Ravenna. 20 August.

Ravenna is a city that I have wanted to visit for many years, since I began studying Byzantine history. The center of the Byzantine Empire, of course, is Constantinople, which is now called Istanbul. However, when the Ottamans captured Constantinope in 1492, many of the Byzantine treasures were destroyed. (To be sure, Constantinope had been a city that had been in decline for centuries by then, at least since 1204 when the Venetians sacked the greatest city in Christendom in the name of a religious crusade against Islam in Jerusalem. (If that doesn't make sense, don't worry; most of Byzantine history, Crusader history, and the history of Christianity doesn't typically follow in a logical manner (that might apply to history in general).)

I say all that to say that Ravenna, outside of Istanbul, is the greatest city to see Byzantine history and culture. The centerpiece of the greatness Ravenna's Byzantine treasures is in the church of San Vitale. 

It was built in the 6th century under the rule of the Byzantine Emperor, Justinian. This site has what are perhaps the greatest examples of Byzantine mosaic art in the world. To be sure, I had seen many of the works in photos in books, but actually coming here, and seeing them in the real context of San Vitale was breathtaking. 

Every centimeter of the walls and ceilings at the front of the church are covered with mosaic stones which seem to glow with a light that fills up the room. 

The three major mosaic panels are the central image of christ (without a beard) above the alter, and on the walls leading to the alter, a panel of Justinian flanked by bishops and soldiers, which faces a panel on the opposite wall of the Empress Theodora flanked by her entourage. 

One interpretation of the soldiers who flank Justinian is that the one on his right hand is Belisaurius, who is the general who won back the Italian territory for the Roman Empire. (The Byzantine Empire actually is a later version of the Roman Empire, and up until the empire's demise in 1492, they continued to call themselves Romans, despite the fact that they were not in Rome, spoke Greek instead of Latin, and later rejected the Pope as a religious leader.) Belisaurius was so loyal that when he was offered by those he conquered to rule the lands he won, he refused, and instead gave those lands to Justinian to rule over. Justinian was so grateful that the empire had become the largest in landmass since the ancient Roman empire, that when someone accused Belisaurius of disloyalty, Justinian promptly had him blinded and stripped him of all his wealth, to die a beggar in the streets of Constantinople. 

Other than these great treasures of early Byzantine history, Ravenna is an odd town that upon my first sight, doesn't particularly deserve much attention beyond these monuments. Perhaps when I visit again, I will try to glean more interesting things to say about the modern city, but I can't now. Instead, since I was here mainly to visit the Byzantine sights, I ran to a few other churches to see other key monuments. 

Behind San Vitale is a mausoleum. The large stone coffins were fine enough, but this was the first place I had seen that tried to make a starry night an indoor reality with mosaic. 

There is also another beautiful mosaic of a beardless Christ as a shepherd.  

Another key sight  was St. Apollinare de Nuovo. The most important mosaic panel here was one of a bearded Christ. 

... along with a moasaic of the Mary with Christ the child.

There were also mosaic images of the city itself, and the ships in their port. 

A bit further on was a baptistry. This was a small place, but it was quite uncrowded, and so I was able to take a seat and really stare at some of the images very closely. 

Looking quickly at the beautiful mosaics, one might wonder why the artistic tradition that seemed to subscribe to such verisimilitude in the Greek and Roman times would descend to big blocky images that were more akin to bad video game graphics from the 1980s, with large digital pixels, except in stone mosaic. One reason that has been thrown around is that only with the golden mosaic stones could the artists create a glowing atmosphere that seemed to lend the church the sense that God's grace was illuminating the room. 

