Tuesday 20th October
Dubai Desert Safari
Not much sleep – must be the excitement as our journey nears its end. Mary had a great idea to fill in the time – let’s go to the Dubai Mall – brand spanking new – loaded with the top name shops and products: jewellery, bags and boots, dresses (the Italians were clever – there were shoes shops right to our terminal plane embarkation point, finishing with Gucci) – but in Dubai everything is new and whatever glitters is gold and diamonds. Also included in the mall was a 20 metre high aquarium full of sharks, sting rays and a big slow lazy groper – yep just alongside the skate rink. Apparently desert sands sell cheap and there is plenty of sand about – if for example we were going to move Chadstone into a corner here we would have to be careful not to lose it. But the recession is hitting Dubai hard – airport taxi queues are down from 3-4hours to 20minutes and the mall was very empty of customers which meant that every shop assistant (3 or 4 per shop including the supervisor who was in charge of spotting & allocating potential customers to appropriate shop assistants very politely saying, “hello” and “thank-you” and “enjoy your day”. Anyway to cut a long story short after saying “no” to Mary’s suggestions for shirts and shoes for 8 weeks - i relented and Mary bought me a pair of funky shoes and shirt and a groovy clutch purse(for herself) as a memory of this place.
Then a taxi back and a bite to eat before our Arabian Adventure Guide picked us up for our Dubai safari. Shahid our Emirate guide was full of energy and could barely contain his mounting excitement as we picked up 2 more Aussies and a young Brazilian woman whilst pointing out examples of Dubai’s progress including a ten kilometre Camel Racing Training Track, the beginnings of a rugby stadium way out in the desert, a tennis stadium and many more projects – which are moving very slowly at the moment due to the crisis – but no matter – it will all get sorted out as we travelled around the world’s tallest building at 880 metres high. And then we arrived at the 250 kilometre desert conservation park and our camels. Luckily, we left the camels behind and entered with 19 other 4xwheel drive vehicles for a serious 60 minutes of sand dune bashing. It was a very exciting time as we slid and soared and nose-dived over the desert dunes stopping at points for photo opportunities. Before arriving at our Bedouin camp site for a barbeque dinner and some lovely entertainment by a very confident, laughing, happy belly dancer – really you just had to clap and laugh with her as she wriggled energetically non-stop for about 30 minutes.
Only one mishap to report was that Mary lost her second pair of glasses – but really it all makes sense – we reckon her first pair of glasses have dropped into the Grand Canal in Venice and it appears the desert sands have swallowed the second pair – so of course it all makes sense and is very appropriate – to lose something when confronted by a brand new environment for the first time – yep the experience is saying lose the glasses and feel the vibe hahaha.
Home soon – about to head to airport in the next 45 minutes. See you soon, thanks for sharing, love Mary and Dick.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Dubai
Monday 19th October
Dubai
Woke up with no bells ringing, but just in time to meet with our Arabian Adventures German tour guide and the disorganised chaos of Barcelona and Italy was but a dream. So far everything about Dubai is sparkling and new. The seven states of the United emirates became a federation in 1971( 70 years later than Australia and 100 years later than Italy) – Dubai’s existence began in about 1833 when 200 bedoiun tribesman took control of this area/oasis/trade route and their offspring/progeny continue to rule. But rule what? In the 1950s they ruled 4,000 square kilometres of desert. Then in 1969 oil was discovered. Nuff said – as our tour meandered past the clumsy misshapen building which was the sheik’s meeting place in the 50’s and towards the skyscrapers of every shape and size (making St Peter’s Basilica seem a bit small and lacking in imagination) surrounding the world’s tallest building.
This stop over is a gem – we disembarked about 11.30pm Sunday to be greeted by our transport/transfer man. And on arrival at our 4 star hotel we were provided with instructions for today’s and tomorrow’s tours. All we have to remember is to tip the staff who do everything for us – just the exact opposite to Italy and Barcelona. So far all the meals have been delicious and service immediate and spot-on. However, one observation about the road transport system – it seems that most roads are very busy, multi-lane, one way highways with very few get-off and get-on points. With the consequence that in order to get to a point just 100metres away often requires a complicated set of spirals and circuits of some kilometres in distance – along with the very big four wheel drives, hummers and V8s but what would you expect from an nation whose oil production accounts for 40% of GDP.
Today’s tour took us through the old city (post 1969 to 1993) and the new city( post 1993) past the current sheik’s house – at one end of a 5 kilometre driveway and at the other end of the driveway the house of his brother(also minister of finance) _” No Photos allowed” – as ordered by our German tour guide. Yep and there was a lot of land yet to be developed around these palaces/forts. We visited our first 7 star hotel – the “sail” built on reclaimed land bout 200m out to sea and watched a helicopter land on a helipad some 250metres up to drop off guests. The hotel is some 330 metres tall and has 160 two storey apartments/rooms. It is built a short way from the Wave hotel (by the same company) so that when the sun is setting in the west the two hotels’ shadows combine to become a boat out at sea(money is not an issue). And it is very interesting to compare what this nation is doing with its wealth and power with what we have seen in England, France and Italy – i.e., their remains of their days as world powers. The tour included a visit of a musem which demonstrated how things were not so long ago(60 years ago), a dhow/boat ride across an ancient so-called “creek” which was about 200 metres wide and 14kilometres long to an old spice market of 60 shops and the gold market – 600 shops. Unbelievable amounts of gold and diamonds filled every window and all the shop walls – surely this amount of gold and precious stones also acts as protection (as well as the oil) of this place’s economy (gold price in 2000 was about USD250, USD464 in 2005 and just broke through the $1,000 mark). But also it appears that whatever the sheik has done seems to have worked in this state’s/sheikdom’s favour – 20% of Dubai’s population is of united emirate descent the rest are immigrants (the immigrants – Indians and Pakistanis, Iranians etc do all the work) – however in the 1970s the sheik built beach frontage houses and gave them away free to united emirate descendents. Earlier on the sheik made importing and exporting a tax free activity – yep and look at the place now from a 4,000 square kilometre desert to 60 kilometre beach frontage city and they cannot get enough of it – so more beach is being reclaimed.
Tomorrow is the desert safari tour which includes a four wheel drive over sand dunes, a camel ride, a Bedouin barbeque, falconry and belly dancing all before our transport/transfer man takes us to the airport for our trip home.
Dubai
Woke up with no bells ringing, but just in time to meet with our Arabian Adventures German tour guide and the disorganised chaos of Barcelona and Italy was but a dream. So far everything about Dubai is sparkling and new. The seven states of the United emirates became a federation in 1971( 70 years later than Australia and 100 years later than Italy) – Dubai’s existence began in about 1833 when 200 bedoiun tribesman took control of this area/oasis/trade route and their offspring/progeny continue to rule. But rule what? In the 1950s they ruled 4,000 square kilometres of desert. Then in 1969 oil was discovered. Nuff said – as our tour meandered past the clumsy misshapen building which was the sheik’s meeting place in the 50’s and towards the skyscrapers of every shape and size (making St Peter’s Basilica seem a bit small and lacking in imagination) surrounding the world’s tallest building.
This stop over is a gem – we disembarked about 11.30pm Sunday to be greeted by our transport/transfer man. And on arrival at our 4 star hotel we were provided with instructions for today’s and tomorrow’s tours. All we have to remember is to tip the staff who do everything for us – just the exact opposite to Italy and Barcelona. So far all the meals have been delicious and service immediate and spot-on. However, one observation about the road transport system – it seems that most roads are very busy, multi-lane, one way highways with very few get-off and get-on points. With the consequence that in order to get to a point just 100metres away often requires a complicated set of spirals and circuits of some kilometres in distance – along with the very big four wheel drives, hummers and V8s but what would you expect from an nation whose oil production accounts for 40% of GDP.
Today’s tour took us through the old city (post 1969 to 1993) and the new city( post 1993) past the current sheik’s house – at one end of a 5 kilometre driveway and at the other end of the driveway the house of his brother(also minister of finance) _” No Photos allowed” – as ordered by our German tour guide. Yep and there was a lot of land yet to be developed around these palaces/forts. We visited our first 7 star hotel – the “sail” built on reclaimed land bout 200m out to sea and watched a helicopter land on a helipad some 250metres up to drop off guests. The hotel is some 330 metres tall and has 160 two storey apartments/rooms. It is built a short way from the Wave hotel (by the same company) so that when the sun is setting in the west the two hotels’ shadows combine to become a boat out at sea(money is not an issue). And it is very interesting to compare what this nation is doing with its wealth and power with what we have seen in England, France and Italy – i.e., their remains of their days as world powers. The tour included a visit of a musem which demonstrated how things were not so long ago(60 years ago), a dhow/boat ride across an ancient so-called “creek” which was about 200 metres wide and 14kilometres long to an old spice market of 60 shops and the gold market – 600 shops. Unbelievable amounts of gold and diamonds filled every window and all the shop walls – surely this amount of gold and precious stones also acts as protection (as well as the oil) of this place’s economy (gold price in 2000 was about USD250, USD464 in 2005 and just broke through the $1,000 mark). But also it appears that whatever the sheik has done seems to have worked in this state’s/sheikdom’s favour – 20% of Dubai’s population is of united emirate descent the rest are immigrants (the immigrants – Indians and Pakistanis, Iranians etc do all the work) – however in the 1970s the sheik built beach frontage houses and gave them away free to united emirate descendents. Earlier on the sheik made importing and exporting a tax free activity – yep and look at the place now from a 4,000 square kilometre desert to 60 kilometre beach frontage city and they cannot get enough of it – so more beach is being reclaimed.
Tomorrow is the desert safari tour which includes a four wheel drive over sand dunes, a camel ride, a Bedouin barbeque, falconry and belly dancing all before our transport/transfer man takes us to the airport for our trip home.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Leaving Rome
Sunday 18th October
Leaving Rome
We woke up, for the last time, to the bells of St Peter’s. We had an hour or two before the taxi arrived and decided to go for a walk around the Vatican walls. It’s a decent walk, with 20 metre high very imposing walls all around. A few days prior, I had seen a lovely little Nativity scene in the Vatican book shop and had decided to purchase it and, after the walk, forced my way through the thronging crowds in the Square to the shop in the colonnade. The “Boulangerie Theory” proven yet again. The “Boulangerie Theory” is: if you want to buy a baguette in France, don’t wait until later, the boulangerie will be closed. This theory has proven to be true, not just for boulangeries, but for petrol, supermercatos, general shops AND the Vatican book shop on a Sunday morning. Thwarted again. Well, that just means I will go back and buy it next time I am in Rome.
We got to the airport, and queued at several locations (still in Rome) and eventually boarded the plane for Dubai.
Dubai airport is enormous and everything looks newer than new. Settled in and went to bed. Off to the souks tomorrow!
Leaving Rome
We woke up, for the last time, to the bells of St Peter’s. We had an hour or two before the taxi arrived and decided to go for a walk around the Vatican walls. It’s a decent walk, with 20 metre high very imposing walls all around. A few days prior, I had seen a lovely little Nativity scene in the Vatican book shop and had decided to purchase it and, after the walk, forced my way through the thronging crowds in the Square to the shop in the colonnade. The “Boulangerie Theory” proven yet again. The “Boulangerie Theory” is: if you want to buy a baguette in France, don’t wait until later, the boulangerie will be closed. This theory has proven to be true, not just for boulangeries, but for petrol, supermercatos, general shops AND the Vatican book shop on a Sunday morning. Thwarted again. Well, that just means I will go back and buy it next time I am in Rome.
We got to the airport, and queued at several locations (still in Rome) and eventually boarded the plane for Dubai.
Dubai airport is enormous and everything looks newer than new. Settled in and went to bed. Off to the souks tomorrow!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
St Peter's Basilica, Rome
Saturday 17th October
St Peter’s Basilica
Although we were in the Basilica a couple of days ago we wanted to see more of it, as well as going into the cupola and into the crypt. We got up bright and early and only needed to queue for a short time. We took the lift up to the 3rd level and from there ascended the narrow, winding staircase which brought us to the lower rim of the cupola. We were able to walk around half of it and look below to the main body of the church. We then went up higher still and were able to go outside to see amazing views of the square and all over Rome. The people below looked very tiny! We were up very, very high.
We descended the staircase and were able to go out onto the roof, behind the statues of Sts Matthew and Thomas and other apostles. The views were incredible.
We then returned to the main body of the church and looked at it all over again. We entered the Blessed Sacrament Chapel and rested a while, then continued the tour. The statue of St Peter is mediaeval, and one of his feet is almost worn away, as people kiss it or rub it for good luck. Today it was roped off, so we hope our luck from the Trevi Fountain holds out – or is that to return to Rome? Somewhere we have done something for luck! There were a couple of bodies of dead popes (photos of course), amazing sculptures, mosaics, candelabra etc etc. Everything is enormous, but does not look out of place.
The Pieta is simply beautiful. This, and David, are the most beautiful sculptures I have seen. They are “alive”. I must be a Michelangelo fan. I kept being drawn back to the Pieta – there is so much emotion displayed in the Madonna’s face – she looks broken hearted, yet serene and calm. Christ’s lifeless body looks as if it has just flopped across his mother’s lap.
We then went down to the Crypt which houses the bodies of the popes, including John Paul II, which had several floral tributes and several people weeping in front of it. Amazingly St Peter’s body is here also and his tomb is rather dignified.
We spent a couple of hours shopping and sought the advice of our guide book as to where the locals shop. We took the metro out to the ‘burbs, but unfortunately, as it was Saturday afternoon, most of the shops were closed. Thwarted again! We had a final dinner at a local trattoria with Michael and Karol - this is our last day together and they leave for home in the morning. We toasted our travels together and briefly discussed the possibility of “next time....” Who knows?
This is our last full day in Rome as we leave for Dubai tomorrow afternoon. Europe has been wonderful – there hasn’t been a day pass that we haven’t been amazed, astounded, interested, gob smacked or enthralled. How soon will we return?
St Peter’s Basilica
Although we were in the Basilica a couple of days ago we wanted to see more of it, as well as going into the cupola and into the crypt. We got up bright and early and only needed to queue for a short time. We took the lift up to the 3rd level and from there ascended the narrow, winding staircase which brought us to the lower rim of the cupola. We were able to walk around half of it and look below to the main body of the church. We then went up higher still and were able to go outside to see amazing views of the square and all over Rome. The people below looked very tiny! We were up very, very high.
We descended the staircase and were able to go out onto the roof, behind the statues of Sts Matthew and Thomas and other apostles. The views were incredible.
We then returned to the main body of the church and looked at it all over again. We entered the Blessed Sacrament Chapel and rested a while, then continued the tour. The statue of St Peter is mediaeval, and one of his feet is almost worn away, as people kiss it or rub it for good luck. Today it was roped off, so we hope our luck from the Trevi Fountain holds out – or is that to return to Rome? Somewhere we have done something for luck! There were a couple of bodies of dead popes (photos of course), amazing sculptures, mosaics, candelabra etc etc. Everything is enormous, but does not look out of place.
The Pieta is simply beautiful. This, and David, are the most beautiful sculptures I have seen. They are “alive”. I must be a Michelangelo fan. I kept being drawn back to the Pieta – there is so much emotion displayed in the Madonna’s face – she looks broken hearted, yet serene and calm. Christ’s lifeless body looks as if it has just flopped across his mother’s lap.
We then went down to the Crypt which houses the bodies of the popes, including John Paul II, which had several floral tributes and several people weeping in front of it. Amazingly St Peter’s body is here also and his tomb is rather dignified.
We spent a couple of hours shopping and sought the advice of our guide book as to where the locals shop. We took the metro out to the ‘burbs, but unfortunately, as it was Saturday afternoon, most of the shops were closed. Thwarted again! We had a final dinner at a local trattoria with Michael and Karol - this is our last day together and they leave for home in the morning. We toasted our travels together and briefly discussed the possibility of “next time....” Who knows?
This is our last full day in Rome as we leave for Dubai tomorrow afternoon. Europe has been wonderful – there hasn’t been a day pass that we haven’t been amazed, astounded, interested, gob smacked or enthralled. How soon will we return?
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Rome Day 4 -
Friday 16 October
Rome
With no great plans for the day, we headed off towards St Peter’s and were deterred by the crowd snaking around the Square, and decided that we would not revisit the Basilica today. We set off towards the Borghese Gardens , across town, to go to the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna. This gallery was instituted in 1883 to house contemporary works of art of the recently unified state of Italy. It is a very large (of course, it’s Rome), light and airy building containing works from 1880s to the 1960’s, including Klimt, Modigliani, Pollock, Mondrian, Van Gogh, Monet, Cezanne and lots of Italian artists. Many of the rooms were arranged thematically, such as Sala de Madre – paintings and sculpture on the theme of “Mother”, the battles prior to the unification, mythology and so on. Very interesting displays.
We walked through the Borghese Gardens, criss crossed by roads and lots of vehicular traffic and reached the centre of the city. We consulted our maps and guides and decided we should make for the Pantheon, and with numerous detours into stylish boutiques and interesting shops we arrived at the Pantheon.
A WOW! moment! This is one of the most beautiful ancient buildings we have seen. It was originally a pagan temple, but was given to the Pope by Emporer Phocus in 608 AD and then became a Christian church. Today it is Santa Maria ad Martyres. The dome is huge and is the largest masonry dome in Europe, and the “ocleus” is open to the sky. When it rains the water drains away over the multicoloured marbled concave and convex floor. There are the tombs of Victor Emmanule, his wife Margaretta and son, Umberto. Raphael’s tomb is also there. Raphael has a very moving tribute: Here lies Raphael, whom Nature feared would outdo her while alive, but now that he is gone, fears she, too, will die.Most of the walls are lined with marble, but there are some sections that are uncovered and you can see the ancient roman walls. It is a very beautiful place.
We dropped in at the church of S. Maria Maddalena (just for Mads), found a nice little trattoria for dinner and then made our way home. Ten hours out and about. We are certainly building up the stamina required for a full day on our feet!
Rome
With no great plans for the day, we headed off towards St Peter’s and were deterred by the crowd snaking around the Square, and decided that we would not revisit the Basilica today. We set off towards the Borghese Gardens , across town, to go to the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna. This gallery was instituted in 1883 to house contemporary works of art of the recently unified state of Italy. It is a very large (of course, it’s Rome), light and airy building containing works from 1880s to the 1960’s, including Klimt, Modigliani, Pollock, Mondrian, Van Gogh, Monet, Cezanne and lots of Italian artists. Many of the rooms were arranged thematically, such as Sala de Madre – paintings and sculpture on the theme of “Mother”, the battles prior to the unification, mythology and so on. Very interesting displays.
We walked through the Borghese Gardens, criss crossed by roads and lots of vehicular traffic and reached the centre of the city. We consulted our maps and guides and decided we should make for the Pantheon, and with numerous detours into stylish boutiques and interesting shops we arrived at the Pantheon.
A WOW! moment! This is one of the most beautiful ancient buildings we have seen. It was originally a pagan temple, but was given to the Pope by Emporer Phocus in 608 AD and then became a Christian church. Today it is Santa Maria ad Martyres. The dome is huge and is the largest masonry dome in Europe, and the “ocleus” is open to the sky. When it rains the water drains away over the multicoloured marbled concave and convex floor. There are the tombs of Victor Emmanule, his wife Margaretta and son, Umberto. Raphael’s tomb is also there. Raphael has a very moving tribute: Here lies Raphael, whom Nature feared would outdo her while alive, but now that he is gone, fears she, too, will die.Most of the walls are lined with marble, but there are some sections that are uncovered and you can see the ancient roman walls. It is a very beautiful place.
