Category: travels

John and I travel to St. George to check up on our bathroom remodeling. Here are some pictures from our stay.

We stay over in Barstow because we get off to a late start.  John has to wait until 11 AM to see if he has jury duty. Truthfully though, we rarely try to make the whole trip in one day anymore. If Jonathan is with us we do but having three drivers makes a big difference. We have a good time listening to podcasts as we drive. John’s favorite is the History of English. We learn a lot from it but it makes me sleepy.

When we get to St. George the sheetrock guys are working on the surface of the new bathroom wall. There still is a lot that needs doing.

In addition we have a new front door and the house has been painted. We are really hoping that everything is complete before Jon, Nathan, and Sam arrive on June 2!

All the rain this winter has made our landscaping look wonderful. The roses are really working overtime with blooms.

Most of days are spent waiting around for workers to either show up or not show up. It is frustrating. We spend time watching the ducks on the pond, going to Harmon’s for supplies, and cooking. We only manage one tennis day, one lunch out, and one dinner at the Club.

Other dinners –

Before we know it, it is time to come home again. We will be back in a couple of weeks to get ready for the much anticipated visit with Jonathan, Nathan, and Sam!

 

 

Cannot believe we are at the end of our trip. Three weeks ago the time strectched out in front of us now it is all compressed into one final day.

We leave Verona and head toward Milan. We are staying at the airport tonight and the last place we are seeing is not far from Milan Malpensa.  Castelseprio was the site of a Roman fort in antiquity, and a Longobard town in the early Middle Ages. It was destroyed and abandoned in 1287. So the archeological site is mostly of ruins which are interesting but not the main draw. There is a small intact church, Santa Maria foris portas, that holds some really unique frescoes. The site was rediscovered in 1944 and became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2011. According to UNESCO –

“The frescoes decorating the central apse of the church of Santa Maria foris portas constitute the finest early medieval pictorial cycle in terms of artistic quality, and are considered unique in early medieval European art.”

Here are some of the ruins.

Luckily the small church escaped destruction and inside are some unique Middle Ages frescoes. The people look like real people with expressions and there is perspective. All the things that happened in the Renaissance were already in place at least in this artist. It is stunning. I am thinking back to the early almost stick figures that we saw in Cividale dei Fruili and the Byzantine thickly outlined Madonnas from the early 13th century. Finally Giotto at the end of the 13th painted his stolid but real Madonnas. But these 9th century frescoes are on a whole different level.

Here are the frescoes –

All I can say is “WOW!” These are frescoes found under plaster and dated to the beginning of the 9th century. There are people standing in front of other people, Mary actually sitting on a lifelike donkey, and lying on a bed. There are small trees and animals in the background. It is amazing. This is a perfect way to end our trip.

After this we head to our hotel for the night, MOXY at Malpensa. The rooms are small and the AC is not turned on. We need to leave the window open so the room will not be stifling. We are treated to planes taking off on a nearby runway and DHL putting cargo on its trucks all night long right under our window.  From the sublime to the ridiculous in a few short hours.

The trip home is fine. Take-off from Heathrow and landing at SFO are delayed so we enjoy driving home during an unusally heavy rush hour.  We arrived home Thursday late afternoon and it is Monday now.  We are just emerging from the haze of jetlag.

I cannot believe how great the weather has been. Only one rainy afternoon in Venice during the whole trip! Today we awaken to another beautiful day and head down to breakfast. The Grand Hotel Verona has a very nice spread with sweets, meats, breads, cereal, and eggs. I particularly like the hotdog-like breakfast sausage. We make our plan for the day and go and get our car which is showing low tire pressure in the right rear tire. This is the second time and we wonder if it has a slow leak. In any case we will have to find a service station and get the tire filled, always an adventure. I suggest we make the sound “pfft” and point at the tire. John and Sarah are interested in using way too many words!

Today we are going to the Valpolicella area northwest of Verona. Our travels will take us up to Lake Garda where I have promised at least partially a normal tourist day with lunch overlooking the lake and perhaps a little gelato.

Our first stop is at the Church of St. Florian in San Pietro in Ciriano. It is an early Christian church at least dating back to the 700’s. Interestingly some of its building blocks are obviously recycled Roman buildings. The Roman inscriptions and carvings are still on them.

