light shirts from now on in Rome.

After St Peters we walked over the foot bridge at Castle San' Angelo, and down some lovely quiet streets to visit a couple of churches which contain Caravaggio paintings. The Basilica of St Augustine had the beautiful Madonna of the Pilgrims. The second church had three Caravaggios - perhaps lesser works - but had hit on a novel fund raising tactic. The paintings were located in a particularly gloomy corner, and to get sufficient light to view the paintings one needed to insert a steady stream of Euro coins.

Next on the walking tour was the nearby Pantheon. After the churches we had just visited, the
Pantheon with its open circle at the apex of its great dome revealing the sky was really impressive, a breath of fresh air.

Last stop for the morning was Piazza_Navona with its marvellously elaborate fountains. It has been a social space since Roman times, a lovely place to spend some time on a sunny spring morning. Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers has a kind of mythic grandeur. The river gods are more or less twisted around the base of an Egyptian obelisk, probably 2,000 years older than the figures.  The photo below is the Fountain of Neptune, at the northern end, a fountain more easily photographed.




We had lunch on the Campo_de'_Fiori watching the market vendors pack up for the day. Anne retired to the hotel while I visited the cats who live in the Largo di torre Argentine ruins around the corner. Most of them are very cautious of humans, and some look pretty sick and sorry. But a couple came up for a pat, poor things, their fur is really matted.

We watched the end of the Giro, feeling sympathetic lactic acid in the leg pain as we watched the riders struggle up some of those gradients. For dinner we tried a place in a little square nearby that seemed to always have a crowd of local people obviously enjoying themselves. Simple menu, mainly battered cod, no frills, great food. After dinner we walked around, exploring some new streets and the nearby ghetto area, very atmospheric, right down to a chap walking down the narrow street playing exotic airs on his violin.

Tomorrow I plan on visit the Forum and the Palatine_Hill, and Anne is visiting Galleria Doria Pamphilj and neighbouring churches.

Monday, May 26, 2014

Rome, Monday 26 May, Day 33

Another glorious blue sky Tuscan morning, as we set off back down the many escalators back to Siena train station, admiring the beautifully tended terraces of vegetable gardens as we descended.  We had to catch a regional train back up to Florence, connecting with a Frecciarossa down to Rome. For a while it looked like we might miss our connection, as acrid smoke started pouring from underneath one of the three carriages of the train a couple of minutes before departure. But we all got piled into one carriage and the train departed only a few minutes late. Made for a very squeezey trip as more and more people piled in, but we got to Florence in good time, then onto our connecting train which was much more comfortable.

The trip from Florence to Rome is mighty scenic, with lovely rolling hills and lots of little hill top villages.  We got a metropolitan bus to the Largo_di_Torre_Argentina, with its ruins of some impressive Roman temples and the site of Julius Caesar's assassination.  An easy walk to our hotel, which we found first go. Maybe we are improving at hotel finding. Hotel is nice, located in a lively area with some nice looking restaurants and a gelato shop nearby. It has a nice rooftop terrace with a great view of the dome of the nearby church, whose bells play different versions of "Ave Maria" every half hour. Hope they give it a rest at night though.

We are located around the corner from the Campo de Fiore, where the mathematician, astronomer and philosopher Giordano_Bruno was burned after being found guilty of heresy by the Roman Inquisition, for, amongst other things, suggesting that there might be life in other places in the universe other than earth.




Today the square hosts a busy market, but a statue of Bruno erected by the municipality of Rome in 1889, despite opposition from the clerical party, stands to mark the spot. I walked along lots of little streets - such wonderful names, Via Penetenzia, Via Consulate, Via Pellegrino - over to St Peter's Square, to marvel at both the building and the length of the queue waiting to get in. I think we will follow the advice of a priest on our bus coming in,  and try to get there very early one morning.

I expect Rome will be good entertainment.

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Siena, Sunday 25 May, Day 32

Today we decided to take it easy. And a beautiful Sunday morning in Siena to take it easy in.  Within a few hundred metres we came upon a group of children heading off for their Confirmation by the look of them, all dressed in white robes, each clutching a white lilly, symbol of Saint Catherine patron saint of Siena. After a lot of shuffling and reorganizing, they set off in procession to the church over the road.


A very nice sight to start the day.

We headed on into town to visit the Siena_Cathedral. The Baptistry is well worth it, particularly liked the Last Judgement panel, where all the dammed are being shuffled off into the jaws of a huge beast whose head follows the line of the arch of the roof. Also very interesting is the crypt, which seems to be what is left of an earlier church built on the same spot. The builders had knocked arches and run pillars through the lovely murals of the earlier church without any compunction.

The other thing striking about the Cathedral is the construction work abandoned in the mid 1300's a combination of the impact of the Black Death, management by committee, changes in Siena's fortunes, and the realisation that there were some serious structural issues with the design. The original ambition was to build the largest church in the world. The East wall stands as a sort of monument to the vanity of human wishes.

Home for a siesta, caught the end of the Giro, then out to dinner where once again we had cause to be thankful for the great kindness of the local people.

Tomorrow Rome.

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Siena, Saturday 24 May, Day 31

A nice slow start this morning, to catch the 11.10 train to Siena, and just äs well because we were both a bit fuzzy when the alarm went off. There was a very noisy group of youths hooting and hollering at the Irish pub down the street last night, and I think we might not have slept so well.  But by the time we'd had breakfast, packed, said goodbye to signora in a carefully rehearsed Italian, got to the station and had our espresso hit, we were feeling pretty good. Here is Anne on Florence railway station waiting for our platform number to come up, looking like the well seasoned traveller that she is.




We are really enjoying the Italian trains so far. The trip from Florence to Siena was gorgeous, lots of rolling hills, vineyards, veggie gardens, Tuscan farm houses, plus the occasional mouldering castle or hill top village clinging to a rocky outcrop. All beautifully green, with blue sky and fluffy clouds, almost picture book. The fellow passengers are often good value too. 

