Sunday October 30, 2011

We skipped the walk today, as we knew we had an early bus ride down the Amalfi Coast. What a lovely ride. They have changed the rules since we were here last. Cars are allowed to travel both ways on the scenic road, but busses are only allowed to travel down (South). The day was perfect! Sunny and warm with fantastic views of villages carved into the huge cliffs. It seems as if the houses are built on top of each other like a pile of a child’s blocks (see photo). We stopped at a large ceramic shop for a bathroom break and also so that we could exchange seats side to side in order that everyone could enjoy the majestic views. Our first official stop was in the town of Amalfi. Most of us elected to take a 45-minute boat ride along the coast. We had wonderful views of some lovely houses that were not visible from the road overhead. We passed the house that Sophia Loren used to own and also a very excusive hotel where the Jacqueline Kennedy and Michael Jackson were guests (not at the same time!). The captain also pointed out Gore Vidal’s home. Back on land, we had an hour to walk around the town of Amalfi. I finally found a few postcards to send to the last of the grandchildren. I could make a mint designing appropriate postcards – ah, well, another life! We then went on a bit and stopped for lunch in a lovely restaurant with fantastic views of the mountains and the sea (see photo). Unfortunately, I was not crazy about either of the menu choices and the dessert was soaked in liquor so I am quite hungry now as I write and wait to go out to dinner. I had a salad, a few fried potatoes and an apple. Oh well, I have to start to lose the pounds from eating all this pasta at some point! We did get to sing Happy Birthday to one of our fellow travelers. Larry turned 66 today. Our next stop was to the garden of a villa in Rufolo. The town is known for music and they have a huge, but ugly new amphitheater for concerts. Wagner stayed here and composed some of his music while looking at the fantastic scenery. The villa gardens were lovely. They was set on top of a hill and you could look down onto the Mediterranean Sea (see photo). Because the weather is mild, there were many flowers still in blooms. Our autumn was late this year, but we are enjoying the colors of Italy. Some of the trees turn yellow and orange and the grape vines and other vines turn bright red (see photo). We had a long bus ride home. Our bus was smaller than the normal one which is a good thing for the width of the road going down the coast, but not so good for one’s legs – it was quite cramped. We arrived back at 5 PM and will go out to dinner with Susanne. Lana, John and Kelly are going to a dinner theater to see the Tarantella show.

Saturday October 29, 2011

Today the walking trio made it down to the waterfront on the small pier where the fishermen come in with their catch. We made it back in time for breakfast. Kelly is going on the optional tour of Pompeii and to the Museum of Naples. The rest of us decided to go just to Pompeii. We caught the 8:30 train and made it to Pompeii just after it opened. In fact, we saw Kelly and the rest of the group just after we entered the site. We wandered around and saw some of the same things we had seen last time we were here, but also discovered a few new places such as the botanical garden. The first photo is of a piece of original wall art in a house in Pompeii. The other is a part of the ruins with Mount Vesuvius in the background. We walked for three and a helf hours and then declared that it was time for lunch. We ate panini across from the entrance to the site and then walked a short way to the train station. We chatted with a young couple from Fort Lauderdale, Florida who are here on their honeymoon. When we came back to town, it was siesta time so we decided to rest until 4 when the shops open again. We did a little shopping and then came back to the hotel before going out again for dinner. On the way back, we ran into Kelly who had just returned from her tour. She loved Pompeii and the Museum of Naples, but agreed with us that Naples itself is a sleazy city. We may go back to the Foreigner’s Club again for dinner as Lana and John have not eaten there yet. Maybe there will be another wedding!

No wedding tonight, but a university graduation. We finished dinner just as the guests were arriving so we didn’t get to share the entertainment, but we did do a survey on what the young people were wearing. We paid particular attention to the shoes – very high heels, 5 to 6 inches, whether she was wearing a very short dress (seems to be in again) or tight jeans. We had to turn our clocks back an hour as they observe daylight savings time here also. Tomorrow we will take a ride down the Amalfi Coast.

