Tag: Italy
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Orvieto, Lucca e Firenze … a catch up
Last Sunday I visited the charming hilltop town of Orvieto. It was pleasant to wander around the flea market and the shops. The Cathedral is really lovely and the town is quaint with many little backstreets. This week I enjoyed my classes and went out with my new friends most days. I also visited an…
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Last night with friends and today quiet places
It was so good to catch up with Cristina … she prepared one of her delicious dinners of pasta and then some tasty savoury tarts with asparagus and a soft chocolate pudding. We had a convivial evening. It was good to be back in her delightful apartment though it was challenging to drag up my…
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My last day
Well I’ve just finished my last lesson. My Italian has improved and I’ve learned a lot although I got off to an over ambitious start which dented my confidence. The grammar of prepositions has been very difficult as Italian has about seven variants for each one and they use them differently … English is much…
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Today … visits to Flea Market at Santo Spirito, Brancacci Chapel and Queer Cinema
Last night I enjoyed a delicious dinner at Laura’s with some of her friends. I had met Gregorio and Roberta before. They are charming. They had a very rapid conversation about the Meloni situation which was amusing. Cloister at Santo Spirito … a rather austere church Santo Spirito contains a crucifix by the young Michelangelo……
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Capella Scrovegni a Padua e Giotto
I’m writing this sitting by the Grand Canal having my Colazzione. Yesterday was very busy: St Marks, Doge’s Palace and Padua combined with a lot of walking. As i walked I was struck by how hard it must be living in Venice. Bridges and steps everywhere, deliveries by trollies, hauled up and over bridges or…
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A day in Arezzo
Yesterday evening after a busy day and a 2 mile walk in 30 degree heat from Santo Spirito along the Arno I found Laura had invited Cristina, my host from my stay in Florence in June, to dinner with her friend Gianfranco. Laura and Cristina are good friends it seems. It was lovely to see…
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Not ready to leave
I have packed and am ready to leave. I really loved it here and will miss Cristina and her family. It’s been one of the best experiences I have ever had. Breakfast on the terrace with the smell of flower and the sound of the swallows in the sunshine I shall always remember and the…
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The afternoon tour
This afternoon our tour with the lovely Maurizio took us to the 13th century church of Santa Maria Novella. Not necessarily beautiful architecturally though it was interesting. A large church it’s principal interest lay in the wonderful frescoes in the Tornabuoni chapel by Ghirlandaio from the late 15th century and those earlier frescoes in another…
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A visit to the Museo del Duomo e La Battisteria
This morning I awoke a little later than usual. I didn’t realise how tired I was. I had booked tickets for the museum and the Baptistery as the weekend is free. It’s a little drizzly today but very warm. The museum is excellent. To preserve them many of the original sculptures together with Ghiberti’s fabulous…
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An Italian evening
Yesterday evening I had a nice surprise. Cristina had invited two of her friends to meet me. We had dinner together and I tried to drag my Italian together and have a conversation. Luckily they spoke good English too. They corrected me when I was wrong which was very helpful. They were very welcoming and…
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Pomeriggio a L’ospidale degli Innocenti
This afternoon we had a wonderful afternoon at the Ospidale. A very beautiful renaissance building by Brunelleschi. It was a fascinating place founded by the guild of silk makers in the fifteenth century as a place where women who were poor, prositutes and abandoned children could be left to be cared for by the church.…
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A room with a view
I’m sitting at the table having my colazione of cereal, yoghurt, fruit and croissant looking at the view of the terrace in Cristina’s apartment… it’s sunny today after yesterday’s rain and the swallows are flying high squealing … they zoom everywhere. The bells of Firenze are ringing out from the churches. It’s one of those…
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Ravenna III
Baptistery of Neoniano Another beautiful little brick building hiding wonders. Sixth century. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves
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Ravenna II
Mausoleum of Galla Placidia This tiny fifth century brick building is a jewel inside. It looks nothing from the outside but the interior is full of wonders. The mosaics show early Christian iconography and imagery in Byzantine style; very different from our later ways of depicting Christ. It is utterly moving and so beautiful. The…
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The Mosaics of Ravenna I
San Vitale I’ll publish each church separately Begun in 525 this remarkable building was built and later decorated under the aegis of the Emperor Justinian and his wife, the powerful Empress Theodora. Both appear in these fantastic mosaics. They are truly inspirational in scale and workmanship. The photos don’t do them justice … the golden…
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Il Torre Asinelli
I did it … 97.2m and 498 steps … I as terrified but it was exhilarating… and fantastic views of the city … when I dared get close enough to the edge. There used to be over 100 towers in Bologna but only 24 remain. Asinelli is the tallest. The neighbouring tower, Garisanda leans at…
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The Archiginnasio di Bologna
This is a is a splendid place. The seat of the old university and still in use as it houses the rare book collection of the university and also the Stabat Mater room which is used for some lectures. Redolent with learning and the researches of great minds of the past. It also contains the…
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Escaping ….