A series of escalators gets you up the hill from the station to the outskirts of the old town, just as well as it would be a fair hike otherwise. Our hotel is lovely - a little balcony and very quiet. The crisper air and the quieter pace are very agreeable after the crowds of Florence. After a restorative siesta we walked into the main Piazza down the winding narrow streets, to the famous Paleo where the annual horse race is run.  The traditional flags hang prominently from the buildings of each ward and the feeling of Siena's long and distinctive history is impressive.  We had an excellent dinner at an outside table watching the Passagio of dogs, babies and expectant mums. The Italian families in these smaller towns seem to be very relaxed and happy.

We are now more than half way into the trip, and we're really conscious of how fortunate we are to be able to do what we're doing. Tomorrow we will have a quiet day, to rest up before Rome.

Friday, May 23, 2014

Florence, Friday 23 May, Day 30

As predicted, we woke up to a grey drizzly morning. We had tickets for midday at the Uffizi, so we had a low key morning, an expedition to the post office to post a package, to find a tabacc to post some post cards, and for Anne to check out the many scarf vendors and increase her scarf collection. On the way we encountered the tail end of some sort of Florentine procession - brass horn marching music and chaps in striped pantaloons swaying down the street.

We got our tickets and eventually into the Uffizi at the appointed time. Very crowded and for a while we seemed to be caught in a crowd of people who, despite the signs saying no photos, persisted in taking photos of one another standing in front of the paintings. Here is Giotto's Madonna. Stand in front of it with your back to it while I take your photo. Here is Martini's Annunciation. Stand in front of it looking at me with the same inane expression while I take your photo. And so on. Given how many paintings there are in the gallery I wonder how far they got before the novelty wore off.

The Uffizi is amazing but the gallery is so large and rich that we stumbled back to the hotel afterwards and spent the rest of the afternoon very quietly in a darkened room.

By dinner time the weather had cleared and all the tables were out along the lovely curving street that snakes past outside. After dinner we bade a fond farewell to Cristina, the super hardworking, utterly charming young waitress in the Trattoria next door. She was genuinely kind and warm towards us, and made our visit here extra special. Thank you Cristina.



Off to Siena tomorrow.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Florence, Thursday, 22 May, Day 29

Slept in today, thanks to the most comfortable bed so far. 

After a great breakfast care of the hard working Nona who runs the Albergo, we headed off, first stop the Church of San Marco, where Girolamo_Savonarola used to preach,  then over to the Bargello Museum of sculpture and other stuff. An exhibition there of the work of a Renaissance Florentine rival of Michelangelo,  Bartolommeo_Bandinelli, an extraordinarily prolific and talented painter and sculptor who I confess I had never heard of.  As well as the collection of sculpture, there is also a great collection of armour and weapons, including pikes with a pistol like flint lock fire arm incorporated at the business end. Extraordinary the amount of ornamentation that went into devices whose primary purpose was to kill fellow humans.

After lunch we made use of some of the local businesses - the Internet café to print out our Uffizi tickets, and the laundromat - then headed of to the Museum of Archaeology. This has a terrific collection of Etruscan stuff, presented in a way that gives a sense of the context in which at least some of the objects were found.  A really great collection, beautifully conserved. One of the most spectacular items is the Chimera_of_Arezzo, a bronze statue dating from around 400 BC, which was buried along with a hoard of other bronzes probably sometime in antiquity, and discovered in 1553.




As well as the big ticket items, there are smaller things that are just as fascinating, like the glass fronted cabinets of tiny bronze statuettes, all beautifully arranged. Here are 5 little  ducks with various sized beaks, here are about a dozen little Apollo like figures, here are 8 dogs and so on. You get the feeling that what you are seeing is the fruit of centuries of assiduous collecting.

A beautiful evening so we had dinner at one of the outside tables in the Trattoria next door. The lady who runs the Albergo joined us for a while, and we had a nice chat considering her English is not much better than our Italian.

Seems it is going to rain tomorrow. Hard to believe as we seem to have been in glorious sunshine for so long. Last day in Florence tomorrow and a few things we would like to visit, weather and energy permitting.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Florence, Wednesday 21 May, Day 28

A beautiful crisp sunny morning in Ravenna as we trundled down through the old city watching the people getting started on their day, an impeccably stylishly dressed woman getting onto her bike, people everywhere in the little cafés enjoying their morning espresso, two old people meeting by chance on the street and exchanging kisses on both cheeks. Ravenna gets our vote for best place yet.

The train was lovely too, rolling through the cultivated country side, vineyards, crops, veggie gardens, charming Italian country houses, all looking pretty good in the morning sun.  Fast train from Bologna whizzes you onto a very different but still beautiful landscape of the hills of Tuscany.

Florence, being one of the top tourist destinations in the world, is not surprisingly jam packed with tourists. After lunch we headed over to check out the Duomo and the Baptiser with its famous Gates of Paradise doors by Lorenzo_Ghiberti. There was a dense crowd around the doors, composed almost entirely of people either taking selfies with the doors behind them, or being photographed standing in front of them

After dinner we headed on for a stroll down by the Piazza Della Republican with its high end fashion shops and the Piazza Della Signonia with its gallery of wonderfully florid statues, on down to the Ponte Vecchio, just in time for sunset. At least I think there was a sunset over there somewhere.


We are staying in a great Albergo on a medieval street. No cars, a great Trattoria next door, Laundromat directly opposite, lovely gelati shop in the little square round the corner, a mini mart that sells bananas - even a tattoo shop and a plumbing supplies shop. A great neighbourhood, and we are looking forward to going with the flow and enjoying this extraordinary city.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Ravenna, Tuesday May 20, Day 27

This morning we headed off to the Ufficina de Tourismo and collected keys for two of Ravenna's free tourist bicycles. What a great city - it has free WiFi almost everywhere, and best of all, free bicycles. The bikes were a bit careworn as they spend their lives sitting outside, but they were serviceable and made getting round to Ravenna sights very easy.

First off we rolled down to the Orthodox Baptistry_of_Neon, built in the fourth century over a pre-existing Roman baths, handy for full immersion baptisms. Something very special about round domed spaces. From here we rattled our way to the  Cappella di Santa' Andreas, the Archbishop's_Chapel, which is cunningly disguised as the Archbishops museum, or that's what the signs say. What is left of the chapel is lovely, an intimate space where the mosaics feel close and personal, and again the dome and the arched roofs make a special space. There is a sort of dialogue between the space and the mosaics that was quite missing in the essentially rectangular space of the Basilica_of_Sant'Apollinare_Nuovo that we visited later in the day. Not that the mosaics there were not spectacular. Just seemed like the artists had a bit more trouble working out what to do with the space.  Here is a photo of Anne with our bikes outside that Basilica.