Unfortunately the inside has been mostly redone in a more 19th century style. The Stations of the Cross are definitely 20th or 21st century.  They have, to me, a very appealing modern vibe.

All the churches we want to see are in a straight path away from Verona along a 28Km vector to Lake Garda. In no time at all we are up atop a nearby hill to find the Church of San Giorgio. Once found, it is not easy to get into. There is a sign on the door telling us (in Italian) to go through a door in the cloister. After hunting around we finally find our way in. It is too bad that we have only two .50E coins to illuminate the church.

San Giorgio is of Romanesque architecture built in the 1100’s over previous religious houses. There are a few 11th century frescoes and column bases made from Roman altars.

Now it’s time to be regular tourists! Well, almost regular, we do manage to find an old church while walking around. We stop at Lazise, a walled city, for lunch. The unusual crennelated walls date from 14th century but the town is much older, dating to at least the 800’s. It is situated on the eastern shore of Lake Garda.

Lake Garda is quite large and is looking sparkly and blue today. There are several swans swimming around.

We dine outside looking at the Lake at Trattoria Tropical.

We find an old church to look in on, the Church of San Nicolo. It’s from the 12th century and has frescoes!

After having the promised gelato we head back to the car and make one more church stop in Bardolino, about 5 km north along Lake Garda. San Severo is a 9th century church which must have been resplendent with frescoes but now they are quite faded and damaged.

It seems like we have done a lot today and I am tired but we are supposed to go to the Verona Cathedral on the way home. I am sulky and want to be dropped off at the hotel but I manage to mess up the navigating and it seems easier if we all go to the Cathedral instead.

Miraculously we find a parking space and go into the cathedral. It is pretty fancy but not in the way that I like. It has obviously gone through a style change at some point and looks 18th or 19th century-ish. Boo.

The drive back to the hotel is exciting. John is driving in the zones where you are not allowed to drive. He is following a bus in the bus only lanes. We make it back to the hotel pretty quickly. We are taking wagers on how many tickets we will get this trip!

It seems like we’ve stopped getting dinners. We have big a lunch and then a snack or a sandwich for dinner. Sarah volunteers to go out and get sandwiches. She is gone a long time. I am getting fretful. Just as John is about to go out to look for her, she arrives back. She has been walking all over Verona trying to find the combination of sandwiches we wanted.

Tomorrow we make our way back to Milan airport for the trip home on Thursday. We still have one more exciting stop to make.

We are spending the next two nights in Verona, home of Juliet’s balcony but that’s a different play. On the way to Verona we are stopping in Padua to see the Basilica di Sant’Antonio.

Saint Anthony of Padua (not to be confused with Saint Anthony the Abbot) is a much revered and petitioned Saint. He is buried at this Basilica and his relics and cassock are displayed here. Lots of people are here to ask Saint Anthony to intercede for them and assist them with some woe. It is a pretty amazing, highly decorated place. Here’s a look.

Below are other frescoes about the life of St. James in the chapel. St. James was decpitated by King Herod. After his martyrdom his remains were taken to Compostela, Spain. His shrine the Santiago de Compostela is the most frequently visited place for pilgrims after Rome and Jerusalem. These frescoes appear to have something to do with his death and subsequent removal to Spain.

Relics of St. Anthony

Beautiful Basilica

On the way out of Padua we stop at McDonald’s for a quick lunch and a safe bathroom.

We arrive in Verona and check into our hotel. Plans are made to visit the Coliseum there and go to the Museo Castelvecchio. I am really tired and my back hurts. I make the executive decision to send John and Sarah out on their own. I would be a drag on the party this afternoon. They leave around 3:30 and return around 7. I spend three and a half delicious hours taking a little nap, catching up on my posts, doing crossword puzzles, etc. Our vacation has been full every day and I just need a little down time. (Plus I have been to both these places before.)

I tell John to be judicious in taking photos. He takes a zillion. Here are some of his favorites.

After visiting the Coliseum, John and Sarah go to the Museo Castelvecchio. The Castelvecchio is a medieval castle within the city of Verona. It was the most important military construction of the Scaliger dynasty that ruled Verona in the Middle Ages. It was restored and repurposed as a museum between 1958 and 1974. It houses a great deal of art and sculpture.

