David came over last night and cooked gnocchi (I think it's potato/pasta balls!) with sauce and we had some wonderful red wine that he had brought. Angie had gluten-free gnocchi prepared for her! We had fun chatting!
This morning we headed out to the train station, and as we walked, found the right bus to hop to get us to the station. It saved SOME walking (Angie has a FitBit and we did 13,000 steps yesterday; today so far we were up to 15,000!!! Oh, my aching feet!). We bought round trip tickets, learned how to use the billette machine, with the attendant right there helping us! and rode the 1 hour trip to Ravenna which is only 6 miles from the Adriatic coast! It used to be ON the coast and was controlled earlier by Venice! It's a tourist place because of the 1,500 year old churches, decorated with the best-in-the-West Byzantine mosaics. They date back to AD 400-600 when Ravenna was the center of Western civilization, transitioning from Roman to barbarian to Byzantine to medieval. The Roman emperor moved his capital to Ravenna around 402 when the barbarians were zeroing in on Rome. It was a port with close connections to Constantinople or Byzantium (Istanbul). The Goths conquered Ravenna in 476 and ruled from there, keeping much of the Roman infrastructure.
In 540 Justinian, ruling form Byzantium, conquered the Goths and turned Ravenna into a pinnacle of civilization. It remained a flickering light in Europe's Dark Ages for 200 years until the Lombards from Germany kicked out the Byzantines in 751. It then melted into the backwaters of medieval Italy for the next thousand years (info from Rick Steves' Italy).
We enjoyed our stroll from the station down a grass/tree-lined avenue to the Piazza de Popolo in the center of town, created by the Venetian rulers in the 15th century. Dante is a famous son - he died here of malaria, after being exiled from Florence for his political beliefs. His bones were hidden in the walls of a monastery in 1519 to protect them from the Florentines who were trying to steal them back.
The big site is the Basilica di San Vitale with sparkling gold flecked mosaics. Here Justinian is up above the altar with a crown AND a halo, representing both leader of Church and State. On the grounds was the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, again beautifully decorated, much smaller in the shape of a cross, with alabaster windows letting in a bit of light. Noone is buried in the sarcophaguses there, though. These are the oldest original mosaics! Gorgeous! Another church, a museum and a Baptistry where adults became Christians were highlights.
We had a lovely dinner in a place recommended by Rick with 15 foot hight wine shelves! The red wines have been amazing!! We headed back to the train station and were back in Bologna around 3. We had a mishap getting on the right bus in the wrong direction. And had to do a lot of walking to get back to the apartment.
I spent most of the rest of the day with my feet UP and texting and Facetiming to my family - Doug in Spain and Kerry at a hospital in Bridgeport, CT. My sister-in-law had a massive stroke on the golf course yesterday, and Kerry went down to be with Uncle George and sister Linda, while Geoff and Aripita and Bud are working their way there! Things do not look good. No surgery or other helpful things could be done. Doug just began to set up for retreats in Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona but he feels he needs to be in CT. So he will probably head there, once decisions are made and we know what's what. I have done all the scheduling, reservations, etc. for this trip so my leaving would definitely leave Angie and Cathy in the lurch. We are heading to Lucca tomorrow. I also feel I wouldn't be as useful as Doug and Kerry will be to the family. It was a VERY emotional day here!!
Ended the day at 9:30 p.m. with a gelato and off to bed! Keep good thoughts in your head for the Gamble/Bachman/Whiting families! Especially for Judy!!
This morning we headed out to the train station, and as we walked, found the right bus to hop to get us to the station. It saved SOME walking (Angie has a FitBit and we did 13,000 steps yesterday; today so far we were up to 15,000!!! Oh, my aching feet!). We bought round trip tickets, learned how to use the billette machine, with the attendant right there helping us! and rode the 1 hour trip to Ravenna which is only 6 miles from the Adriatic coast! It used to be ON the coast and was controlled earlier by Venice! It's a tourist place because of the 1,500 year old churches, decorated with the best-in-the-West Byzantine mosaics. They date back to AD 400-600 when Ravenna was the center of Western civilization, transitioning from Roman to barbarian to Byzantine to medieval. The Roman emperor moved his capital to Ravenna around 402 when the barbarians were zeroing in on Rome. It was a port with close connections to Constantinople or Byzantium (Istanbul). The Goths conquered Ravenna in 476 and ruled from there, keeping much of the Roman infrastructure.
In 540 Justinian, ruling form Byzantium, conquered the Goths and turned Ravenna into a pinnacle of civilization. It remained a flickering light in Europe's Dark Ages for 200 years until the Lombards from Germany kicked out the Byzantines in 751. It then melted into the backwaters of medieval Italy for the next thousand years (info from Rick Steves' Italy).
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| Amazing window display of CHOCOLATES! |
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| Gold and more gold!!! |
We enjoyed our stroll from the station down a grass/tree-lined avenue to the Piazza de Popolo in the center of town, created by the Venetian rulers in the 15th century. Dante is a famous son - he died here of malaria, after being exiled from Florence for his political beliefs. His bones were hidden in the walls of a monastery in 1519 to protect them from the Florentines who were trying to steal them back.
The big site is the Basilica di San Vitale with sparkling gold flecked mosaics. Here Justinian is up above the altar with a crown AND a halo, representing both leader of Church and State. On the grounds was the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, again beautifully decorated, much smaller in the shape of a cross, with alabaster windows letting in a bit of light. Noone is buried in the sarcophaguses there, though. These are the oldest original mosaics! Gorgeous! Another church, a museum and a Baptistry where adults became Christians were highlights.
We had a lovely dinner in a place recommended by Rick with 15 foot hight wine shelves! The red wines have been amazing!! We headed back to the train station and were back in Bologna around 3. We had a mishap getting on the right bus in the wrong direction. And had to do a lot of walking to get back to the apartment.
I spent most of the rest of the day with my feet UP and texting and Facetiming to my family - Doug in Spain and Kerry at a hospital in Bridgeport, CT. My sister-in-law had a massive stroke on the golf course yesterday, and Kerry went down to be with Uncle George and sister Linda, while Geoff and Aripita and Bud are working their way there! Things do not look good. No surgery or other helpful things could be done. Doug just began to set up for retreats in Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona but he feels he needs to be in CT. So he will probably head there, once decisions are made and we know what's what. I have done all the scheduling, reservations, etc. for this trip so my leaving would definitely leave Angie and Cathy in the lurch. We are heading to Lucca tomorrow. I also feel I wouldn't be as useful as Doug and Kerry will be to the family. It was a VERY emotional day here!!
Ended the day at 9:30 p.m. with a gelato and off to bed! Keep good thoughts in your head for the Gamble/Bachman/Whiting families! Especially for Judy!!
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