However, if one looks a bit longer at these mosaics, they will discover something very interesting. Several of the images actually illustrate all the detailed artistic knowledge that the greatest artists in history possessed in order to make flat images appear real. While the finished mosaics themselves would never be mistaken for exact likenesses, they did still reveal intricate anatomical details, such as wrinkles in the face, muscles under the skin, and realistic poses. Another artistic skill that they reveal is that of perspective, so that a flat image still retains features of a three dimensional world. Objects in the back are a more faded color than objects in the foreground, and single point perspective lines can be seen in certain architectural scenes. Therefore, while some have argued that these mosaics paved the way for an abandonment of so much artistic ability in the medieval period, one cannot look at the artistic knowledge of these mosaics and honestly believe that these artists were the first to begin loosing such artistic knowledge. 

A bit further out of the city of Ravenna proper is a different church, San Apollinare de Classe. This church, like the other San Apllinare, was quite bare on the eye level walls, but above, the walls were covered with mosaics again. 

The center piece here was Saint Apollinare himself on a green field with different animals. I tried to look closely, but this mosaic seemed to lack a lot of the artistic knowledge of anatomy (the animals looked like toys) and perspective (there weren't even shadows, really). However, I can still imagine that the image above the alter must have entranced the worshipers a fifteen hundred years ago.  

Lucca. 19 August.

A bit further out from Bolgheri is a town called Lucca. It is a wonderful town from the medieval era that has kept much of its form and character from that era. 

The first thing that one notices upon entering the old town of Lucca is the great city wall that surrounds it. In fact, several towns, villages, and cities in Italy still have at least some remnants of ancient or medieval city walls that used to surround the city to protect it and the inhabitants from invaders. Almost the complete city walls still surround Lucca, and visitors can even take a stroll up on them. 

Among other things, this city was the birthplace of famous opera composer Giacomo Puccini. (I wouldn't be shocked if it was actually part of the civil code for all Italian citizens to love Puccini's music and operas; my estimation of Puccini is a little different, but you know what they say about opinions...) 

There is a statue in front of a museum dedicated to him, and all of the shops in the piazza are named in honor of him or his operas. (By the way, if you don't know what Puccinni looks like, if you see a sculpture or a photo in Lucca of someone holding a cigarette or a pipe, it's probably Puccinni.)

Among the many churches in Lucca, one of the more interesting is San Michele. It has many features that illustrate the many influences on this region of Tuscanny during the 13th century (such as the diamonds cut into the facade), including some that are interesting and unique to this church (like a different design or color for each individual column).

Another interesting church was San Francesco, which had a large mosaic scene with Christ at the center focal point. 

The cathedral of Lucca is dedicated to St. Martin. His claim to fame is that the young prince was riding his horse, and along his path was a beggar who was cold. Seeing the cold man, Martin cut his cape in half, and gave half to the beggar so that he could be warm. And so Martin was sainted. 

There are many works of art in the cathedral that tell this story, which must make them very proud. Also within the cathedral is an excellent example of funerary sculpture in marble. One rich noble married a young woman, who died while giving birth. To show his love for her, he commissioned a coffin for her to be sculpted out of marble. Perhaps for other reasons, he placed it in a prominent position in this church, and people have been coming to visit the spectacular craftsmanship and artistry of the coffin ever since. 

Once, from ancient times, there stood a large amphitheatre within Lucca. Over the ages, it crumbled, and fell apart. However, they retained the overall shape of the amphitheatre, and built a piazza on the circular foundation. Now in its place, in the shape of an ancient amphitheatre, stand many early-modern buildings and shops that serve as a nice meeting place in the middle of town. 

Reading and biking. 17 August.

Now that I am a bit more settled in my lodgings, and sleeping in the same place every night, I am appreciating certain creature comforts. One of these is reading. It is nice to sit out on the terrace and read in the mornings to start my day. I must admit that I feel a bit of pride that during my time here in Italy, I have actually found a lot of time to read (either in transit, or in the mornings and evenings). To some, this might not seem like a reasonable way to spend a holiday, but having most of my needs met, and not being able to attend to other real-world obligations, I do appreciate this quiet time in which I feel a bit forced to relax. In fact, it is not the easiest thing for me at home to relax and find time to read. I understand that it seems a bit absurd that I have flown half way around the world to read some books that I have been meaning to read, but life is sometimes absurd. 