We dropped in at the church of S. Maria Maddalena (just for Mads), found a nice little trattoria for dinner and then made our way home. Ten hours out and about. We are certainly building up the stamina required for a full day on our feet!
Friday, October 16, 2009
The Vatican
Thursday 15 October
The Vatican
Today was going to be big - yep really big – St Peter’s Basilica tour and Vatican Museums including the Sistine Chapel. And the bells are ringing.
Penny, our tour guide, originally hailed from England, has lived in Rome 45 years, worked as a Vatican tour guide for the past 20 years and was very polished and entertaining. As she told stories about secret passage-ways, where the pope sleeps and meets, the Swiss-guard and the histories behind many of the carvings, sculptures, images and fixtures. She could have been a resource for the Da Vinci code – umm.. probably not - just a tad too sweet & very catholic/ possibly nun-like . We were lucky for 2 reasons: the tour is free and only runs at 9.45am Tuesday and Thursday. The St Peter’s Basilica is the biggest church/cathedral/basilica/ whatever in the world but I did not ask if it could contain the La Famiglia Sagreda. Inside St Peter’s everything was enormous. Some statues were seven metres high, but they were 20 metres up, so that they did not look so enormous from the floor. Genius.
Unfortunately we had to leave about 15minutes before the end, as our reservation for the Sistine chapel - about a kilometre away, was for 12noon. And we were not at all prepared for the 45 minute labyrinthine trek once inside the Vatican Museums’ walls to get to the Sistine chapel – past a 50metre corridor called the map museum, or the 100 metres of tapestries (which were copies of famous paintings including scenes from the Sistine chapel). But the last 10 gallery spaces of modern art (say 60 years from 1930 – 1990s) was fascinating and totally unexpected – with a good representation of the big names (of course) , including Dali and Bacon. I was happy to see a Morandi still life – first one, just beautiful – made from unusual colours in strange darkly glowing soft tones. But when we finally entered the Chapel it was all worth it. As soon as I looked up I saw The Creation and for the next 40 minutes or so was fascinated and over awed about how complex the pattern and variations and skilful the tricks of perspective and colour and architectural paintings : layer on layer, paintings within paintings, meaning on top of meaning. And it dawned on me that Michelangelo is more modern and contemporary than all the artists’ works we had just seen – his creations and masterpieces should survive and retain their power and beauty in / as / all ways. It would have been easy to spend a few hours there just gradually shifting around the walls in order to see the work from the best possible angle and vantage point.
I did get close enough to touch a part of the Last Judgement(but didn’t) which was a good feeling but the milling crowds had to keep moving and we eventually got pulled along down through hundreds of metres of the Vatican’s collection of artifacts: going back to the first century – and it was interesting to note that many of the signs and symbols are still in use today. It made me think that maybe the Vatican has discovered the secret of perpetual energy – the circle of life which will ensure its existence forever – i.e., the words of God are timeless – the church says the power of the word of God to inspire great deeds out of love by people for the betterment of humanity is proven by the Vatican’s existence – and therefore because something as incredible as the Vatican does exist (and has for 2000 years) then – it must be because it has God’s blessing. And because it has God’s blessing then we must continue to live according to the church’s teachings. And if we continue to live according to the church’s teachings then the Vatican must continue to exist etc, etc – yep a round about long winded way of saying that the Vatican is a self perpetuating myth/reality. What was most amazing, though, was that Mary did not realise that the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is flat and it was Michelangelo’s genius that made it look curved and vaulted.
Then we enjoyed a short sustenance stop and shop before hitting the Pinacoteca to see what other paintings the Vatican had on display including: Raphael, Caraveggio, Titian, Veronese, Bellini, etc. Before finally exiting up and down corridors, spiral staircases , lifts, backwards and forwards, up and down, returning audio guides , recovering slips of identification, etc. in the funny Roman designed exit strategy which we are becoming used to now.
We are now looking forward to dinner and tomorrow we will go back to St Peter’s (and find out if the La Famiglia Sagreda will be bigger - that is if it ever gets finished) and the modern art galleries at the Villa Borghese.
The Vatican
Today was going to be big - yep really big – St Peter’s Basilica tour and Vatican Museums including the Sistine Chapel. And the bells are ringing.
Penny, our tour guide, originally hailed from England, has lived in Rome 45 years, worked as a Vatican tour guide for the past 20 years and was very polished and entertaining. As she told stories about secret passage-ways, where the pope sleeps and meets, the Swiss-guard and the histories behind many of the carvings, sculptures, images and fixtures. She could have been a resource for the Da Vinci code – umm.. probably not - just a tad too sweet & very catholic/ possibly nun-like . We were lucky for 2 reasons: the tour is free and only runs at 9.45am Tuesday and Thursday. The St Peter’s Basilica is the biggest church/cathedral/basilica/ whatever in the world but I did not ask if it could contain the La Famiglia Sagreda. Inside St Peter’s everything was enormous. Some statues were seven metres high, but they were 20 metres up, so that they did not look so enormous from the floor. Genius.
Unfortunately we had to leave about 15minutes before the end, as our reservation for the Sistine chapel - about a kilometre away, was for 12noon. And we were not at all prepared for the 45 minute labyrinthine trek once inside the Vatican Museums’ walls to get to the Sistine chapel – past a 50metre corridor called the map museum, or the 100 metres of tapestries (which were copies of famous paintings including scenes from the Sistine chapel). But the last 10 gallery spaces of modern art (say 60 years from 1930 – 1990s) was fascinating and totally unexpected – with a good representation of the big names (of course) , including Dali and Bacon. I was happy to see a Morandi still life – first one, just beautiful – made from unusual colours in strange darkly glowing soft tones. But when we finally entered the Chapel it was all worth it. As soon as I looked up I saw The Creation and for the next 40 minutes or so was fascinated and over awed about how complex the pattern and variations and skilful the tricks of perspective and colour and architectural paintings : layer on layer, paintings within paintings, meaning on top of meaning. And it dawned on me that Michelangelo is more modern and contemporary than all the artists’ works we had just seen – his creations and masterpieces should survive and retain their power and beauty in / as / all ways. It would have been easy to spend a few hours there just gradually shifting around the walls in order to see the work from the best possible angle and vantage point.
I did get close enough to touch a part of the Last Judgement(but didn’t) which was a good feeling but the milling crowds had to keep moving and we eventually got pulled along down through hundreds of metres of the Vatican’s collection of artifacts: going back to the first century – and it was interesting to note that many of the signs and symbols are still in use today. It made me think that maybe the Vatican has discovered the secret of perpetual energy – the circle of life which will ensure its existence forever – i.e., the words of God are timeless – the church says the power of the word of God to inspire great deeds out of love by people for the betterment of humanity is proven by the Vatican’s existence – and therefore because something as incredible as the Vatican does exist (and has for 2000 years) then – it must be because it has God’s blessing. And because it has God’s blessing then we must continue to live according to the church’s teachings. And if we continue to live according to the church’s teachings then the Vatican must continue to exist etc, etc – yep a round about long winded way of saying that the Vatican is a self perpetuating myth/reality. What was most amazing, though, was that Mary did not realise that the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is flat and it was Michelangelo’s genius that made it look curved and vaulted.
Then we enjoyed a short sustenance stop and shop before hitting the Pinacoteca to see what other paintings the Vatican had on display including: Raphael, Caraveggio, Titian, Veronese, Bellini, etc. Before finally exiting up and down corridors, spiral staircases , lifts, backwards and forwards, up and down, returning audio guides , recovering slips of identification, etc. in the funny Roman designed exit strategy which we are becoming used to now.
We are now looking forward to dinner and tomorrow we will go back to St Peter’s (and find out if the La Famiglia Sagreda will be bigger - that is if it ever gets finished) and the modern art galleries at the Villa Borghese.
Wednesday 14 October
Roma
Woke up to the sounds of St Peter’s bells – very close and very melodious (trust me, these bells are very good , yep really very good and i should know - as i have become an expert in my travels in the sound of ringing bells). Nothing planned as we headed out the door – other than to do in Rome as the Romans do and that is, roam. As we walked through St Peter’s Square which was packed with thousands of people who were attending the Wednesday papal mass (after passing through metal detectors and other security arrangements) we thought about trying out the bus system. In no time at all we disembarked at the site of the memorial to the Unknown Soldier and to Victor Emmanuel the man who, with Garibaldi, unified all the regions into one Italy. The memorial was built in 1911 and is entirely gobsmacking – as everything about Rome is – I guess it all started with Michelangelo’s David and it has just got bigger and bigger ever since. In London we saw a winged Victory in her chariot drawn by 4 steeds on top of the arch entrance to Green Park (and war memorial) next to Buckingham Palace, we saw the same magnificent sculpture in Paris (on top of the Arc de Triomphe maybe). But here in Rome i have already seen this same statue 3 times – it features at two ends of the roof on the building behind and above Victor Emmanual – the biggest man on horse sculpture I have seen. Furthermore I have also seen 3 arches probably each one as big as the Arc de Triomphe and half a dozen columns – some dating from the first century AD with carved figures – thousands of men and women going about their lives spiralling to the top where a statue of an emperor or apostle holds forth - all bigger than the columns seen in London and Paris. And all this before we have reached the Colosseum.
The Colosseum is the archetype all sports stadiums have been based on ever since – designed to hold 40,000 – 70,000 with easy and quick access. Unfortunately , it appears Rome has lost the secret of how to move large numbers of people quickly and efficiently, as we had to queue to get in, queue to get our audio guide , queue to get into toilets, queue to return audio guides, queue to ask man how to get out, which all took a bit of the gloss off.
But we recovered our equanimity as we walked to the Trevi Fountains and Spanish Steps, window shopping along the way. With the added excitement of watching a magnificent motor cycle cop in full regalia of dark blue with gold trim and air force pilot cap leading a cavalcade of 3 big black limousines charging down the Via del Corso, with both arms waving to traffic policemen to clear the way, sirens blaring – everybody on the pavements just stopped and staring – the American Tourist behind us asking, “ I wonder how much are they going to charge us for seeing that bit of entertainment”. Mary suggested that the Police Commissioner was late for lunch, haha. We sun bathed on the Spanish Steps and soaked up the happy, relaxed atmosphere even though there were 1,000 other tourists with the same idea and turned into the Via de Condotti - lined with Dior, Cartier, Gucci, Dolce Gabbana, Fendi, Salvatore Ferragano, Chanel, Bulgari (twice) jimmy Choo (shoes) – you name it and the boutique is there – yep we had definitely arrived in Rome – And it is a most spectacular city.
On the way home I enquired about a couple of galleries on the Villa Borghese which house modern and contemporary art (mostly Italian artists and art movements – are there any other? haha) and booked a tour for St Peter’s Basilica and made reservations to see the Sistine Chapel tomorrow (Thursday). Tomorrow is also Karol’s 50th birthday and the owner of the apartment has recommended and booked us into one of Rome’s best restaurants which specialise in Roman Regional dishes, for dinner to cap off another big day – never a dull moment.
Roma
Woke up to the sounds of St Peter’s bells – very close and very melodious (trust me, these bells are very good , yep really very good and i should know - as i have become an expert in my travels in the sound of ringing bells). Nothing planned as we headed out the door – other than to do in Rome as the Romans do and that is, roam. As we walked through St Peter’s Square which was packed with thousands of people who were attending the Wednesday papal mass (after passing through metal detectors and other security arrangements) we thought about trying out the bus system. In no time at all we disembarked at the site of the memorial to the Unknown Soldier and to Victor Emmanuel the man who, with Garibaldi, unified all the regions into one Italy. The memorial was built in 1911 and is entirely gobsmacking – as everything about Rome is – I guess it all started with Michelangelo’s David and it has just got bigger and bigger ever since. In London we saw a winged Victory in her chariot drawn by 4 steeds on top of the arch entrance to Green Park (and war memorial) next to Buckingham Palace, we saw the same magnificent sculpture in Paris (on top of the Arc de Triomphe maybe). But here in Rome i have already seen this same statue 3 times – it features at two ends of the roof on the building behind and above Victor Emmanual – the biggest man on horse sculpture I have seen. Furthermore I have also seen 3 arches probably each one as big as the Arc de Triomphe and half a dozen columns – some dating from the first century AD with carved figures – thousands of men and women going about their lives spiralling to the top where a statue of an emperor or apostle holds forth - all bigger than the columns seen in London and Paris. And all this before we have reached the Colosseum.
The Colosseum is the archetype all sports stadiums have been based on ever since – designed to hold 40,000 – 70,000 with easy and quick access. Unfortunately , it appears Rome has lost the secret of how to move large numbers of people quickly and efficiently, as we had to queue to get in, queue to get our audio guide , queue to get into toilets, queue to return audio guides, queue to ask man how to get out, which all took a bit of the gloss off.
But we recovered our equanimity as we walked to the Trevi Fountains and Spanish Steps, window shopping along the way. With the added excitement of watching a magnificent motor cycle cop in full regalia of dark blue with gold trim and air force pilot cap leading a cavalcade of 3 big black limousines charging down the Via del Corso, with both arms waving to traffic policemen to clear the way, sirens blaring – everybody on the pavements just stopped and staring – the American Tourist behind us asking, “ I wonder how much are they going to charge us for seeing that bit of entertainment”. Mary suggested that the Police Commissioner was late for lunch, haha. We sun bathed on the Spanish Steps and soaked up the happy, relaxed atmosphere even though there were 1,000 other tourists with the same idea and turned into the Via de Condotti - lined with Dior, Cartier, Gucci, Dolce Gabbana, Fendi, Salvatore Ferragano, Chanel, Bulgari (twice) jimmy Choo (shoes) – you name it and the boutique is there – yep we had definitely arrived in Rome – And it is a most spectacular city.
On the way home I enquired about a couple of galleries on the Villa Borghese which house modern and contemporary art (mostly Italian artists and art movements – are there any other? haha) and booked a tour for St Peter’s Basilica and made reservations to see the Sistine Chapel tomorrow (Thursday). Tomorrow is also Karol’s 50th birthday and the owner of the apartment has recommended and booked us into one of Rome’s best restaurants which specialise in Roman Regional dishes, for dinner to cap off another big day – never a dull moment.
salerno to Rome
Tuesday 13 October
Roma
The trip from Salerno to Rome was quite fascinating – we travelled around Mt Vesuvius, then along the coast to Naples. From Naples we went inland through and around and between mountains, back to the coast and at Latina came alongside the Via Appia, the ancient road leading to Rome. As we approached Rome we saw the remnants on ancient (Roman) walls and knew we were almost there. We arrived at Roma Termini, negotiated the underground rail network and resurfaced near the Vatican.
With great excitement we crossed St Peter’s Square, marvelled at the immensity of the Basilica, and the enormous queue waiting to go into it and found our accommodation – a lovely two bedroom apartment 300 metres from the back of the Vatican.
We settled in, updated with Michael and Karol and our experiences of our separate adventures, discussed plans for the next few days and set off on our initial exploratory tour of Rome. We wandered around, walked across St Peter’s again, walked around Castel S. Angelo, crossed the Tiber and found a place for dinner. No one has been able to recommend good restaurants in Rome. All the places in Italy we have stayed in have had fabulous local specialities and we have enjoyed the local cuisines, but no one has been able to suggest great places in Rome –any ideas? We stopped at a square that was very busy, with several restaurants, people promenading, musicians playing, couples dancing to the music, all very good, except we had the most ordinary meal of the trip so far. We hope that it gets better!
As we wandered back to the apartment, we passed through piazzas, with beautifully lit fountains, monuments and buildings. Everything is big and looks important! We are really looking forward to the next few days.
Roma
The trip from Salerno to Rome was quite fascinating – we travelled around Mt Vesuvius, then along the coast to Naples. From Naples we went inland through and around and between mountains, back to the coast and at Latina came alongside the Via Appia, the ancient road leading to Rome. As we approached Rome we saw the remnants on ancient (Roman) walls and knew we were almost there. We arrived at Roma Termini, negotiated the underground rail network and resurfaced near the Vatican.
With great excitement we crossed St Peter’s Square, marvelled at the immensity of the Basilica, and the enormous queue waiting to go into it and found our accommodation – a lovely two bedroom apartment 300 metres from the back of the Vatican.
We settled in, updated with Michael and Karol and our experiences of our separate adventures, discussed plans for the next few days and set off on our initial exploratory tour of Rome. We wandered around, walked across St Peter’s again, walked around Castel S. Angelo, crossed the Tiber and found a place for dinner. No one has been able to recommend good restaurants in Rome. All the places in Italy we have stayed in have had fabulous local specialities and we have enjoyed the local cuisines, but no one has been able to suggest great places in Rome –any ideas? We stopped at a square that was very busy, with several restaurants, people promenading, musicians playing, couples dancing to the music, all very good, except we had the most ordinary meal of the trip so far. We hope that it gets better!
As we wandered back to the apartment, we passed through piazzas, with beautifully lit fountains, monuments and buildings. Everything is big and looks important! We are really looking forward to the next few days.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Our Amalfi Coast
Monday 12th October
Our Amalfi Coast
Today started out with a lovely big breakfast whilst watching the soccer show = the footy show – all of their counterparts were there: Lou Richards, Jack Dyer, Brian Taylor, etc – except the show seems to go 24 hours. Then we headed out to try our luck with the public transport system. Just a couple of observations: the conversion rate for Italian minutes = somewhere between 10 – 15 Aussie minutes, yep, Italian minutes are big, fat, lazy minutes – ya gotta love ‘em and do not depend on the signage – just ask and keep asking people “dove?” and “quando?” and eventually you get there.
We were in luck, our first and second connections timed perfectly – along the way we bought two x 6Euro bus & train 24hour coast passes which we used as follows: 22kilometre trip to Amalfi where 3rd connection(for the day) was waiting to take us 16kilometres to Positano and a further 17km to Sorrento (total time of trip from Salerno to Sorrento = 3hours) where we had a bite to eat before catching a ferry to Capri (the cost of the ferry to Capri was additional to our bus & rail pass) – then when we returned from Capri to Sorrento we caught a train to Pompeii, then connected with a minute to spare with a train back to Salerno and a final bus trip back to our hotel at about 9.45pm. A fantastic day – but the highlight for both of us was the incredible and spectacular 3hour bus ride which makes the Great Ocean Road look like an empty 6 lane highway.
Imagine a constantly twining road with endless blind turns - at which the bus driver hooted his approach on roads which were quite often too narrow for two vehicles to pass – so that either the bus or the other vehicle had to reverse until a wider or straighter patch of road could be found, with traffic controllers on walkie talkies to each other at about 20 spots along the way, taking it in turns to halt traffic from proceeding in one or the other direction, all happening high up steep vertical cliffs (sometimes 500ft up), sometimes on patches of roads which were wider than the natural footing allowed and Italian engineers had somehow built bridges and supports to allow the road to overlap into space a metre or so in some places, driven by obviously ex air-fighter pilots who had flown the absolute maximum number of bombing raids in one war or another and this was the closest they could get to the thrill of dodging enemy fire up in the air – the drivers were amazing, only ever slowing down to a crawl when they had less than a centimetre clearance on both sides (the rock face or cliff-drop and the other vehicle), they had absolutely no fear as they careered around corners sometimes in the rain (the bus nearly fish tailing around the bends) straight into the path of on-coming motorbikes/ vespers, cars, buses, bicyclists, pedestrians, whatever – the rule to stay on the right side of the road id disregarded (probably because there is not enough road for 2 vehicles in most places). However, after a while the beautiful amazing views of the Mediterranean and incredible buildings hanging onto the cliff faces were more enjoyable than leaning into every corner and banging on an imaginary horn in sync with the bus driver.
