PerugiaTrip

Verona, Umbria Jazz and the last few days

2011-07-16T08:54:00.000-07:00

That would be Dante

the poor lovers

medieval computer for writing love emails

that's it....

Hot Canadian in Verona (it was 36)

Garden Giusti

never figured this one out. I could make something up...

Went to Verona on the weekend -- a lovely city but it was quite hot. Romeo and Giulietta lived (and more importantly died) there. There is a renovated balcony/shrine that is the popular tourist destination. I found the Garden Giusti more interesting -- a traditional Italian garden with some Roman artifacts, cyprus trees, and hedges. Almost deserted and a lovely view of the river.

The Umbria Jazz festival has been on for a few days now and the town is packed. I saw Santana on a very hot evening -- I expect it was still over 30 at midnight. The drum solos were the big surprise for me -- awesome. Sergio Mendes also gave a good performance a couple of evenings later.

It has been an interesting time to be in Italy -- events in Tunisia and Libya, Greece and the EU, Ruby and other Berlusconi missteps have given us lots to talk about over lunch, besides soccer which is the main topic of interest besides work.

Il Palio

2011-07-03T03:34:00.000-07:00

really?

Note the 2 tossed flags

more tossed flags

a cardinal in action

icons of the various contrada

on track

coffee and almond biscuit

there are a few rules

still a couple of hours to go

the only quiet spot in the campo

Soon.....

Istrice neckerchief -- not sure of why there is a figure 8 knot but the Maltese cross is because they quartered the Knights of St. John in the 14th century.

the palio itself -- the prize

Very soon now

the lucky goose

On July 2 every year there is a famous palio in Siena. Loosely translated as a "horse race", it is more of a war between rival contrade -- 3 times around the Piazza Campo with no holds barred. Much jostling, fighting, bribing and horse doping. All taken very seriously. But the real goal of each contrada is not about winning, but rather not having the arch-enemy contrada win. So for example if Istrice draws a slow horse, it will devote all its efforts into preventing Lupa from winning. This year Oca (goose) won, yet again, and so Torre were humiliated. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth in that camp. You are put in a contrada via a sorting hat which is a slow process given the 35,000 visitors (OK, I'm kidding about the hat). The flags and neckerchiefs and costumes are very colourful.

We arrived a few hours before the race in time to watch the various parades and flag tossing (bandiere) and had just enough time for a quick coffee and ricciarelli (Tuscan almond biscuits -- amazing) before the gate opened to let 35,000 people into the centre part of the piazza. Then we had about 2 hours till race time. The crowd becomes eerily quiet just before the mossa (starting rope) -- I've never seen so many Italians in one place with no cel phone. The race lasts under 2 minutes and as previously explained, is as much about prevention as winning. We were cheering for Istrice -- the crested porcupine (motto: "Sol per difesa io pungo" -- I prick only for self-defense). Our jockey apparently successfully blocked the Lupa jockey and both horses finished the race without their riders (perfectly legal). Sorry, I don't have any pictures of the actual race, but here is a link to a youtube video -- they had a better view:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0__4wOoT-4

Here is a link to wikipedia for more details (for example I didn't realize the whips used were bull penises)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palio_di_Siena

Convocation, a quick trip home, and Orvieto

2011-06-26T02:40:00.000-07:00

Jeffrey Hall

yes the grass is greener over the septic field

Bella with long grass

Duomo -- Orvieto

View from Orvieto

XI century Church

view from the bottom of St. Patrick's well

bagpipers in Orvieto parade

We made it to Alice's convocation at Queen's and visited relatives in Toronto and Ottawa. Then went to Lethbridge to mow, pick up the pups and head to the cabin. I've returned to Perugia for a month to finish off some work and attend the Umbria Jazz festival which is just down the block. Hot here. But the food and grappa remain good.
Made a day trip to Orvieto which is nearby, but slow to get to by train. Great Duomo and a well that is a double helix so mules could go down and up separate stairwells (250 steps). There was also a parade that afternoon -- that seems to be what people do here for fun.

Into June

2011-06-03T03:49:00.000-07:00

Flag tossing on the Corso

birthday girl

Ferry on Lago Trasimeno

turns out that grappa goes well with chocolate cake.

terazzo

Piazza Navona

We made a day trip to Lago Trasimeno and took a ferry to a small island for ice cream. And we took Alice to Rome the day before her flight. We will follow tomorrow.....

June 2nd was a holiday here -- celebrating Italy's change to being a republic rather than a monarchy. We went to Umbertide to see a concert of some young violin students.

After much study, I feel I have finally figured out grappa. Or perhaps it has figured out me. In any case, we have come to an agreement.

