Forli and Ravenna at Easter

Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo is the name of the first Cathedral we visited and was built in the 6th Century.


Ravenna was absolutely beatiful. The guidebooks say it is one of the most beautiful Towns in Italy and this is due to the fact that the basilicas and baptisteries contain the richest heritage of mosaics dating from the 5th and 6th centuries and eight historic buildings included in the World Heritage List of UNESCO. Ravenna was the most important political and cultural centre of the West during the early times as it is situated near the coast and therefore a politically astute area for ancient civilisations to defend themselves. Of course, there is far more to it than that.. but not being well up on history thats about the limit of my understanding.
The processions of Virgins and Martyrs represent one of the most typical examples of the Byzantine style and while Nicola was extremely informative unfortunately I have forgotten. Suffice to say it was beautiful, the gold flec is real and the tiles are all set on it.

Yep, this was built in the 6th Century and is still extremely beautiful. This cylindrical bell tower was built later than the church, and is relatively 'new' having been in existence only since the 9th or 10th Century!!

Basilica of San Vitale - Built during the time of Archbishop Maximian in 548. The Basilica of San Vitale is among the most important monuments of early Christian art in Italy, above all for the splendour of its mosaics. The eastern influence, always presents in the architecture of Ravenna, has a dominant role here. No longer a basilica with nave and two aisles but a central octagonal plan, surmounted by a cupola and the whole supported on 8 pilasters and arches. The dome ceiling and the niches were decorated by frescoes painted in 1780 by Barozzi and Gandolfi of Bologna and Guarana of the Veneto.The floor is kept dry by pumps since it is below the level of the water table.
This is a chair made of Ivory, yes real Ivory. It is sitting inside a glass case and you can see in the picbelow the detail of the carving.

Detailed carving on the Ivory Chair.

Still today the locals study mosaics and this information board contained all the instructions. Not for the faint hearted I say.. a lot of time and effort goes into the art.

Nicola outside the most ancient of Ravenna monuments, The Neonian Baptistry at least with regard to when building began, it dates to the end of the 4th or the beginning of the 5th century. It is a simple octagonal plan brick building with four large niches spreading towards the exterior and with the doors buried (the original level is about three metres below the present one). The Baptistery was splendidly decorated with mosaics by bishop Neone in 450. Inside, besides very beautiful mosaic decoration of Hellenic-Roman influence, several stucco-works and marble parts remain. In the middle there is an octagonal font of Greek marble and porphyry, reworked in the 16th century, which still preserves some original fragments.
Us two being tourists and taking pics of ourselves!!
Me in one of the streets.. looks almost deserted.. well it was Easter after all.

Leaving Rome on Good Friday on a bus the start of the trip was hectic as Good Friday is not a public holiday in Italy so everyone was leaving Rome for their Easter break.. the bus was full and the roads were the same. But I arrived on time in Forli where Nicola met me and was a wonderful host. We had a fantastic dinner of seafood and pasta ..... if only I could cook pasta sauce like that!

Easter weather was typical of many Easters in NZ where it was cold and rainy despite which we got out and about and visited lots of places as well as having a fantastic Easter Lunch with Nicola, her Dad and a friend. The marscapone was to die for!! Maybe one day I will give up on trying to learn the language and go for learning to cook the Italian cuisine.. but I suspect it would be just as difficult.

My Rugby Fix!! 6 Nations.. Italy v Scotland at Flaminio Stadium

Flaminio Stadium was sold out but Ross (a fellow English teacher with a definite Scotish accent) and I braved the masses and took our chances on buying tickets at the game: surely with all the bribery and corruption over here a couple of tickets shouldn’t be hard to acquire?

It was amazing! Firstly Piazza Flaminio was packed with Scots over for the weekend… a band playing Scotland the Brave… bars full to overcrowded with people already half cut…… and we still had a 15 minute walk to the stadium.

At Euro 25 each we thought our tickets were good value and as we made the way to our seats we were handed a printed sheet with the Italian National Anthem in both English and Italian and the Scottish National Anthem in Scottish and English; not sure which language was the most difficult.. Scottish or Italian and we made a terrible job of singing them both, or should I say trying to.

With no particular alliance to either team I simply soaked up the atmosphere which was akin to any Bledisloe Cup Match. With the bagpipes belting out Prood Edeard’s Airmy, An sent him hamewart followed by Fratelli d’Italia s’edesta… the game kicked off.