But the main lesson learnt today was that we have to take a chance and we took the chance that, in spite of some advice to the contrary, to go to Capri to see the Blue Grotto or Grotto Azzurro – however on arrival the ticket office was closed due to inclement weather and unfavourable conditions – no Blue Grotto today. So we took the Funicolare (3rd form of transportation for the day) up to the top of Capri and strolled the shops and lanes and visited the church. It was a bonus to spend time in the boutiques where the rich and famous shop. It appears that purple and hundreds of various shades of mauve/magenta/hot pink is the colour for men and women for the upcoming European winter.
And tomorrow we are off again – to Rome - out last big city location before Dubai and arriving home Wednesday night (9sleeps) but i am looking forward to seeing the Sistine chapel and especially the creation when God charged Adam with life through his finger.
Our Amalfi Coast
Today started out with a lovely big breakfast whilst watching the soccer show = the footy show – all of their counterparts were there: Lou Richards, Jack Dyer, Brian Taylor, etc – except the show seems to go 24 hours. Then we headed out to try our luck with the public transport system. Just a couple of observations: the conversion rate for Italian minutes = somewhere between 10 – 15 Aussie minutes, yep, Italian minutes are big, fat, lazy minutes – ya gotta love ‘em and do not depend on the signage – just ask and keep asking people “dove?” and “quando?” and eventually you get there.
We were in luck, our first and second connections timed perfectly – along the way we bought two x 6Euro bus & train 24hour coast passes which we used as follows: 22kilometre trip to Amalfi where 3rd connection(for the day) was waiting to take us 16kilometres to Positano and a further 17km to Sorrento (total time of trip from Salerno to Sorrento = 3hours) where we had a bite to eat before catching a ferry to Capri (the cost of the ferry to Capri was additional to our bus & rail pass) – then when we returned from Capri to Sorrento we caught a train to Pompeii, then connected with a minute to spare with a train back to Salerno and a final bus trip back to our hotel at about 9.45pm. A fantastic day – but the highlight for both of us was the incredible and spectacular 3hour bus ride which makes the Great Ocean Road look like an empty 6 lane highway.
Imagine a constantly twining road with endless blind turns - at which the bus driver hooted his approach on roads which were quite often too narrow for two vehicles to pass – so that either the bus or the other vehicle had to reverse until a wider or straighter patch of road could be found, with traffic controllers on walkie talkies to each other at about 20 spots along the way, taking it in turns to halt traffic from proceeding in one or the other direction, all happening high up steep vertical cliffs (sometimes 500ft up), sometimes on patches of roads which were wider than the natural footing allowed and Italian engineers had somehow built bridges and supports to allow the road to overlap into space a metre or so in some places, driven by obviously ex air-fighter pilots who had flown the absolute maximum number of bombing raids in one war or another and this was the closest they could get to the thrill of dodging enemy fire up in the air – the drivers were amazing, only ever slowing down to a crawl when they had less than a centimetre clearance on both sides (the rock face or cliff-drop and the other vehicle), they had absolutely no fear as they careered around corners sometimes in the rain (the bus nearly fish tailing around the bends) straight into the path of on-coming motorbikes/ vespers, cars, buses, bicyclists, pedestrians, whatever – the rule to stay on the right side of the road id disregarded (probably because there is not enough road for 2 vehicles in most places). However, after a while the beautiful amazing views of the Mediterranean and incredible buildings hanging onto the cliff faces were more enjoyable than leaning into every corner and banging on an imaginary horn in sync with the bus driver.
But the main lesson learnt today was that we have to take a chance and we took the chance that, in spite of some advice to the contrary, to go to Capri to see the Blue Grotto or Grotto Azzurro – however on arrival the ticket office was closed due to inclement weather and unfavourable conditions – no Blue Grotto today. So we took the Funicolare (3rd form of transportation for the day) up to the top of Capri and strolled the shops and lanes and visited the church. It was a bonus to spend time in the boutiques where the rich and famous shop. It appears that purple and hundreds of various shades of mauve/magenta/hot pink is the colour for men and women for the upcoming European winter.
And tomorrow we are off again – to Rome - out last big city location before Dubai and arriving home Wednesday night (9sleeps) but i am looking forward to seeing the Sistine chapel and especially the creation when God charged Adam with life through his finger.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Pompei Scavi
Sunday 11 October
Pompei
Absolutely fantastic! We have had the most brilliant day. Pompei is magnificent. We spent hours and hours and hours wandering the excavations and imagining life in 79AD. The site is huge – 66 hectares, of which 50 have been excavated, and a boundary of 3.2 kilometres (which we covered at least 20 times!) I guess I knew it was a town, but to see it – streets, houses, shops, temples, public buildings – I was astounded. It is hard to imagine that a whole city and all its inhabitants were obliterated in a matter of hours when Vesuvio erupted. We saw everything that was open –some houses were closed for perhaps, renovations(?) It was fascinating and just a bit sad and poignant, particularly when we saw the casts of the bodies. One was a pregnant woman who was shielding her tummy and covering her face. The excavations have been going on since 1748 and there is still a large area to be worked on, although it has been known about since 16th century. we explored gardens, 1st century fast food, theatres, and temples, even teh brothel -I had never been in one before, so that was exciting!
Pompei was one of my “must sees” in Italy and I am so glad we have made the trip.
One surprising aspect of the day was trying to find the site. There is very little information around and very few signs indicating the location of Pompei Scavi. We asked three or four people who were very helpful but a bit vague about the site’s location. It’s right in the town, and we only detected two signs, one while we still on the bus, about 3 kms away. We took the local bus from Salerno to Pompei and what good value that was! $1:60 for a scenic drive along the coast, through the towns and under the shadow of Vesuvio. The train home was much quicker, and much less scenic.
The day was topped off when we were waiting on the station for the train back to Salerno and two women started chatting with us. We spent a good 40 minutes conversing in Italian and brushed up on some of our lessons. One of them has a boutique and invited us to come tomorrow so I can say, “Voglio comprare un portafolio” (I want to buy a small handbag”). I’ll try to take up the offer!
Pompei
Absolutely fantastic! We have had the most brilliant day. Pompei is magnificent. We spent hours and hours and hours wandering the excavations and imagining life in 79AD. The site is huge – 66 hectares, of which 50 have been excavated, and a boundary of 3.2 kilometres (which we covered at least 20 times!) I guess I knew it was a town, but to see it – streets, houses, shops, temples, public buildings – I was astounded. It is hard to imagine that a whole city and all its inhabitants were obliterated in a matter of hours when Vesuvio erupted. We saw everything that was open –some houses were closed for perhaps, renovations(?) It was fascinating and just a bit sad and poignant, particularly when we saw the casts of the bodies. One was a pregnant woman who was shielding her tummy and covering her face. The excavations have been going on since 1748 and there is still a large area to be worked on, although it has been known about since 16th century. we explored gardens, 1st century fast food, theatres, and temples, even teh brothel -I had never been in one before, so that was exciting!
Pompei was one of my “must sees” in Italy and I am so glad we have made the trip.
One surprising aspect of the day was trying to find the site. There is very little information around and very few signs indicating the location of Pompei Scavi. We asked three or four people who were very helpful but a bit vague about the site’s location. It’s right in the town, and we only detected two signs, one while we still on the bus, about 3 kms away. We took the local bus from Salerno to Pompei and what good value that was! $1:60 for a scenic drive along the coast, through the towns and under the shadow of Vesuvio. The train home was much quicker, and much less scenic.
The day was topped off when we were waiting on the station for the train back to Salerno and two women started chatting with us. We spent a good 40 minutes conversing in Italian and brushed up on some of our lessons. One of them has a boutique and invited us to come tomorrow so I can say, “Voglio comprare un portafolio” (I want to buy a small handbag”). I’ll try to take up the offer!
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Siena Day 3
Friday 9th October
Siena Day 3
Going Postal and Relics
There’s a lot to love about Italy, but their post offices are not one of them. Actually, the post offices are OK, the staff are particularly unhelpful. In Florence we tried to buy a box to post some stuff home. In France, there is a supervisor roaming the post office asking to help you. In Italy, you take a ticket for one of three different services, which are not explained, so we take one of each, just to cover all contingencies. After you take a ticket, be prepared for at least a 15 minute wait. Eventually a number comes up and you hasten to the appropriate window, and wait while you are being ignored by the person behind the counter. In Florence we bought a box, but were unable to buy tape or string and there does not appear to be pre-paid boxes for international post as was in France. In Pisa we bought tape and actually the woman in the post shop there was very nice. In La Spezia we took the parcel to the post office, arriving at opening time (huh!) and when it was eventually our turn and presented the parcel to be posted, explaining it was going to Australia and would need a customs declaration (in well practised Italian) she just stared at us and stared at the parcel as if she had never seen such a thing before. She then looked disgusted at us and the parcel and then stared at the customs declaration form and turned it over several times, as if she had never seen it before, even though she was able to put her hand on it on the shelf on her desk. Oh, the looks we received when she realised she had to get off her seat and weigh the parcel. She then just stopped serving us and called then next customer. A lengthy conversation between four staff ensued and eventually another woman came and was quite helpful. We eventually handed over the parcel, but I have no confidence that I will ever see it again. There are lots of beautiful souvenirs and gifts that may or may not arrive back at Maple Street.
Who is the patron saint of postal service? He /she needs to buck up! And it’s not the workers who “go postal” in Italy, it’s the customers. Today was no better when I tried buying three stamps. You would think three stamps would be a fairly painless task, but at one stage I thought she was going to call the Carbinieri. There were a couple of American women who walked in with boxes to be posted – I stifled an hysterical laugh and just wished them the best of luck!
Today’s highlight was the Basilica San Domenico, which house the relics of Saint Catherine. What relics? – just her HEAD and right index finger. I thought they would be locked away out of sight – silly me! – There they were in gorgeous glass cabinets on display. Very gruesome, bizarre and strangely compelling and intriguing. I can’t help but wonder if after all her self flagellation, St Catherine might have wished for her head and body to remain together after death. But then, if one undergoes self inflicted pain on a daily basis, what is 500 miles of space between her head and body (which is housed in Rome). I will be on the lookout for it when we get there.
Siena Day 3
Going Postal and Relics
There’s a lot to love about Italy, but their post offices are not one of them. Actually, the post offices are OK, the staff are particularly unhelpful. In Florence we tried to buy a box to post some stuff home. In France, there is a supervisor roaming the post office asking to help you. In Italy, you take a ticket for one of three different services, which are not explained, so we take one of each, just to cover all contingencies. After you take a ticket, be prepared for at least a 15 minute wait. Eventually a number comes up and you hasten to the appropriate window, and wait while you are being ignored by the person behind the counter. In Florence we bought a box, but were unable to buy tape or string and there does not appear to be pre-paid boxes for international post as was in France. In Pisa we bought tape and actually the woman in the post shop there was very nice. In La Spezia we took the parcel to the post office, arriving at opening time (huh!) and when it was eventually our turn and presented the parcel to be posted, explaining it was going to Australia and would need a customs declaration (in well practised Italian) she just stared at us and stared at the parcel as if she had never seen such a thing before. She then looked disgusted at us and the parcel and then stared at the customs declaration form and turned it over several times, as if she had never seen it before, even though she was able to put her hand on it on the shelf on her desk. Oh, the looks we received when she realised she had to get off her seat and weigh the parcel. She then just stopped serving us and called then next customer. A lengthy conversation between four staff ensued and eventually another woman came and was quite helpful. We eventually handed over the parcel, but I have no confidence that I will ever see it again. There are lots of beautiful souvenirs and gifts that may or may not arrive back at Maple Street.
Who is the patron saint of postal service? He /she needs to buck up! And it’s not the workers who “go postal” in Italy, it’s the customers. Today was no better when I tried buying three stamps. You would think three stamps would be a fairly painless task, but at one stage I thought she was going to call the Carbinieri. There were a couple of American women who walked in with boxes to be posted – I stifled an hysterical laugh and just wished them the best of luck!
Today’s highlight was the Basilica San Domenico, which house the relics of Saint Catherine. What relics? – just her HEAD and right index finger. I thought they would be locked away out of sight – silly me! – There they were in gorgeous glass cabinets on display. Very gruesome, bizarre and strangely compelling and intriguing. I can’t help but wonder if after all her self flagellation, St Catherine might have wished for her head and body to remain together after death. But then, if one undergoes self inflicted pain on a daily basis, what is 500 miles of space between her head and body (which is housed in Rome). I will be on the lookout for it when we get there.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Siena
Siena
Thursday 8th October
Yep the day started with 4 different sets of Bells taking it in turn to chime out every 15 minutes so it became one long jam session from about 7.30 – 8.30 accompanied by a perfectly lovely view from our windows of the slowly lifting shroud of mist. Then a perfect shower followed by a delicious breakfast with big cups of coffee, ham n cheese and fruit, beautiful background music before heading to the duomo/cathedral.
As it turns out this activity was the best value for money yet – 10euro each provided entry into 5 separate buildings – the cathedral itself was bizarrely ornate with square inch was ornately decorated to within an inch of its life – a gothic structure made out of dark green and white marble- marble columns reaching to the ceiling with 6inch bands of white and green marble – a very striking example of the opposite to minimalist – where it seems that yes, more is definitely more. The floors were covered with about a 24 giant drawings made from inlaid marble which we were lucky to see because they spend most of the year covered up – statues by Donatello and Michelangelo, giant old incredibly decorated 15th century choir - songbooks/manuscripts, frescoes, incredibly intricate carved furniture and statuary – every visitor had to sit down at some point in just plain wonder at all this work, and attempts to create beauty , find truth, pay homage all in the name of God.
The church would have been value enough but then there was: the Crypt, the Baptistery, the Museum of the Works - with the best panoramic/iconic view of Tuscany one could ever hope for on top of what looks like the remains of some wall and archway and finally the Oratory of S Bernardino – yet to be explored. We ran out of time as Mary had a hair appointment at 3.30 and we had been on the go for about 5 hours as it was. And as it with all these wonderful historic places there was one bonus after another but the best for Mary was the number of reliquaries in the Museum of the Works – there even appeared to be full skeletons with the bones artfully rearranged and decorated to fit in bejewelled glass cases.
Thursday 8th October
Yep the day started with 4 different sets of Bells taking it in turn to chime out every 15 minutes so it became one long jam session from about 7.30 – 8.30 accompanied by a perfectly lovely view from our windows of the slowly lifting shroud of mist. Then a perfect shower followed by a delicious breakfast with big cups of coffee, ham n cheese and fruit, beautiful background music before heading to the duomo/cathedral.
As it turns out this activity was the best value for money yet – 10euro each provided entry into 5 separate buildings – the cathedral itself was bizarrely ornate with square inch was ornately decorated to within an inch of its life – a gothic structure made out of dark green and white marble- marble columns reaching to the ceiling with 6inch bands of white and green marble – a very striking example of the opposite to minimalist – where it seems that yes, more is definitely more. The floors were covered with about a 24 giant drawings made from inlaid marble which we were lucky to see because they spend most of the year covered up – statues by Donatello and Michelangelo, giant old incredibly decorated 15th century choir - songbooks/manuscripts, frescoes, incredibly intricate carved furniture and statuary – every visitor had to sit down at some point in just plain wonder at all this work, and attempts to create beauty , find truth, pay homage all in the name of God.
The church would have been value enough but then there was: the Crypt, the Baptistery, the Museum of the Works - with the best panoramic/iconic view of Tuscany one could ever hope for on top of what looks like the remains of some wall and archway and finally the Oratory of S Bernardino – yet to be explored. We ran out of time as Mary had a hair appointment at 3.30 and we had been on the go for about 5 hours as it was. And as it with all these wonderful historic places there was one bonus after another but the best for Mary was the number of reliquaries in the Museum of the Works – there even appeared to be full skeletons with the bones artfully rearranged and decorated to fit in bejewelled glass cases.
Siena
Wednesday 7th October
La Spezia to Siena
We left La Spezia (with a very touching farewell from the proprietors – kisses on each cheek from the 73 year old surrealist artist (A Ghioni) who painted murals all over the rooms and his wife/muse/model maybe sometime and wife Diana) at 9.00 am to catch the train - the two connections at Pisa and Empoli went smoothly and my concerns about the Italian train system were unfounded and we arrived at our hotel in Siena at 2.30. The Palazzo Bruchi B&B and Siena is a brilliant surprise. On the train trip here we kept ourselves amused by compiling ten top ten lists of our holiday so far : best location, best views, best excursions, best accommodation, best gallery/museum, best church/cathedral/chapel/basilica/abbey, best palace/castle/fort/chateau, best WOW moment, best restaurant, best food and so far – I am sure we will vote Siena to be top of the list in at least 6 categories – but there is still Salerno/Amalfi Coast/Pompeii and Rome to go, haha.
The proprietor Carmilla greeted us and every thing was perfectly organised – apparently she rents out 6 apartments in the Palazzo as B&Bs – her lodgings where we have breakfast are beautiful with the full works: gold filigree high domed ceilings with frescoes, big wide marble floorways and hallways, old paintings and dressers with Le Sevre crockery maybe to fill the empty spaces. Our apartments are tastefully decorated and want for nothing, with 3 large windows and shutters which open onto a magnificent courtyard where the families play before dinner. The view extends over an old stone wall and parks and gardens towards the ancient city boundary walls - arising in the distance OUT OF THE EARLY MORNING MISTS , all very magical - definitley a 10+.
We went on an exploratory tour of the medieval city with the most, largest and tallest medieval buildings we’ve seen so far, with the best views, best little lane-ways which spiral up n down, best square - full of university students soaking up the sun lying on the red bricks (cars HAVE BEEN BANNED FROM THE HEART OF THE CITY SINCE 1966) so it is safe and comfortable to wander about. It is a university town and there is an atmosphere of youth and energy and a lovely sense that they take themselves seriously (maybe Nicko could study fine arts here for a semester or two) – even Mary considers Siena to be equal to, if not a more pleasant and perfect than Venice. After a great meal and bottle on chianti at a restaurant recommended by Carmilla – where she and the locals frequent, we fell asleep on our perfectly lovely king sized, firm and exactly just right cotton quilted beds.
La Spezia to Siena
We left La Spezia (with a very touching farewell from the proprietors – kisses on each cheek from the 73 year old surrealist artist (A Ghioni) who painted murals all over the rooms and his wife/muse/model maybe sometime and wife Diana) at 9.00 am to catch the train - the two connections at Pisa and Empoli went smoothly and my concerns about the Italian train system were unfounded and we arrived at our hotel in Siena at 2.30. The Palazzo Bruchi B&B and Siena is a brilliant surprise. On the train trip here we kept ourselves amused by compiling ten top ten lists of our holiday so far : best location, best views, best excursions, best accommodation, best gallery/museum, best church/cathedral/chapel/basilica/abbey, best palace/castle/fort/chateau, best WOW moment, best restaurant, best food and so far – I am sure we will vote Siena to be top of the list in at least 6 categories – but there is still Salerno/Amalfi Coast/Pompeii and Rome to go, haha.
The proprietor Carmilla greeted us and every thing was perfectly organised – apparently she rents out 6 apartments in the Palazzo as B&Bs – her lodgings where we have breakfast are beautiful with the full works: gold filigree high domed ceilings with frescoes, big wide marble floorways and hallways, old paintings and dressers with Le Sevre crockery maybe to fill the empty spaces. Our apartments are tastefully decorated and want for nothing, with 3 large windows and shutters which open onto a magnificent courtyard where the families play before dinner. The view extends over an old stone wall and parks and gardens towards the ancient city boundary walls - arising in the distance OUT OF THE EARLY MORNING MISTS , all very magical - definitley a 10+.