Finally, here is a typical Italian driving experience -- a bus driver with 2 cel phones driving with his elbows:
http://tv.repubblica.it/copertina/guida-l-autobus-con-due-cellulari-in-mano/68210?video=&ref=HREC2-1

Rome, Dagstuhl and visitors

2011-05-19T04:05:00.000-07:00

3 guesses -- not the trevi fountain.

what is unusual here?

Girl on bus

Assisi

Voelklingen

Schloss Dagstuhl

We went to Rome to pick up Alice and accidentally arrived on the day that John Paul II was beatified -- a crazy day in Rome, but we steered clear of the hordes and were able to walk along streets that were closed to traffic for the event. We took Alice and Kyle to Assisi for a medieval display but didn't have tickets, so that was a bit disapointing.

I went to a workshop for a week at Schloss Dagstuhl near Saarbruecken which hosts small, focussed groups in a very bequem und gemutlich environment. After work, there is table tennis, billiards, volleyball, cheese, etc. The rooms are not locked, beer and wine is available on the honour system, and there is a fantastic library. I ran 4 mornings in a row with some of my colleagues, and there was a 1/2 day excursion to a local Ironworks (Voelklingen) which is a UNESCO world heritage site (there was also a Celtic exhibition which concentrated on the local Celts). Nice to hear some German and eat Spargel.

The weather has turned warmer and the Corso is usually busy in the evenings now. More tourists of many nationalities.

Malta, Ostia, Pompeii, etc.

2011-04-26T00:52:00.000-07:00

Ostia Antica

Malta

Dingli cliffs, Malta

temple in Malta

Gaeta

Nude palm

Pompeii

Pompeii streetview

In the Amphitheater

Pompeii -- for grinding grain

Ostia Antica

Pompeii

view from Merlona

Sperlonga Beach

St. Julian's Bay, from the hotel

Valletta

For our Easter holiday, we decided to go somewhere a little exotic but nearby, and decided that Malta fit the bill. On our way, we spent a night in Ostia Antica which has Roman ruins and is near Fumicino airport. The ruins are large in area -- this was a very large village near the seaside and well-preserved because it filled up with silt and the sea retreated. Mostly foundations of buildings. And lots of school groups and other tourists.

MERĦBA: (Welcome -- note the H with a stroke!)
We flew to Malta (about an hour and a half from Rome) and spent 5 nights there. Quite different from what we expected. It is the most densely populated country in Europe, and very catholic. Our hotel overlooked St. Julian's bay and there was a great promenade for walking and running. And the weather cooperated nicely. Apparently, it hits +45 C in the summer (lots of cacti) so we appreciated the cooler weather. The language is a strange mix of several languages -- Turkish, Italian, Arabic, etc. but with a Latiny alphabet. The pronunciation is fairly phonetic. But of course everyone speaks English too and they drive on the left side of the road -- lots of Brits.
We went on 3 bus tours to see the sights; on 1 tour we were the only passengers so we chatted with the driver quite a bit and learned a lot about the local customs and concerns (African immigrants for example), as well as the obvious historical/cultural landmarks. The stronghold of Valletta was built by the Knights of St. John and has a lengthy military history including a visit by Napoleon and the second World War. Now that the British navy has vacated, there is more room for tourists.
You can check wikipedia for interesting info on Malta but the highlights for us were: the Caravaggio painting (The Beheading of St. John the Baptist), the ancient temple ruins from circa 2000 BC., the archaeological museum which includes traces of pottery from 5000 BC and rooms full of bones from tiny (local) elephants and hippos. Food was good, people were friendly, hotel was great, and the traffic was awful. A lovely holiday.

On our way home, we took a side trip to Napoli for 1 night and then went to Formia to meet up with our host and his family who took us to Pompeii and some smaller nearby villages (Gaeta, Sperlonga, and Merlona) -- all were very interesting in their own way. There is a bug attacking the palm trees in this area and the piazzas look a little ravaged.
OK, Pompeii. Very impressive. We spent about 5 hours poking around the ruins and at least scratched the surface. Again try wikipedia for a proper history lesson, but the volcano erupted in 79 AD and the town was covered in ash and thus quite well preserved -- more than just foundations. We were a big group of 5 adults and 2 kids some with audio guides and others just waiting for ice cream (it was quite hot but not brutal).
Napopli was like everything we had heard -- noisy, crowded, crazy crazy traffic, garbage piled everywhere and people on the streets talking and enjoying themselves. Southern Italy is quite different from "the north".

