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Wes and James eating italian
Here we have Wes and James, both from ASU, enjoying their lunch. We were out for our lunch hour (or hour and a half or so, depending on when we had to meet back up) near the Rialto bridge, so it was an interesting place to find standing room. That was a day that we chose not to pay extra to sit and eat. Anywhere that had less expensive food AND a place to sit was quite rare. Hello from Ravenna! Our group arrived here from Venice on Sunday, and while our hotel is behind the train station, pretty much, we have to walk around it and underground and back up and all again. We managed this with suitcases, but as we did so, a few remarked that it was a lot like Georgia weather! We truly did leave some high prices behind in Venice, but there are times when I'd like to trade those prices for some breezes and the cooler weather.
We will be here until Thursday the 5th, but let me add some last things from Venice. I actually can say I've ridden a gondola. It was just for five minutes, though, and across the Grand Canal. The retired gondolas (traghettos) do this for about 50 cents, and yet they took a boat and piled most of our group into it! Most were intimidated and sure we would fall in...thankfully, all our cameras and personal senses of security stayed intact. We took this boat to the Peggy Guggenheim, and from the art of Venice, I think that the various paintings around the city really stayed with me. I got to see some Duchamp, some
First gelato
Tom, Isaac, Shelly Whiting, and Mary Donnan all enjoy the first round of gelati. I had my first official one later, but this was a delicious-looking moment! :-) Pollack, some Picasso, and some other artists that bring me back to taking modernism in art and lit in England.
Of course there's more to talk about, but now we are in Ravenna, a couple of hours from Venice and reached by train. That also went well, but if you do the same with Italian trains, be prepared to jump off and get all your luggage (and group members) off quickly! We made it to the Hotel Mosaico, and yes, Ravenna is sure to remind its visitors that it is famous for its mosaics. They are everywhere, and after seeing them in several churches, I think I'm ready for paintings and sculptures again. But this town has been invaded multiple times in history, it has been bypassed multiple times, and it is considered a town of old Italy, as it were. Fewer people here may speak English, but we had no trouble eating out and today, all getting gelato! :-) Our biggest surprise was the walk to dinner.
We naturally are walking to places like the Basilica di S. Vitale, the Piazza del Popolo, a few baptism buildings (much smaller), and for me, the highlight of seeing the
Venice, from a tall bridge!
A taller bridge (also more steps up!) helped set the stage for this view. We were almost doing step aerobics to go up and down, here and there, through many a square, and to see all that we had to see. writer Dante's tomb (he was exiled here, and when he died, the people of Ravenna built a fake tomb so that his body would not be stolen. He has a nice grave site and area now, so being exiled wasn't so bad after all!), but we took a bus out to one of the churches. In the heat it's something else, but for dinner, we did not know that the place was about 2 to 3 miles away! We got lost the first night, about walked through a ghetto, got barked at by some dogs, and then some, but by tonight we have got it down. We like the food (and the portions) of this restaurant, so we are staying with it. It's just a hike away, and through a lovely little park with a duck pond and so on. That is definitely the more scenic part. And while it means several miles a day for what I'll call my Italian mode of eating and exercising, it can work.
Tomorrow is our free day, so some want to head to the beach. A lot of the group is getting into playing cards in the lobby (Pounce, anyone?), and right
Mosaico hotel
Named after, you guessed it, mosaics. Ravenna is mostly known for its mosaics, and we saw about all of them. The way they added to Ravenna's churches was something you just don't see everyday, though. And our hotel, while 'near' the rail station, was a ways out from it all. That would have been fine, yet we also had renovations going on there! The stories never stop, I swear... now, others are still attempting to watch italian tv (which could be a total entry by itself...too funny) and plan our their day. I should work on my scrapbook and get those postcards out, but it's time to get the laundry we've hung up dry--and to do more! Ciao for now, and I hope to write again during the first few days of Florence. We head there next.
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Richard Rogers
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Sounds Exciting So Far!
It sounds like you've already enjoyed a lot of what Italy has to offer, with much more on the way, I'm sure. Also, luggage seems to be a recurring theme! Anyway, better luck with that as the trip goes on. Enjoying your posts!