We had lunch in a fresh pasta shop, yum. While Anne undertook some extensive research of the very snappy shops that line the streets here, I headed off on my bike for a bit of exploring. I stumbled over a 14th century Venetian fort, walls and moat largely intact, and marble lion still standing proudly over the gate.  It once stood on the coast line but is now thoroughly landlocked, and is today a lovely park.  After the fort I headed over to the Mausoleum_of_Theoderic, a rather odd building from around 520 AD with a massive monolithic marble roof.

Found Anne again and we went to see the Arian_Baptistry with its very human rendition of Christ. Had a rather too filling dinner in a restaurant nearby, than a stroll round, in the course of which we stumbled upon Dante's tomb, which we'd planned to see but hadn't been able to find till now.

So, all in all, it has been a great couple of days in Ravenna. We like the pace of life here, and it is a great place to learn more about late antiquity.

Tomorrow we are heading off to Florence which will be a big change of pace.

Monday, May 19, 2014

Ravenna, Monday 19 May, Day 26

Another perfect morning in Venice - the weather has been terrific, sunny and clear with a light breeze. Around 9 we caught a vaporetto to the train station. Not too crowded to start with tho at the bus station stop immediately before the train station stop a huge crowd swarmed onto the boat. Luckily we saw them coming and positioned ourselves on the side to get off for our stop. The vaporetto we caught runs past the freight import area of Venice. Everything you eat, sit on, use, shelter under, every last thing has to be brought in by small boat or by hand trolley. Amazing to see that in action.

The train trip ran as smoothly as we have come to expect from the Italian rail service, and we had a range of travelling companions along the way, a sort of cross section of Italian society, including a twinkly older nun who wished us Buon voyagio, a gaggle of adolescents finishing school for the day, a lady farm worker, a chap who I bet didn't have a ticket and who departed abruptly before the ticket inspector reached us, and any number of ladies with massive bulky suitcases weighing more than themselves.

We arrived in Ravenna round 2.00 and for once found our hotel first try, and without too much effort.

After getting organized we headed out to explore.  So far we've formed a very positive impression of Ravenna. There are almost no cars in the old city section, lots of people strolling about, 3 gelato shops within 50 metres of each other, and lots of bicycles being ridden by people of all ages, typically at a stately pace not a huge amount faster than walking. I watched an older chap in a crumpled mac fish in his pocket for a cigarette packet, open it, extract a cigarette all travelling about 5 miles per hour. He did stop to light it though.

Today we visited the Basilica_of_San_Vitale, a church begun around 527 when Ravenna was under Ostrogoth rule, and completed in 547 when Ravenna has been brought under the control of Byzantium after Belusarius' campaign to return the Italian peninsula to Roman, albeit Eastern Roman, rule. The church has mosaics from both the Ostrogoth and Byzantine eras, including a portrait of Justinian I and Belusarius.




Nearby the church is the even older Mausoleum_of_Galla_Placidia, a much smaller but more completely realised interior. The effect of the wrap around mosaics is much more powerful. I found it impossible to get any photo that gave any idea of what that interior is like. We'd like to go back there when it is quieter.

After absorbing so much history and culture we felt a strong need to absorb a glass of wine, and luckily our hotel offers a sort of Italian tapas - you buy a glass of wine and fill up your plate from a selection of tasty offerings at the bar. The girl in the bar assured us that we were drinking the best wine in Italy and it certainly tasted pretty darn good.

After dinner we strolled down some of the quiet streets doing some window shopping. So far we like Ravenna a lot.

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Venice Sunday 18, Day 25

A lovely quiet Sunday morning. After breakfast we pottered down the quiet streets to the Zaretta vaporetti station, and caught the boat to Saint Marks Square, to visit the Museo Correr. This has a collection of artefacts and representations of Venetian life and history, mostly from the 1500's on, plus some artefacts from bronze age and Etruscan inhabitants of the area, lots of Roman marble, and other stuff.

The representations of Venice and its naval history are interesting, enormously detailed. We could see the canal where our hotel is located, and you can make out the four lions outside the Arsenal, in the same place they are today.  Some of the more everyday items were striking and gave an insight into what Venice must have been like on the past. There are shoes which have wooden stilts built in, about 150cms high, which must have been for walking through flooded streets and squares.

After the museum we felt a little weary - perhaps museum fatigue is setting in - so we went for a walk along the shore front down to Arsenale. Once the crowds cleared the walk was pleasant. I guess in Venice there is always a sea breeze, as it is surrounded by water, but the air and the water and the sun this morning seemed particularly fine.

I wanted to show Anne the four very disparate and distinctive lions that guard the entrance to the Arsenale. Like so much in Venice, there is a rich history behind each.  Anne like the one on the extreme left best.




This is the Piraeus_Lion looted from the harbour of Athens in 1687 by the Venetian navy during the Great Turkish War.  The lion dates from at least the first century AD, and has runes carved by Scandinavian mercenaries employed by the Byzantine empire visible on his shoulder.   One of his companion lions is even older, said to date from 400 BC. And they are all just sitting there, on the edge of the square, exposed to the weather and the vagaries of the tide of humanity that sweeps past them.

We wandered a bit further along past the gardens then by pure luck caught a ferry which came express back to our local stop. A quiet afternoon, then headed out for dinner, to find that our planned dinner location was closed, as were most other restaurants in our local area. We had pasta outside on the square at San Barnabas then explored in a new direction, over towards the University. The squares over that way were party town, with lots of young people standing outside bars clutching drinks and having a good time. Some sore heads tomorrow though I think.

So, our last day in Venice. Tomorrow Ravenna.

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Venice Saturday 17 May, Day 24.