Friday October 28, 2011

John, Dave and I walked this morning before breakfast. We walked down to the square (see photo) and on the way passed the small hotel we had stayed in previously. After breakfast, Manuela took us for an orientation walk around town (see Manuela holding an Imperial lemon - huge!). We then split off and went shopping in the old part of the city. We tried to find the little shop that Lana remembered from our last trip, but they were no longer in the same spot. We stopped to have a pizza lunch bear St. Antonio square and were serenaded by a group of men – they were playing and singing a combination of Italian, Spanish and American songs. We went back to the hotel to put our feet up for an hour and then Kelly, Susanne and I went out again (Dave had had enough of shopping – Lana and John had gone on an optional tour to made pizza). We returned after an hour or so and picked up Dave to go to dinner. We decided to go to the Foreigner’s Club, which is located on a terrace overlooking the Mediterranean Sea with Mount Vesuvius in the background. There was a small wedding taking place at the Club, but since the side of the room was open to the dining room, we were able to see what was going on. The entertainment was a troupe of Tarantella dancers – it was quite lively. At one point we heard Taps being played, but it segued into a lively tune so we knew the wedding wasn’t over as we first thought. We heard the wedding march and that prompted the entrance of the wedding cake on a rolling table. Kelly was aghast as we saw one young lady wearing a black dress, black stockings, and white shoes! Most everyo9ne was very well dressed, but we did see one young man in a tee shirt and hoodie! The dinner was very nice, but we certainly enjoyed the unexpected entertainment.

Thursday October 27, 2011

Sorry for the delay in the blog. We have to pay for internet service in Sorrento so I wanted to wait a couple of days so that I can get a few blogs on before we run out of minutes.

We had a lovely time at the farewell dinner last night. The food was excellent although, again, there was too much of it, and we had entertainment in the form of a man and woman who sang and played the trumpet. Dave and I danced to a waltz before heading up to bed.

We got our big bags out to the hall by 6:45 AM and then had breakfast before getting on the bus. We are headed to Sorrento. We stopped for a brief visit to Orvietto, a hill town that is reached by funicular and a small bus. Unfortunately, it was quite foggy this morning so we did not get the great views that you might get on a sunny day.
We walked around and took photos of narrow alleyways (see how foggy it is?) and unusual benches (see photo) scattered around town. We continued our trip and stopped for a quick lunch at a roadside café. It was a bit confusing here until we discovered that you had to pay in advance and then order what you wanted from the counter. While we were waiting to board the bus, we chatted with some high school students who were here on a field trip from a small fishing village in Northern Ireland. We said that we had been to Giant’s Causeway and one of the girls said she had never been there despite it being practically in her backyard. We arrived in Sorrento a little after 3 and very soon thereafter headed to the Laundromat. We were getting tired on stomping on our dirty clothes in the shower, rinsing and then hanging them around the room to dry. We had dinner in the hotel as a group.

Wednesday October 26, 2011

No walk this morning – it was raining and quite soggy out. After breakfast, we went to the old part of Chianciano to visit the Etruscan Archeological Museum. The Etruscans of this area were from as early as the seventh to the fifth century BC. Most of the objects that have been excavated were found in underground funeral sites. Since this is a volcanic area, there is much tufa (a soft chalky type of earth that is easy to dig). Many of the objects that were discovered were funerary urns (see photo - note that the head lifts off to insert ashes or bones). A larger funerary urn was in the form of a mother and child (see photo). It is not known whether this was to honor a mother who had died in childbirth or a princely boy who is shown in his mother’s arms. It seems to be a precursor to the Madonna and Child. We left our town and headed to Cortona, another Etruscan hill town. Unfortunately, it was still raining (hard at times) so we didn’t get to explore as thoroughly as we might have on a sunny day. We walked along the Via Nazionale, which is the only level street in the town. At various points along the street there were narrow flights of stairs going downhill (see photo). We ate lunch and then headed back to the hotel. By the time we got back the sun was out and things were beginning to dry up. Tonight we will have a goodbye dinner at the hotel with music and dancing.