One other activity that I really like doing is going out and riding a bike. I do have a bike in my home in New York, but it has been several years since I have taken it out for a ride. Perhaps one reason for this is that (again) I find it difficult to relax at home, and take some time for myself to ride my bike around town. In any case, I am doing that here in Bolgheri.

It reminds me of riding my bike during childhood. This is because, like a child, I know nothing about my surroundings here in Italy, and I am just riding without a purpose, or a destination in mind. It's fun to ride, and explore, and discover little gems in the neighborhood, and let myself get lost. 

Being a rural area, most of the neighborhood is farmland, and several roads are not even paved. I am very close to the Aurelia, which is the ancient road that connects Rome with Marseille, France, but because there is a lot of traffic, I stay away from that road (although that doesn't stop more serious bikers from trekking along this classic route, all the while with cars zooming by). 

Riding the bike around here, some of the prettiest roads are those that are covered with trees rising on both sides, sometimes arching over to make a canopy. 

Etruscan necropolis. 16 August.

Living here for more than a week, and having been here before, I am taking advantage of my time to see things that I would never before have imagined visiting (let alone finding in my guidebooks). One such site is the Etruscan Necropolis in Baratti. The Etruscan settlement here dates back to at least 900 bce. This is long before there was anything called Italy, or even a Roman Empire. 

The most striking feature of the necropolis is the tumulous tomb. From the outside, it merely looks like a big mound of dirt, and I wouldn't have even thought twice when passing. However, because earthen mounds like this are found all over the world, educated archeologists are keen to discover if some mound of earth is actually a tomb of some sort. So, having found this one in the 1960s, they discovered a basic circular foundation made with stone that makes a long path leading to the central tomb, after passing several side rooms used to store treasure. 

This reminded me of the ancient Mycenean tomb that I visited in Greece several years ago. The shape of the stones, and the domed central room were very similar, and it is my guess that these Etruscans had contact with the Myceneans, and were influenced in several ways.  

A bit further on in the plain, there was also a later necropolis, from about 500 bce, that was clearly influenced by Greek contact, and it is one of the few places in Etruscan excavations where there is the remnants of a Greek-style temple shrunk down to the size of a tomb. 

One last curious fact was that these sites were used through the ages to dump excesses of iron ore production, and so when the site was excavated in the 1960s, they had to dig down past seven meters of iron waste before discovering these ancient ruins. 

Castagneto Carducci and Sasseta. 15 August.

Back in Italy, my remaining days here will be filled up with many off-the-beaten-path adventures. Today I went to a couple of small villages in the hills of Bolgheri. 

The first village on the top of a hill was Castagneto Carducci. 

It was nice to walk around this quiet little town, and see some of the churches, and life as it is acually lived in such a place. 

In fact, I passed by one home where the owner put up a sign that welcomes people to come in and view his make shift gallery of sculpture. This seemed like a more adventurous way to try to do his work, and get it in front of other people's eyes. He wasn't actually home (or at least he did not come out to talk to me while I was walking around his yard). 

The next small Tuscan hill-town was SASSETA. It was deeper in the hinterland, but along the same road as Castegneto Carducci. 

Even though it required a drive down a windy road that was starting to get me sick, I actually liked the caharacter of Sasseta a bit more than Castagneto. 

It seemed that all of the buildings were constructed with stones or bricks that were not covered by plaster. Something about this aesthetic appealed to me more, and I thought it lent the village a nice character. 

Monte Carlo, Moncao. 13 August.

On the way out of the Cote d'Azur, we stopped for a moment in Monte Carlo, Monaco. It is a very clean and ritzy place (an actual nation on its own) where some rich people buy homes to escape from tax burdens in their own lands, among other things. 

There is a fancy palace where the Prince of Monaco lives in the old part of the town, up on a hill. Whereas in France, where the beaches are open to all, it has been said that in Monaco, the beaches are open to whomever has a yacht. 