Today we did a dry run of our departure and caught the vaporetto round to the train station. Takes about 15 minutes on the boat, probably quicker to walk but much less effort as long as the boat isn't too packed Monday morning. Our plan was to get off there and catch the vaporetto down to Saint Mark's, but we could see the queue stretching back on the dock, so we stayed on the one we were on and had a lovely ride down the back of the main island, parallel to the causeway over which the rail line runs. A nice, older Venetian lady with a shopping jeep - which seems to be the number one fashion accessory for older Venetian ladies - took a shine to us and gave us lots of advice about things we should see in Venice. She had no English and we had very little Italian, so no doubt we missed a lo but it was a nice interaction, and we shook hands and farewelled one another fondly when we got off. 

We worked our way through the little streets across to the Rialto Market.  Anne wanted to buy a sun hat, and the lady at the hotel and a friend who happened to be visiting had, after much discussion, advised us of a shop near the market. We found the general area, and sought advice from a wonderfully courtly proprietor of a nearby Tobacc, who with grave courtesy and kindness directed us the last few metres to the shop, which indeed provided just the item Anne was after.  Caught another vaporetto to a nearby stop, and came back to the hotel to regroup.

In the afternoon we visited the nearby Gallerie_dell'Accademia. As per usual, we managed to walk right past the entrance and had to circumnavigate the building. But it was worth the walk. The gallery was hosting an exhibition of the work of an artist we had never heard of, Carlo_Saraceni, an early Baroque Italian painter who was rather unkindly described as "a first-class painter of the second rank".  Anne thought his Saint Cecilia and the Angel was one of the best paintings in the Galleria.

There are some wonderfully bizarre works of early Italian painting in that collection, some weird but recognizable cityscapes of Venice, some huge and some impenetrable allegorical images, but the painting that Anne and I both independently (as we'd lost one another by this stage) decided we liked best was one entitled Madonna del Parto, by none other than the Maestro Della Madonna del Parto.


I particularly like the direct gaze, and that she is thoughtfully seated on a comfy cushion.

We had an extremely civilized meal at a nearby restaurant, explored a few more streets nearby. We can now navigate Dorsodura without getting lost. Nearly time to move on.

Friday, May 16, 2014

Venice Friday 16 May, Day 23

Another beautiful morning in Venice, and we caught the vaporetti with a bunch of determined looking Nonnas with market shopping trolleys. San Marco Square was already building up but the queue for the church was not too bad, and we discovered once we got inside that only a small percentage of people through the door go to the things that cost money. We headed up the stairs to the Museum, and saw in the round the famous, fabled Horses_of_Saint_Mark. They are believed to have been cast in 400 BC, were appropriated by the Eastern Roman empire, stood in the Hippodrome in Constantinople for almost a thousand years, before being carted off as part of the booty from the fourth crusade's sack of Constantinople, brought back to Venice before being carted off by Napoleon, then repatriated back to Venice. They have been around. And they have enormous presence. There are signs all round saying 'no photo', which everyone, including me, cheerfully ignored.  Here are the left pair.




The Treasury of Saint Marks is similarly composed largely of Byzantine chalices, reliquaries, incence boats and other extraordinary examples of Byzantine workmanship. The golden altarpiece, a huge panel of gold about 5 metres by 3 metres high, made about 500 ad, encrusted with jewels, 1500 pearls, 300 rubies, hundreds of emeralds, sapphires, and brilliant enamel panels, was also carted off from Constantinople.  Extraordinary the extent to which the Venetians have just appropriated so much, from Saint Mark himself onwards, and made it their own.

We caught a vaporetto back and after lunch Anne went off with the lovely lady who manages the hotel to the hairdressers, while I went to an exhibition of the machines of Leonardo Da Vinci which is on in San Barnabas Church round the corner. A very engaging exhibition of machines built from Da Vinci's drawings. A very hands on exhibition, where you could crank handles and get hammers to beat on anvil, pump water using his version of an Archimedes screw, and more. There is even a bicycle, but the provenance of the drawing is contested.

Watched the end of the 6th stage of the Giro, go Cadel and Michaela Matthews as the commentators here call him, then dinner and a stroll round the little streets, during which we saw a Venetian ambulace boat scooting down one of the tiny canals, lights flashing. Guess that makes sense, when there are no roads. What a wonderful place, not a single car.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Venice Thursday 15 May, Day 22

Woke this morning to the sound of birds and bells. Dorsoduro is wonderfully quiet - no traffic noise apart from the occasional motor launch down the San Trovaso Canal, and the only sounds footsteps, voices, birds and bells. The little boats often have a dog on board, sometimes a silent dignified figurehead and sometimes enjoying the watery echo of its barking.

Today we set off to explore Venice and see if we could decode the Vaporetti water bus system. We decided we'd buy weekly tickets on the basis that we will likely use the vaporetti every day. First one we caught terminated at San Marco, which was already a solid mass of people. Got a map showing the ferry routes, the caught one to Lido and then one back along the grand canal. A nice, relatively comfortable and economical way to get a tour of Venice.  Had a nice salad for lunch - we are feeling a bit over-carbed, then got pleasantly lost getting back to the hotel as our known route was blocked off for bridge works.

Anne settled down for a siesta, while I headed out for a walk back over past San Marco through the dense crowds and on to the Arsenal, where many of the ships which transported the Fourth_Crusade on to devastate Constantinople were built. The first assembly line in history probably. What a different world it would be had the Venetians been less efficient in organizing and building that fleet.

Caught a vaporetti back, then wandered along by the waterfront, and watched a huge cruise ship carving its way through the bustling water traffic. So much of Venice seems still to be medieval scale, the sight of something so vast and modern seemed weirdly incongruous.




We shared a bottle of local wine  up on the little terrace on the roof of the hotel with an American couple who are staying here. The warmth and light at the end of the day was very relaxing.  Anne and the American lady compared knee ailments and we discussed cultural over-saturation - the too many Madonnas not another church syndrome and ways to approach it. Some of the artworks we've seen are so marvellous that you want to stop right there and not see another thing.  This is what we're learning to do.

Headed off to yet another lovely dinner, followed by an icecream, and then getting creatively lost yet again. The upside of this episode of navigational embarrassment was the discovery of the closest thing we've seen to a supermarket in Italy. It was very entertaining. Supermarket culture seems like another modern invention which doesn't quite fit in Venice.

