Anne and I are still unguided, traveling wherever our fancy takes us. Anne has a new favorite drink: an Italian aperitivo spritz.
Wednesday, 8/18: Anne had contacted Alessandro (Alex) Scacchetti (www.italydolomites.com) to show us the Dolomites while we were in Bolzano. Alex drove us the along the gorgeous Great Dolomite Road, sharing his vast knowledge and great love of these mountains. We traveled the Passo Sella, Rosengarten pass, saw the Latemar range/ massif, the Gardena valley, the Glacier Marmolada, traveling from 260 meters to 2240 meters high. We learned about and saw the results of a tornado named Vaia that came through the night of October 29, 2018, which destroyed an unbelievable 34 million trees. Spruce trees in this region have a resonant wood which is ideal and sought after for violin making. The unusual look of the Dolomites is due to coral in ancient seas here which kept growing up toward the light of the sun, giving the mountains the unusual color, peaks and chemical composition. The shifting of the plates pushed that coral up to form the mountains' impressive look. The Alpine lake, Lake Carezza, with its low algae levels has a clear translucent look. We learned there was terrible fighting in the mountains during WWI's winter of 1916. We lunched in the cool outside looking at two different mountains, and around the bend were even more mountains. Anne has wanted to see the Dolomites for years, and they are one of her favorites! We'll have to return to see the eastern Dolomites in the future. Be sure to contact Alex (info@italydolomites.com) when your plans are taking you to the region. He's the best!
8/19: We take the train to Bologna, and right away we see that Bologna is more grand than Milan, in our opinion. There was a terrorist bombing at the train station August 2, 1980, killing 85 people. The bombing was carried out by members of the neo-fascist organization NAR, which later denied responsibility; the members were found guilty. A clock outside the station is permanently fixed at 10:25 to commemorate the massacre. Outside the train station are beautiful buildings, unlike many other cities. The buildings here are large and beautiful. The women look more elegant. Our hotel, the Grand Majestic, is quite grand. Across the street is the 17th/18th C St. Peter's Cathedral, 70 meters tall, straight up. The bell tower was built between 1184 - 1426. Since 1100, porticoes have been a symbol of Bologna's hospitality. There are 62 kilometers of them here, we are told. The most famous and longest stretch of porticoes here is about 4 km (2.5 miles) long, the Via Saragozza, with 664 arches. Porticoes were initially required to be built at a height to accommodate a man wearing a hat on a horse. We ride the hop on/off bus for an hour. In our hotel room handbook, Anne finds instructions on what to do in case of an earthquake!!!
8/20: We take the train to Ravenna for a short visit. We see the 6th C Basilica of San Vitale, with the largest and best preserved mosaics outside of Constantinople. Emporer Justinian 1 and Empress Theodora are featured in separate panels. We return to Bologna and take the little bus up to the Sanctuary of the Madonna of San Luca for a view of the city's red tiled roofs.
8/21: We stay out of the heat and sun today.
8/22: We go to Turin on a high-speed train (299 km/hr). The ticket seller told Anne the train is four floors below. I thought Anne must've misunderstood, but that train was four floors below. We start seeing the mountains of the Alp's Alpine Arch as we approach Turin, which is, along with Milan, in the Piedmont region. Since 1998, Turin is Detroit's sister city, both Automobile Capitals.
8/23: Turin was the home of the 2006 Winter Olympics, and it has pretty buildings with balconies, parks, squares and sculptures. There are about 10.5 miles of porticoes. You can't see the Shroud of Turin. We see the Mole (a building of monumental proportions) Antonelliana, originally constructed as a synagogue. Due to delays, cost overruns and poor construction, the building is sold to the city and eventually completed, 550' tall. It now houses the Cinema Museum. We cross a bridge originally constructed by Napoleon crossing a part of the River Po. In the hills of the city, there were originally 390 vineyards, now replaced by lovely villas. We can't find a quick train from Turin to Marseillan, France; so we're renting a car and driving through the Alps!!!
8/24: We rented a little Fiat 500 with 6 speed. There are great toll roads and lots of tunnels through the Alps. One tunnel between Italy and France, L'Apin du Frejus, is 8 miles long and costs $50 to ride through it. We drive for about 7 hours; we can't figure out how to un-mute the navigation guide. We're in a very lovely suite at Les Chambres d'Andrea in Marseillan. It has a large garden and a swimming pool in the back yard. We recommend it! We walked 2 blocks to our friend Mike's house for a visit. We met Mike 5 years ago when we were in Marseillan for 2 months, and he helped us a number of times. We've stayed in touch. Mike is an Englishman who has lived in Marseillan for about 30 years. Unfortunately he lost his wife Patricia over 5 years ago. He has 12-year old Fe, a friendly doggie, and 6-year old YoYo, who doesn't much seem to like Americans, to keep him company. We walked around the village a little, looking at changes from 5 years ago. The port area eliminated a parking lot and replaced it with a public garden area. The village is very busy now with lots of people and traffic.
8/25: We had a wonderful breakfast with a picturesque bread basket and wonderful fruit spreads. We have a very enjoyable lunch with Mike at Le Belem restaurant. We all dine on Dorade fish. Seafood of all kinds is very big here due to the large lagoon, the Etang de Thau. This evening we took a one-hour brat ride out into the Etang de Thau and saw up close the oyster nurseries. We are headed for Arles and Nice tomorrow.
Driving thru the Alps
One of the many tunnels we drove through - great roads!
Most interesting learning about the oyster farms - solar panels & turbines provide electricity for the farms
Village of Marseillan from the boat
Our ride - Maddy did a fantastic job driving thru the Alps and circling around the Village going thru alleys and narrow streets waiting for a parking spot.
No comments:
Post a Comment