And from there… well not a great game to watch.. too many kicks for my liking but the two teams being neck and neck for most of the match gave it an exciting finish.. and oh yes, the consumption of a few Peroni Beers in the hot sun went down a treat too.

Castel Gandolpho

View of the Lake from the Town at the top.
The church in the main Piazza at Castel Gandolpho


The central church.. with the huge dome on top.

Betsy, Michael, Ross and I .... about to have lunch!

Matt, Jenny, Ross, Betsy and Karen on the way up the hill to to the town.
Matt, Jenny, Ross, Betsy, Karen, Michael and me with a view of the mountain in the background. Not the best of days.. but after all its still only March.

Well it doesnt look much like Orvietto does it? Of course not... course it isn't. We had all planned on going to Orvietto for the day but with the Rome Marathon, no busses, streets closed one of our number was an hour late.. so Castel Gandolpho it was.

Being the home of the Pope's summer palace I was expecting something far more luxurious.. although perhaps it may have been but as it was closed and we could only look in awe up the long drive through high wrought iron gates. From July to September the Pope preaches a midday sermon from here every Sunday.. maybe some other time.

The train station is half way between the lake and the town. We opted to walk up to the town to explore and didn't quite make it down to the Lake. Once again, with a train every two hours one doesnt risk missing it.

We had a fantastic lunch.. the best food to date in Rome. No pizza and pasta but real food!! I had very thin slices of pork (from a baby pig I am assured) and it was so tender.. drenched in a balsamic type sauce and dripping with Rosemary... absolutely to die for.

And next weekend is Easter and its off to Forli in Bolgna to catch up with Nicola whom I met on the CELTA course.

Sunday in Frascati

View from Frascati over Rome... yes we were up high

Phillipa, Ross and Betsy Al Fresco Dining in Frascati

Ross, Betsy and Phillipa playing silly buggars at the signpost.. only I missed the signpost.

Me looking through the wrought iron opening up to 'The Villa'. A good day was had by all as you can see despite the problems getting back on the train!!

A weekend of nice weather and a little excursion into the countryside around Rome. Frascati is famous for (if one could call Frascati famous!) its Cathedral which contains the heart of Bonnie Prince Charlie was absconded to Rome after his defeat in 1745 and Frascati Wine... neither of which we got to see. Yep.. the Cathedral and Church were closed (hello it was Sunday!!) and we couldnt find a wine place open. I guess its only Spring and the Italians being what they are .. dont bother opening these places until later when the hordes of tourists arrive.

We had a good day ambling around, had lunch outside under the sun and generally took in the scenery.

The main activity of the day was however wandering around the Town Square Marketplace as this seemed to be the only thing that was open. Have no fear.. almost anything you could think of could be found here.. shawls, screwdrivers, pliers, mirrors and of course the usual fare of the 'black guy'.. rip off sunglasses, CD's and belts.

Trains only leave every two hours from Rome even though it is only a 30 minute ride to the north. Buying a return ticket at Termini was difficult to say the least as you had to nominate the time of the return and as part of our group slept in and missed the train (two of us made it!!) we werent sure when we would come back. About ten minutes before the train left Frascati we decided to buy our return tickets.. Oh No!! an impossability. The station was closed, the first coffee shop we went into shrugged his shoulders, hrrmphd and ignored us.. the second didnt sell them but pointed us in the right direction. Up 100 steps, round here, through there and across there.. I decided I would take my chances without a ticket.. as did Betsy, I have been in Rome 6 months and only seen Inspectors three times!! Ross and Phillipa gallantly charging off in the direction of the well hidden Tabacci shop in hot pursuit of €1.90 tickets to Rome. As Betsy and I arrived at the station there was a group of very angry Italians arguing.. and who with? oh yes, a bloody inspector. Essentially she said (In Italian of course) she didnt care the station was closed, she didnt care they couldn't buy them on the train and she couldnt sell them.. in fact she couldnt care less but if anyone got on the train without a ticket they would be fined €100!! Yep folks.. that is the way of the Italians. To get on the train without a ticket or to wait another 2 hours.. that is the questions... easily really isnt it? And then.. our gallant knight came racing on to the platform with four returns tickets to Rome... with Phillipa trailing slightly behind trying to run in 4 inch heels!! Thank god for Ross's commonsense.. and Phillipa's persistance.. we all poked our tongues out to the Inspector and travelled back to Rome in peace!