We went on an exploratory tour of the medieval city with the most, largest and tallest medieval buildings we’ve seen so far, with the best views, best little lane-ways which spiral up n down, best square - full of university students soaking up the sun lying on the red bricks (cars HAVE BEEN BANNED FROM THE HEART OF THE CITY SINCE 1966) so it is safe and comfortable to wander about. It is a university town and there is an atmosphere of youth and energy and a lovely sense that they take themselves seriously (maybe Nicko could study fine arts here for a semester or two) – even Mary considers Siena to be equal to, if not a more pleasant and perfect than Venice. After a great meal and bottle on chianti at a restaurant recommended by Carmilla – where she and the locals frequent, we fell asleep on our perfectly lovely king sized, firm and exactly just right cotton quilted beds.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Cinque Terre
Tuesday 6th October
Cinque Terre
Day 2 La Spezia started a bit groggily but we made it through the lovely warm light rain to the harbour just in time to catch a boat to Cinque Terre for a two hour ride to Monterossa, the 5th seaside hamlet/village which form a chain and a precipitous walk that attracts the tourists. The terraced cliff sides are monumental and spectacular from sea and land. But Mary and i and thousands of others asked the same question, “WHY” – why did those crazy Italians build their homes and tiny orchards, olive groves and other farms on such difficult steep land? For the view?
When we landed Mary and I realised we had been hijacked – there was no boat going back for 3 hours – or else catch a train (the railroad HAD BEEN DRILLED THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS – again we wondered “why?” and who did the cost benefit analysis? – but who are we to ask these questions of the Italians who must be the masters/geniuses of the tourism game: Venice flooded by water, Florence flooded by empty redundant Palaces, Pisa’s falling tower all bringing in buckets of money, we are mere pawns in their game). As we had paid for a return trip by boat we decided we would walk to Vernazza, town #4 on the tourist trail and catch the boat from there (get some exercise, enjoy the splendid views, fill up some spare time, work off last night’s great dinner). Haha, the walk was a bit more challenging than we thought – with extremely steep narrow climbs and big sheer drops most of the way. We were told it will take somewhere b/n 1.30 – 2.30 hours and we did it in just over 1.30 so that was good. It was a lovely feeling arriving in Vernazza just in time to eat an ice-cream and catch the boat – buzzing with adrenalin and dopamine - everything looked marvellous, we were lovely – on a natural high. But then reality hit us again as the boat did not take us all the way back to La Spezia but deposited us in Porto Venere for an hour – as a totally unnecessary stopover – but the shopkeepers were happy as 100’s of lost and vaguely wondering tourists purchased foccaccia and drinks whilst filling in more time. It is at times like this when I start to feel that the whole overseas trip is really just another way of standing in a very long queue with a constantly changing view. We are always waiting to arrive, see, eat, sleep and then progress to the next stop.
However, eventually we got home, rested up and went out to the next restaurant recommended by our very kind friendly hosts – which to our surprise was the best quality and value meal of the whole holiday so far. A very big surprise because there was no menu and we ordered from a list read out by the waitress. Over dinner we discussed our top ten hotels, activities, meals, locations, hotel staff, waiters, etc. so far and then went home to get an early night so we are fresh to do battle with the Italian train system tomorrow as we make for Siena.
Cinque Terre
Day 2 La Spezia started a bit groggily but we made it through the lovely warm light rain to the harbour just in time to catch a boat to Cinque Terre for a two hour ride to Monterossa, the 5th seaside hamlet/village which form a chain and a precipitous walk that attracts the tourists. The terraced cliff sides are monumental and spectacular from sea and land. But Mary and i and thousands of others asked the same question, “WHY” – why did those crazy Italians build their homes and tiny orchards, olive groves and other farms on such difficult steep land? For the view?
When we landed Mary and I realised we had been hijacked – there was no boat going back for 3 hours – or else catch a train (the railroad HAD BEEN DRILLED THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS – again we wondered “why?” and who did the cost benefit analysis? – but who are we to ask these questions of the Italians who must be the masters/geniuses of the tourism game: Venice flooded by water, Florence flooded by empty redundant Palaces, Pisa’s falling tower all bringing in buckets of money, we are mere pawns in their game). As we had paid for a return trip by boat we decided we would walk to Vernazza, town #4 on the tourist trail and catch the boat from there (get some exercise, enjoy the splendid views, fill up some spare time, work off last night’s great dinner). Haha, the walk was a bit more challenging than we thought – with extremely steep narrow climbs and big sheer drops most of the way. We were told it will take somewhere b/n 1.30 – 2.30 hours and we did it in just over 1.30 so that was good. It was a lovely feeling arriving in Vernazza just in time to eat an ice-cream and catch the boat – buzzing with adrenalin and dopamine - everything looked marvellous, we were lovely – on a natural high. But then reality hit us again as the boat did not take us all the way back to La Spezia but deposited us in Porto Venere for an hour – as a totally unnecessary stopover – but the shopkeepers were happy as 100’s of lost and vaguely wondering tourists purchased foccaccia and drinks whilst filling in more time. It is at times like this when I start to feel that the whole overseas trip is really just another way of standing in a very long queue with a constantly changing view. We are always waiting to arrive, see, eat, sleep and then progress to the next stop.
However, eventually we got home, rested up and went out to the next restaurant recommended by our very kind friendly hosts – which to our surprise was the best quality and value meal of the whole holiday so far. A very big surprise because there was no menu and we ordered from a list read out by the waitress. Over dinner we discussed our top ten hotels, activities, meals, locations, hotel staff, waiters, etc. so far and then went home to get an early night so we are fresh to do battle with the Italian train system tomorrow as we make for Siena.
Florence to Pisa to La Spezia
Monday, 5th October
Florence to Pisa to La Spezia
The extra day in Florence recharged our batteries and we felt ready to embark on the next stage of the journey. As Pisa is on the way to La Spezia we decided to spend the day there, explore the town and see the Tower. After negotiating the intricacies of the Italian rail system, separate display boards for train arrivals and departures (don’t confuse them or you may end up waiting to get on a train that isn’t going anywhere) as well as validating tickets (or overlooking doing so and being reprimanded by a ticket inspector) we arrived in Pisa.
Pisa is an interesting mix of roman, medieval, renaissance and modern buildings (hello! Italy!) It is also a university town and it was great to see a lot of young people buzzing around, with enthusiasm and energy, so very different to the shuffling grey tourists we see a lot of. The walk from the station to the “Field of Miracles”, where the cathedral, tower and baptistery are, was an easy walk, across the Arno River, past the Botanical gardens, university and hospital. We stopped for a toilet break and had the best value coffee we have had all trip - .90c! We’ve paid more just to use a toilet, let alone get coffee as well.
The tower and surrounding buildings are very pretty – white and grey stone, and all around is neat and well maintained. The tower has a disconcerting lean and we wondered how long it will stand up. We played around with photos to make it look like we were pushing it over or holding it up. Really dorky but everyone was doing it. We queued to buy tickets but were going to have to wait 4 hours before we could get in and decided to forgo the experience (something for next time!) however we stayed long enough to take many photos. You can only enter the cathedral if you pay, but there was a small sign advising those who wished to pray could follow the red line to a side entrance. Off we went and gave the old knees a workout and tried to sneak a look while looking suitably reverent and holy. I think it worked.
We wandered back through the town and found a church or two that were free entry and passed through a square with a huge statue of Cosimo Medici. The building behind was intricately decorated with sgrafito, designs etched into the wet plaster. The building is now a school and has given me some great ideas to redecorate Heatherhill PS, and I do like the idea of a statuary tribute in the front yard.
We collected our luggage from the station and boarded the train for La Spezia, close to the Cinque Terre. The train trip was OK – we sat in First Class (by accident) so were very comfortable, but the countryside was not very attractive. We thought if this is what La Spezia is like – industrial, untidy, drab – we were glad we were only going to be there two days. I’m pleased to say that Spezia is a great place, part of the Italian Riviera, a naval base and a busy thriving town.
We are staying in a most colourful and artistic hotel. The proprietors are a husband and wife, who are very friendly and chatter away with us in Italian for ages! Good thing we had those lessons – we manage to understand about one word in ten and smile and nod a lot. New best friends! He is an artist and has decorated all the hotel rooms with his surrealist murals – rather unusual, but very interesting. There are several books of his work in the lounge and it appears that his wife was his muse and model.
We went for a “promenade” at around six o’clock – all of Spezia does. We stopped in a piazza and had a “spritz” which came with a platter of snacks. Our hosts recommended a fabulous restaurant for dinner and rang ahead and made sure that we were looked after. We had the seafood antipasto, which was plate after plate of the freshest, most delicious dishes of mussels, sardines, squid and octopus, salads and it just kept coming. For the main we had a grilled mormora (fish) and green salad. Our waiter was very attentive and insisted we have dessert and brought out two bowls of myrtille (blackcurrants?) and then proceeded to pour great glugs of Grand Marnier over them. Very nice. Michael and Karol had been there the previous night and had the digestifs, so asked for them again. Our waiter brought out four glasses of homemade digesifs: finocchio, limoncello, something coffee and something sort of nutty. Fantastic. We had a great night, topped off by the waiter giving each couple a key ring.
We retired to our hotel room, where the ceiling is painted with squiggles and patterns and a cleverly disguised kissing couple. Very romantic.
Florence to Pisa to La Spezia
The extra day in Florence recharged our batteries and we felt ready to embark on the next stage of the journey. As Pisa is on the way to La Spezia we decided to spend the day there, explore the town and see the Tower. After negotiating the intricacies of the Italian rail system, separate display boards for train arrivals and departures (don’t confuse them or you may end up waiting to get on a train that isn’t going anywhere) as well as validating tickets (or overlooking doing so and being reprimanded by a ticket inspector) we arrived in Pisa.
Pisa is an interesting mix of roman, medieval, renaissance and modern buildings (hello! Italy!) It is also a university town and it was great to see a lot of young people buzzing around, with enthusiasm and energy, so very different to the shuffling grey tourists we see a lot of. The walk from the station to the “Field of Miracles”, where the cathedral, tower and baptistery are, was an easy walk, across the Arno River, past the Botanical gardens, university and hospital. We stopped for a toilet break and had the best value coffee we have had all trip - .90c! We’ve paid more just to use a toilet, let alone get coffee as well.
The tower and surrounding buildings are very pretty – white and grey stone, and all around is neat and well maintained. The tower has a disconcerting lean and we wondered how long it will stand up. We played around with photos to make it look like we were pushing it over or holding it up. Really dorky but everyone was doing it. We queued to buy tickets but were going to have to wait 4 hours before we could get in and decided to forgo the experience (something for next time!) however we stayed long enough to take many photos. You can only enter the cathedral if you pay, but there was a small sign advising those who wished to pray could follow the red line to a side entrance. Off we went and gave the old knees a workout and tried to sneak a look while looking suitably reverent and holy. I think it worked.
We wandered back through the town and found a church or two that were free entry and passed through a square with a huge statue of Cosimo Medici. The building behind was intricately decorated with sgrafito, designs etched into the wet plaster. The building is now a school and has given me some great ideas to redecorate Heatherhill PS, and I do like the idea of a statuary tribute in the front yard.
We collected our luggage from the station and boarded the train for La Spezia, close to the Cinque Terre. The train trip was OK – we sat in First Class (by accident) so were very comfortable, but the countryside was not very attractive. We thought if this is what La Spezia is like – industrial, untidy, drab – we were glad we were only going to be there two days. I’m pleased to say that Spezia is a great place, part of the Italian Riviera, a naval base and a busy thriving town.
We are staying in a most colourful and artistic hotel. The proprietors are a husband and wife, who are very friendly and chatter away with us in Italian for ages! Good thing we had those lessons – we manage to understand about one word in ten and smile and nod a lot. New best friends! He is an artist and has decorated all the hotel rooms with his surrealist murals – rather unusual, but very interesting. There are several books of his work in the lounge and it appears that his wife was his muse and model.
We went for a “promenade” at around six o’clock – all of Spezia does. We stopped in a piazza and had a “spritz” which came with a platter of snacks. Our hosts recommended a fabulous restaurant for dinner and rang ahead and made sure that we were looked after. We had the seafood antipasto, which was plate after plate of the freshest, most delicious dishes of mussels, sardines, squid and octopus, salads and it just kept coming. For the main we had a grilled mormora (fish) and green salad. Our waiter was very attentive and insisted we have dessert and brought out two bowls of myrtille (blackcurrants?) and then proceeded to pour great glugs of Grand Marnier over them. Very nice. Michael and Karol had been there the previous night and had the digestifs, so asked for them again. Our waiter brought out four glasses of homemade digesifs: finocchio, limoncello, something coffee and something sort of nutty. Fantastic. We had a great night, topped off by the waiter giving each couple a key ring.
We retired to our hotel room, where the ceiling is painted with squiggles and patterns and a cleverly disguised kissing couple. Very romantic.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Florence Day 4, Boboli Gardens
Sunday 4th October
Florence – Day 4
Yep outside the warm rain is falling gently, softly as everything does in Florence (i.e., warm, soft gentle - except for the ambulance sirens which are without a doubt the loudest & most annoying sound i have ever heard) whilst we tend to our feet after a big day in the streets and Boboli gardens.
“But...” do I hear you say – “why aren’t you in La Spezia with Michael and Karol?” – What is happening? What’s going on?” Well, to cut a long story short, Mary & I thought there was not enough time to get a feel for Florence in just 3 nights (we learnt our lesson - we miss Venice – the 3 nights there was not enough! and the shopping here for bags and shoes is extraordinary) so Mary and I decided to stay an extra night (another change to our itinerary is that Michael and Karol have decided to stay in Siena when we leave for: Salerno, the Amalfi coast and Pompeii, and we will re-meet in Rome).
It has taken me a while to make the merest tiniest scratch on the surface of Florence. Whatever we have seen in London - England, Paris – France, Barcelona – Spain regarding their history and use of boundless wealth accumulated at times when those countries were a world power seem “try hard” when compared to Florence, rebuilt by some of the most powerful families in the world on top of the wealth and beauty deeply imbedded in the people’s psyche from when Rome ruled the world for centuries. Yep. Being a world power definitely gives you a quiet confidence and certainty. Angst is a long way off in Florence – even the beggars have accepted their lot and smile patiently, the street hawkers with their bags and trinkets are polite and respectful – the duomo’s shadow may be huge but it is not dark – more a vaguely sleepy grey tone. And today’s walk through the gardens created by the Medici’s behind the Pitti palace (purchased in 1549) was a dream – almost up there with the magic of Versailles – fawns and weird creatures mix with brilliant modern statues in gardens and trees and hedges which have been clipped into giant high walls since the time it was laid out for the Medicis in 1550 until 1776 when the gardens were made public (the last of the Medici’s left the Medici estate to Florence in the 1770’s for perpetuity).
We started out walk at the bottom of the hill and we slowly made our way up past statues and fountains until we had a 360 degree view over all of Florence – one big “WOW” moment after another but the most stunning thing was that we recognized the buildings and scenes from the paintings we had been looking at from the past 700 years (why change anything when you know what you’ve got is pretty close to perfect). Every step took us to a better place: the Pitti Palace is made from the biggest pieces of rock i have seen so far(the brick layers must have been enormous bigger than David), and the whole structure is absolutely massive and monumental, the columns going up over 6 stories high were carved into rings and squares in the most arrogant display of power through architecture I’ve seen so far (somehow it made me think of the Nazi swastika etc), then there was the grotto filled with copies of Michelangelo’s slaves/captives and various other statues ( Roman copies made in 100 AD after Greek Originals made in 476BC!) , then higher than the palace was Fort Belvedere ( under restoration) or the Kaffeehuas (a beautiful building with dome and balcony, higher again – was a purpose built museum housing porcelain from all over Europe from the 1720 – 1820 with a garden (all through the avenues of tall cedars, conifers were perfectly trimmed little box hedges and roses laid out in the same pattern) and the best view which spanned millennia – amazing. The weather was perfect – warm and soft, clouds threatening rain, the softest breeze – so i turned to Mary and broke to her the news that if someone came up to me right now and offered me a job (leaves sweeper, tree pruner, security guard in the Boboli gardens) i would have no choice but to accept it instantly – Mary understood (but i think secretly her heart is still in Venice). But this does not change my opinion that although there are wonderful moments to be had by the men folk whilst travelling, i reckon women get a lot more out of the journey, connecting at another level with the romance and history and shops.
So finally, an observation or two bout Florence (& Italy) – the atmosphere is relaxed, the people are confident even though: one way roads suddenly reverse direction and become one way roads but in the opposite direction with practically no warning, OH & S is a personal responsibility so take care – especially when going near to the edge of high drops to get a better view or climbing steep stairs with a loose bit of wire serving as a banister, when riding a vespa or bike ignore the fact that cars are bigger or faster, road signs and signals really serve as an indication of the odds that you will reach the other side of the rode without mishap, i.e., a green walking man indicates to the pedestrian that he or she has a 50%(best odds you can get) chance of getting to the other side without some sort of alarm or adrenalin spurt incident and finally Florentine women young and old are taking to bike riding in greater numbers everyday but why do they continue to pedal in their $300 pair of Ferragamo stilettos whilst smoking a cigarette – because they can! And ever second building is either a church or a palace.
So tomorrow we take a train to La Spezia with a four hour or so stopover in Pisa. Then after 2 nights there: Siena for 3 nights then Salerno (Pompeii, etc) for 3 nights, Rome for 5 nights then home via Dubai for 2 nights. With lots more transfers between trains and planes.
Florence – Day 4
Yep outside the warm rain is falling gently, softly as everything does in Florence (i.e., warm, soft gentle - except for the ambulance sirens which are without a doubt the loudest & most annoying sound i have ever heard) whilst we tend to our feet after a big day in the streets and Boboli gardens.
“But...” do I hear you say – “why aren’t you in La Spezia with Michael and Karol?” – What is happening? What’s going on?” Well, to cut a long story short, Mary & I thought there was not enough time to get a feel for Florence in just 3 nights (we learnt our lesson - we miss Venice – the 3 nights there was not enough! and the shopping here for bags and shoes is extraordinary) so Mary and I decided to stay an extra night (another change to our itinerary is that Michael and Karol have decided to stay in Siena when we leave for: Salerno, the Amalfi coast and Pompeii, and we will re-meet in Rome).
It has taken me a while to make the merest tiniest scratch on the surface of Florence. Whatever we have seen in London - England, Paris – France, Barcelona – Spain regarding their history and use of boundless wealth accumulated at times when those countries were a world power seem “try hard” when compared to Florence, rebuilt by some of the most powerful families in the world on top of the wealth and beauty deeply imbedded in the people’s psyche from when Rome ruled the world for centuries. Yep. Being a world power definitely gives you a quiet confidence and certainty. Angst is a long way off in Florence – even the beggars have accepted their lot and smile patiently, the street hawkers with their bags and trinkets are polite and respectful – the duomo’s shadow may be huge but it is not dark – more a vaguely sleepy grey tone. And today’s walk through the gardens created by the Medici’s behind the Pitti palace (purchased in 1549) was a dream – almost up there with the magic of Versailles – fawns and weird creatures mix with brilliant modern statues in gardens and trees and hedges which have been clipped into giant high walls since the time it was laid out for the Medicis in 1550 until 1776 when the gardens were made public (the last of the Medici’s left the Medici estate to Florence in the 1770’s for perpetuity).
