August 22 - Monday Another late morning today - in the words of our friend AMT it’s stinking hot. Today we’re headed back to the city of Ravenna to first send a package home via DHL as we’ve read Italia Poste isn’t reliable. We have two addresses which we’ve taken with us in hopes of being able to find one open to be able send the package. Second, Ravenna is a UNESCO site for its 4th and 5th century Byzantine mosaics which are well-preserved in a number of church and religious buildings here.
After a lazy morning and some lunch, we packed up the things we wanted to send home and drove back into Ravenna to find the DHL depot. The first place we had on the list appeared to be non-existent, so on to second option. The second proved to be more promising as we had to venture into an industrial park area - and yes, we found it. Armed with a bag full of goodies to send home, T and M went in. The first guy she encountered, spoke no English, so he called for likely the supervisor, who did. He helped us find a 5 kilo box, once he priced it out, suggested we try a smaller one to cut down on the cost by half. With some creative arranging by M and good use of the DHL tape, we were able to send most things home in a 2 kilo box. The guy was very friendly and must have felt somewhat sorry for us as he didn’t charge us as much as he could of (we were slightly over the 2 kilo weight).
Once this task was done, we headed into the centro (old centre of Ravenna) to find a parking spot in one of the public lots that are outside of the limited traffic areas.
Armed with the map the parking lot attendant gave T when we were searching for the “wrong address on Saturday” we were able to plot out our walk to take in a couple of these UNESCO sites. It turns out that we don’t have far to walk to locate the entrance into Basilica di San Vitale. We paid our entrance into the museum which for the one price are able to visit 5 sites if we want. We walked through the museum fairly quickly as we have seen a number of pieces of marble relics before, and here they had retrieved same from the church and put them into this building to preserve them.
Once outside the museum, we walk across the courtyard to enter the church.
It is breathtaking! Here we are standing inside a church that is over 1600 years old and still standing in all its glory. The walls and pillars are exquisite marble - the veins within the marble are amazing!
The floor is a series of mosaic designs that boggle the mind at the complexity of the design. The floors are in amazing shape.
Then we cast our eyes up to the ceiling above the altar area as well as the walls in this area and have a wonderful up close view of the pictures depicting the apostles, Jesus as well as Biblical scenes.
Way back in the 4th and 5th centuries, mosaic artists were encouraged to settle in Ravenna and were given artist freedom to be creative and they weren’t persecuted for their religious beliefs. So, that is why there were so many examples of this work here. St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice has exquisite mosaic everywhere, but the ceilings are so high, it is difficult to see all the detail. Here we are in Ravenna and we are standing in this beautiful church with only a handful of other tourists. We are able to take our time and wander about and truly enjoy the artistry.
Once finished here, we are off to the Mausoleum which was built to honor and bury some of the rulers at that time. The ceiling of this structure is ranges between 9 - 15 ft high, so now we are really close to the artwork. The first scene of the ceiling is a beautiful blue mosaic loaded with stars which signify heaven. It is here we again see the twelve apostles peering down from various walls, and within the copula area.
There are large marble sarcophagi with remains of the rulers within. We all discuss the complexity of which these designs are/were. We marveled at the complexities and precision of the designs. How many thousand of man-hours (maybe million?) did it take to plan to the minute detail the layout and color. How long and how many were involved to create such masterpieces. What a great treat. It’s amazing how few people are hear appreciating this place.
We decided to check out one more place before heading back to the apt. First though, we need something cold to drink, so we wonder down the pedestrian only street and find a bar. We are off to another museum to check out some other mosaics.
On our way, we passed a pastry, bread shop and stopped in to pick up a few things. A couple of halves of bread - here they sell bread by the weight, so you can choose how much you want and also a couple of goodies for the boys for dessert. Its interesting that as T is the main writer of the journal, she sometimes forgets to mention stuff she does, like just after we found the bakery shop she found a clothing store that had a couple of tops she liked and purchased.
The next place we found was a church (as we went had gone in the wrong entrance) which was not as ornate as some we have seen, but was the closest we had ever been to the alter so we could again really appreciate the detail of the artisan work.
While at the museum we came across the Easter calendar from 532 AD to 626 AD for which the Nicaea Council in 325 AD determined that Hebrew Easter and Christian Easter would never fall on the same day. They knew that Hebrew Easter would always fall on the on the 14th day of the full moon of March, so they decided the Christian Easter would always fall on the 1st Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. Cool to learn as we have often wondered how Easter came about to fall on different days every spring.
