Ways to Travel: Random thoughts from a random mind

After my early rising and quiet time on the terrace, Bill awoke, and we descended to the breakfast room at the B&B where a lovely meal awaited us, along with the company of our gracious hostess Gabriella. It was a typical Italian breakfast, but with wonderful homemade “marmelate”, prepared by her Sardegnian mother in law – absolutely delicious. An hour and a half later we were still in the kitchen, enjoying a far ranging conversation with her, on topics ranging from the election of President Obama (she was thrilled when he was chosen); her disdain for Berlusconi; the impact of globalization on the cost of produce at the local market; the nuances of language use. We seemed to have established a connection very quickly – perhaps because I had mentioned when we arrived that we were there at the recommendation of Letizia, whom she remembered with fondness. She mentioned that she wished she had studied English in school instead of French, and asked us to review and edit her standard confirmation email to English speaking clients – which involved an interesting dialogue on differences in the ways we use language. When my Italian failed me, we discovered French was a good fall-back, as I have a larger retrievable vocabulary in that language.

St. Vitale

We finally dragged ourselves away, and started our sightseeing day at the Basilica of San Vitale and its adjacent Mausoleo di Galla Placidia. What a feast for the senses – the mosaics defy description, except to say that the intensity of the colors, and the intricacy of the designs were overwhelmingly awesome. I am not familiar with the religious iconography, but could appreciate the artistic vision and the labor that went into the creation of these works some 15 – 16 centuries ago. And the longer we looked at the beauty surrounding us, the more details we saw. The vastness of the Basilica was amazing; in contrast, the intimacy of the mausoleo was impressive. It is under renovation, with a group of young artists working on one wall. The Basilica impressed with the intensity and freshness of its predominant green; the mausoleo was darker, surrounding you with a deep blue palette.

Leaving St. Vitale we stopped briefly at Annafietta,a mosaics workshop and gallery recommended by Pokey, where we did our part to improve the local economy. Then it was on to the local internet point, as I hadn’t been able to get wi-fi connectivity at the B&B and needed to notify my credit union that they needed to look at their records and unblock my debit card! Luckily, having taken the advice of several fellow STers I had a second debit card, but prefer to use the one that is tied to my checking account – which I had watched a bank officer annotate with my dates abroad!

Next stop was the Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra – where excavations by a local wanting to build a garage under his property unearthed remains of construction from several different eras, some as early as the 3rd century BC. They have highlighted a 14 room noble home from the 6th century – and we were able to see wonderful mosaic pavements from that era.

Lunch was at a true “local joint” – a self service restaurant in the covered market. It offered an amazing variety of dishes at a reasonable price, and was packed with locals from local shops and businesses, many of whom clearly knew each other. Not gourmet food – but I had a great pizza made to order with pancetta and mushrooms; Bill chose a build it yourself salad plate with a variety of vegetables and other salads.

Following our lunch we started across town to the Basilica di St. Apollinare Nuovo – stopping en route at the post office to buy stamps for a few postcards for our non-cyber connected friends. The Italian post office certainly is an example of bureaucracy in action! Through the Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Garibaldi we went – and then, with little warning, the thunder and lightning began, and huge drops of rain began to fall. Umbrellas? In our suitcases, of course. But only about a block beyond the piazza we found a small bar, where we lingered over a coffee until the clouds passed over and the sun returned – only about a quarter of an hour later.

Three Kings from St. Apollinare Nuovo

St. Apollinare Nuovo was next on our list – and again, we were awed by the beauty of the decoration, and the light and spaciousness of the 6th century building. Here the mosaics reflected both the Catholic and the Arian religious traditions. Above the high windows that flanked the central nave were wonderfully realized depictions of the life of Christ.

There was still time to visit one more monument – the Battistero degli Ortodossi, small but breathtakingly beautiful, with decorations on the ceiling as well as on the walls and in the niches surrounding the center.

Delighted to have been able to feast our senses on such a wealth of artwork from ancient times, we wandered back to our B&B, once again joining the locals on the Corso Cavour – fathers and mothers on bicycles with one or two children in front or back of them, a mother on a bicycle with a 3 -4 year old along side on his tiny bicycle with training wheels, being taught how to ride and how to handle the local traffic; two pre-teens on roller blades, stopping to chat with classmates. We couldn’t pass the gelateria without stopping this time, and joined a large crowd of students with the same objective in mind. We got our cornetti and enjoyed our afternoon treat before returning for a rest on our terrace.

We chose another restaurant recommended by our hostess for our dinner – La Bella Venezia, where we enjoyed another satisfying meal. We split a primi of ravioli filled with ricotta and nettles, in a light tomato sauce; Bill had a second of roast beef with a reduced balsamic sauce and I had an amazing veal chop infused with the flavor from its sage and butter sauce. We shared an order of grilled vegetables and a half liter of wine. With aqua minerale, our bill was only about 50 euros – about 10 more than our first night’s dinner.

Content and full, we meandered back to our Ravenna home, where jet lag caught up with us, and we called it a night.