We started out walk at the bottom of the hill and we slowly made our way up past statues and fountains until we had a 360 degree view over all of Florence – one big “WOW” moment after another but the most stunning thing was that we recognized the buildings and scenes from the paintings we had been looking at from the past 700 years (why change anything when you know what you’ve got is pretty close to perfect). Every step took us to a better place: the Pitti Palace is made from the biggest pieces of rock i have seen so far(the brick layers must have been enormous bigger than David), and the whole structure is absolutely massive and monumental, the columns going up over 6 stories high were carved into rings and squares in the most arrogant display of power through architecture I’ve seen so far (somehow it made me think of the Nazi swastika etc), then there was the grotto filled with copies of Michelangelo’s slaves/captives and various other statues ( Roman copies made in 100 AD after Greek Originals made in 476BC!) , then higher than the palace was Fort Belvedere ( under restoration) or the Kaffeehuas (a beautiful building with dome and balcony, higher again – was a purpose built museum housing porcelain from all over Europe from the 1720 – 1820 with a garden (all through the avenues of tall cedars, conifers were perfectly trimmed little box hedges and roses laid out in the same pattern) and the best view which spanned millennia – amazing. The weather was perfect – warm and soft, clouds threatening rain, the softest breeze – so i turned to Mary and broke to her the news that if someone came up to me right now and offered me a job (leaves sweeper, tree pruner, security guard in the Boboli gardens) i would have no choice but to accept it instantly – Mary understood (but i think secretly her heart is still in Venice). But this does not change my opinion that although there are wonderful moments to be had by the men folk whilst travelling, i reckon women get a lot more out of the journey, connecting at another level with the romance and history and shops.
So finally, an observation or two bout Florence (& Italy) – the atmosphere is relaxed, the people are confident even though: one way roads suddenly reverse direction and become one way roads but in the opposite direction with practically no warning, OH & S is a personal responsibility so take care – especially when going near to the edge of high drops to get a better view or climbing steep stairs with a loose bit of wire serving as a banister, when riding a vespa or bike ignore the fact that cars are bigger or faster, road signs and signals really serve as an indication of the odds that you will reach the other side of the rode without mishap, i.e., a green walking man indicates to the pedestrian that he or she has a 50%(best odds you can get) chance of getting to the other side without some sort of alarm or adrenalin spurt incident and finally Florentine women young and old are taking to bike riding in greater numbers everyday but why do they continue to pedal in their $300 pair of Ferragamo stilettos whilst smoking a cigarette – because they can! And ever second building is either a church or a palace.
So tomorrow we take a train to La Spezia with a four hour or so stopover in Pisa. Then after 2 nights there: Siena for 3 nights then Salerno (Pompeii, etc) for 3 nights, Rome for 5 nights then home via Dubai for 2 nights. With lots more transfers between trains and planes.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Saturday 3rd October
Florence
We requested a change of hotel rooms because what we were in was just too small, the bed jammed up next to a wall and you could almost reach across the room with outstretched arms. We were economising with a shared bathroom, but that was not really working either. We shared a bathroom in Venice, and it was OK, because there were two WC, but here there is just the one, in the bathroom. So the lovely girl on reception organised an upgrade for us with our own en-suite. Very nice and private and with a bidet. Very sophisticated and European.
We wandered off to the Uffizi Gallery and viewed Italian sculpture and painting that the Medicis, and then Florence, had acquired over several centuries. Botticelli, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Tintoretto, Titian, Caravaggio, Goya, El Greco, Rubens, Rembrandt – you name it, all the biggies – we saw it. We were there for about 4 hours with a twenty minute lunch break on the terrasso that overlooks the Palzzo Vecchio and the Square. From one of the galleries there is the most fabulous view of the Arno River and at least five bridges spanning it.
It’s been a warm, sunny day; this is the best time to be travelling through France and Italy – still lovely and warm, but not too hot, fewer crowds than there would have been a month or more ago, although it must be horrendous in the high season, as there are people everywhere.
On the shopping front – today has been quite successful, as I bought the most gorgeous shoes to wear to The Wedding. So now I am on the lookout for the perfect bag. I did see a lovely little gold mesh purse in an antique store, but at 200€, even I thought it was too much. Very sweet though. Anyway, there is still Siena, Rome and Dubai to go. Also bought a travel bag as the one I brought has not lived up to expectation, or the rigours of travel (it was a gift with purchase, which proves you get what you pay for I suppose).
All in all, we both feel very satisfied with our day – culture, art, accommodation and shopping!
Florence
We requested a change of hotel rooms because what we were in was just too small, the bed jammed up next to a wall and you could almost reach across the room with outstretched arms. We were economising with a shared bathroom, but that was not really working either. We shared a bathroom in Venice, and it was OK, because there were two WC, but here there is just the one, in the bathroom. So the lovely girl on reception organised an upgrade for us with our own en-suite. Very nice and private and with a bidet. Very sophisticated and European.
We wandered off to the Uffizi Gallery and viewed Italian sculpture and painting that the Medicis, and then Florence, had acquired over several centuries. Botticelli, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Tintoretto, Titian, Caravaggio, Goya, El Greco, Rubens, Rembrandt – you name it, all the biggies – we saw it. We were there for about 4 hours with a twenty minute lunch break on the terrasso that overlooks the Palzzo Vecchio and the Square. From one of the galleries there is the most fabulous view of the Arno River and at least five bridges spanning it.
It’s been a warm, sunny day; this is the best time to be travelling through France and Italy – still lovely and warm, but not too hot, fewer crowds than there would have been a month or more ago, although it must be horrendous in the high season, as there are people everywhere.
On the shopping front – today has been quite successful, as I bought the most gorgeous shoes to wear to The Wedding. So now I am on the lookout for the perfect bag. I did see a lovely little gold mesh purse in an antique store, but at 200€, even I thought it was too much. Very sweet though. Anyway, there is still Siena, Rome and Dubai to go. Also bought a travel bag as the one I brought has not lived up to expectation, or the rigours of travel (it was a gift with purchase, which proves you get what you pay for I suppose).
All in all, we both feel very satisfied with our day – culture, art, accommodation and shopping!
Florence Day 2
Florence Day 2
Friday 2nd October
We started the day at Academia D’el Arte, where David is housed. I thought it would be another statue and we had already seen the copy in the square yesterday, but I had another WOW! moment, when I walked into the gallery where David is located. Breathtaking! The first galleries we walked through had an exhibition of Robert Mapplethorpe photographs, with drawings and sculptures by Michelangelo. There were wonderful juxtapositions of the exhibits and descriptions and explanations about form/structure, substance/subject , medium and expertise and when it all comes together it is perfection. It was a fabulous introduction to seeing David, where subject, form, medium and expertise do come together to create perfection.
What do you do after seeing that? Well, what about a stroll to Il Duomo? Il Duomo was very different to most of the cathedrals and churches we have seen lately. While the exterior is richly carved and made of striped pink, white and green marble, the interior was understated and sparse, until you get to the dome, which is huge and covered in paintings beautifully coloured and descriptive. Wow! again.
After all this beauty we needed some reality checks and wandered through the markets of Florence and lost count of the number of bags, scarves and gloves stalls, all selling the same things. I finally bought some gloves and am still on the look out for perfect shoes and the perfect bag(s). Two more days here so I still have time! Looked at a lot of shops and bought a couple of gifts and happened upon an Austrian market selling reindeer antlers, fluffy slippers and lots of sausage. Unusual!
We had dinner at a little restaurant across the river and had a range of fabulous pastas (primi piatti) and meats (secondi piatti) and contorni (side dishes) with chianti. Overfull, we strolled around Palazzo Pitti, across the Ponte Vecchio, where workers were erecting scaffolding in preparation for painters, listening to a busker singing Time After Time, before returning to the smallest hotel room in all of Florence.
Fashion Observations – Paris to Florence
· Purple is THE colour – coats, dresses, shoes, bags, tops – everything is purple, everywhere
· Leopard print is never out of fashion
· Shoes cannot be too spiky or too high
· Tops cannot be too low
· European women must have incredible balance – try walking on 15cm stilettos on cobblestoned streets. Impressive
· Winter coats are bright (so not Melbourne), appliquéd, mix of fabrics, loads of colour
· Lots of leather jackets and swing coats that are two toned, usually a contrast collar and cuffs
Friday 2nd October
We started the day at Academia D’el Arte, where David is housed. I thought it would be another statue and we had already seen the copy in the square yesterday, but I had another WOW! moment, when I walked into the gallery where David is located. Breathtaking! The first galleries we walked through had an exhibition of Robert Mapplethorpe photographs, with drawings and sculptures by Michelangelo. There were wonderful juxtapositions of the exhibits and descriptions and explanations about form/structure, substance/subject , medium and expertise and when it all comes together it is perfection. It was a fabulous introduction to seeing David, where subject, form, medium and expertise do come together to create perfection.
What do you do after seeing that? Well, what about a stroll to Il Duomo? Il Duomo was very different to most of the cathedrals and churches we have seen lately. While the exterior is richly carved and made of striped pink, white and green marble, the interior was understated and sparse, until you get to the dome, which is huge and covered in paintings beautifully coloured and descriptive. Wow! again.
After all this beauty we needed some reality checks and wandered through the markets of Florence and lost count of the number of bags, scarves and gloves stalls, all selling the same things. I finally bought some gloves and am still on the look out for perfect shoes and the perfect bag(s). Two more days here so I still have time! Looked at a lot of shops and bought a couple of gifts and happened upon an Austrian market selling reindeer antlers, fluffy slippers and lots of sausage. Unusual!
We had dinner at a little restaurant across the river and had a range of fabulous pastas (primi piatti) and meats (secondi piatti) and contorni (side dishes) with chianti. Overfull, we strolled around Palazzo Pitti, across the Ponte Vecchio, where workers were erecting scaffolding in preparation for painters, listening to a busker singing Time After Time, before returning to the smallest hotel room in all of Florence.
Fashion Observations – Paris to Florence
· Purple is THE colour – coats, dresses, shoes, bags, tops – everything is purple, everywhere
· Leopard print is never out of fashion
· Shoes cannot be too spiky or too high
· Tops cannot be too low
· European women must have incredible balance – try walking on 15cm stilettos on cobblestoned streets. Impressive
· Winter coats are bright (so not Melbourne), appliquéd, mix of fabrics, loads of colour
· Lots of leather jackets and swing coats that are two toned, usually a contrast collar and cuffs
- Pink shirts and jumpers are in for men
· In France, men’s shirts have two small buttons at the neck
· In Italy, men’s shirts are colourful, shaped and have just one button at the neck
· Italian men dress very well, top to toe, smart and stylish with shiny shoes
· Shop windows are works of art
· Venetian men are more handsome than Florentine men
· Many Florentine men are very good looking, but noses here are just a bit more prominent, but nowhere near as large as French noses
Florence day 1
Thursday, Ist October
Florence
Although we were very sad to be leaving Venice, as we think it is the world’s most beautiful city, we were cheered by the thought of going to Florence. The train from Venice to Florence was smooth and efficient, and we arrived mid afternoon. Our room is small. Very small and we are sharing the bathroom and toilet. The hotel is in a great location opposite the river and about 10 minutes stroll to everything, with beautifully decorated rooms and furnishings.
After unpacking and stumbling over the luggage, as there was nowhere to put it, we went out for a walk to explore the city. Lovely! Very impressive – the Duomo is enormous, intricately carved marble and statues all around, beside the Baptistry, the Uffizi, the Palazzo Vecchio and more! In the square where the copy of David is located we were amazed by the fabulous statuary everywhere. What must it be like to grow up surrounded by all this art and beauty? Do you become immune to it or more appreciative of it and Art in general? If the shop windows are anything to go by it the love of all things beautiful must permeate through the population.
We had dinner at a lovely restaurant and sampled local cuisine and Chianti (as we do). We got back with an hour or two to spare and waited in the hotel lounge and before too long the Police Marching band paraded up and down the street and then the fireworks started up. The fireworks were set up on the banks of the river Arno and in the Arno. The show went for about 25 minutes and the reflections in the river were spectacular. The fireworks were to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Art and Antiquity Institute. We prefer to think it was a thrilling and brilliant welcome to this beautiful place!
Florence
Although we were very sad to be leaving Venice, as we think it is the world’s most beautiful city, we were cheered by the thought of going to Florence. The train from Venice to Florence was smooth and efficient, and we arrived mid afternoon. Our room is small. Very small and we are sharing the bathroom and toilet. The hotel is in a great location opposite the river and about 10 minutes stroll to everything, with beautifully decorated rooms and furnishings.
After unpacking and stumbling over the luggage, as there was nowhere to put it, we went out for a walk to explore the city. Lovely! Very impressive – the Duomo is enormous, intricately carved marble and statues all around, beside the Baptistry, the Uffizi, the Palazzo Vecchio and more! In the square where the copy of David is located we were amazed by the fabulous statuary everywhere. What must it be like to grow up surrounded by all this art and beauty? Do you become immune to it or more appreciative of it and Art in general? If the shop windows are anything to go by it the love of all things beautiful must permeate through the population.
We had dinner at a lovely restaurant and sampled local cuisine and Chianti (as we do). We got back with an hour or two to spare and waited in the hotel lounge and before too long the Police Marching band paraded up and down the street and then the fireworks started up. The fireworks were set up on the banks of the river Arno and in the Arno. The show went for about 25 minutes and the reflections in the river were spectacular. The fireworks were to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Art and Antiquity Institute. We prefer to think it was a thrilling and brilliant welcome to this beautiful place!
Friday, October 2, 2009
Venice, day 3
Wednesday 30th September
We visited the Academmia D’Arte, which houses an amazing collection of art from 12th Byzantine icons to works from 17th century – more Tintoretto, Titian, Bellini, Veronese, Tiepolo etc etc etc. There was an enormous painting by Veronese, “Dinner in the House of Levi”, which was very controversial when first presented. It was supposed to have been the Last Supper, but Rome was outraged by the dwarves, lapdogs, drunkards and general debauchery and ordered Veronese to change it. A typical and fiercely independent Venetian, he refused to change anything but the title. Veronese was Tiepolo’s master and you can see several similarities with this painting and the “Cleopatra’s Banquet” in the NGV.
In the afternoon we took the vaporetto to Murano and strolled through the glass shops and made a couple of purchases. One of the “challenges” I set myself was to find some gorgeous Murano glass beads. Mission accomplished. That just leaves shoes, bags, gloves in Florence, something fabulous in Rome and heaps of gold in Dubai.
We had dinner with Michael and Karol, sampling local Venetian cuisine and wine. The local drink is “spritz” which may well become a new signature tipple.
Observations of Venice.
· Vaporetto drivers and conductors are selected for their good looks.
· There are more handsome men in Venice than in all of France.
· Three days in Venice is nowhere near enough
· Everywhere you look in Venice you encounter another perfect sight
· The light is soft and filmy
· There are millions of pontes but you rarely have to climb a thousand steps to see anything fabulous
· If you lose something (like my glasses) the helpful advice is “Look in the water”
· Venetian polizia are also very handsome, and are selected for their ability to stand provocatively by the canal and look romantically into the distance, probably transfixed by the beautiful scenes
· There appears to be three types of police here (all handsome) – perhaps to bamboozle everyone - there are three different authorities to handball the problems to, so they can go back to standing by the canal
· I Think I’m turning Italiano, turning Italiano, I really think so
We visited the Academmia D’Arte, which houses an amazing collection of art from 12th Byzantine icons to works from 17th century – more Tintoretto, Titian, Bellini, Veronese, Tiepolo etc etc etc. There was an enormous painting by Veronese, “Dinner in the House of Levi”, which was very controversial when first presented. It was supposed to have been the Last Supper, but Rome was outraged by the dwarves, lapdogs, drunkards and general debauchery and ordered Veronese to change it. A typical and fiercely independent Venetian, he refused to change anything but the title. Veronese was Tiepolo’s master and you can see several similarities with this painting and the “Cleopatra’s Banquet” in the NGV.
In the afternoon we took the vaporetto to Murano and strolled through the glass shops and made a couple of purchases. One of the “challenges” I set myself was to find some gorgeous Murano glass beads. Mission accomplished. That just leaves shoes, bags, gloves in Florence, something fabulous in Rome and heaps of gold in Dubai.
We had dinner with Michael and Karol, sampling local Venetian cuisine and wine. The local drink is “spritz” which may well become a new signature tipple.
Observations of Venice.
· Vaporetto drivers and conductors are selected for their good looks.
· There are more handsome men in Venice than in all of France.
· Three days in Venice is nowhere near enough
· Everywhere you look in Venice you encounter another perfect sight
· The light is soft and filmy
· There are millions of pontes but you rarely have to climb a thousand steps to see anything fabulous
· If you lose something (like my glasses) the helpful advice is “Look in the water”
· Venetian polizia are also very handsome, and are selected for their ability to stand provocatively by the canal and look romantically into the distance, probably transfixed by the beautiful scenes
· There appears to be three types of police here (all handsome) – perhaps to bamboozle everyone - there are three different authorities to handball the problems to, so they can go back to standing by the canal
· I Think I’m turning Italiano, turning Italiano, I really think so
Venice, Day 2
Tuesday28th September
Woken by bells ringing, surrounded by walls done in gold brocade fabric, under two putti/cherubs just wondering in their frame – looking forward to another big day: St Marks Basilica and the Ducale Palace. We boarded the water bus and floated down the Grand Canal – Mary would be happy to do this for the whole day. Every inch of the The Basilica’s huge interior is covered in mosaics walls and ceilings in gold and glass, floors in marble. We paid extra to see the 2 metre by 3 metre altarpiece which depicted hundreds of Christian figures and events painted and embossed in gold and each scene framed in countless thousands of gemstones – literally priceless. We then paid extra to get onto the first floor balcony to see the horse statues and enjoy the silver sparkling Mediterranean flanking St Marks Square – just too perfect.
The Ducal Palace was next – an extravaganza of opulence and size. Everything in it was immense. It wasn’t as opulent as Versailles –what is? – but it was more magnificent. There were murals by Titian, paintings by several Venetian artists such as Hieronymus Bosch, Tintoretto, Veronese, Bellini, just hanging on walls. It houses an enormous hall where all the Venetian privileged met to decide on matters of state with the Doge. This room was also magnificent, with a fabulous view over Piazza San Marco and out to sea. Great location! This room is/was apparently the largest in Europe.
We did as Venetians do and attended a concert by “world renowned” Venzia Interpreti, a group of musicians – violins, cello, piano etc who played Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, in the Church of San Vidal.
Very cultural.
Woken by bells ringing, surrounded by walls done in gold brocade fabric, under two putti/cherubs just wondering in their frame – looking forward to another big day: St Marks Basilica and the Ducale Palace. We boarded the water bus and floated down the Grand Canal – Mary would be happy to do this for the whole day. Every inch of the The Basilica’s huge interior is covered in mosaics walls and ceilings in gold and glass, floors in marble. We paid extra to see the 2 metre by 3 metre altarpiece which depicted hundreds of Christian figures and events painted and embossed in gold and each scene framed in countless thousands of gemstones – literally priceless. We then paid extra to get onto the first floor balcony to see the horse statues and enjoy the silver sparkling Mediterranean flanking St Marks Square – just too perfect.
The Ducal Palace was next – an extravaganza of opulence and size. Everything in it was immense. It wasn’t as opulent as Versailles –what is? – but it was more magnificent. There were murals by Titian, paintings by several Venetian artists such as Hieronymus Bosch, Tintoretto, Veronese, Bellini, just hanging on walls. It houses an enormous hall where all the Venetian privileged met to decide on matters of state with the Doge. This room was also magnificent, with a fabulous view over Piazza San Marco and out to sea. Great location! This room is/was apparently the largest in Europe.
We did as Venetians do and attended a concert by “world renowned” Venzia Interpreti, a group of musicians – violins, cello, piano etc who played Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, in the Church of San Vidal.
Very cultural.