Tuesday October 25, 2011

After breakfast today we headed to Assisi, which is in another district, Umbria. We met a local guide, Marco, who was a wonderful guide for the Basilica di San Francesco (Basilica of St. Francis). He was passionate about his subject and very theatrical! We went through the lower church first, which was covered in frescoes. He explained that these were early frescoes and pointed out that the people were not painted life-like, but were rather stilted. We then went down to the crypt where we could see the tomb of St. Francis. The upper church was much brighter of course and filled with frescoes which were much more life-like. There were many panels depicting the life of St. Francis. Many of these wall decorations were attributed to famous artists such as Giotto, Lorenzetti, and Martini. We saw a large number of Franciscan monks and nuns as well as other people of the church from other orders. There was much going on in the churchyard as the Pope is coming here on Thursday. In fact we were quite lucky, as the church will be closed tomorrow at 3 PM so that a security check of the church can be made before the arrival of the Pope. According to Marco, there are only 2000 people who live in the old town of Assisi and 1400 of them are religious figures. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos in the church so I can only say that the frescoes were quite beautiful, but cannot show you any of them. The upper church was damaged in the earthquake of 1997, but most of the damage has been repaired. The photo above is of the huge basilica. Note that the arches are the lower church and the main building is on top. We then had our free time and walked around the medieval streets, poking our heads into a number of shops. We ended up at the base of the hill on which the Basilica sits at the Hotel Windsor Savoie. The photo of the wall sconce is from the dining room. It is made of Venetian glass – quite beautiful. The dining rooms here were huge and it was obvious that they catered to tour groups. By the time we were eating our lunch, two of the enormous rooms were full with various groups from many countries. I could distinguish French, Italian, German, and English being spoken – a modern-day Babel. Lunch was wonderful – a choice of minestrone soup or lasagna, chicken with salad and profiterole for dessert (sort of like a cream puff with chocolate sauce). We then drove down the hill and visited St. Mary of the Angels church (see the golden statue of St. Mary), which has a beautiful 11th century chapel inside of it – quite unusual. St. Mary’s was built over the chapel and is located in the nave. Just outside the chapel is where St. Francis died. The Pope will also visit this site. On our way back to Chianciano Terme, we passed by Perugia (of Amanda Knox fame). Our guide said she was in Perugia with a different group when the ruling of her release was announced. She said the square in front of the Hall of Justice was packed and a bit rowdy. Apparently, many Italians thought that she was released under pressure from the United States and are not convinced of her innocence. We also made a stop to see Lake Trasimeno (see photo), the fourth largest lake in Italy. Ducks along the shore serenaded us as we admired the view. We came back to town and Lana, Kelly, and I meandered around the plaza area and did a bit of window shopping. Some of the items for sale were lovely, but the prices were also quite lovely so we returned to the hotel empty handed. We went across the street to a small café and had sandwiches or salads. The movie tonight was “Tea with Mussolini”. It had some wonderful actresses – Lily Tomlin, Maggie Smith, Cher, and Judy Dench. I ended up watching the whole thing – it was quite good and took place in Florence for the most part so it was fun to recognize many of the places we had been.

Monday October 24, 2011

Today we took a tour of the medieval city of Siena known for its red brick. We first stopped at San Domenico, which is a gothic church. Inside there is a chapel dedicated to St. Catherine, the patron saint of the city. Her skull is on display as well as her thumb. She is known for her many visions and for persuading Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome from Avignon, France after his many years of exile there. From there we walked to the beautiful Duomo (cathedral) located on one of the three hills of the city. One of the most spectacular aspects of the duomo was the inlaid marble floor (see photo). There were biblical scenes depicted as well as medieval astrology and alchemy. The other fascinating part for me was the Piccolomini Library full of frescoes of the life of Pope Pius II and cases full of illuminated Gregorian music pages (see photo of the ceiling of the library). The columns inside the church were striped – made of white and black marble (see photo). We walked down narrow streets to reach the Piazza del Campo; a large shell shaped “square” near the municipal buildings. Twice a year a bareback horse race takes place in the Campo (see photo of view across the Campo). Straws are drawn to see which ten of the seventeen districts of the city will be represented in the race. The winner is awarded a pennant, but the pride that goes with winning sustains the district throughout the year. Our guide said as many as 50,000 people come out to watch the race. The road around the Campo is cover with sand for the race and the spectators stand cheek to jowl in the Campo unless they are lucky enough to have a friend who has an apartment overlooking the space. We finished with our local guide and were given time on our own to explore and shop. We had a great time wandering around and stopped for a gelato, which we ate while window-shopping. Eventually we met up with Manuela and went to lunch at a local restaurant. We had wine of course, salad, gnocchi with a light spinach sauce and ricotta with huckleberry sauce – yum! The restaurant was again in a vaulted space - perhaps a storage area or wine cellar. The last photo is of beautiful flowers surrounding the door way of a bar across from the restaurant. We then followed Manuela to the bus, at least some of us did. John was following a Manuela look-a-like and veered off the path. We tried to call to him, but Kelly was able to run and catch up to him and get him back. Manuela treated us to almond cookies that she said were the specialty of Siena. They were soft inside and quite delicious. When we returned to the hotel, Dave and I decided that we would skip dinner and we were both stuffed! We walked down to the local grocery and picked up bananas and snacks to nibble on for dinner. Tonight at 8 there will be a showing of Under the Tuscan Sun in the auditorium. I may go for a while, but probably not for the whole film as I have seen it before. Tomorrow we will visit Assisi.