GONDOLAS in VENICE

                                          A Must-do Activity

      Before I left for Europe the first time I was determined to have a gondola ride in Venice—one of those must to do things—and I didn’t care what it cost. My travel partner felt the same way about getting to the Moulin Rouge in Paris. So we made a deal: we  would  accompany each other on each other’s to do list—tit for tat, if you will!

    The  gondoliers are all native sons and often the job is passed on from father to son. However, they all have to pass several tests, among them swimming, driving and language tests. They are easy to spot in their navy and white stripped tee shirts.

    Many times of the day the  canals are crowded with gondolas—of many kinds—so one of the best times for a ride is during the dinner hour when most people are eating. To be serenaded costs extra.

     We hopped on a gondola one evening and ventured down much of the seven miles of the canals. Actually the  Great Road of Water consists of 170 canals and connect the 180 islands making up Venice. Our gondolier had a marvelous voice and serenaded us all evening. Of course the songs were in Italian, but one could understand they were love songs. They have their own repertoire and do not take requests, or at least ours didn’t.

    Our hotel was off the mainland ,on an island so our room faced  the canal. Every night after retiring I lay in my bed with the window open and listened to the boat traffic and the  wonderful serenading going on below.

     For most just the name Venice conjures up visions romance, canals, art and palaces. There are no roads, so no cars. All traffic is by boat or on foot. Although flat the many alleyways and bridges in the city make it easy to get lost.

    Besides the popular gondolas, there are canal taxis, which is how we got to our hotel, and  canal barges to transport goods, produce and luggage, Venice is a  fabulous city to visit and we had a wonderful time.

ROMAN RUINS

                                       Fantastic Large Ruins             

            I hadn’t planned it but I knew we would be at the large Roman Ruins  in Aosta on my birthday. Aosta (oo sta—the a is silent) was an hour and a half ride from our base in Cogne, Italy. Located in the northwestern corner of Italy in the center of the Aosta valley the city stands at an altitude of 1900-feet, and is bounded on the north by Switzerland and to the west by France.

            Founded in 25 BC by Romans, primarily as a military camp, it is often called Rome of the Alps. The area was established where two roads intersected. Surrounded by mountains, Medieval Aosta with its cobbled streets and overhanging upper stories is a charming old alpine town. Houses are double story, made of stucco and painted various colors. Slate roofs are the most common. With a population of 25,000 the city is the largest in the valley. Walking around the historic center is easy as no cars are allowed.

             The spectacular mountains, four of which -- Mont Blanc, Cervino (also known as the Matterhorn), Monte Rosa and Gran Paradiso -- stand higher than 13,123 feet.

            A local guide walked us around the extensive Roman ruins, stopping often during the three hours to explain what we were seeing. I’ve seen many Roman ruins in many different places over the years, but except in Rome, most often they were viewed from above frequently through protective glass. It was a thrill to walk through the gates and to walk among the well preserved ruins.

South entrance

            We started on the south side of the extensive ruins. Much of the fortification wall remains. The ancient town walls of Agusta Praetoria Salassorum enclose an area approximately 2360-feet by 1855-feet. The 20-foot high wall was built of concrete faced with stone. The bottom of the wall was about 10-feet thick and the top about six feet wide. The stone work was in remarkably good repair! The stones originally came from the river. The wall originally had 20 towers; the one on the southern wall is square, is original and is complete to a certain height—maybe 15 feet up. The towers were modified in the Middle Ages and one tower added brick work to show where the tower was altered or added to.

Old Roman Wall

            The rectangular arrangement of the streets is modeled on a Roman plan dividing the town into 64 blocks or insulae. The main road was 32-feet wide and divided the city into two equal halves running east to west.

            Among the ruins, outlying areas mix modern buildings with the old. The main square is large and bordered by large modern neo-classical buildings. The street is cobbled with the typical 3-4” granite squares common in the area.  The 11^th century cathedral is located in the area of the original forum. The 16^th century façade entrance (1522-1526) is gorgeous with wonderful frescos bordering all around the entrance door. In the 19^th century the white classical façade was added around the 16^th century part, making for a stunning total appearance.           