Venice, Day 1
Monday 28th September
Barcelona - Venice
Barcelona let us go to sleep eventually for an hour or two before coming to life again. All the transfers out of this full-on city worked smoothly – two trains to airport and bus to enormous brand spanking new airport terminal with white wavy ceiling as big as a couple of footy fields 30metres up, all for 1.35euro – best value ticket ever (but if the Spaniards can build this (just one of three terminals) why can’t they finish La Sagreda?). One observation about Barcelona we agreed on is that it has the greatest number of really good looking people we have ever seen and the greatest number of misshapen squalid people, richness and poverty, imagination and dross. I was glad to be going.
And nothing could prepare us for Venice – another totally beyond expectations & different to all the other experiences. Did we arrive at a time when the light was perfect - a tinge of yellow and pink mist under a hot blue sky – everything felt soft, the buildings were floating, the water gently lapped and there was no balancing opposite as in Barcelona – it was all perfectly beautifully as it should be, quiet sensuous peaceful and mysterious. We booked in for a Vivaldi concert at a church near the L’Accadema for Tuesday night, bought our train tickets for Florence on Thursday and started to explore. I thought the French had got their tourism right but it has nothing on Venice which has been catering for tourists since 1400.
We headed off for St Mark’s Square and before we knew it we were surrounded by endless small boutiques all perfectly lovely. Bells ring at every hour. But only to remind us that time is not important, gondoliers, vaporettis and water buses are all full of people, but it is not crowded, there is no noise. No-one is in a hurry even the language barrier has evaporated. And we arrive after a couple of hours at the square in twilight – the perfect soft pink/yellow haze and the gloaming made for a dreamy experience. We headed off and the shops just got better (23,000euro coats) but the food was inexpensive and good. The art galleries were amazing with works by big names up for sale. Then we got on a water bus for free and headed home. Venice is much bigger in every aspect than existed in my imagination.
Barcelona - Venice
Barcelona let us go to sleep eventually for an hour or two before coming to life again. All the transfers out of this full-on city worked smoothly – two trains to airport and bus to enormous brand spanking new airport terminal with white wavy ceiling as big as a couple of footy fields 30metres up, all for 1.35euro – best value ticket ever (but if the Spaniards can build this (just one of three terminals) why can’t they finish La Sagreda?). One observation about Barcelona we agreed on is that it has the greatest number of really good looking people we have ever seen and the greatest number of misshapen squalid people, richness and poverty, imagination and dross. I was glad to be going.
And nothing could prepare us for Venice – another totally beyond expectations & different to all the other experiences. Did we arrive at a time when the light was perfect - a tinge of yellow and pink mist under a hot blue sky – everything felt soft, the buildings were floating, the water gently lapped and there was no balancing opposite as in Barcelona – it was all perfectly beautifully as it should be, quiet sensuous peaceful and mysterious. We booked in for a Vivaldi concert at a church near the L’Accadema for Tuesday night, bought our train tickets for Florence on Thursday and started to explore. I thought the French had got their tourism right but it has nothing on Venice which has been catering for tourists since 1400.
We headed off for St Mark’s Square and before we knew it we were surrounded by endless small boutiques all perfectly lovely. Bells ring at every hour. But only to remind us that time is not important, gondoliers, vaporettis and water buses are all full of people, but it is not crowded, there is no noise. No-one is in a hurry even the language barrier has evaporated. And we arrive after a couple of hours at the square in twilight – the perfect soft pink/yellow haze and the gloaming made for a dreamy experience. We headed off and the shops just got better (23,000euro coats) but the food was inexpensive and good. The art galleries were amazing with works by big names up for sale. Then we got on a water bus for free and headed home. Venice is much bigger in every aspect than existed in my imagination.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Reflections on Spain
Reflections on Spain (allowing that Barcelona is not all of Spain)
· Spain is NOT France
· Spain is loud, bright, colourful, noisy, energetic, in your face, hot, exciting
· French shop assistants are positively fawning compared with Spanish shop assistants
· A building cannot have too much decoration or colour
· Spanish churches are dark
· Spanish churches have side altars that have never heard of “less is more”
· A side altar cannot have too much gold, tizzy decorations or floral tributes
· Spanish wedding dresses are completely OTT.
· A wedding dress should have at least an eight metre train comprised only of frills
· A bride should have a diamante tiara that is at least 20cms high
· Spanish beggars do not work hard. Apparently you can make a living by just lying on the ground, step, or even park bench and holding out a plastic cup.
· After eating out in Barcelona, there is no money left for pickpockets (or lazy beggars)
· You can have tapas on La Rambla and you can have tapas in an authentic tapas bar in a side street that you probably could never give directions to find again– there is no comparison
· Sangria is fantastic
· Spain is NOT France
· Spain is loud, bright, colourful, noisy, energetic, in your face, hot, exciting
· French shop assistants are positively fawning compared with Spanish shop assistants
· A building cannot have too much decoration or colour
· Spanish churches are dark
· Spanish churches have side altars that have never heard of “less is more”
· A side altar cannot have too much gold, tizzy decorations or floral tributes
· Spanish wedding dresses are completely OTT.
· A wedding dress should have at least an eight metre train comprised only of frills
· A bride should have a diamante tiara that is at least 20cms high
· Spanish beggars do not work hard. Apparently you can make a living by just lying on the ground, step, or even park bench and holding out a plastic cup.
· After eating out in Barcelona, there is no money left for pickpockets (or lazy beggars)
· You can have tapas on La Rambla and you can have tapas in an authentic tapas bar in a side street that you probably could never give directions to find again– there is no comparison
· Sangria is fantastic
- Barcelona does not have pickpockets, or perhaps we look too tough and scary or poor to be robbed
Barcelona day 3
27th September, Sunday.
Barcelona
After a good big breakfast, Mary and I headed towards La Sagreda Familia Cathedral – still under construction. Not sure if cathedral is the right word to describe this indescribably amazing building/monster/beast – an attempt to realise Gaudi’s dreams and all consuming obsession/passion. Gaudi was appointed architect in 1883 and was boss of the building’s construction until he was hit by a tramcar going to mass one night after work and eventually died in June 1926 (43 years). Another set back to the building’s completion was the destruction by so-called anarchists of all of Gaudi’s plans and models during the Spanish civil war in 1936. But as Mary observed this building may never be completed. –Gaudi envisioned an impossibly, infinitely beautiful building – everything in and on it is based on the mathematics behind patterns and structures found in nature and so it makes sense that the building itself will became an organic living growing organism – created in homage to God. And the fact the building is continuing to become more outrageous with a verticality to match that of the Eiffel Tower, a presence as grand as, if not more than St Paul’s or the Tate Modern in London or even the Arc de Triomphe. It has a decorativeness which completely satisfies the imagination may be because deep down in our soul we have hitched mankind’s star to this never ending building. The only fear is that Barcelona may be engaged in a gigantic folly, nearly as bizarre as the myth of building a stairway to heaven.
Mary and I took a lift ride to a point about 2/3 up one of the 8 completed tower/spires (approx 70metres up). On completion there will be 13 towers – the tallest at 170m. The view was staggering. Then we perused the museum and walked in and out and around the cathedral a couple of times. And as one does when one discovers something “so just right” we would have been happy just to sit and stay and look in wonder like the thousands of others there, but we eventually headed home for a siesta and prepare to take the funiclar up Montjuic, to investigate the old fortress and gardens and overlook the end of the Barcelona festival fireworks from a highpoint.
The views from the telerific were spectacular and as it got darker there lights of Barcelona began to twinkle and sparkle. We wandered around Castell de Montjuic which has a grim history as a political prison and killing ground, but this evening it was full of families and young people taking part in teh Merce – the Barcelona Festival. There are magnificent views of all of Barcelona and the castell holds a strategic position, with views out to sea. Below the castell are lovely gardens that we thought of walking through, but instead took the telerific – an aerial carriage ride, a skyrail. We went back to near our hotel to seek out a restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet. Well worth the walk through the seedy side of Barcelona (well 50 metres of it) to get to Elche, which has been serving food since 1959. We had paella and fuedos (like paella, but using vermicelli instead of rice). As we left the restaurant we caught a glimpse of the fireworks that conclude the Merce. It was a lovely way to finish our interlude in Barcelona.
Barcelona
After a good big breakfast, Mary and I headed towards La Sagreda Familia Cathedral – still under construction. Not sure if cathedral is the right word to describe this indescribably amazing building/monster/beast – an attempt to realise Gaudi’s dreams and all consuming obsession/passion. Gaudi was appointed architect in 1883 and was boss of the building’s construction until he was hit by a tramcar going to mass one night after work and eventually died in June 1926 (43 years). Another set back to the building’s completion was the destruction by so-called anarchists of all of Gaudi’s plans and models during the Spanish civil war in 1936. But as Mary observed this building may never be completed. –Gaudi envisioned an impossibly, infinitely beautiful building – everything in and on it is based on the mathematics behind patterns and structures found in nature and so it makes sense that the building itself will became an organic living growing organism – created in homage to God. And the fact the building is continuing to become more outrageous with a verticality to match that of the Eiffel Tower, a presence as grand as, if not more than St Paul’s or the Tate Modern in London or even the Arc de Triomphe. It has a decorativeness which completely satisfies the imagination may be because deep down in our soul we have hitched mankind’s star to this never ending building. The only fear is that Barcelona may be engaged in a gigantic folly, nearly as bizarre as the myth of building a stairway to heaven.
Mary and I took a lift ride to a point about 2/3 up one of the 8 completed tower/spires (approx 70metres up). On completion there will be 13 towers – the tallest at 170m. The view was staggering. Then we perused the museum and walked in and out and around the cathedral a couple of times. And as one does when one discovers something “so just right” we would have been happy just to sit and stay and look in wonder like the thousands of others there, but we eventually headed home for a siesta and prepare to take the funiclar up Montjuic, to investigate the old fortress and gardens and overlook the end of the Barcelona festival fireworks from a highpoint.
The views from the telerific were spectacular and as it got darker there lights of Barcelona began to twinkle and sparkle. We wandered around Castell de Montjuic which has a grim history as a political prison and killing ground, but this evening it was full of families and young people taking part in teh Merce – the Barcelona Festival. There are magnificent views of all of Barcelona and the castell holds a strategic position, with views out to sea. Below the castell are lovely gardens that we thought of walking through, but instead took the telerific – an aerial carriage ride, a skyrail. We went back to near our hotel to seek out a restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet. Well worth the walk through the seedy side of Barcelona (well 50 metres of it) to get to Elche, which has been serving food since 1959. We had paella and fuedos (like paella, but using vermicelli instead of rice). As we left the restaurant we caught a glimpse of the fireworks that conclude the Merce. It was a lovely way to finish our interlude in Barcelona.
Barcelona Day 2
Saturday, 26th September.
Barcelona
After a big buffet breakfast which was good we went shopping -an interesting journey back and forth up and down laneways between the two main shopping strips. With a visit to a cathedral and a Cathedral Basilica on the way, bigger darker bolder (dirtier) with more altars, gold, glitz and ornamentation than in France(now looking very petite and sedate by comparison) - there were a couple of religious buildings abstained from visiting – but why are there so many? I thought of the Sacre Coeur on Montmartre and the similarities struck me about the coexistence between these mighty presences of the church and its denizens all going about their business in their shadows. Cannot believe that Iam still off the fags and happy.
Mary found a few items and we received the royal Spanish reception again – compounded this time by demands of shop assistants to see our passports to prove our identity – of course Mary and I look like gypsy terrorist pick-pockets trying to make a fortune buying a few items of clothing – cos that’s what those pesky thieves in Spain do, when they’ve stolen your cards and passports? One observation though – is that the winter coats we have seen in France and Spain are fantastic with lots of appliqué, embroidery and collage, colourful designs, odd stitching and lots of big bright shiny buttons – none the same(cannot have too many buttons and zips).
No matter but we ploughed on up to Gaudi’s masterpiece – a 6 or 7 story house which he totally renovated and redesigned every square inch of its interior and exterior. As the guide book tells us Gaudi at his hallucinogenic best – it was lovely, not a straight corner or hard right angled edge to be seen, the carved wood work around doors, stained glass windows, staircases and floors was beautiful. Some of the colours had faded but it was great to realise that when one is a genius in Spain, you really get the royal treatment and support to realise your ideas to the fullest.
We had a rest before going out for dinner and tackle Spain at its liveliest once again. Yep, Saturday night dinner was everything and a bit more, as we have come to expect in Barcelona. Michael & Karol had found a good authentic Tapas bar to start proceedings. I was not aware of this particular Spanish custom and its protocols and got a bit annoyed by the ridiculousness of having to physically push and battle with hordes of people to the get the best tapas. My frustration increased because I thought this was going to be our dinner, until Mary explained the process. After which we explored the lanes and alleyways and found an authentic Spanish restaurant which had been operating since 1783 (it looked as tho all its staff had been there since that time too) – although we thought we did not have a chance to get in at 10pm - because the place looked packed from outside and a group of 20 people just beat us in. The old maître d’ just smiled and beckoned and we followed - the place had organically increased in size over its 2 centuries if existence by taking over other rooms and apartments in the building (as in France – Spain also hides what it holds precious and there is a surprise around every corner) – all its staff were women over 50 or 60 years of age – there were photographs and sketches all around the walls of famous people who had eaten there – opera singers including Dame Joan Sutherland – and the food and wine was great – we relaxed and had a ball (of course).
Then to finish off the night we headed to the Aussie bar, “Hogans” and watched a replay of the AFL grand final – and finally made it home bout 1.30, an early night by Spanish standards.
Barcelona
After a big buffet breakfast which was good we went shopping -an interesting journey back and forth up and down laneways between the two main shopping strips. With a visit to a cathedral and a Cathedral Basilica on the way, bigger darker bolder (dirtier) with more altars, gold, glitz and ornamentation than in France(now looking very petite and sedate by comparison) - there were a couple of religious buildings abstained from visiting – but why are there so many? I thought of the Sacre Coeur on Montmartre and the similarities struck me about the coexistence between these mighty presences of the church and its denizens all going about their business in their shadows. Cannot believe that Iam still off the fags and happy.
Mary found a few items and we received the royal Spanish reception again – compounded this time by demands of shop assistants to see our passports to prove our identity – of course Mary and I look like gypsy terrorist pick-pockets trying to make a fortune buying a few items of clothing – cos that’s what those pesky thieves in Spain do, when they’ve stolen your cards and passports? One observation though – is that the winter coats we have seen in France and Spain are fantastic with lots of appliqué, embroidery and collage, colourful designs, odd stitching and lots of big bright shiny buttons – none the same(cannot have too many buttons and zips).
No matter but we ploughed on up to Gaudi’s masterpiece – a 6 or 7 story house which he totally renovated and redesigned every square inch of its interior and exterior. As the guide book tells us Gaudi at his hallucinogenic best – it was lovely, not a straight corner or hard right angled edge to be seen, the carved wood work around doors, stained glass windows, staircases and floors was beautiful. Some of the colours had faded but it was great to realise that when one is a genius in Spain, you really get the royal treatment and support to realise your ideas to the fullest.
We had a rest before going out for dinner and tackle Spain at its liveliest once again. Yep, Saturday night dinner was everything and a bit more, as we have come to expect in Barcelona. Michael & Karol had found a good authentic Tapas bar to start proceedings. I was not aware of this particular Spanish custom and its protocols and got a bit annoyed by the ridiculousness of having to physically push and battle with hordes of people to the get the best tapas. My frustration increased because I thought this was going to be our dinner, until Mary explained the process. After which we explored the lanes and alleyways and found an authentic Spanish restaurant which had been operating since 1783 (it looked as tho all its staff had been there since that time too) – although we thought we did not have a chance to get in at 10pm - because the place looked packed from outside and a group of 20 people just beat us in. The old maître d’ just smiled and beckoned and we followed - the place had organically increased in size over its 2 centuries if existence by taking over other rooms and apartments in the building (as in France – Spain also hides what it holds precious and there is a surprise around every corner) – all its staff were women over 50 or 60 years of age – there were photographs and sketches all around the walls of famous people who had eaten there – opera singers including Dame Joan Sutherland – and the food and wine was great – we relaxed and had a ball (of course).
Then to finish off the night we headed to the Aussie bar, “Hogans” and watched a replay of the AFL grand final – and finally made it home bout 1.30, an early night by Spanish standards.
Barcelona
Friday 25th September
Barcelona.
Leaving France was a bit tricky with a few transfers involved: dropping car, catching train to border between France & Spain, changing train at border, finding metro train connection & finding hotel & confirming reservations. But this physical relocation coupled with glimpses at/of the changing landscape – the Mediterranean, buildings (Perpignan where we dropped in the hire car and bought lunch – looks a bit like Spain) did not prepare us for the full on blast of sounds, smells, grime, heat and energy of Barcelona – having a ball in its own nightmare.
Michael did a wonderful job of driving 2500 km zig zagging across France on a brilliant itinerary prepared by Karol. All the rooms and meals were lovely and each town had spectacular gifts to share which all contributed to the culture shock of Spain. We were bowled over by the arguments happening all over the place, between passengers and train station guards, women and men, waiters and their bosses. Just bloody amazing and then to add to the tension we had arrived in the middle of the Barcelona festival – a celebration of being Barcelona by Barcelona (a perfect excuse for Barcelonans to say, “I am a Barcelonan and I am proud of it” and they did - with every step they strode out aggressively, with every look sizing you up). And the stress increased by the non-stop stories of the past 12 months that the pick pockets of Barcelona were the best in the world and to watch out because any interaction with the locals no matter how innocuous or innocent could be a set-up for getting your pockets picked – bloody hell. Get me back to France right now – immediately and back to the safety of the myriad thousands of grey power tourists, all ambling along at their jolly own peaceful pace, serenely queuing at their latest tour hotspot – yep France was lovely, peaceful, spectacular and clean with brilliant attention to detail.
Our disposition on arrival after 10-11 hours of travelling was not assisted by the reception at our hotel – the young beautiful woman behind the counter made it obvious that our presence was not to be dignified by her gloriousness and there was a total lack of the graciousness, understanding and friendliness which we had become used to in France (and this manner / attitude was to be experienced again and again – obviously the Spaniards begrudgingly accept the outstretched tourist hand and reluctantly, with a slight distaste, pluck the euros from our fingers). Also it seemed as though the receptionist had marked our score card and apparently we had failed our first test, whether we were worthy human beings or what? And as our balloon gently deflated, they were well and truly flattened as we struggled into the stale, smoky, grimy, bare, dark, smelly, little rooms. OH dear what are we doing here? We all must’ve thought and the dawning realisation that although there was heaps of energy in Spain it was not directed to maintenance and customer service. And no WiFi!
No matter but, we headed out into the darkening streets and the endless throngs of crowds doing La Rambla which was full to bursting with an endless sea of arguing, shouting faces all trying to pick my pocket. But we continued our aimless wandering, got some cash out without mishap, let a doorman talk us into his tapa establishment, had a litre of sangria each, but what was that drumming sound gradually getting louder and louder – the Barcelona festival parade of dragons and groups of drummers of course. There must’ve been about 30 different bands of drummers all dancing to a different beat, fantastic & amazing. So as expected Mary (Connors/Verwey party animal) was out first and I followed after paying the bill which was grossly inflated by Spanish method of creative accounting (I suspect the pick pockets have left Barcelona because the waiters are fleecing their unsuspecting tourists whilst face to face with delightful smiles ) – however, whatever, we watched the whole parade clapping and shouting our approval “BARCELONA IS THE BEST”. We tramped along behind the last float and salsa drumming band to the Placa di Reial where there were fireworks, men, women, children and families (our first rave, haha) AND the Go Team was going to play, but we headed home instead. Where we passed the pimps, prostitutes and porn shops at the corner next to our hotel without mishap and fell asleep.
