Strikes in Italy

If you're going to Italy, there is a website that keeps track of upcoming transportation strikes. It's useful.

p.s. This is the 250th post. Huzzah! Meaningless milestone!

Ravenna

Last weekend we took another trip, this time to two cities in Emilia-Romagna (the region north of Tuscany). Italy has its wealth of UNESCO World Heritage sights, and we were able to cross two off of the list this time.
First up on Saturday was Ravenna, to which we took a regional train that left way too early in the morning. It's not really a particularly attractive city, but maybe because of this, its treasures shine much brighter -- a wonderful collection of 6th century mosaics in its churches. Maybe it's also the fact that it was raining the whole time we were there that made it somewhat unattractive. Anyway, after arriving we dropped our bags at the hotel and then took the bus to the Basilica di Sant'Apollinare in Classe, a few km outside of town. This is probably one of the more beautiful churches I've seen so far, but then again I'm drawn to the more simple Romanesque style. In the apse was a giant mosaic of Sant'Apollinare (the patron saint of Ravenna) among many sheep, and Jesus simply symbolized by a cross.
From here, we made our way back into the city, again by bus, and stopped by the Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo. Here the mosaics were more golden, and on the side of the church -- The altar area was done in a clashing baroque style. The was a group of American students there (some of the few tourists we encountered these two days), and the guide pointed out that the word "palazzo" -- "palace"/"large building for living" -- came from the Palatine Hill in Rome, where many of these were located (there was also a mosaic of a palazzo). After a visit to the tomb of Dante Alighieri, we got some piadina for lunch and then checked into the hotel.

After warming up a bit, we went out again, stopping first at the Battistero degli Ariani, with mosaics depicting the baptism of Christ. Next was the Basilica di San Vitale, which still had some mosaics on the floor. On the walls were some of the most colorful mosaics in town, depicting biblical scenes, the usual array of evangelists and other saints, animals, as well as the court of Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora. Next door was the Mausoleo di Galla Placida, with a blue mosaic ceiling studded with stars. Finally, we walked to the Battistero Neoniano, another baptistry, again with a mosaic of the baptism of Christ (do I sense a theme here?). Cold and wet, we returned to the hotel and took advantage of the TV before going out for a pizza and pasta dinner.

Rome - Day 1

Last weekend was a long one in Italy (Monday was the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a holiday in catholic Italy), so we decided to take advantage and spend some time in Rome. Unfortunately, most of Italy seemed to be on the road this weekend as well, so when we tried to buy train tickets on Friday, the fast trains were already sold out. Therefore, we had to take the local train on Saturday morning, which took four hours instead of the one and a half non-stop with the Eurostar.
Nevertheless, after getting into Rome and checking into our hotel, we were ready for some sightseeing, for which we took the bus across town to St. Peter’s basilica. On the square in front, the Christmas tree was being raised, and after waiting in the security line for a while, we went into the cathedral. What’s most impressive about the church is surely the size – apart from a Michelangelo statue, there’s not too much in terms of art inside.
Afterwards, Kristen waited for me while I climbed up to the dome for some spectacular views of the city. After weeks of rain, it had stopped and the city looked great in the late afternoon winter light.
From there, we walked into the city. On a bridge across the Tiber, we watched swarms of songbirds flying around, making patterns in the sky. It was incredible how many birds there were and how in unison their flying patterns were.

Finally, we wandered through the streets to the Piazza Navona, where we unexpectedly found a Christmas market between the three baroque fountains of the piazza. Nearby, the Pantheon was closed for a Saturday evening mass, so we went back to the hotel for a while before heading out again for an excellent pasta dinner (Kristen had gnocchi with a gorgonzola and pear sauce, I had maccheroni all’amatriciana).

Bologna

Yesterday, we took a day trip to Bologna, one of the culinary capitals of Italy (home of Bolognese sauce, called ragu' there, and baloney, called mortadella), and only an hour's train trip away from Florence. Of course we ate a good lunch there, but most of the day was spent taking in the city's sights, which in typical Italian fashion, consist mostly of churches and other religious sites. I admit that after seeing such a wealth of impressive ecclesiastical paintings and frescoes, I'm starting to tire a bit of them and wouldn't mind seeing some post-16th century art every now and then. But the early art does get quite interesting at times, especially when depicting hell or martyrs, such as in the beautiful Oratory of Santa Cecilia. Other times, there's stuff who's meaning I must be missing, such as the depiction of the heads on platters in the magnificent woodwork in the choir of San Domenico (which houses the remains of Saint Dominic, founder of the Dominican order, by the way).
Also fun was the Medieval Museum, which in addition to more ecclesiastical paintings and sculptures, had some elaborate choirbooks, and a few rooms of medieval weapons and armor, as well as a visit to the oldest university in Europe (dating back to the 11th century), including its anatomical theater, where dissections were carried out in public. The landmark of the city are two towers preserved from the middle ages, one of which is leaning precariously -- maybe they had the same engineers as the Pisans? Finally, on the central plaza is a fountain with a statue of Neptune, on a base of women with water squirting out of strategic places.
So, all in all, Bologna is definitely a city worth visiting, and a nice contrast to the Tuscan towns we've seen so far, with far more red brick and less white marble (which is why its nickname is la rossa, which apparently also applies to its politics). Oh, and did I mention that there were far fewer tourists than in Florence?

Pisa

As you might have guessed from one of the previous posts, we went to visit Pisa last weekend, where one of the most popular activities is having your picture taken with the perspective so that it looks like you’re holding up the famous Leaning Tower there. But first things first – we took the train to Pisa, which is only about an hour away from Florence, and the first thing that struck me as we walked into town from the train station was how empty it was. Sure, it was Sunday morning, so all the shops were closed, but even on a Sunday Florence is packed with tourists and locals downtown. Now that summer holidays have kicked in, there’s almost no getting through the crowds anymore. We had come that day because we read that the Game of the Bridge was happening, and we saw people on the Ponte di Mezzo setting everything up, but the person we asked said that the procession and game wouldn’t happen until sometime that evening (we were not able to find any information on the timeplan online). So we walked around a bit and saw the sights of Pisa, saving the tower and cathedral for last. Though there are some nice piazzas and old churches, there is by far not the abundance of sights that there is in Florence. It turns out that all the tourists were assembled in the one square with Leaning Tower, cathedral, baptistery and Camposanto. We joined them, and though we did not climb the tower (expensive and you have to make reservations a few hours ahead of time), we admired the Pisano pulpits in both cathedral and baptistery, as well as the old sarcophagi and frescoes in the Camposanto. Since we were done with our sightseeing several hours before the Game of the Bridge was scheduled to start and it was very hot and sunny (as it has been the last weeks), we decided to simply return to Florence, and took the train back.

Quick trip home

When I bought my flight from Germany to Italy, I ended up buying a roundtrip flight, since that was considerably cheaper than a one-way flight. I thought I'd just not use the return flight, but I booked it for a Thursday anyway. It turned out that the Friday after the return is actually a public holiday in Italy (Liberation Day), so I decided to actually use the flight, visit my parents and pick up some more stuff to take with me. The flight itself was pretty uneventful, and I spent a few days eating well, visiting my dad's brother and family, and seeing what herb pots my parents had bought for our balcony in the new apartment in Florence. On the way back to Italy on Sunday, I took the train, which took a little over 11 hours (the plane takes a little over one!). The train ride wasn't too boring, though, since the route took me straight across Switzerland, so I got to see plenty of green pastures with cows and sheep, beautiful snow-covered mountains in the Alps, and some very pretty scenery at the lakes near the Italian border.