Tomorrow we want to get out and over to San Marco's before the crowds descend. We have a plan!









Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Venice Wednesday 14 May, Day 21

Three weeks on the road -  or on the rail to be more accurate - and we are both feeling a bit worn out, and glad to be staying put for a few days. We had to be out early to catch a train to be in time for our booking to view the Scrovegni_Chapel in Padua. We left our bags at the checked baggage service at the station, and unencumbered walked down to collect our Padua pass and chapel ticket. Only 25 people maximum are allowed in, and you have to sit in a special room for 15 minutes to control the atmosphere in the chapel to help preserve the paintings.  The Giotto frescos in the chapel are well worth the hoo-ha. The frescoes depict old testament stories and then the life of Christ in a narrative series.  I particularly admired the Last Judgement fresco which covers the whole of the rear wall. It is interesting that the Hell section of the picture is way more active and interesting than anything else in the painting.  Heaven looks pretty bland by comparison.

After the Chapel viewing we wandered into the attached pinoteca museum.  After the Chapel, we were beginning to suffer from sensory overload, but every time we would try to sneak out an exit or take a short cut, one of the charming and enthusiastic attendants would kindly direct is into yet another gallery. After eventually making our escape, we caught a tram down to the Basilica of San Antonio. The building is massive, and includes both the tomb of the saint, and various bits of him in the Reliquary chapel. The grisliest collection of bits we've seen, the reliquaries included what looked like his lower front jaw, with teeth visible, his tongue, and his vocal chords. Heaven knows what is left of him in his tomb.

We had definitely had enough by now, and headed back to the station.  Our tickets give the train number, the time of departure and destination. You stand in front of screens which display those details and tell you from which platform your train departs. Except today, the screen had the right number but a different destination and a different departure time. There was an earlier train to Venice leaving and I had to physically restrain Anne who wanted to leap onto that one.   But our train did arrive at the scheduled time, and did go where we wanted it to go, and a nice man on the train brought us a cup of tea and some biscuits as well, so we arrived in Venice in good spirits. My GPS led us through the little streets, some almost too narrow to let two people pass, and brought us to the right place, but the place we are staying is so discrete we walked past it a few times.

But here we, in a lovely room looking out over the Canal San Trovaso.  This pic of the canal was taken on the way back from dinner in a great seafood restaurant not too far away.


Really looking forward to a few quieter days exploring. 

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Verona Tuesday 13 May, Day 20

There.was a mighty thunderstorm last night with huge flashes of lightening and lots of rolling thunder. But when we woke up early this morning it was a golden dawn, and the city walls still standing on the hills were in clear relief against the sky. We had a great breakfast - where else in the world do you get fresh strawberries and crème caramel provided at the breakfast buffet ? - then headed off with our Verona passes to sample some of what the city has to offer. Juliet's house - Casa de Capulet - is as made up as Shakespeare's story, but it is right round the corner so we visited it first thing, before the crowds descend upon it. It is a 14th century Veronese house with lots of prints of different representations of the Romeo and Juliet story, and a balcony which was added in the 19th century but which looks the part.


We caught a local bus over to the Basilica of St Zeno, the patron saint of Verona whose remains lie in state in the crypt beneath. There was a funeral service in progress so we did not get to explore the church. Caught the bus back to the Castelvecchio, which was the highlight of the day. We enjoyed the collection and the remarkable restoration of the building by local architect and teacher, Carlo Scarpa.

A new favourite painting  - The Madonna_of_the_Rose_Garden - and some fascinating 14th and 15th century variations of familiar themes but in some novel and ingenious representations. The curation and display were brilliant.  And best of all, the museum was relatively empty - it seems to be off the tour group circuit.

We were a bit stunned when we emerged -we hadn't expected such a rich collection. Next activity was to get a stamp for a post card, which required the intervention of three Italian postal service employees, cost 2.5 times more than the French equivalent, and required me to sign a form. The process was so exhausting we had to stop for lunch at one of the rows of restaurants near the Roman arena.

After lunch Anne headed back for a siesta and I set off for the nearest Laundromat, located over the bridge outside the old city. "Don't go there at night" the lady from the hotel told us, and it certainly had a very different feel to the charming Verona this side pf the bridge. A couple of people seemed to be living in the Laundromat - mine seemed to be the only machine going so I guess they were there for the warmth and for the entertainment of watching honkeys like me trying to work the machines.

We had the best pizza ever for tea, then strolled down along what was once one of the main Roman roads through a succession of squares, arches and quiet carless streets back to our hotel. Mmm. We've loved Verona - definitely on the come back again list.

Tomorrow we need to be up bright and early to go to Padua for half a day, to see the Giotto frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel, then continue on to Venice.

Monday, May 12, 2014

Verona Monday 12 May, Day 19

We left Turin without too many regrets this morning. Our train to Milan was one of the fast trains and we had seats in business class, which was indeed very comfortable.  We were back to the real world of second class on the next leg from Milan to Verona, and where the first train was super fast, the second was achingly slow, stopping for long periods in the baking sun in the middle of nowhere for no apparent reason. But the landscape all the way from Turin is spectacular, as the line seems to run more or less in parallel to the Alps. Strange to be sitting cooking in the sun gazing at snow covered mountains. We spent a lot of time looking out the window as the young couple in the neighbouring seats - a pretty Italian girl and a handsome French boy - spent most of the trip improving Franco-Italian relations. They were very nice though when they managed to come up for air.

A bit of a slog from the station to our hotel, not helped by me heading off in totally the wrong direction, but we got our bearings and found our way to our hotel on the Piazza Erbe in the old city. Where Turin is black with fumes, car choked and dark, Verona seems filled with light, bicycles and charm. It feels like there is something delightful around every corner and down every little street.

We walked over to visit the 13th Century church of Saint Anastasia, which amongst other wonders has hanging from the roof in one side chapel the rudder from an Ottoman galley destroyed in the Battle_Of_Lepanto.

After the church we walked over the Roman bridge Ponte Della Petra to visit the Roman theatre, which unfortunately was closed. Stopped for a drink in a café next to the river near the bridge, and liked it so much we stayed there for a simple but delicious dinner, then back to our hotel where we had a fruit plate on the terrace watching the world go by in the piazza below.