Manzo night and Gubbio

2011-04-04T00:53:00.000-07:00

Clara -- tongue and heart

Manzo at Stella

waiting for stinco

neighbour's tree

view north from Gubbio

Can you spot the paraglider?

some Italian-looking guy

We went to another academic feast at Stella -- beef night! The farmer and butcher gave lectures on raising and slaughtering and cooking. Apparently 22 months is optimum slaughter age and of course it was a green cow (no growth hormones, etc.) We decided to name her Clara and enjoyed its tongue, liver, heart and the main course was stinco (plural of which of course is stincki -- not such an appetizing term for English speakers). There was a lot in the lectures about castrati, stincki, and fat content but I must admit I couldn't follow much. But the wines were extraordinary. There were 2 visiting researchers from U. Sidney with us as well as Beppe and his family. Earlier my nephew Michael visited. It's been nice having company to eat out with in the evenings.

Grappa practice is going well.

Saturday we made a trip to Gubbio, which is about an hour away by bus through some very beautiful countryside. Had a great lunch and then since the weather was > 25 C we decided to hike the mountain behind Gubbio instead of hitting the museums and ducal palazzo. About an hour to get to the top along a well-travelled trail. There were paragliders hanging around above us and the view was great. Feels more like summer here now than spring. And we hear there is a snowstorm in Lethbridge which saddens us greatly.

Fur coats, grappa and the sequence: 65,67,65,66

2011-03-22T02:38:00.000-07:00

fur is in

high-tech weather station

Bologna

Venezia

Perugia

Venezia II

strange fruit

No connection between these 3 items, except my surprise.

Long, old-fashioned, politically-incorrect, fur coats are very common here -- traditional, long, mink coats that I haven't seen for years, but also more modern fur trim stoles, etc. They seem to never have gone out of fashion and seem to be considered elegant. I doubt that the coat in the picture is sealskin, looks more like polar bear to me.

OK, grappa. I still don't get it. I'm working on the concept and hope to appreciate it by the time we leave, but so far it is just a potent after dinner digestive. I guess it took me some practice a few years ago to enjoy scotch, but girly limoncello is so far still preferable to grappa, and as a tourist I can just get away with it (unlike, say, a cappuccino after 10 a.m. which would be laughable for men). Now crodino on the other hand is a pleasant surprise......

Graffiti:
Here are a few pictures that I am collecting on a graffiti theme. We initially saw this acronym around
Perugia and finally realized it is a bit of a distasteful slogan but fairly common in Italy and Eastern Europe with an origin in England union strikes.
Consult Wikipedia to find out more about the acronym. The sequence 1,3,1,2 is banned, so for my title, I chose to use ASCII/Unicode -- couldn't decide whether to convert it to hex or binary, so let's just leave it in decimal, shall we?

Disclaimer: I do not in any way support the above message nor the groups who have appropriated the acronym.

Bertinoro and Venezia

2011-03-16T05:19:00.000-07:00

The Roca in Bertinoro

Rimini -- Roman arch

Rimini

Rimini -- 2000 year old bridge

view from our room in the Roca

Venezi -- from the Rialto bridge

a typical Doge

Venezia

lounging on the Grand Canal

canal scene

We spent last week at a workshop in Bertinoro -- a small hilltop village with a Rocca (fort) at the top, in which we were fortunate enough to have a lovely room. The week before they had quite a dump of snow and many fallen trees, but by the time we arrived, more spring-like conditions prevailed. There was an excursion to Rimini on the Adriatic one afternoon, and there are some Roman ruins there that are impressive. The banquet included an antipasto course in a wine cellar followed by a few courses and platters of meat and of course grappa. Although this was a work trip, the people at this workshop
are always nice to spend time with, and there are no talks given, just time to hammer away on research problems with good people.

After the workshop, we went to Bologna for a night and then we spent the weekend in Venezia and shopped for glassware. Lots of walking. The Doge's Palace and Rialto market/bridge were highlights. The 5 hour train ride home to Perugia was relaxing.

Risotto e Firenze

2011-02-26T09:07:00.000-08:00

Ponte Vecchio

view from the Duomo

Also from the Duomo

nice scarf, eh

also a nice scarf, and Santa Maria Novella in the background

Our local cinquecenta -- not the new model

Risotto e Firenze

We were invited to a special risotto evening with Beppe, Tecla and their daughter Martina at a
restaurant run by their friend. It lasted about 3 hours and included lectures on rice by a specialist and the cook. Apparently, there are well over 100 types of rice grown in Italy and of course each has different properties that must be suited to the dish. For example Santa Andrea rice is particularly good for soup and risotto.
We started with a crispy rice appetizer together with a rice-based beer. Several courses followed including: a rice salad with leeks, rice balls with meat inside (almost like a dim sum dish), thinly sliced vegetables deep fried in rice flour (like a very delicate tempura), minestrone with rice, risotto with osso bucco, and dessert was a rice panna cotta and rice gelato on a very thin wafer. Two white wines were served, one of which was Orvietto, but the other was something from the north of Italy that I didn't know.
It turns out to my surprise that risotto is not just soggy crunchy rice!