            Inside, glass covers a 4^th century baptismal font. The building of a vaulted ceiling destroyed ancient frescoes. The crucifix dates to 1397. The choir stall contains 15^th century walnut wood chairs that the seat can be flipped up so the monks could stand and lean against them to rest from a sitting position. The 18th century inlaid altar is simply gorgeous. The floor by the altar has lovely mosaics, one of which had been cleaned.

            We spent a good deal of time in the old theater that seated 4000 people. Instead of being the typical round theater, this one was rectangular shaped. The theory being the roof would be easier to build than a round one.

            The columns in the cloister are made of marble. Each has an evangelical or biblical scene as well as scenes from the life of Saint Orso.  The 12th century bell tower is the most impressive in the region.  It originally functioned as a place of refuge, as it is surrounded and defended by a bat­tlement wall.

            In the 15^th century brick and terra cotta decoration was added to the monastery façade. Inside the church the large square columns were of wide stripes of two different kinds of marble. The altar carvings were beautiful. There were several small sanctuaries on the inside left wall of the church.  It is still an operating monastery.

            We left the ruins through the south gate where we had entered the UNESCO site. The gate  has three arches; the large middle arch was for carriages and the two smaller gates, one on each side, were for pedestrians.

            What a fantastic morning we had spent with an animated and well informed guide.

THE ALPS

                                                              THE ALPS

            The Alps mountain range extends 750 miles across Europe cutting through 8 countries, so it is easy to visit the Alps in many places and in various countries. My first Swiss Alps visit took me to more populated places/cities, still typically Swiss and absolutely gorgeous. The scenery is spectacular everywhere.

            My first mountain was the Strasserhorn where I have vivid memories of enjoying a good cup of coffee on the top outside patio while listening to the cow bell serenade in the alpine valley below. But on the next trip, my first hiking trip, I found the hiking relatively easy as we rode gondolas, cog trains and other conveyances up, up, up, then walked down over wide well packed earthen paths. The pace was casual and you could walk and savor the scenery at the same time.

            My second mountain was Mt Pilatus. We had nice views as the cog train chugged along taking us to the top, but as we climbed the clouds thickened and when we reached the top we could see nada! The agenda had called for us to eat lunch as we hiked back down to civilization. None of us wanted to eat our sack lunches in the rain, nor was the empty foyer at the top any more inviting. Our guide, who seemed to know everyone in the country, talked the manager of the empty restaurant into letting us eat in comfort inside. We all bought a hot drink and soup as a way of saying thank you. Afterward we did hike down, but the thick canopy kept the path from being really slippery and us from getting really wet. Singing in the rain!

            After several other mountains, the last one required riding  three gondolas, the last the only rotating gondola in the world, the Rotair—the floor inside rotates 360 degrees as you pop up out of the clouds. At 10,627’ we played on Mt. Titlis, a slippery glacier. It was warmer than expected and the thin fine mist did not obstruct either our view or enthusiasm in any way.   

            I was familiar with Italian Switzerland, but was completely off balance when I found French in Villars, Switzerland on my last trip and second hiking trip. This was the start of my adventures in the Mont Blanc area of the Alps. The scenery in the area was stunning. Because of a late spring we found snow in Switzerland. A couple of days we hiked in snow and slush. With the warm temperatures, the snow melted rapidly. What a delight to see a patch of crocuses in bloom next to a good size snow patch!  Everywhere in this part of the world we were able to fill our water bottles from community pipes dripping water into large concrete vessels. Cool, fresh and such good tasting!

            As we moved down into Italy and France we found ourselves hiking on narrow cow or goat paths in single file. It also meant watching your every step as the paths were littered with rocks of all sizes from small to boulders and many many tree roots. To enjoy the scenery it was necessary to stop to avoid stubbing a toe and perhaps falling. There was little level walking--although it wasn’t straight up too often, it was one pretty good undulation after another. It is good to know that the European translation of a walk is a hike for us; a hike for them is a trek for us Americans.