The influence of Venice is evident here in the proliferation of statues and crests of the lion of St Mark, which became the emblem of Venice. There is a marvellous example on the Piazza Erbe outside our window.


Sunday, May 11, 2014

Torino Sunday 11 May, Day 18

Last night on our evening stroll we saw a poster  "Il PreRaphaeletis" with Millais' wonderful painting of Ophelia - a travelling exhibition from the Tate which was on in Tokyo when I was there in February. We thought this was a good first stop, so after a bit of a Sunday sleep-in, we headed on down to the Palazzo Chiablese where the exhibition is housed. Today being Mothers Day - Festa Della Mamma - and a nice warm Sunday as well, the streets were filled with people out buying flowers - the custom seems to be white or red azaleas for mamma - heading off to church dressed to the nines, or just walking around, generally having a good time.

Because of our late start, there was a substantial queue and we were told at least half an hour. After about 10 minutes in the hot shameless queue where most people seemed to be passing the time by smoking heavily, and being a sitting target for the particularly persistent Torino beggars, we could feel our enthusiasm for PreRaphaelites beginning to wane, and we decided to visit the nearby Museo Archaeologico instead.

We could only buy a group ticket to three museums, the Palazzo Reale - the royal palace of House of Savoy - the Armeria - a collection of armour and weapons from 15th century on, and the archeology museum. Don't think we are really palace sort of people - room after room of gilt and stuff gets oppressive quickly. We got lost trying to find the archealogy museum, which when we did locate it seemed to be closed. Anne had a sit outside the lovely church while I retraced our steps to visit the Armeria. While I was contemplating a few centuries worth of man's ingenuity in devising nastier and more efficient ways of inflicting damage on his fellow man - I was particularly impressed with a dagger which had two spring loaded side pieces - Anne was watching the local children who had just made their first communion issuing forth from the church. I think she got the better deal.

We then headed down to the Museo_Egizio which is said to be the second largest collection of Egyptian antiquities in the world.  A jaw dropping collection of statues, household objects, paintings, sarcophagi, altar pieces. One room has around a dozen imposing statues of Sekhmet, the lionheaded goddess of healing, all beautifully carved. One room had a huge rams head, again, meticulously carved. Moving from one gallery to another is a window through which you can see a storage area. As well as racks of mummies, sarcophagi and other stuff, there was a milk crate filled with mummified cats. In the main collection there were more mumified cats, a cat sarcophagus, a lovely little statues of a litter of cats, and this wonderful cat effigy.



After the Egyptian Museum we had a late lunch, then back for a bit of down time. Caught the end of stage three of the Giro, another horrible cold wet day for the riders by the look of it. I'll bet they will be glad when the race returns to Italy after the rest day tomorrow.

Tomorrow we head off to Verona. Early night then ...

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Torino Saturday 10 May, Day 17

A long day travelling today. After breakfast in the lovely courtyard of the hotel we headed off to join the rugby scrum at the Nice Ville railway station. We caught the French SCNF train to Ventmille, which is magically the same place as Ventimiglia, the start of the Italian train system. The train passes through Monaco as it winds along the Mediterranean coast.  The equivalent of the GNP of a fair few nations floating just off that shore line, not to speak of the real estate.

From Ventimiglia the next leg off our journey took us to Genoa, a quick stop long enough to buy some supplies then onto the last leg to Torino.  I like train travel - a bit like cycling in that it gives a good sense of the landscape and the geography - and a lot less tiring.

But we were still troppo stanco when we got here. The good news is that being Italy the Giro d'Italia is broadcast live, and we are in the right time zone, so we chilled out watching the poor riders slog through the Irish rain, and trying to glean something from the rapid fire Italian commentary.  Can't imagine what having the Giro start in Ireland will do for Irish tourism though - put it back 10 years I'd reckon.

Torino has a nice vibe, and a lot less touristy than Nice for example. We had dinner in a very self respecting restaurant with lovely food then went for a stroll round some of the streets.  A lot of the streets are a narrow with tall buildings right on the street - not a pretty city and the parking is a killer - I am glad I am not driving or looking for a parking spot here.



Tomorrow hopefully we will wake up full of energy and head off to explore some of the city's museums.

Friday, May 9, 2014

Nice Friday 9 May, Day 16

Today we headed off through the quiet early morning streets of Marseille to catch our 7.30 train. Great coffee at the station, followed by a mad stampede of fellow passengers for the train once the platform was announced, but we managed to find seats together and sat watching Southern France slide past the train windows.

Left our bags at the hotel, and wandered over to the Chagall Museum. Some mighty expensive housing over that way. The climate is so nice and the place so pretty, I guess that's why the rich want to live here and I can't blame them.

We had a very pleasant lunch in the cafeteria in the lovely garden of the Museum, then headed back to check in and have a siesta which we both needed after the extremely early start today. The room is beautiful. It opens over a beautiful sunny court yard which has a nectarine tree laden with fruit. I feel like I am living in Matisse painting.



We have been wanting to send some stuff back home as we are moving into warmer climate and we have been accumulating stuff as we go along, so we set off down to the local post office with a bag of stuff winnowed from our cases. The whole experience would have made a great movie - fairly chaotic in there, with a rich cast of characters - but we got a box stamped and hopefully on its way back to Australia, and once again had cause to be grateful for the good humoured kindness that we have encountered so often in our time in France. 

It was however a bit stressful, and we felt a bit frazzled on our walk around down town Nice, which actually felt a bit edgy and grungy - perhaps we walked down the wrong streets. The upside of getting lost was that we walked past the restaurant that the lady in the hotel had recommended. We seized the moment and made a reservation which was just as well as it was packed when we went back. And the food was excellent. 

Tonight is our last night in France. We have enjoyed it enormously. My theory, which I formulated this evening over a bottle of lovely Cote de Provence Rouge, is that the French people are basically happy with their lives, and from that basis of happiness they can afford to be generous to strangers like us and also to one another.  They have a real love of their country and a strong sense of being French, of a deep shared experience. Anyway, we would love to come back and maybe spend longer in some of the smaller places, perhaps more self catering next time.

Tomorrow a new country and a new language - just when I was getting the hang of Franglais.