Barcelona.
Leaving France was a bit tricky with a few transfers involved: dropping car, catching train to border between France & Spain, changing train at border, finding metro train connection & finding hotel & confirming reservations. But this physical relocation coupled with glimpses at/of the changing landscape – the Mediterranean, buildings (Perpignan where we dropped in the hire car and bought lunch – looks a bit like Spain) did not prepare us for the full on blast of sounds, smells, grime, heat and energy of Barcelona – having a ball in its own nightmare.
Michael did a wonderful job of driving 2500 km zig zagging across France on a brilliant itinerary prepared by Karol. All the rooms and meals were lovely and each town had spectacular gifts to share which all contributed to the culture shock of Spain. We were bowled over by the arguments happening all over the place, between passengers and train station guards, women and men, waiters and their bosses. Just bloody amazing and then to add to the tension we had arrived in the middle of the Barcelona festival – a celebration of being Barcelona by Barcelona (a perfect excuse for Barcelonans to say, “I am a Barcelonan and I am proud of it” and they did - with every step they strode out aggressively, with every look sizing you up). And the stress increased by the non-stop stories of the past 12 months that the pick pockets of Barcelona were the best in the world and to watch out because any interaction with the locals no matter how innocuous or innocent could be a set-up for getting your pockets picked – bloody hell. Get me back to France right now – immediately and back to the safety of the myriad thousands of grey power tourists, all ambling along at their jolly own peaceful pace, serenely queuing at their latest tour hotspot – yep France was lovely, peaceful, spectacular and clean with brilliant attention to detail.
Our disposition on arrival after 10-11 hours of travelling was not assisted by the reception at our hotel – the young beautiful woman behind the counter made it obvious that our presence was not to be dignified by her gloriousness and there was a total lack of the graciousness, understanding and friendliness which we had become used to in France (and this manner / attitude was to be experienced again and again – obviously the Spaniards begrudgingly accept the outstretched tourist hand and reluctantly, with a slight distaste, pluck the euros from our fingers). Also it seemed as though the receptionist had marked our score card and apparently we had failed our first test, whether we were worthy human beings or what? And as our balloon gently deflated, they were well and truly flattened as we struggled into the stale, smoky, grimy, bare, dark, smelly, little rooms. OH dear what are we doing here? We all must’ve thought and the dawning realisation that although there was heaps of energy in Spain it was not directed to maintenance and customer service. And no WiFi!
No matter but, we headed out into the darkening streets and the endless throngs of crowds doing La Rambla which was full to bursting with an endless sea of arguing, shouting faces all trying to pick my pocket. But we continued our aimless wandering, got some cash out without mishap, let a doorman talk us into his tapa establishment, had a litre of sangria each, but what was that drumming sound gradually getting louder and louder – the Barcelona festival parade of dragons and groups of drummers of course. There must’ve been about 30 different bands of drummers all dancing to a different beat, fantastic & amazing. So as expected Mary (Connors/Verwey party animal) was out first and I followed after paying the bill which was grossly inflated by Spanish method of creative accounting (I suspect the pick pockets have left Barcelona because the waiters are fleecing their unsuspecting tourists whilst face to face with delightful smiles ) – however, whatever, we watched the whole parade clapping and shouting our approval “BARCELONA IS THE BEST”. We tramped along behind the last float and salsa drumming band to the Placa di Reial where there were fireworks, men, women, children and families (our first rave, haha) AND the Go Team was going to play, but we headed home instead. Where we passed the pimps, prostitutes and porn shops at the corner next to our hotel without mishap and fell asleep.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Sarlat to Carcassonne
Thursday 24 the September
Sarlat to Carcassonne
We had an interesting dinner for our last night in Sarlat. We found a restaurant on the main square. Nearby was a female organ grinder who was pumping out Piaf songs as if her life depended on it. So we took a table and asked about the local specialties. We each chose something that was a house speciality – duck, lamb, beef. The waitress brought mine out first – lamb chops, on a sizzling block of granite and placed it in front of me, but I was horrified to see that the six chops were raw and asked for them to be cooked some more. She said that you cook them yourself! That’s why the plate was sizzling! Karol and Michaell had duck and that too was cooked on a sizzle plate. Different but nice. Dick had beef which the chef actually cooked. We each had a dessert, but half way through his, Dick had an alarming allergic reaction. There didn’t appear to be anything in his dish that he was allergic to, but Karol did ask the waitress who said she had used the same spoon to dish out all the desserts. There may have been something nutty on the spoon. He and I went home and by the time we got back to the hotel he was in a very bad way. Luckily he had an EpiPen, which really helped. He was OK after a while but we were all a bit concerned.
In the morning we set off for Carcassone and drove straight through to the Medieval City. It is an entire castle, church, houses, shops, restaurants that have been restored to reflect its grand past. We had a WOW moment as we approached – haven’t had one for a couple of days. We spent a few hours wandering around the castle, the ramparts, and the basilica, which has some of the most beautiful stained glass we have seen in France.
In the basilica (yes, a pilgrim stopover) a quartet of Russian tenors was singing – wow! The sound these four men made filled the whole church and we had to sit down and listen. We loved them so much we bought the CD.
We stopped at a pharmacy on the way to the hotel and tried to purchase another epipen, but were informed that Dick needed a prescription, and found a doctor nearby who would see us later in the evening. Back to the hotel, quick dinner (even in a hotel in the Zone Industriale we had a fabulous meal – Dick and Michael had cassoulet – local speciality of white beans, sausage and duck, while Karol and I had chicken with seasonal fruits – delicious). We went back to the doctor who prescribed the anapen and then to a pharmacy. Karol has been amazing as our interpreter – we are very fortunate have her!
We went back to the old city which was lit up and looks just beautiful. The castle from a distance is spectacular.
Sarlat to Carcassonne
We had an interesting dinner for our last night in Sarlat. We found a restaurant on the main square. Nearby was a female organ grinder who was pumping out Piaf songs as if her life depended on it. So we took a table and asked about the local specialties. We each chose something that was a house speciality – duck, lamb, beef. The waitress brought mine out first – lamb chops, on a sizzling block of granite and placed it in front of me, but I was horrified to see that the six chops were raw and asked for them to be cooked some more. She said that you cook them yourself! That’s why the plate was sizzling! Karol and Michaell had duck and that too was cooked on a sizzle plate. Different but nice. Dick had beef which the chef actually cooked. We each had a dessert, but half way through his, Dick had an alarming allergic reaction. There didn’t appear to be anything in his dish that he was allergic to, but Karol did ask the waitress who said she had used the same spoon to dish out all the desserts. There may have been something nutty on the spoon. He and I went home and by the time we got back to the hotel he was in a very bad way. Luckily he had an EpiPen, which really helped. He was OK after a while but we were all a bit concerned.
In the morning we set off for Carcassone and drove straight through to the Medieval City. It is an entire castle, church, houses, shops, restaurants that have been restored to reflect its grand past. We had a WOW moment as we approached – haven’t had one for a couple of days. We spent a few hours wandering around the castle, the ramparts, and the basilica, which has some of the most beautiful stained glass we have seen in France.
In the basilica (yes, a pilgrim stopover) a quartet of Russian tenors was singing – wow! The sound these four men made filled the whole church and we had to sit down and listen. We loved them so much we bought the CD.
We stopped at a pharmacy on the way to the hotel and tried to purchase another epipen, but were informed that Dick needed a prescription, and found a doctor nearby who would see us later in the evening. Back to the hotel, quick dinner (even in a hotel in the Zone Industriale we had a fabulous meal – Dick and Michael had cassoulet – local speciality of white beans, sausage and duck, while Karol and I had chicken with seasonal fruits – delicious). We went back to the doctor who prescribed the anapen and then to a pharmacy. Karol has been amazing as our interpreter – we are very fortunate have her!
We went back to the old city which was lit up and looks just beautiful. The castle from a distance is spectacular.
This is our last night in France. We have been thrilled all the way and have been amazed by the beauty of its cities, towns, villages and countryside. The food and wines are fabulous. The churches are incredible, and the chateaux are what I thought I would only see in Fairy stories. Vive La France!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Sarlat-en-Caneda
Wednesday 23rd September
Sarlat-la-Caneda, Dordogne
Another stop on the pilgrims' trail!
We wandered down to the Cite Medieval which was swarming with tourists. It must be horrendous in the high season, because it was very, very busy today. Think of Lorne in January. One saving grace was that all the other tourists were at least twenty years older than us.
There was a market in the market square, and there must be a lot of dead geese and ducks to account for the kilos and kilos of foie gras on sale. What happens to the rest of the bird? Around the town are at least twenty shops specialising in foie gras and other local produce.
Nevertheless we embarked on an historical walking tour around the town. It was very interesting with a mix of medieval and renaissance buildings, many of which are being used as residences, restaurants or Irish pubs.
This is not one of our wow places – perhaps we have been spoilt by quieter and calmer ancient towns and villages. Sarlat is very attractive and if we hadn’t already seen Vezelay or Chinon we may have loved it, but sadly for us, it seems entirely focused on being tarted up for tourists.
Dick thinks he may refocus on calm and serenity by going for a walk in the cemetery.
Sarlat-la-Caneda, Dordogne
Another stop on the pilgrims' trail!
We wandered down to the Cite Medieval which was swarming with tourists. It must be horrendous in the high season, because it was very, very busy today. Think of Lorne in January. One saving grace was that all the other tourists were at least twenty years older than us.
There was a market in the market square, and there must be a lot of dead geese and ducks to account for the kilos and kilos of foie gras on sale. What happens to the rest of the bird? Around the town are at least twenty shops specialising in foie gras and other local produce.
Nevertheless we embarked on an historical walking tour around the town. It was very interesting with a mix of medieval and renaissance buildings, many of which are being used as residences, restaurants or Irish pubs.
This is not one of our wow places – perhaps we have been spoilt by quieter and calmer ancient towns and villages. Sarlat is very attractive and if we hadn’t already seen Vezelay or Chinon we may have loved it, but sadly for us, it seems entirely focused on being tarted up for tourists.
Dick thinks he may refocus on calm and serenity by going for a walk in the cemetery.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Sarlat
Tuesday, 22nd September
Driving to Sarlat-la-Caneda
After an early start manoeuvring the car out of the tightest car park and the narrowest driveway in the WORLD, we left Le Puy en Velay. We would have liked to stay longer, but we were to be in Sarlat by nightfall. It’s along way across the mountains of the Massif Centrale. We took our final glimpses of Le Puy from the road side and thought it would be a beautiful place to return to.
We drove on and stopped after a couple of hours at a little village, where a weekly market was on. We bought some pastries from a lovely woman who had an in depth conversation with Karol and Dick about how she was going to Australia. Dick was smiling and nodding enthusiastically and Karol was trying to understand what the woman was saying, but neither were any the wiser by the end of the conversation. We did get some delicious pastries though.
Onward again. We drove through some lovely countryside, stopping briefly for lunch at another quaint village, somewhere.
We approached the Dordogne region late afternoon and saw a sign Gouffre de Padirac. What is a Gouffre you ask. So did we. To satisfy our curiosity we queued up to buy tickets to find out. A gouffre is a large cave or series of caves, well Padirac’s is. We descended 10 flights of stairs (there must be stairs at any attraction in France to make it worthwhile – see yesterday’s blog) to an underground cavern and continued to walk further underground. We got into little boats (tinnies) and were punted along a river to see the most incredible caves in France, perhaps even Europe, although the guide refrained from saying the whole world. We were 103 metres underground and covered more than two kilometres. Stalactites of limestone have been forming for millions of years and one is 735 metres in height. The ceiling of one cave is 94 metres and the drips fall from such a great height that they flatten out and “stack up” like plates. Fantastic.
We eventually arrived at the hotel, Le Madrigal, unpacked and headed down the street to the medieval town for dinner. The local specialities are foie gras and cepes (mushrooms). We had omelettes with cepes and some fried, mashed potato concoction which was delicious, but very greasy. Pictures of geese are everywhere, and we did spot a little farm, with geese honking as we drove by. We stopped to photograph them. It must happen a lot because the geese seemed to flock towards the cameras.
The town looks very attractive, but appears to have been prettied up for the tourists.
Driving to Sarlat-la-Caneda
After an early start manoeuvring the car out of the tightest car park and the narrowest driveway in the WORLD, we left Le Puy en Velay. We would have liked to stay longer, but we were to be in Sarlat by nightfall. It’s along way across the mountains of the Massif Centrale. We took our final glimpses of Le Puy from the road side and thought it would be a beautiful place to return to.
We drove on and stopped after a couple of hours at a little village, where a weekly market was on. We bought some pastries from a lovely woman who had an in depth conversation with Karol and Dick about how she was going to Australia. Dick was smiling and nodding enthusiastically and Karol was trying to understand what the woman was saying, but neither were any the wiser by the end of the conversation. We did get some delicious pastries though.
Onward again. We drove through some lovely countryside, stopping briefly for lunch at another quaint village, somewhere.
We approached the Dordogne region late afternoon and saw a sign Gouffre de Padirac. What is a Gouffre you ask. So did we. To satisfy our curiosity we queued up to buy tickets to find out. A gouffre is a large cave or series of caves, well Padirac’s is. We descended 10 flights of stairs (there must be stairs at any attraction in France to make it worthwhile – see yesterday’s blog) to an underground cavern and continued to walk further underground. We got into little boats (tinnies) and were punted along a river to see the most incredible caves in France, perhaps even Europe, although the guide refrained from saying the whole world. We were 103 metres underground and covered more than two kilometres. Stalactites of limestone have been forming for millions of years and one is 735 metres in height. The ceiling of one cave is 94 metres and the drips fall from such a great height that they flatten out and “stack up” like plates. Fantastic.
We eventually arrived at the hotel, Le Madrigal, unpacked and headed down the street to the medieval town for dinner. The local specialities are foie gras and cepes (mushrooms). We had omelettes with cepes and some fried, mashed potato concoction which was delicious, but very greasy. Pictures of geese are everywhere, and we did spot a little farm, with geese honking as we drove by. We stopped to photograph them. It must happen a lot because the geese seemed to flock towards the cameras.
The town looks very attractive, but appears to have been prettied up for the tourists.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Le Puy En Velay
Monday 21st September
Le Puy en Velay
Just when you think it can’t be any more spectacular or beautiful, you are proved wrong. Le Puy is a lovely, beautiful, and picturesque town in the Massif Central, France. Another pilgrimage starting point – we are beginning to think there may be some surreptitious, subliminal religious agenda ....
Nevertheless, the cathedral houses a Black Virgin, no one knows the origin, but she is very important to the town. Also, a Fever Stone - a massive block of stone said to have healing qualities - I touched it with left and right hands, but think I should have rolled around on it to feel really good -
There is a massive statue of the Notre Dame de France built from melted down Crimean War cannons, seized from whoever the French had defeated, erected on top of a very high rock. There were hundreds of steps to reach it, but the trek was worth the effort. The view of Le Puy is spectacular, and you have to marvel at the perseverance of the people who built it, carrying the tonnes of cast iron up the hill during construction. We climbed up inside the statue, more steps again, these thighs will be rock hard by we time we get back, not only glimpsing lovely vistas from the folds of the cloak, but reading interesting graffiti (eg Hanson Forever) and trying to overcome our fear of heights.
From the statue you can see another incredible structure, Chapelle St Michel D’Aighuile, which is situated on top of an extinct volcano. So we set off to have a closer look. There were hundreds of steps, of course. The chapel was built in the 10th century, and was a calm and peaceful haven – and was actually worth the trudge up the stairs. There were ancient frescoes on the walls and ceiling and Mass is still celebrated there each week.
We staggered down the thousands of steps and made our way back to the hotel for a lovely dinner of local produce, including lentils and pork and purple mashed potatoes. Michael and Dick enjoyed the local tipple, Verveine – a bright green fire water. We were all thrilled to see the distillery in the town when we went for our post dinner walk.
Some observations about France:
• School students don’t wear uniforms and all look very chic
French shop assistants are more important than the customer, and the customer should be grateful for any acknowledgment whatsoever, including a sneer
• If there is an inaccessibly high point in the town, they will build a religious monument on it
• The religious monument will be staggeringly beautiful and you will be amazed by the ingenuity and madness of the creators
• French pedestrians have right of way when crossing roads, but not tourists
• Red and green traffic lights seem to be suggestions only
• There is a lot going on behind high stone walls in France – factories, apartments, schools, gardens, life
• Petrol stations are rare
• Between 12 and 3 (sometimes 4) the whole country stops. Nothing is open, including automated petrol stations
• Baguettes are a way of life
• Nothing is worth looking at unless there are at least 50 steps leading to it
Le Puy en Velay
Just when you think it can’t be any more spectacular or beautiful, you are proved wrong. Le Puy is a lovely, beautiful, and picturesque town in the Massif Central, France. Another pilgrimage starting point – we are beginning to think there may be some surreptitious, subliminal religious agenda ....
Nevertheless, the cathedral houses a Black Virgin, no one knows the origin, but she is very important to the town. Also, a Fever Stone - a massive block of stone said to have healing qualities - I touched it with left and right hands, but think I should have rolled around on it to feel really good -
There is a massive statue of the Notre Dame de France built from melted down Crimean War cannons, seized from whoever the French had defeated, erected on top of a very high rock. There were hundreds of steps to reach it, but the trek was worth the effort. The view of Le Puy is spectacular, and you have to marvel at the perseverance of the people who built it, carrying the tonnes of cast iron up the hill during construction. We climbed up inside the statue, more steps again, these thighs will be rock hard by we time we get back, not only glimpsing lovely vistas from the folds of the cloak, but reading interesting graffiti (eg Hanson Forever) and trying to overcome our fear of heights.
From the statue you can see another incredible structure, Chapelle St Michel D’Aighuile, which is situated on top of an extinct volcano. So we set off to have a closer look. There were hundreds of steps, of course. The chapel was built in the 10th century, and was a calm and peaceful haven – and was actually worth the trudge up the stairs. There were ancient frescoes on the walls and ceiling and Mass is still celebrated there each week.
We staggered down the thousands of steps and made our way back to the hotel for a lovely dinner of local produce, including lentils and pork and purple mashed potatoes. Michael and Dick enjoyed the local tipple, Verveine – a bright green fire water. We were all thrilled to see the distillery in the town when we went for our post dinner walk.
Some observations about France:
• School students don’t wear uniforms and all look very chic
• If there is an inaccessibly high point in the town, they will build a religious monument on it
• The religious monument will be staggeringly beautiful and you will be amazed by the ingenuity and madness of the creators
• French pedestrians have right of way when crossing roads, but not tourists
• Red and green traffic lights seem to be suggestions only
• There is a lot going on behind high stone walls in France – factories, apartments, schools, gardens, life
• Petrol stations are rare
• Between 12 and 3 (sometimes 4) the whole country stops. Nothing is open, including automated petrol stations
• Baguettes are a way of life
• Nothing is worth looking at unless there are at least 50 steps leading to it
Monday, September 21, 2009
Brou, Bourg-en-Bresse
Sunday 20th September
Bourg-en-Bresse
We woke to the sound of the bells of Bourg-en-Bresse which seem to be constantly ringing from one of the three very large church/cathedral/basilica/monastery/abbeys with only short intervals of silence whilst, presumably the bell ringers get their breath and take some sustenance. In London and Liverpool their seemed to be great pride in the fact that they have the largest 13 ton bells, which they have named(Westminster Abbey’s bell is Big Ben) but are only rung on special occasions that is when F sharp is required.