We saw some other cool mosaics and then were off to find where we parked the vehicle. We headed off in search of a grocery store to pick up a few other things we had not picked up Sat. and then drove back out to Milano Marittima. Another evening spent on the deck, trying to catch any breeze there is, not a lot, but we were happy with what we got. With the weather beautiful yet so hot and humid, we have learned a lesson is appreciating little things, and our true appreciation of even the slightest breeze has gone way up this week!
August 23 - Tuesday Designated beach day today. M goes in search of an internet cafe to do some work on the Net, while T and J hang out playing some card games and T does some searching on her phone for things to do around here.
After lathering up with sunscreen and armed with a bottle of ice cold water, we return to the same beach club and are able to get the same location for our loungers and umbrella. T and M take turns tossing the football with J in the water - yet another wonderful day on the Adriatic.
Tonight we have decided to set up the computer on the deck and have family movie night - Iron Man (neither M nor T had seen it before). Great way to pass the evening!
August 24 - Wednesday We begin our workout schedule again, now that all our guests have gone home and we’d completed the 10 week program, we shall start a new 10 weeks of the program. We have a late breakfast, read some more of the book 10 of the 39 clues series, we are nearing the end and all three of us are speculating what’s going to happen next. M goes off to find another internet cafe to do a blog post while T and J head to the beach. As we approach the beach, many people are heading home - for siesta time and will likely return later for more beach time. Sure enough as the afternoon progresses, people are returning and the water has more and more swimmers. We spend several hours enjoying the water, sun and breeze then we head back to clean up.
We are heading out for a drive north along the coast with the intention of heading to Ferrara where the 2011 International Buskers festival is happening for 10 days. We drive along the highway which leads up towards Venice with lots of exits to beaches and then headed inland toward Ferrara. We see arborio rice (the type used in risotto) being grown in a field.
Pretty flat area again, lots of corn being dried out - same as other areas around where we are staying.
With the help of Navi and some well placed Busker parking signs, we were able to get near the performance areas and park for the evening. Having no idea where the exact location was, T checked out the site on her Iphone and found that it was one of the main squares of town at the Castello Este. Together with a couple of other tourists, we located the direction of the castello and headed that way. Again, we are in the old part of the city where the buildings are ornate and streets are narrow and cobbled.
The crested brick castle is fairytale-like: turrets, drawbridges, moats full of water, complete with piles of cannonballs and a huge courtyard where we are able to find out info on the festival the exploration/entertainment begins.
The streets beyond the castle entrance are alive with performers and spectators - the night looks to be highly promising. We stop along the way to watch a few performers before settling at a restaurant for some dinner. While at the restaurant we meet a family from Vernon, BC who are here because of a mandolin workshop for the week. We have a good chat and they recommend we stay around and enjoy the evening - so we do.
This city looks pretty cool with its older buildings and narrow streets within this walled area. We walk along the streets and enjoy stopping to watch musical performances which catch our ears and eyes, soaking in the atmosphere.
J was having a great time - its cool to see him beginning to take an interest in different styles of music, as we listen to great folk ballads, vintage rock and roll, some brass, some strings, and others.
We all have a great evening and decide that since it’s getting late - nearing 10:40, that we should think about heading back to our apt. about 90 minutes away. The drive is uneventful and we are back about 12:25.
August 25 - Thursday - Usual start to our day - M and T head out for a cappuccino at the local bar across the street, then we all workout, have a late breakfast, read some more of the book 10 of the 39 clues series. We all chatted about the ending and wonder if there will be other books to follow.
Not much happening today, we decide to head into Ravenna to check out Media World for some other dvd’s we might be interested in getting. Another hot day, so we appreciate the air conditioned car. Along the way we see some rice fields which are being harvested. T takes a picture of the rice plants as we had been wondering what they actually looked like having read that certain areas grow it. It looks similar to wheat but leaves stay green, tops have the kernels.
We buy another load of movies, about 10 - most are older movies, having been out for at least a year in N.A. They should keep us entertained when we want an English TV fix. Laundry day today as we will be leaving on Sat. am. We spend a pleasant evening on the deck and Skype a few folks at home - it’s great to talk to them.
August 26 - Friday - Not much on the agenda today. The usual routine for the morning and including starting to pack-up our suitcases, do some cleanup around the place. T gets caught up on paperwork and mending while M goes out to find another internet spot to catch up on a few things as we are still trying to organize our adventure for the fall months. We hang out and go for a bit of a walk to take pictures at the beach. We seem to be beached out, and just hang out like we would if we were at home.
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