Potpourri

We did not do much of note for quite a while. The temperature stayed in the mid 80s and after mid 90s that seemed just right. Here are a few photos from walks, etc.

We have had a stunning stretch of good weather. After about 10-14 days of perfect temperatures (IMHO), it is now getting HOT again.

On Sunday, June 21 we helped put on the Partigliano marcia. It was a lot of fun but a lot of work. I really didn't have time to take pictures until the very end when this was the last of the food and drink for the walkers to refuel after they finished. 

While out walking we pass a lot of interesting buildings. This one had beautiful terracotta work around the eaves.

This building has plainer eaves but lovely window surrounds. This is a classic style around Lucca.

This is the same building as the previous one. This must have once been the carriage entrance. Now there is a gate on the opposite side so cars can drive in and park underneath. At least part of it must be a private home, possibly apartments.

This is Tuscan Mid Century Modern!

It's difficult to tell if this is old or new. My guess is it is a new building on the left attached to an older one. The big giveaway is the narrow windows on the side of the building.

We have no pigeons (yeah!) and no mosquitoes (yeah!) around this year. However, the pigeons seem to have ceded their nesting grounds to the swallows. There are a lot of fledglings around and they like to rest on the window sills in groups of four or five. It might be the parents escorting the chicks as they practice their flying.

They are noisy in the morning but much nicer to have around than the pigeons. They don't seem to be able to see in through the window screens so it's possible to get very close to them. 

The Pitti Palace Costume and Silver Museums

I am way behind on blog posts but plan to catch up today. So, here is the first of four or five posts.

On Tuesday, June 16 we drove into Florence for the day to visit the Pitti Palace. Our approach was from the south and totally due to my misdirection we ended up taking quite the long, scenic way. Eventually we found a parking place on the street just outside Porta Romana. This put us in easy walking distance of the Pitti Palace which is located in the Oltrarno (the south side of the Arno) a bit of a walk from the Duomo, Piazza della Signoria, and the Ponte Vecchio.

The Oltrarno, once you get away from the Ponte Vecchio, is less touristy. We passed a number of workshops and stores that obviously catered to people other than foreigners.

There are at least five museums in the Pitti Palace. We visited two of them--the costume and silver museums. Apparently the collection is quite large. What was on display featured avant garde designers or patrons of designers who were fond of eclectic clothing. The period ranged from the early 20th Century to the present.

Italian - early 20th Century Court Cape - the green panels are velvet and the rest is ornate embroidery.

These were designed by Mariano Fortuny--an Italian avant-garde designer from the first half of the 20th Century.

If I recall correctly, these are from the late 20th Century.

This is from the 1950's but looks more like the 19th Century.

Sometimes the architecture upstages the displays!

It's difficult to see but this dress has a chiffon over skirt with heavy gold embroidery.

I quite like this dress and coat combination--heavy beading and embroidery on the dress with fur trim.

This picture was on one of the walls in the costume museum. I took a picture of it because it shows Florence's Piazza della Signoria in the 19th Century. The Signoria is being used by the Queen as a reception space.

This necklace and bracelet are African and made of reeds. There were about 20 pieces displayed using this technique and the  pieces were all quite ornate yet delicate.

After we finished in the costume museum we went to the silver museum. The name is synonymous with a treasure museum. There was a special display of lapis lazuli, a gemstone much prized during the Renaissance. It's also my favorite semi-precious stone.

There were lots of containers of different sorts.

I loved this shell with a handle fashioned from gold and enamel.

Again, the room upstaged the displays!

Backgammon on one side and...

Chess or checkers on the other!

This is a lovely prie dieu with a lot of inlay work.

The center picture (St. John baptizing Christ) is micro mosaic work.

This is a table top and is the a picture of the port of Viareggio.

After finishing at the museum we walked to Piazza Santo Spirito for lunch. We sat outside but this was the view inside.

This group of American students was eating pizza on the steps of the Santo Spirito church. 

It was a great day out. One of the nicest things was this was just after the really hot weather broke and the temperature was very pleasant.

On the way back I again gave bad directions so we took another scenic (and roundabout) route back to the autostrada. If it's not one adventure it's another!