On Friday, we took a day off work and caught a bus to Firenze for the day. The bus takes 2 hours and runs Monday to Friday at 7:30 am and returns to Perugia at 8 pm, just in time for supper. Makes for a great day trip. The weather was sunny and warm (about +15) and there were some tourists but not the droves that will appear later in the Spring. I climbed the Duomo to the bell tower (about 500 steps) and took quite a few pictures from up top. We had wanted to hit the Bargello gallery/prison for the cultural side of our outing, but it closes at 1:30, so we had to hit some churches instead. Walked all day and then came home and went out for supper at one of our favourite restaurants, Il Ghiotone, where the waitress is German and chatty, and the food is very good.

Assisi

2011-02-20T08:50:00.000-08:00

Roca Majore

PAX

view from Roca Majore

Oops -- how did that get in there?

New leather coat in Assisi train stn

San Francesco -- Assisi

We went to Assisi yesterday (Feb 19). It is about 25 minutes by train and they run about once an hour.
The weather was great (16 C and sunny) and Assisi is a lovely town, a bit touristy but well maintained, and nice for walking. We found the trailhead for the hike to Mount Sebasio and may try that trip if we have some visitors that want an out-of-town experience.

I just got back from a workshop in Barbados -- it is a long trip from here. My luggage was a bit slow getting home but did ultimately safely arrive. Fortunately, both my coats were in the lost luggage which forced me to rush out and buy a lovely leather jacket before the luggage was found.

Lots of work to do, but it is nice to keep ourselves busy and productive. We're still managing to eat out in restaurants every night and there remain a few restaurants that we haven't hit yet.

Jan 30 -- University

2011-01-30T03:37:00.000-08:00

About the University of Perugia: Shelly and I are working with a group at the Ingegneria (DIEI) which is not at the downtown campus but rather in Santa Lucia which is on the outskirts. We have found a walking route there which takes about 40 minutes each way (uphill on the way home, so a bit longer).
Shelly will start teaching a PhD course there this week on proof techniques and logic, so that will keep her out of trouble. Late this week I'm off to Barbados for a workshop and in March we will both go to Bertinoro for a workshop. So, work is going well -- the group we are visiting here (Beppe, Emilio, Walter and Carla) is very accommodating and productive. And hard-working. They are now between semesters and don't have serious teaching duties again until late February. We go for lunch together every day to a local pannini bar and usually manage a quick coffee or 2 during the day. The Italian system is quite different from what we are used to, for example on a recent first year programming final exam, only 20% of the class passed -- and that is considered normal! There are 2 reasons for such a low success rate: students are allowed to retake final exams up to 6 times, and there are no entrance requirements allowed for engineering -- any student has the right to try to succeed. Tuition is very low and there is high unemployment for young people, so there are lots of students. There are also deep cuts happening to universities and research grants.

the cappuccino brothers

probably not what you are thinking....

between DIEI and the coffee shop

DIEI

Jan 17

2011-01-17T01:25:00.000-08:00

flaming dessert

soaking up sunshine

northwards

a quick coffee on Corso Vanucci

Settling in to the Italian lifestyle now. Suppers at 8 and quick coffees throughout the day. Lots of very wonderful restaurants -- we had to take a break last night from all the pasta so we went to the only Greek restaurant in town.

Perugia is a lovely little town with an elevated metro system that connects 1 end to the other. We've been walking mostly, sometimes for 2 or 3 hours per day. And it is a hilltop village, so one is always either going up, or down -- not many contour lines to follow. Most of the paperwork is done now, but we still need a visit to the police to get fingerprinted and to another office to get our "permesso di sigorno" -- then we will be legal.

Some friends visited last week -- partly for work, but also gave us a chance to explore. Shelly and Karen took a bus to a nearby town -- Todi, and enjoyed the excursion. Henk and I worked at the university and discovered a new route to walk to there -- about 45 minutes.

2011-01-07T07:40:00.000-08:00

Made it safely to Perugia -- a long trip but no delays. The apartment is nicer than we expected with only a few nuisances: some traffic noise, hard cold marble floors, no internet.
Had lamb cutlets and ravioli for supper last night and our landlady took us grocery shopping today, so we are stocked up and eating well.

Apartment

2010-11-06T18:18:00.000-07:00

Seem to have an apartment rented. Have a look via Streetview:
http://maps.google.com/maps/mm?ie=UTF8&hl=en&layer=c&cbll=43.106405,12.385315&panoid=-vM1RYykB4s9E6cFNmWyOQ&cbp=12,325.32,,0,5&ll=43.106404,12.383265&spn=0.003822,0.016029&z=17