Blogs from Italy, Europe - page 7

We’re a bit slow off the mark after a long day of travelling yesterday. Sleep also proved a bit elusive; Monopoli felt very much like a party town at 2am as we struggled in vain to get some shuteye. I head out for an aimless wander along the waterfront past the old city walls. There are some rusty old cannons sitting on the section in front of our apartment which perhaps hints a bit at their history. They were apparently built in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries when Muslim pirates started getting a bit unfriendly towards the locals. Shortly afterwards they then also helped keep out the Spanish Armada during a three month siege, which seems like an impressive effort for such a small town. Next up is the port - the harbour’s well ... read more

In the last blog entry, we told you that we had arrived in Italy in the town of Crotone. That was in the morning of June 24thand we decided to head into the marina after our overnight passage. It gave us time to get a full night’s sleep without being on duty every 4 hours, but also gave Bob time to change the oil in the engine. It is much easier to do when the boat is “stable” in a marina rather than at anchor. It doesn’t say he hasn’t done that, but if there is a choice and it works out with the timing necessary for the oil change, why not! It also gives the added bonus of having a place to take the used oil rather than keeping it on board for a later ... read more

The logistics in the large breakfast room at the hotel are a bit interesting. The designers apparently thought it was a good idea to put the milk as far away as possible from the cereal, and the butter and marmalade as far away as possible from the toaster, so I guess they figured the main priority should be for the guests to get some early morning exercise. At least the toaster’s next to the bread, but that doesn’t mean an end to the morning’s challenges. The toaster’s one of the stranger contraptions I've come across in our travels. You’ve got to load the bread into a steel clamp type arrangement before putting it into the toaster, and if you only remember to turn on one of the elements it comes out only toasted on one side. ... read more

A forecast temperature in the mid to high 30’s resulted in us beginning our sightseeing much earlier than yesterday. A coffee to begin with and then we hit the hard paths. What follows are summaries of researched background information. First stop the Trevi Fountain which we first visited in 1984. The fountain was completed in 1762. It was constructed at the intersection of Rome’s then 3 most important thoroughfares. Standing 26.3m high and 49.15m wide, it is the largest baroque fountain in the city and one of the most famous fountains in the world. In January 2013, it was announced that the Italian fashion company Fendi would sponsor a 20-month, 2.2-million-euro restoration of the fountain. Restoration work began in June 2014 and was completed in November 2015. Second stop the Victor Emmanuel monument, also first visited ... read more

First up this morning is a climb up the clock tower of the Palazzo d’Accursio in Piazza Maggiore. I read that the first mention of the Palazzo was back in 1287 when the Accursio family sold one of the family homes to the Municipality of Bologna. It’s effectively been the Bologna Town Hall ever since .... the papal legate even had his apartments and offices there when Bologna was one of the Papal States. It came to national attention in 1920, in an incident during a council meeting presided over by the newly elected socialist mayor. The Piazza was packed with cheering citizens when a fascist paramilitary squad turned up. Shots were fired, and ten died and 58 were injured when the crowd got caught in the crossfire between the fascists and the Carabinieri. After yesterday’s ... read more