Bolzano and the Dolomites

Earlier this week we drove up to the Dolomites, a mountain range located along Italy’s northeastern border. This is also the SudTirol or Southern Tirol region and an autonomous province within Italy. I can best describe it as looking a lot like the German part of Switzerland with a thin veneer of Italian. It is a dual (and sometimes tri) lingual area—German and Italian (and Ladino in some parts) which makes for confusing road signs.

Driving along the A1 from Florence to Bologna

Prior to World War I, the area was part of Austria. There were battlefields/trenches throughout the mountains but few real battles. Cold and avalanches killed more soldiers than bullets did. After the region was ceded to Italy, Mussolini gave every town an Italian name and generally trying to Italianize all things. However, it remains stubbornly Germanic and most people are bilingual, speaking German at home.

The result is a wonderful place to visit. On Tuesday we left Capannori about 8:30 and arrived in Bolzano in time for lunch. The architecture changed rather abruptly as we entered the SudTirol—lots of chalets, window boxes full of flowers, and different ornate church steeples. Most of the church roofs are multi colored tile. The buildings in Bolzano have ornate balconies. There is an arcaded old main street. The small towns in the mountains are just like Leavenworth WA has always dreamed of looking.

We parked in Central Bolzano and had lunch before meandering through the cathedral and visiting the local archeological museum. The latter was fascinating as that is where the Iceman, Otzi, a wet mummy discovered in the nearby Alps in 1991, resides. The mummy is there plus the clothes, weapons, and supplies that were found with him.  It is all explained most engagingly with lots of details of the forensic science used to discover all sorts of details such as his ethnicity, the garments he was wearing, and what killed him.

The Cathedral in Bolzano

Not One's Usual Italian Architecture

Looks More like Austria than Italy

We found a hotel just outside of town and spent two nights at Madelener Hof, a lovely hotel with a pool, view of the mountains, and a great restaurant. We spent the early afternoon by the pool. I went in and it was brisk but lovely. There was no one else around while we were there and it was so nice to laze in the water followed by lazing in the sun with our books.

Madelener Hof from the pool

Bolzano in the morning sun from our hotel balcony--we were tucked in the attic

On Wednesday we drove to Siusi and took the cable car to Alpe di Siusi, the largest high alpine meadow in Europe. It was very Sound of Music complete with flower covered fields, flower covered chalets, and cows with bells. We barely explored the edge of the meadow but what we saw was GORGEOUS. We walked down the hill from the cable car station, rode one of the chairlifts up the hill and walked back down. The skiing didn’t look particularly challenging but I still wished we were there in the winter. 

Trying to take a picture of the ride up in the cable car

Hard to see but white cows laying in the meadow.

The chairlift ride up--easy peasy hill!

The sign next to this sleigh contraption showed photos of when it was used as a ski lift! It was basically hooked to a rope tow and hauled up the hill. It could hold 17 people and their skis.

Val Gardena is on the other side of this hill

We rode the cable car back down to our car and then drove to Val Gardena, a famous winter sports area. The valley actually has three towns. It’s small so we drove all the way to Selva, about 15 minutes, and found a restaurant for lunch. I was eager to try some of the local specialties so I had dumplings—one spinach, one mushroom, and one cheese—swimming in butter and parmesan. They were delicious!

The plan was to go back to the hotel and hang out by the pool for the rest of the afternoon but our room was so deliciously cool (AC!) that we just read and napped. I did go out and read by the pool from about 5:30-7 pm. We had another great dinner in the restaurant. I ordered a mint risotto with raw tuna. It was such a strange combination that I had to try it. I always think of mint as something sweet but it was a delicious savory and the tuna was simply two undressed sashimi grade slices placed on top.

The view from the restaurant at breakfast

On Thursday we had another fabulous breakfast at the hotel before we started our drive back home. We detoured to drive along the east side of Lago di Garda. We have previously visited Lago Maggiore and Lago di Como. Garda, especially at the north end, is less ritzy. There are lots of campgrounds and water sports and hiking seem to be the main activities. No beautiful people and not discos in sight. There also seemed to be a lot of public beach area which is not the norm in Italy.

Lovely Lago di Garda

We arrived home late afternoon and found it still hot, hot, hot. Today is overcast and it just rained a little which cooled it off from the high 80s to mid 70s—much more pleasant. The next few days are supposed to be cooler which is good because I have some messy, sweaty house projects to complete.

A piu tardi!