Convocation, a quick trip home, and Orvieto

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

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

3 guesses -- not the trevi fountain.

what is unusual here?

Girl on bus

Assisi

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.

Ostia Antica

Malta

Malta

Dingli cliffs, Malta

temple in 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".