I’ve called this blog escape to myself and it’s struck me how many people I’ve met are escaping from something… or trying to find a place where they fit. Like me there is a dissatisfaction with their lives and they are consumed with the idea that somewhere there is that place in which they find…
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A lovely day with a new friend
A lovely chilled day in the sunshine with a coffee and walk around the city with Sophy who lives in Devon. We had a relaxing wander and found we had a lot in common. Lunch of polenta, sausage and cheese rosti at a boho restaurant with a relaxed vibe … outside in the sunshine. Then…
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A really unexpected evening …
Friendship is the golden thread that ties the heart of all the world. ….. quote from John Evelyn “Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer”….E.M. Forster, Howards…
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… to Aquileia… a hidden jewel
I wasn’t sure what I would find here. A train journey and then waiting for a bus it seemed quite a journey as it’s about 40 miles from Trieste. However I’d heard about it and it is yet another UNESCO world heritage site so I thought it would be worth a look. I walked a…
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A visit to the Banksy exhibition
This was a really fascinating exhibition. While we all know about Banksy and his notoriety this presentation gave me a real insight into his mindset; his politics, humanity and way of seeing the paradox of the world in which we live. The basis of capitalism which underpins war, consumerism and the unseen machinery directing our…
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Leaving Genova for Trieste
Well I’m feeling better. Not because Cedric and I spent a wonderful day in Genoa … he showed me his favourite spots and Brignole is a really great part of the city but because I feel that I have dissipated the guilt I felt for not helping him out in Verona and he was so…
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By boat to the islands… Murano and Burano
Murano Taking a trip to the islands. It’s a beautiful day and while it’s breezy the sun is warm. It will be nice to have some time away from the city. Murano is very pretty and remarkably quiet. We had our glass demonstration which was interesting. Murano , contrary to expectations, was really lovely with…
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A little afternoon trip to Vicenza
A pretty little town which on a Sunday afternoon had a chilled and relaxed vibe. Everyone out for an afternoon stroll in the sunshine; a spritz, a coffee, a spremuta and some pasticceria. Musicians in the street, people window shopping (some great shops) or just taking the air. Young and old it felt so natural…
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A first morning in Venice … La Serenissima
I’m sitting in Florian’s in St Marks Square as I write. A piece of Vienna in Venice. Rather beautiful inside but of course it’s now a tourist attraction resting on the myth of turn of the century bourgeois experience. But the coffee is good even if it costs an arm, a leg and a head.…
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Ducal Palace in Mantua
The Palace is remarkable. It is a huge space with so many rooms and galleries. It is a testament to the wealth, power and pride of the Gonzaga family who ruled here. The frescos by Mantegna in La Camera degli Sposi are absolutely wonderful. Painted into wet plaster they seem fresh as the day the…
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Street Art in Desanzano del Garda
This is a very pretty little town: and very up market. As a result there is a lot of interesting street art. The big fibreglass animals are great fun. There are also some good modern sculptures throughout the squares I had the chance to catch a street installation … “Riflessi del Lago”. Using recycled clothing…
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Last Day in Florence… still enticing … and an Escher exhibition
I’m still finding hidden views and places on my final morning here. It’s a fascinating place. Chiesa Santa Maria Maggiore A beautiful church with some original 14th century Frescos Escher exhibition True to form I found an exhibition! Escher is fascinating and what a great draughtsman. His inventiveness and wonderful precision is hypnotic. The first…
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Uffizi
Not sure I loved the Uffizi if I’m honest. I saw some of the famous painters but it was a lot of religious art by a lot of second rank Renaissance painters. However did get to see theee or four works I loved; Botticelli, Caravaggio, Rembrandt and Bellini among them. At €25 I thought it…
Escape to myself 