            Gondolas were lacking in Italy and the only one in France was up to Mont Blanc. It was a gorgeous clear sunny day in Chamonix the day we chose to do Mont Blanc. It was spectacular!

            This trip was to small villages, seldom on American agendas. French and Italian were the norm with English, except in Chamonix,  pretty scarce. The people were friendly, shopping was limited, hotels were great, the food good, perhaps a little less cosmopolitan and a little more regional than in the past. It was a different but wonder experience and two weeks!

            Except for being unseasonably warm, the weather was fine and the scenery defies description. It is simply spectacularly gorgeous.

VENICE ITALY

Venician  Memories   

Gondolas of Venice are for tourists. Water taxis get one around the city, and water boats transport all goods and supplies.  There are no cars or bikes in old Venice.

 

Venice is easy to walk, but the many alleyways make it real easy to get lost.

Italian coffee is so strong a spoon will stand up in it all by itself

Venice is at the northern end of the Adriatic Sea. The city is divided into six districts. Yellow signs around the city direct you to Piazza San Marcos, the Rialto Bridge, Pizzale Roma, or the train station.

The Grand Canal is the main waterway and is shaped like an inverted ‘S’. The train station is at one end, and Piazza San Marco (St Mark) at the other. You can cross the Grand Canal at three points

  The large St. Mark’s square is bordered  on three sides by stores that all are under a covered walkway.       The Basilicade de San Marco, a Byzantine church, and Doge’s Palace are on the fourth side.

All the paintings inside the church are done in mosaics and simply gorgeous! The many columns are of different colored marble, and there are many statues.

The elevator to the top of the church tower provides a fantastic view of St Mark’s Square.

This clock near the palace is several hundred years old. It strikes on the hour and the hand on the roman

numerals move every five minutes. It’s fascinating to watch the little people strike the bell. The bell slowly rotates so it is struck in a different spot each time.

The winged lion is the symbol of both St. Mark and of Venice.

Handmade lace was gorgeous and still made in Venice.

A very rude young vendor in the square.

The Rialto Bridge is the largest bridge in Venice and the only one with shops on it.

By the evening dinner hour the vendors are gone, and musicians play for the dinner crowd at the sidewalk restaurants.

A nice visit with a medical student from Madrid who was visiting the city and with whom we struck up a conversation.

We were lucky to stay in an old hotel in old Venice to get the real flavor of the city. There was no A/C, but with the window open at night we were sent to dreamland by the singing gondoliers below!

BISCOTTI

                                        A favorite Treat

            Biscotti has been a favorite of mine for years. However, I never dunked until I was in Tuscany. Italy---you know the old saying when in Rome. In addition I had not been aware that today many dunk their biscotti in wine, particularly after dinner.

            Because biscotti has a long shelf life, the almond flavored ‘cookie’ was favored by  sailors, soldiers and travelers. Not only was it easy to carry and did not spoil, it also was light in weight. The name is derived from bis, Latin for bake and cotti, Latin for twice, thus a twice baked cookie. After biscotti is baked once it is sliced on the diagonal and baked again to dry the dough making it crisp. The browner it gets the harder it is. Biscotti is also a generic word for cookie in Italian.

            The fall of the Roman Empire in 455 sent this treat into the doldrums. But during the Renaissance biscotti had a revival in Tuscany and became a favorite in  Florence and Prato. The rest as they say is history. (Almond trees are grown in Prato.)  Cantucci is the term for biscotti in Tuscany and is found in every bakery window; in that area biscotti refers to any crunchy cookie in any size or shape.

How many people know Columbus brought biscotti to the new world?

            Today this original almond cookie bar has taken on a life of its own with numerous flavors and additives such as nuts and dried fruit, frostings, drizzles, etc. A creative baker can come up with her own rendition. Like fried dough, dried breads/cookies are unique in various forms in many countries.

            It is popular to dunk biscotti in morning coffee, afternoon tea and after-dinner wines. Having eaten much biscotti, my favorite treat is to eat the traditional almond bar crunchy and undunked. It is especially a treat in the evening. Yum.