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Marseilles Thursday 8 May, Day 15

Today we followed the advice of a nice man who helped us work the vending machine in the archaeological museum in Arles. He waxed lyrical about Aix-en-Province when he heard we were going to Marseilles, so we followed his recommendation and caught the bus from the central rail station. Thirty minutes later we were in the charming town of Aix, an altogether more laid back sort of place compared to the crush here in Marseilles.

We pottered around, admiring the market and the fountains and the little squares. Anne's knee is making ominous grating sensations so to give it a rest we caught the petit train, an articulated touristy thing that winds its way down the tiny back streets.   Easy to imagine spending a peaceful week or two on Aix, and it will be on the list if ever we come back to France. After a pleasant slow lunch at a nice little café in a plane tree lined street, we caught the bus back to Marseilles, then the metro and another bus up to Notre Dame de la Garde.   An exciting ride as the full size bus climbed its way up tiny steep streets.  There are terrific views from the terraces around the church. The Church itself is not that big, and as it is a popular tourist spot, it was packed. The interior seems in the Byzantine tradition with lots of gold and arches made of alternate coloured stone,


After the visit, we came out to find the bus we hoped to catch down the mountain leaking fluid onto the car park while the driver stood smoking a cigarette next to it looking harried. I do hope the buses run on diesel. Eventually the next bus appeared, and twice as many people squashed onto it, for a sticky tide back down to the old port. Anne was ready for rest by now, and I visited the Museum of the History of Marseilles. By the time I'd found it, and then, having found it, found the entrance, there was only an hour till closing time, so it was a quick swing through what I thought was the best museum on Marseilles so far.

Tomorrow we have to be at the central train station by 7.30 to catch our train to Nice, so easy on the vin rouge and early to bed tonight.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Marseilles Wednesday 7 May, Day 14

 A short and pleasant train journey deposited us at Marseilles Saint Charles Station, and we caught the Metro to the old port and a short walk to our hotel. Marseilles at lunch time seemed a bit overwhelmingly busy to us - it is France's second biggest city and it certainly has the bustle and jostle of a lot of lives being lived in a small space.

Weather is warmer and the light seems brighter.  Anne's knee has been giving her some trouble so we spent some time searching for a suitable knee brace, without success, and settled for a packet of paracetamol instead.  Anne decided on a bath and a rest, while I set out to explore. Visited the Museum of Archaeology which had interesting Egyptian, African and Oceanic artefacts (including the mummy of an ibis the like of which I had not seen before), the splendid Marseille_Cathedral, and the new Museum of Mediterranean Civilization, MuMEC. There is a lot of money being spent in Marseilles, to establish it as a "cultural capital". The Museum is one of the outputs, and it is certainly popular. I did learn a few things while I was in there but the crowds and the layout of the collection made it heavy going.  I like museums like the Musee de Cluny which are logically arranged and where the provenance of the objects on display and the relationship between them is explained, and where you are free to find your own way around and through the collection. 

The public spaces around the MuMEC by contrast to the interior spaces, are very nicely designed, very convivial and open with fantastic views.  Walked home through Fort Saint Jean which guards one side of the mouth of the old harbour.  For dinner we went to a Tunisian restaurant for couscous which was delicious and relatively economical, then a twilight walk along the quay, then back to our room to admire the view from our terrace, looking over the old port towards the magnificent structure of Note Dame de la Garde which seems to watch over the city.   We are looking forward to exploring more tomorrow.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Arles Tuesday 6 May, Day 13


Set off today to explore Arles more thoroughly. The Office de Tourisme have a map with a Van Gogh walk, a Roman walk, a Middles Ages walk, a Renaissance walk, and a modern Arles walk. Unfortunately the English version was sold out, and the one in French we had used very tiny print in very hard to read colours, and so thanks to poor eyesight and limited language comprehension, we managed to spend a bit of time walking around rather dreary streets looking for things that were in fact somewhere else altogether. But after a whole we got the hang of things.

The Cathedral St Trompine has a splendidly macabre collection of relics on display, including a bit of Saint Anne, which Anne was very pleased to see. Highlight of the day was the Cloister of Saint Tromphime, XIIth century with wonderful medieval carvings. It has a stone roof above the cloister, around the rim of which runs a stone bench, worn smooth by many monkly backsides over hundreds of centuries. A lovely spot to sit and watch the blackbirds flying in and out of their roosts in the Cathedral bell tower next door.

We wandered happily round the town, visiting the Roman Baths of Constantine, Les Elychamps with its Church of St Gilles, which was one of four starting points for the Camino de Santiago de Compostella, and the Cryptoportiques, massive Roman foundations for what was in their day the Forum, of which only a few vestiges remain above ground.

We had our best meal yet in France in a little restaurant over towards the Arena, then strolled home via the embankment by the Rhône.  The current makes the surface ripple in away which breaks up reflections. Our hotel is in fact very close to the spot where Van Gogh painted La Nuit Etoille - the starry night - which we saw in Paris in the Musee D'Orsay. Here is a picture from our hotel window looking in much the same direction.



We have come to love Arles and will be sorry to leave tomorrow, heading on for Marseilles which I doubt will quite so laid back and charming.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Arles Monday 5 May, Day 12

Today we took a tour to the Carmargue and the historic town of Saintes-Marie de la Mer. We were in the back of an old long wheelbase Landrover, the suspension of which had seen better days, we discovered as we bounced down the dusty pot-holed back roads. I can see why ornithologists get excited about the place - there were large flocks of flamingos, terns, herons, egrets, gulls, ducks, swans and other types I could identify, as well as lots of chaps toting expensive and very substantial lens stalking purposefully down the little back roads. In autumn the wetlands are really packed with migratory birds - over 350 species.  Flamingos breed and live permanently in the Camargue wetlands.

The Camargue is famous for its horses which are a unique breed, white and stocky, strong looking animals which were wild until a few decades ago. The foals are born dark brown or black but become white by age one. Camargue bulls are also a specific breed and the locals seem very patriotic about them.  They are always black, smaller than Spanish bulls and have horns growing upward.  Spanish bulls are bred in the Camargue for bullfights which still take place in Ste-Marie and Arles.  We saw so many Camargue horses, foals, and bulls of all ages (kept in paddocks with their age peers) that we thought we'd never get to the ancient Church by the sea.