These next two Madonnas were painted about 50 years apart. You can see how the style as gone from cartoonish to actually looking like a person.

The next photo is of a sculpture of a smiling Cangrande on his horse. Cangrande was an Italian nobleman who was the sole ruler of Verona from 1311 to 1329. He is best known for being the leading patron of the poet Dante Alighieri. When he was not out conquering Vicenza, Padua, and Trevino, he was known for his joviality.

On the way back from the museum John and Sarah buy some chips and we have a chip and wine party in our room drinking our Pilato Teran for dinner and then everyone has an early night.

 

 

We are heading home on Thursday out of Milan, and today is Monday and we are in Croatia. It is time to start the trip back to Milan much more quickly than our leisurely pace that has characterized most of our trip.

We say goodbye to our hotel friends with their terrible internet and no hot water. But they are so nice and helpful that it will a seem a shame to give them less than a stellar review. Today we are stopping in Cividale dei Fruili to see a number of things.

First up the Museo Cristiano. This museum concentrates on Christianity in the area and in particular the influence of the Longobards. Longobards were a tribe that came to the area from Southern Scandinavia and ruled parts of Italy from 568 to 744. The came first as pagans but over time adopted the Christian faith and assimilated with the Romans.

Interesting story – the Longobards used to be known as the Winnili and they were set to do battle with the Vandals with far fewer soldiers. One of the head women sought help from the goddess Frea who advised that all Winnili women should tie their hair in front of their faces like beards and march in line with their husbands. When Frea’s husband Gotan (Wotan/Odin) saw them he said who are these long beards. Frea said you have named them and now give them a victory. Ever after the Wannili were known as the longbeards or Longobardi.

The first thing we see in the museum is the tomb of Rachis. This 8th century tomb has some wonderful carvings of religious subjects. Could not get great pictures because no photos allowed!

I especially like the angels giant hands and tiny feet. The side panels are pictures I took myself because I enjoy breaking the no photo rule.

Then it is time for lunch. John remembers the name and exact location of the restaurant we went to the last time we were here. (Of course he does. It is La Speranza.) Sarah and I are in need of a restroom and are glad to eat lunch at this point. Uh oh, the bathroom contains a hole in a flat porcelain surround. Really not American friendly. So Sarah armed with her best Italian asks, “You have toilet with chair?” After some confusion they figure out what she is talking about and escort her to a bathroom in another part of the restaurant. Yay, for bravery!

After lunch we visit the Archeological Museum with its many, many displays of grave goods from the Longobards.

Then we go in search of the Tiempetto Longobardo or Longobards Temple.

We have had a long day learning about the Longobards or Lombards and now it is time to drive to Udine for the night. We check into the rather downscale Hotel Suite a Inn. The room have a dormitory feel to them but it is only one night. In its favor, though, it has a Sky TV channel that is showing the Federer/Nadal final of the Miami Open. Federer wins! Yay! There is not much open on a Sunday night but we find Fredda’s Pizzeria down the street. I am getting tired of pizza. Since John has a pepperoni pizza and I order sausage, and Sarah gets sausage and pepperoni , I am just posting a picture of Sarah’s pizza.

 

Busy day today! First the Euphrasian Basilica, followed by a trip to the Pilat (I mean Pilato) Winery, and then to Pula to visit a giant Roman amphitheater.

The present basilica, dedicated to Mary, was built in the sixth century during the period of Bishop Euphrasius. It was built from 553 on the site of the older basilica that had become dilapidated. For the construction, parts of the former church were used and the marble blocks were imported from the coast of the Sea of Marmara. The wall mosaics were executed by Byzantian masters and the floor mosaics by local experts. The construction took about ten years. Euphrasius, holding the church in his arms, is represented on one of the mosaics on the apse, next to St. Maurus. Wikipedia

The Bapistry, one of the oldest existing parts of the basilica is the dark projecting semi-circular building and has an octagonal baptismal pool and is decorated with many fragments from the earlier church.

We look around the Bishop’s palace. In one of the room are three large 13th century crucifixes.

