Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
No blogs for several days owing to an Internet outage--seems our landlord's modem fell down and couldn't get up. Spent a few evenings at the local bar using their wifi mostly to stay in touch with family.
But it hasn't slowed down our touring. Day before yesterday we were in Ravenna, a small town south of Venice, with the most beautiful mosaics we have ever seen, covering the walls and ceilings of medieval churches. These works date from the 5th and 6th centuries--fully 1,000 years before the Renaissance masterpieces we've been seeing inFlorence. Don't miss our picture of these.
The Medici Chapel attached to the Duomo is an overwhelming monument to the family largely responsible for financing many of the best artists of the Renaissance. We were not prepared for its grandeur or the beauty of Michaelangelo's sculptures made for the burial of the Medicis. The collective wealth of this family, memorialized in the painting, sculpture, and architecture of Florence alone (never mind their holdings elsewhere in Italy) is mindboggling. Talk about the 1%...
Walking around the towns of Tuscany, we are always struck by the enormous walls--40 - 50 feet high, sometimes 50 feet thick, and frequently several miles long. For every Michaelangelo or Donatello there had to have been 10,000 brick layers and stone masons toiling away on the walls. But I guess that if you felt your life depended on it, you'd have the initiative to keep at it. And another thing. A lot of people worked on things that were never finished (or even had a chance of being finished) in their lifetime. A slightly different frame of mind than most of us have today.
- comments
Diane Your adventures are amazing! The relaxed pace and ability to live without a lot of stuff makes traveling so much different than real life. Thanks for sharing with us. We missed you on the Cape. Yesterday was the most amazing blend of fresh white snow sticking to trees and warm, spring sun.
pat we are enjoying your trip from ours! we had started to see signs of spring in the UK but Edinburgh is as cold as I have ever been on the windiest ski trip imaginable. but we feel as though its part of the adventure. looking forward to our time together in Amsterdam!