The town of St Marie de Le Mere sits at mouth of the Petit Rhône on the Mediterranean  and has been a site of human habitation since well before the Romans arrived. I don't know what the earlier inhabitants would make of the town today. It is cheerful mix of hotels, market, bars, restaurants and souvenir shops.  The church Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is Romanesque with a stone barrel vaulted ceiling. It was built in the 9th century on the site of a much older building, and still has what is called a pagan altar in the crypt.

The Church was used as a place of refuge for the villagers during raids by Vikings and Saracens. The roof of the crypt of the church is black with smoke from centuries of candles, and it houses the statue of Saint Sara, the patron saint of the Romani people. On 24th May each year, there is a Roma festival where the statue is taken down to the sea and immersed in the water and then paraded through the town with the horses and bulls adorned with flowers. Saint Sara is taken very seriously - the crypt was hot from the banks of burning candles offered in her honour, and there were queues waiting to pay their respects to her. Upstairs there are paintings of the two Marys who left Jerusalem in a boat and were washed ashore here.  The two Marys are the sisters of the Virgin Mary, the three daughters of St Anne by her three husbands.  We saw paintings of these same stories in Spain. They seem to belong to a much older version of the Catholic canon.





Sunday, May 4, 2014

Arles Sunday 4 May, Day 11

With some reluctance we packed up this morning and headed back down the train station to catch our train to Arles.  We really enjoyed Avignon,  The regional trains are great. Less than half an hour to Arles but it has a very different feel - well, what we've seen of it so far. Seems to be poorer, grittier and more decayed than Avignon. Lots of the houses look like they are just on this side of collapse.  But it has its charm. 

We dumped our bags at the hotel and set off to explore. The Roman presence is very marked, with the Arena largely intact, the Theatre still with some columns standing and amazing carvings lying in the grass, and the traces of the chariot racing track still preserved near the Museum of Antiquities. The Museum houses an enormous Roman barge which sank in the Rhône near Arles.

Apparently the barge was towed upstream by either human or animal power. Given how fast the current flows, just thinking how hard that would be makes me feel tired. A great piece of archaeological rescue work to retrieve it and so many artefacts from the river bed.

Being Sunday lots of the town seemed deserted tonight but we found a nice family run restaurant which had simple but delicious food. On the way home we walked past the Roman Arena, with the deserted street and the dark sky - magical

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Avignon Saturday 3 May, Day 10

First stop today the Avignon Archaeology Museum, which for 1 Euro each, was the best value of trip. The collection of Greek, Etruscan and Roman carvings and pottery was stunning, and all the better for not being too big. The collection nicely curated with informative brochures in many of the rooms, and the nice man watching over it all  let us take a nicely printed guide to the whole collection .... in French but it will be good reading practice.  
After lunch  we visited Angladon museum, which had a Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition plus some other 19th century paintings. After that, Anne retired for a rest, while  I headed off to the Calvert Museum which houses paintings from the 15th century to the 20th. includes some Breugels senior and junior, some Dutch very brown paintings, and plenty more. There is also a collection of Egyptian artefacts.

By this time the wind was roaring through the plane trees - 64 kilometres an hour according to my phone which gets a local weather download.  The wind makes me glad that we decided not to sign up for a cycling Province tour - it would be no fun cycling in this no matter what direction you were heading.

I decided to get a bit of exercise to counteract the steady impact of too many pastries for breakfast, and set off to explore the other side of the Rhône. I nearly got blown away on the bridge but made it to the other side, and walked to the town of Villanueve-les-Avignon, which lies at the foot of the impressive and still largely intact castle of Saint-Andre, built in the 14th century. The road up to the castle winds through a well preserved own of little streets and beautiful stone buildings. I managed to get thoroughly lost, but eventually found my way back to the main road, where I caught a bus back to Avignon.

We had a lovely meal at a little restaurant just down the little street next to the hotel, a pleasant conclusion to a great visit to Avignon. The pace of life is more relaxed, the pressure and competition with other people less, and there has been plenty to keep us busy

Today's picture is of the Archaeology Museum - Anne is sitting on the couch taking notes. It is a lovely setting for the collection.




Tomorrow morning we are off to Arles.




Friday, May 2, 2014

Avignon Friday 2 May, Day 9

A bit late starting out today. When we got to the Palais des Papes, the conga line queue was in place and moved at glacial speed. Despite being a holiday weekend and one of the busiest (so we were told by a fellow queue-ee) there were only two people selling tickets. Perhaps they do it on purpose to keep the crowd inside spaced out.

The building has had a chequered history. During the Western Schism, it was besieged for 5 years in an attempt to persuade Benedict xii to resign.  It has been used as barracks, prison and stables, it has been burned, its walls have been painted over, and most of its statues beheaded. But the basic structure is still largely intact. Not the most cheerful place in Avignon however.

To blow away the sense of oppression that hit us somewhere in the palace, we headed up onto the park on Roche des Doms, the rocky outcrop that was probably the site the first settlements in Avignon. Lovely gardens with beautiful roses and great views over the city and the river. We had lunch contemplating the lake and the ducks then headed down to the Musee du Petit Palais nearby. This museum has a collection of over three hundred paintings from the middle ages to the Renaissance, arranged chronologically. I broke my all time record for the number of Madonna-and-Baby-Jesus paintings seen in a single session. Fascinating to see how different themes, poses and ideas evolve over the centuries.


We liked the bored looking angel at the bottom right of this painting.

By the end of the visit, we were seriously in need of a cup of tea, and luckily there is a wonderful Salon de The in the courtyard garden, where we sat with a silver teapot and two tartes du jour under a mighty plane tree.

Anne retired for a rest and I visited the Pont Saint-Benezet, the famous Pont d'Avingon of the song, or what is left of it after war and floods have swept away most of its 22 arches, leaving only 4 still standing. Amazing that a bridge which has not been used since the 17th century is probably the main thing most people know Avignon for.

A chilly windy night, definitely not an outdoor café night. We visited a nearby Italian restaurant for a pizza, then a bit of a stroll down some more little back streets, then back to our room to regroup for tomorrow.