Outside you see the earlier footprint of the 4th century basilica with its mosaic floor.

The 6th century basilica is ablaze with mosaics! On the main apse mosaic, St. Maurus proudly holds his basilica (on left.)

Although the altar canopy blocks some of the mosaics from view, there is a wonderful Annunciation on the right.

On the corresponding left side, there is a mosaic of the Visitation.

Next our travels take us out to the countryside to visit the Pilato Winery. We were here a few years ago and are greeted warmly. We taste some wines and buy a couple of bottles and some olive oil. They are sure John must be Istrian. After all everyone in the the town is named Pilat or Pilato! They give us a nice two step logo cork pull as a parting gift.

Our next stop is in Pula, Croatia. First event, lunch! We have lunch at the Jupiter Pizzeria. We decide to get one larger pizza instead of three smaller ones and wow, it takes large to a new level!

We walk over to Pula’s massive Roman amphitheater. It is huge and still used for events and concerts. Underneath where they used to keep the lions and gladiators is a small museum. The most interesting thing to us is the 4th century map of Italy and surrounds. We can see the Istrian peninsula and Aquileia clearly.

In the evening back in Porec we walk around the city looking for a hamburger. I getting nostalgic for some American food, a sure sign that our vacation is approaching its end.

 

 

 

We are traveling out of Italy today, through Slovenia, and ending up in Croatia. The whole trip takes less than two hours. That is enough time for a stop to see the Trieste Cathedral, have lunch in Tartini Square in Piran, Slovenia and enjoy a seaside dinner in Porec, Croatia.

As is true with many old churches in Italy, the Trieste Cathedral started life as a Roman temple and then had a series of churches built on it. Between the 9th and 11th centuries two basilicas were built upon the ruins of a 6th century church. In the 14th century these two were combined into the current church. The church is aglow with beautiful mosaics.

After admiring the Trieste Cathedral we hop in the car and in no time we are at the border with Slovenia. It hardly seems like a border since Slovenia is a full member of the EU. It is definitely a photo op though.

We head to the seaside town of Piran, Slovenia to enjoy the beautiful day and have some lunch in Tartini Square. Tourist season is not yet underway and it is pleasantly uncrowded. Sarah and I try to order something local which turns out pretty meh..

 

Croatia is not very far away and after a thorough examination of passports by the outgoing Slovenian official and the incoming Croatian officials, we are allowed in. We head to our hotel, the Hotel Mauro, on the waterfront in Porec. The hotel staff is so excited that we are Pilats. They tell us, oh, so many people in Croatia are Pilats. We must be Croatian or better still Istrian. John says he is Polish. They say no difference, you are Croatian. So we are big hits.

Later we hit the waterfront for some drinks and snacks.

We have dinner at the St. Nicholas restaurant. Tony, the very exuberant guy manning the hotel desk, tells us this is the best restuaranteur in all Croatia. With the exception of John’s grilled squid everything is not so great. I order a whole fish. It is dried out and has too many residual bones.

 

 

We stop at the information spot and rent headphones and a map which will take us all around Aquileia supplying us with endless facts about ancient and paleo-Christian times. Our first stop is at the Paleo-Christian Museum.

Here are a few facts about this museum. They are only open on Thursday mornings, they have very few visitors and hardly any Italians we are told, the museum is not on the audio tour, and there are no signs in English. There is, however, a sweet lady who is willing to talk your ear off in slow Italian. Sarah says she has taken a student course (Rosetta Stone) in Italian so we get a LOT of Italian commentary. Sarah does a great job but the Rosetta Stone Italian course does not deal with intricacies of our subject matter. I wander away after a while but John and Sarah keep saying “si” and nodding their heads. I know that at most they are picking out one or two words per sentence. Anyway, it is all interesting in a sort of garbled Italian way and we surely make the docent’s day. She and I even commiserate about our ginocchio (knee). That is one Italian word I know!

Finally we disattach from the docent and go over to the Patriarchal Basilica. It is built on a Roman house in the 4th century AD and rebuilt after Attila’s invasion in 452. Then rebuilt again after a series of earthquakes and consecrated in 1031. Some of it was rebuilt again in the late 1300’s after another earthquake.