I really like the architecture of the Cathedral, where many, many years ago, the Prince Ranier of Monaco married Grace Kelly, a famously beautiful Hollywood star. 

After this brief stop, the drive back to Italy was about five hours, which gave me time to catch up with my body. 

Nice/ Cimiez Monastery Concert. 12 August.

NICE BEACH

From the Greek Villa, it is a short ride to the centre of Nice. The first thing that I noticed about Nice is that it is a big city. This is far different from the little towns and villages that I hav been visiting recently. There are a couple of features that tell you that this is a big city. The first is that beyond the city centre, there is plenty of residential, business, and other kinds of buildings and buzzing that is typical of city life. In the city centre this is only magnified. 

The other thing that I noticed in Nice for the first time during this trip is homeless people. Along with all the benefits of a big city, Nice also has the drawbacks of any big city, too. To be sure, the homeless problem in Nice is nothing like I accustomed to in New York City, but there were a few, and after traveling in more upscale neighborhoods, this seemed to jump out at me, as though I had forgotten all of the problems of the real world while on holiday....

So to return to forgetting about real world problems, I went to the beach. Actually, this was a diversion that I had not planned for today, but since Nice is right on the sea, and the beach is basically across the street from the city centre, I chose to take advantage of this opportunity. However, because I had not planned for this, I had to find and run into one of the small boutiques that might sell swim trunks. I bought the cheapest pair that I could find, and then jumped into the water. 

One curious feature of the beaches of Cote d'Azur is that the coast is not covered with sand, but rather with big rocks. They were rocks that were weathered by the sea, and so they were round and smooth, but with enough of them on the shore, it takes a little getting-used-to to sit, lie, down, or even wade in the water. Every time I came back from the water, I slipped on the moving rocks that seemed to move under me, and found myself unbalanced and stumbling my way back to my spot. In any case, once I found my ground, the clear blue sea provided a nice setting for all the beautiful people. 

CIMIEZ MONASTERY CONCERT

Later in the evening, I was treated to a classical concert in Cimiez Monastery. Before entering the main monastery, they were serving wine in the outside grounds that had a nice garden and a view of the eastern side of Nice. This view didn't provide much of the main attractions, but at night, with all of the street lights on, the view was still attractive.  

About nine o'clock, they allowed us into the main grounds of the monastery. 

There was a great open courtyard within that fit about three hundred people, with a stage that was more than suitable for chamber groups. 

The program was a couple of Schumann oboe-piano duets: Adagio and Allegro (op.70), and Abendlied (op.85); a Brahms violin-piano duet in D minor (op.108); and a violin-cell-piano trio in A minor by Tchaikovsky (Op.50). 

While the melody and accompaniment was pleasant enough, I don't agree that the timbre of the oboe is suitable for a solo performance, so I didn't like those pieces, despite the fact that they were well played, and offered a calm, welcoming introduction to the more intense pieces which followed. 

I very much enjoyed the Brahms piece. The violinist, Hamao Fujiwara, played with the appropriate intensity during the fast parts, so much so that I would not have been surprised if he had summoned a whirlwind which might have taken him and the pianist, Katsurako Mikami, away. 

I was surprised after only thirty five minutes that they would have an intermission. Had I known the length of the Tchaikovsky piece beforehand, it would have realized it made sense. I found it a bit unfair to program this Tchaikovsky piece with the duets, since from the first notes, the tones that the Umberto Clerici's cello sung woke us all to what we had been missing in the duets. The variations of the main theme carried throughout the different movements of the long work, and Laurent Korcia's violin played with the force when necessary, so much so that when his playing (or was it the wind) blew his score off the stand, he rose to play alongside the piano and read from that score. However, he also brought a finesse and gentleness when Tchaikovsky required it. Johan Schmidt's piano was exciting and took advantage of the ornamentation and flurry of notes that did not merely accompany, but partnered decoratively with the strings. 

The only low point of the trio's performance was that they didn't have a suitable encore ready when the audience demanded it, so, exhausted, they replayed one of the slower parts from their performance.