So today was a rest day for Mary and I, whilst Michael and Karol continue digesting rural France. And a day to contemplate this culture: their joire de vivre, live life for the moment, their enjoyment of food, wine, 2 hour lunches, precision engineering, love of words (all the streets here are named after writers, philosophers, saints and leaders). Yet it appears to me that all these emotional attachments & connections are balanced by their reverence for the dead and those who gave their lives for this country. Their cemeteries are very well kept and visited and in every church there are lists of the towns people lost – in Beaune the names were also marked by the word “Resistance” and the knowledge that their hard won freedoms could be lost in a twinkling of an eye. So the French are ever vigilant and their skies are crisscrossed by invisible aircraft/satellites – the only evidence of their existence is the hundreds of jet streams of smoke and steam hatching the sky where ever we have been.
And whilst Mary sorted out the fine details of things, I enjoyed a couple of hours in the royal monastery galleries engaging with a truly enchanting collection of paintings which captured the best probably of art styles in France from 1300 – 1990s. I spent a long time scrutinising the incredible detail and perfect skin tones and colours laid down by invisible brush strokes until about 1870 when suddenly the hand became free and the medium (paint) started to take control. This culminated in the tachiste movement at about 1960 with a bunch of large slabs of colour and marks. It was a perfect demonstration of art history. All for free, as this weekend in France, all galleries and museums had free entry. Can’t imagine how busy Le Louvre would have been!
Just a quiet “catch up” day, time to reflect on our travels so far, do a little research into where we are going, and of course, find another lovely restaurant specialising in the local delicacy – Bressan chicken, washed down with a cheeky little Beaujolais.
Bourg-en-Bresse
We woke to the sound of the bells of Bourg-en-Bresse which seem to be constantly ringing from one of the three very large church/cathedral/basilica/monastery/abbeys with only short intervals of silence whilst, presumably the bell ringers get their breath and take some sustenance. In London and Liverpool their seemed to be great pride in the fact that they have the largest 13 ton bells, which they have named(Westminster Abbey’s bell is Big Ben) but are only rung on special occasions that is when F sharp is required.
So today was a rest day for Mary and I, whilst Michael and Karol continue digesting rural France. And a day to contemplate this culture: their joire de vivre, live life for the moment, their enjoyment of food, wine, 2 hour lunches, precision engineering, love of words (all the streets here are named after writers, philosophers, saints and leaders). Yet it appears to me that all these emotional attachments & connections are balanced by their reverence for the dead and those who gave their lives for this country. Their cemeteries are very well kept and visited and in every church there are lists of the towns people lost – in Beaune the names were also marked by the word “Resistance” and the knowledge that their hard won freedoms could be lost in a twinkling of an eye. So the French are ever vigilant and their skies are crisscrossed by invisible aircraft/satellites – the only evidence of their existence is the hundreds of jet streams of smoke and steam hatching the sky where ever we have been.
And whilst Mary sorted out the fine details of things, I enjoyed a couple of hours in the royal monastery galleries engaging with a truly enchanting collection of paintings which captured the best probably of art styles in France from 1300 – 1990s. I spent a long time scrutinising the incredible detail and perfect skin tones and colours laid down by invisible brush strokes until about 1870 when suddenly the hand became free and the medium (paint) started to take control. This culminated in the tachiste movement at about 1960 with a bunch of large slabs of colour and marks. It was a perfect demonstration of art history. All for free, as this weekend in France, all galleries and museums had free entry. Can’t imagine how busy Le Louvre would have been!
Just a quiet “catch up” day, time to reflect on our travels so far, do a little research into where we are going, and of course, find another lovely restaurant specialising in the local delicacy – Bressan chicken, washed down with a cheeky little Beaujolais.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Bourg-en-Bresse
Saturday 19/9/09 –
Beaune to Bourg-en-Bresse
We left Beaune early and Michael drove us to Bourg-en-Bresse with a morning coffee stopover at Tournus another ancient town originally inhabited by the Romans upon which another very pretty but enormous light filled cathedral/Basilica/Church/abbey/monastery was built with reliquaries, crypt and Romanesque mosaics. But more important issues were motivating us to keep moving as it was absolutely imperative that we make it to our destination and internet connection ASAP – the mobile phones were running hot with progress scores but we needed to see the Collingwood Vs Geelong preliminary final live and unfortunately/fortunately we did see the second half.
Another lovely room booked by Karol, 3rd floor but with a lift, balcony and great view over the roof tops towards the city centre and 2 huge churches/cathedrals/basilica/abbey/monastery. One observation is that wherever we have stayed in France the toilet and bathrooms have been big and clean and this one is the best so far – brand spanking new with a bidet and separate toilet to boot. The toilet is especially significant for its extremely assertive flushing system. A band of 20 water jets aimed at every square centimetre erupts with the force of a moon shot taking off – yep nothing stands a chance against this piece of plumbing engineering. Which leads me to another observation – French plumbing is particularly fine. The French seem to take pride in making little delicate taps which measure out and turn off water very precisely – voila! yes verily a practical demonstration of finesse.
After the game Mary and I visited the abbey which is one of France’s masterpieces - another light filled enormous soaring floating tower of stone, but filled with the most intricate carving of religious stories and myths in ivory, stone and wood. All breathtaking and again absolutely wonderful and staggering to think it was all done in 32 years and commenced and overseen by Margaret , a duchess of Burgundy in about 1500 - 1532.
Then Mary and I undertook a tourism promotion walk where we had to locate 21 large chook sculptures, all prepared by artists to celebrate the reason why this region is world famous – for their chooks, hidden amongst beautiful medieval buildings all over the town. We were going well and feeling happy until after nearly 4 hours of walking I took a wrong turn that seemed to add an interminable distance onto the end of a tiring day. But our energy was restored over dinner by verifying that the Bresse chicken breast is best, especially with a couple of glasses of Beaujolais, the region’s wine. And another lovely short walk home in the light warm rain.
Beaune to Bourg-en-Bresse
We left Beaune early and Michael drove us to Bourg-en-Bresse with a morning coffee stopover at Tournus another ancient town originally inhabited by the Romans upon which another very pretty but enormous light filled cathedral/Basilica/Church/abbey/monastery was built with reliquaries, crypt and Romanesque mosaics. But more important issues were motivating us to keep moving as it was absolutely imperative that we make it to our destination and internet connection ASAP – the mobile phones were running hot with progress scores but we needed to see the Collingwood Vs Geelong preliminary final live and unfortunately/fortunately we did see the second half.
Another lovely room booked by Karol, 3rd floor but with a lift, balcony and great view over the roof tops towards the city centre and 2 huge churches/cathedrals/basilica/abbey/monastery. One observation is that wherever we have stayed in France the toilet and bathrooms have been big and clean and this one is the best so far – brand spanking new with a bidet and separate toilet to boot. The toilet is especially significant for its extremely assertive flushing system. A band of 20 water jets aimed at every square centimetre erupts with the force of a moon shot taking off – yep nothing stands a chance against this piece of plumbing engineering. Which leads me to another observation – French plumbing is particularly fine. The French seem to take pride in making little delicate taps which measure out and turn off water very precisely – voila! yes verily a practical demonstration of finesse.
After the game Mary and I visited the abbey which is one of France’s masterpieces - another light filled enormous soaring floating tower of stone, but filled with the most intricate carving of religious stories and myths in ivory, stone and wood. All breathtaking and again absolutely wonderful and staggering to think it was all done in 32 years and commenced and overseen by Margaret , a duchess of Burgundy in about 1500 - 1532.
Then Mary and I undertook a tourism promotion walk where we had to locate 21 large chook sculptures, all prepared by artists to celebrate the reason why this region is world famous – for their chooks, hidden amongst beautiful medieval buildings all over the town. We were going well and feeling happy until after nearly 4 hours of walking I took a wrong turn that seemed to add an interminable distance onto the end of a tiring day. But our energy was restored over dinner by verifying that the Bresse chicken breast is best, especially with a couple of glasses of Beaujolais, the region’s wine. And another lovely short walk home in the light warm rain.
Beaune, Burgundy
Friday 18th September
Beaune
The morning was wet and grey but not cold. And Hemingway’s aphorism about Paris being a movable feast can certainly be applied to all of France. Today we started with a tour of the Fallot Moutardie (mustard) factory which ended with a tasting of 4 different mustards and small sample pots - which we used on our ham, fromage and tomato baguettes for lunch.
Followed by Michael driving all of us to Chateau de Pommard the biggest and best? Wine maker in the whole Burgundy region and who continues to thrive and prosper from cellar door sales alone. Included in the tour of the wine making process and cellars was a tasting of 4 different wines and a 43% proof spirit, followed by entrance to the Dali exhibition in the chateau’s own gallery (the owner is an art and Dali buff and has some amazing sculptures in the courtyard: an enormous melting clock, a unicorn, St George slaying the dragon, etc.,). The exhibition included small sculptures and prints but did not represent the more contentious, shocking, challenging, controversial aspects of Dali. But the glimpses of the vineyards through arches and giant doorways of the mansion, in the heat of the afternoon were “superb” (the French do incline towards the use of superlatives).
Another aspect of the French psyche we have gleaned is we think there still may be a castle mentality in their makeup. Especially due to the existence of high walls everywhere, through which occasionally as a heavy wooden door opens we catch a scene of a beautiful garden in a courtyard surrounded by apartments, or whole factories which are just not visible from the street.
Then a short nap before participating in a Wine Tasting of three local producers where we may or may not have educated our palates in the appreciation of fine wines, including an understanding and articulation of the wines’ finer points. But we will bore you to death with our expertise when we return.
Then to round off a perfect day we all attended a Jazz concert by two bands: Festen Quartet & Amina Sextet. This was a novel experience for me but I reckon I got Jazz for the first time and it was a lovely walk home at nearly midnight in the warm rain.
Beaune
The morning was wet and grey but not cold. And Hemingway’s aphorism about Paris being a movable feast can certainly be applied to all of France. Today we started with a tour of the Fallot Moutardie (mustard) factory which ended with a tasting of 4 different mustards and small sample pots - which we used on our ham, fromage and tomato baguettes for lunch.
Followed by Michael driving all of us to Chateau de Pommard the biggest and best? Wine maker in the whole Burgundy region and who continues to thrive and prosper from cellar door sales alone. Included in the tour of the wine making process and cellars was a tasting of 4 different wines and a 43% proof spirit, followed by entrance to the Dali exhibition in the chateau’s own gallery (the owner is an art and Dali buff and has some amazing sculptures in the courtyard: an enormous melting clock, a unicorn, St George slaying the dragon, etc.,). The exhibition included small sculptures and prints but did not represent the more contentious, shocking, challenging, controversial aspects of Dali. But the glimpses of the vineyards through arches and giant doorways of the mansion, in the heat of the afternoon were “superb” (the French do incline towards the use of superlatives).
Another aspect of the French psyche we have gleaned is we think there still may be a castle mentality in their makeup. Especially due to the existence of high walls everywhere, through which occasionally as a heavy wooden door opens we catch a scene of a beautiful garden in a courtyard surrounded by apartments, or whole factories which are just not visible from the street.
Then a short nap before participating in a Wine Tasting of three local producers where we may or may not have educated our palates in the appreciation of fine wines, including an understanding and articulation of the wines’ finer points. But we will bore you to death with our expertise when we return.
Then to round off a perfect day we all attended a Jazz concert by two bands: Festen Quartet & Amina Sextet. This was a novel experience for me but I reckon I got Jazz for the first time and it was a lovely walk home at nearly midnight in the warm rain.
Beaune, Burgundy
Thursday 17th September
Beaune, Burgundy
Woke up slowly as nothing was planned really, however we decided to make our own breakfast -baguette and rabbit &/0r 4 fruits jam and a cuppa - just perfect. Then we wandered to the Hotel Dieu (Hospices de Beaune) via very many shops and boutiques all adorable really and prices ranged from 20E to 1,500E for a handbag, the way was also dotted with galleries, antique shops and dozens of wine sellers/cellars/tastings.
The Hotel Dieu was built by the Duke of Burgundy as a hospital for the sick, when the district had fallen on hard times in 1443. Many artists were inspired by the benevolence and contributed major works of art. The masterpiece of which was an altarpiece by Roger Van der Weyden created over 7 years in the 1500s. Amazing detail to the point of painting each thread in the garments, or so it appears. The viewing of this polyptych was assisted by a giant mechanical magnifying glass which a guide controlled and moved as requested. Altogether amazing. This was one aspect of Flemish influence in Burgundy, another was the use of multi coloured glazed roof tiles to makes intricate patterns.
After lunch of ham and pate and terrine and soft fromage on baguettes we made our way via many little shops and boutiques (again) to the Notre Dame Basilica, not as awesome as the St Marie Madeleine Basilica at Vezelay and not as large as the St Lazar Cathedral at Autun but again it had its own unique points of interest: 1/- a beautiful tapestry made in 1500 retelling the story of the birth of Christ and the flight from Bethlehem to Egypt and 2/- reliquaries (bones caskets) of 2 saints whose names escape me (and some “autres” who shall remain nameless). Bit grisly, keeping these unknown relics but why don’t they decompose?.
Mary has just announced she feels she/we might be on a religious tour. We are not consciously looking out sacred sites but rather are drawn to those magnificent marvellous constructions which have been built on/for & by the power of prayer or by on/for & by in service to some other idea. As per the Louvre – a museum to house creations of beauty over the ages, or the fortresses, chateaus and castles built to preserve and protect those in power, over the past 1,000 years. But it is a bit of a mystery how these incredible structures were made – where did this know-how evolve, how was the mathematics and physics behind this architecture calculated, how were all the people involved coordinated and kept on task. Could we build a similar cathedral today using tools & machinery from the 1,000 AD?
Karol found a lovely nouvelle cuisine restaurant where the 4 of us enjoyed a delicious light dinner, beautifully presented with an assortment of flavours and sauces. Then home to an early night as we have a full day planned tomorrow.
Beaune, Burgundy
Woke up slowly as nothing was planned really, however we decided to make our own breakfast -baguette and rabbit &/0r 4 fruits jam and a cuppa - just perfect. Then we wandered to the Hotel Dieu (Hospices de Beaune) via very many shops and boutiques all adorable really and prices ranged from 20E to 1,500E for a handbag, the way was also dotted with galleries, antique shops and dozens of wine sellers/cellars/tastings.
The Hotel Dieu was built by the Duke of Burgundy as a hospital for the sick, when the district had fallen on hard times in 1443. Many artists were inspired by the benevolence and contributed major works of art. The masterpiece of which was an altarpiece by Roger Van der Weyden created over 7 years in the 1500s. Amazing detail to the point of painting each thread in the garments, or so it appears. The viewing of this polyptych was assisted by a giant mechanical magnifying glass which a guide controlled and moved as requested. Altogether amazing. This was one aspect of Flemish influence in Burgundy, another was the use of multi coloured glazed roof tiles to makes intricate patterns.
After lunch of ham and pate and terrine and soft fromage on baguettes we made our way via many little shops and boutiques (again) to the Notre Dame Basilica, not as awesome as the St Marie Madeleine Basilica at Vezelay and not as large as the St Lazar Cathedral at Autun but again it had its own unique points of interest: 1/- a beautiful tapestry made in 1500 retelling the story of the birth of Christ and the flight from Bethlehem to Egypt and 2/- reliquaries (bones caskets) of 2 saints whose names escape me (and some “autres” who shall remain nameless). Bit grisly, keeping these unknown relics but why don’t they decompose?.
Mary has just announced she feels she/we might be on a religious tour. We are not consciously looking out sacred sites but rather are drawn to those magnificent marvellous constructions which have been built on/for & by the power of prayer or by on/for & by in service to some other idea. As per the Louvre – a museum to house creations of beauty over the ages, or the fortresses, chateaus and castles built to preserve and protect those in power, over the past 1,000 years. But it is a bit of a mystery how these incredible structures were made – where did this know-how evolve, how was the mathematics and physics behind this architecture calculated, how were all the people involved coordinated and kept on task. Could we build a similar cathedral today using tools & machinery from the 1,000 AD?
Karol found a lovely nouvelle cuisine restaurant where the 4 of us enjoyed a delicious light dinner, beautifully presented with an assortment of flavours and sauces. Then home to an early night as we have a full day planned tomorrow.
Vezelay - Beaune
Wednesday 16th September
Vezelay – Beaune
We had a leisurely start to the day, with breakfast in the Salle a Petit Dejeuner. There was a lovely view overlooking the vineyards in the valley below, and industrious workers beginning to pick the grapes. Idyllic. We headed off to the Basilica before we left, as Michael and Karol had said that they had seen Mary Magdalene’s relics, and Karol did not have a photo as she respected the reverence of the place. So, when Dick and I went into the crypt to see the relics, we had to try and get passed a whole lot of very pushy senior cits, who were madly taken millions of photos, and NOT respecting the reverence of the place. Not impressed by that older generation of tourists at all.
Back into the car, set Madame (Sat Nav) and off we headed to Autun. Autun calls itself the oldest continuous city in France. Another picturesque town, with chateau, fortress, a magnificent 11th century cathedral dedicated to Saint Lazarus – probably with remains in situ, but certainly with relics (not on display) – and a Roman Theatre. We stopped and wandered around the town, paid 0.30 euro each for the WC and had a lunch. Baguettes, of course, but no fromage, instead, a Pate de Lapin, Jambon (ham) in herbed aspic and a ham terrine, bought from a little market in Vezelay. Beautiful. We stopped at the Roman Theatre and tested the acoustics. Very good! Next to the amphitheatre was a house made of stones that were identical to those that made up the tiers in the theatre, and it also had several statues – Roman and later, embedded in the walls. Someone was very enterprising and saved themselves a lot of francs, when they built their house!
We drove on to Beaune, which is in the heart of the Burgundy region, the red wine capital of the world. There are hectares and hectares of vines in every direction. It appears we are here at the start of the picking season and the caves and chateau look very inviting.
We are all looking forward to our degustation of local produce and wine! Our gourmet tour of France continues!
Vezelay – Beaune
We had a leisurely start to the day, with breakfast in the Salle a Petit Dejeuner. There was a lovely view overlooking the vineyards in the valley below, and industrious workers beginning to pick the grapes. Idyllic. We headed off to the Basilica before we left, as Michael and Karol had said that they had seen Mary Magdalene’s relics, and Karol did not have a photo as she respected the reverence of the place. So, when Dick and I went into the crypt to see the relics, we had to try and get passed a whole lot of very pushy senior cits, who were madly taken millions of photos, and NOT respecting the reverence of the place. Not impressed by that older generation of tourists at all.
Back into the car, set Madame (Sat Nav) and off we headed to Autun. Autun calls itself the oldest continuous city in France. Another picturesque town, with chateau, fortress, a magnificent 11th century cathedral dedicated to Saint Lazarus – probably with remains in situ, but certainly with relics (not on display) – and a Roman Theatre. We stopped and wandered around the town, paid 0.30 euro each for the WC and had a lunch. Baguettes, of course, but no fromage, instead, a Pate de Lapin, Jambon (ham) in herbed aspic and a ham terrine, bought from a little market in Vezelay. Beautiful. We stopped at the Roman Theatre and tested the acoustics. Very good! Next to the amphitheatre was a house made of stones that were identical to those that made up the tiers in the theatre, and it also had several statues – Roman and later, embedded in the walls. Someone was very enterprising and saved themselves a lot of francs, when they built their house!
We drove on to Beaune, which is in the heart of the Burgundy region, the red wine capital of the world. There are hectares and hectares of vines in every direction. It appears we are here at the start of the picking season and the caves and chateau look very inviting.
We are all looking forward to our degustation of local produce and wine! Our gourmet tour of France continues!
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