We are no longer allowed to take pictures but I have some from a while ago and ancient things tend to stay the same.

Along with the mosaic floor there are some other great things to see…

All these ruins have made us hungry so we stop in at L’aquileia Nera, a nearby cafe. We start with a big salad and then have various local dishes.

After lunch Sarah goes exploring on her own while we relax. We meet up again at 3:30 to explore the Archeological Museum. The audio tour does a poor job explaining the collection and one floor is closed so we do the best we can with the Italian and spend some time in their vast gardens of Roman ruins.

Dinner tonight is at Al forno. It is not as good as we remember.

 

 

 

 

This morning instead of hurrying out of Portogruaro we take advantage of our 11AM checkout and have a look around. Our first stop is at St. Andrew’s Mill in a pretty park known for its nutria. Nutrias are horrible looking rat things with orange teeth that swim. It is hard to understand why they would have statues of it.

After enjoying the water rat we move on to the fish market. Much of the day’s offering looks like Sarah’s lunch yesterday.

We also view the leaning tower of Portogruaro.

After this we head to the Museo Archeologico. The ticket that we bought in Concordia Sagittaria also gets us in here. We are immediately greeted by a 14th century Madonna and Child.

There are many interesting Roman fragments and also a small piece of pornography.

Now we travel to Aquileia, a town that once had 100,000 in habitants and was the fourth largest city in Romana Italia and the ninth largest in the entire Roman Empire. We arrive around 1 PM and pull into the Information station where we get lots of maps, recommendations of eateries and hotels, and information about the sights to see. We decide to have lunch at a nearby restaurant where we order way too much pizza. For 4E we figure that the pizza will be small but no, it is quite large. There are four pages of pizza types including one called Pizza Americana. It has French fries on top.

Although we have ordered three giant pizzas we notice the people around us are eating way more. No wonder they need a siesta after lunch.

And speaking of siestas that is what we do next. We check into the very nice Casa Del Neri and have a little lie down until 4PM before heading out to the Basilica. (I will write more about the Basilica tomorrow when we go through it again doing a thorough job with the audio tour that we were too late to rent through the Information station.

We are much too full from our enormous lunch for dinner so we just meet on the patio and have a glass of wine and meet the hotel’s orange cat who takes a liking to Sarah much to her delight.

Our departure from Venice goes very smoothly. The water taxi arrives right on time, no one falls in the water getting into or out of the boat, and it cost less than the trip out from the train station. So win, win, win.

We get our car with no problems. It is an Opel Insignia diesel with an automatic transmission! Ever since we had the problem with John getting sick while on the road in Spain, we have been suggesting it might be a good idea if we got a car that all three of us could drive in a pinch. So, yay!

Our first stop is the Abbaye Santa Maria Maggiore in Summaga. It is a little 11th century church out in the countrside. Although many of its frescoes are damaged, they are still pretty charming.

Next we head to Concordia Sagittaria, an old Roman town. First stop is the Cathedral of St. Stephen. The church has been pretty much renovated but holds a few frescoes and Roman pieces.

Next to St. Stephen is the footprint and remains of the original basilica from the 300’s. Through a door in the museum you can access the old basilica. There are tessellated floors and the site of the old apse with a trichorum where the bones of ancient martyrs killed by Diocletian were buried.

 

There is also an old Baptistry with the remains of its frescoes.

We are close to the Adriatic Sea and think it might be fun to have lunch at a seafood restaurant near the water. The beach town of Caorle is still pretty quiet in March but the sun is shining and it is close to 70 degrees out.

Along the main drag we find the seafood restaurant, Antica Patronia, and settle in for lunch. (I must put in full size pictures of this picturesque lunch.)

Finally we stop at the Benedictine Abbey Santa Maria in Silvis. It is oldish (15th century) and has some frescoes. Against the rules I take some pictures and get yelled at. It is a stupid rule and I intend to keep breaking it. There is a massive fresco of the Final Judgment and the people who get to Heaven on one wall and a fresco of hell on the other.  The hell fresco is very damaged but heaven is still in good shape.

 

From here we head to our stop for the night, Portogruaro. Everyone is tired and not interested in dinner. I had the least odd lunch but I am the one who ends up getting sick.