Category: Gap Year – Europe

We have often heard about Paestum where there are some wonderful Greek and Roman ruins – some of them in much better condition than in other parts of the ‘old world’. So, we took ourselves there to see. We arrived after a nice lunch in a small pizza place along the side of the road then just walked in to the ruins.

 

 

No ticket required – however, we didn’t have any guidebook information of idea of what we were looking at. Fortunately there were key signs placed around the area giving you sufficient information to get some idea of what you were looking at. We recognized Hera, Athena and Apollo as gods for the temples, or maybe the big one was for Neptune…still not enough knowledge about the Greek colony that initially founded the trading city.

Both Republican and Imperial Romans added their own touches, or at least covered with dignity the old and declared a new.

The day was beautiful – clear skies, not too warm and limited number of people wandering around.

 

Paestum was a major ancient Greek  city on the coast of southern Italy. The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric orderr, dating from about 600 to 450 BC, which are in a very good state of preservation. The city walls and amphitheater are largely intact, and the bottom of the walls of many other structures remains, as well as paved roads.

Much the most celebrated features of the site are the three large temples in the Archaic version of the Greek Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC. All are typical of the period, with massive colonnades having a very pronounced entasis (widening as they go down), and very wide capitals resembling upturned mushrooms. Above the columns, only the second temple of Hera retains most of its entablature,  the other two having only the architrave  in place.

These three temples were dedicated to Hera, Athena, and Poseidon (Juno, Minerva, and Neptune to the Romans). The two temples of Hera are right next to each other, while the Temple of Athena is on the other side of the town center. Paestum is far from any sources of good marble resulting in the temples having had few stone reliefs, perhaps using painting instead. The whole ancient city of Paestum covers an area of approximately 300 acres. It is only the 61 arcs that contain the three main temples and the other main buildings that have been excavated. The other areas remain on private land and have not been excavated. The city is surrounded by defensive walls that still stand.

The central area is completely clear of modern buildings since the Middle Ages. Although much stone has been stripped from the site, large numbers of buildings remain detectable by their footings or the lower parts of their walls, and the main roads remain paved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first Temple of Hera, built around 550 BC by the Greek colonists, is the oldest surviving temple. Eighteenth-century archaeologists named it “The Basilica” because some mistakenly believed it to be a Roman building. The temple is wider than most Greek temples, probably because there are two doors and a row of seven columns running centrally inside the cella or inner sanctuary, an unusual feature. This may reflect a dual dedication of the temple. Having an odd number of columns, here nine, across the shorter sides also is very unusual; there are eighteen columns along the longer sides. This was possible, or necessary, because of the two doors, so that neither has a view blocked by a column.

The second Temple of Hera was built around 460–450 BC, just north of the first Hera Temple. The columns do not have the typical 20 flutes on each column, but have 24 flutes. The Temple of Hera II also has a wider column size and smaller intervals between columns.

On the highest point of the town, some way from the Hera Temples and north of the center of the ancient settlement is the Temple of Athena .  It was built around 500 BC. The architecture is transitional, being partly in the Ionic style and partly early Doric.

After viewing the various main buildings we walked through the “town” looking at the foundations and remaining walls of the structures. One had a particularly nice inlay floor we didn’t find out if it was original or added sometime over the last couple thousand years.

 

The last several days have been interesting – altho not much of note for the blog. When we re in Oregon, we met a women, Rebecca Ponzi, at a wine dinner at the Stoller vineyards. She and her husband moved to Italy something like 6 years ago and are doing stuff like producing olive oil, raising two sons and having a great time. Unfortunately they also have family ties to the Ponzi properties in Oregon and have to travel back frequently – including the fact that they are in charge of a restaurant in Dundee – meaning on a weekly basis they have Skype meeting with the staff to go over the restaurant and it’s operations and fly back frequently to take care of business.

Well, she made the mistake of inviting us to come and visit. And not one to let something like that pass by, we arranged to stay in an interesting B&B in the very small village of Torre di Palme – this is on the coast of the Adriatic Sea and a beautiful little hill top village – population (currently ) of about 65 people. Aside from just relaxing, which we did a lot of, she gave us the 50cent tour of the area and shared her “villa” with us prior to taking us to a lovely spot for lunch overlooking the water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After getting everything together, we drove south along the water to Barletta – right about the “heel” of Italy. WE have decided to NOT got to Sicily but wind our way back up the western side of Italy and find a place to settle in for a while. More on that as it develops.

So far now, know that we are well and having a great time.

OK, the last several days have been RELAXING.  I admit, we haven’t done really any tourist things…we have relaxed, traveled some, eaten some and had some wines.  We left our Agratourisim place, which was really out in the country between Bologna and Moderna, and headed to a foreign country – yes a different country from Italy.

Along the drive we snapped a picture of the espaliered trees along the road.  It seems most of the fruit trees(apples and pears) are espaliered along rows with the irrigation at the top.  I guess to make picking the fruit easier or something, but we have seen these a lot.

 

Our drive took us to Rimini – a coastal town on the east coast of Italy where we stopped for lunch.  Not only did we stop for a really lovely lunch, but wandered into a couple of shops and bought strange things – a night light (which we have looked for in several places and never found), a knife to be able to cut snacks, fruit and other things when we have supper in our room (seems the little Swiss army knife isn’t good enough or strong enough) some fantastic grapes (funny the things you pick up along the way). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch we headed west to another country – specifically to Republic of San Marino.  Yes, this is a small country all of 61 square Km (24 square miles) right smack dab in Italy.  Seems this place was a City State during all the history and never got incorporated into Italy.  It has the claim of being the 5^th smallest country in the world!  We had heard about this from Rebecca Ponzi (who we met at the Stoller dinner in Oregon prior to IPNC and is related to the Ponzi Wine folks of Oregon) and who it turns out has an olive oil company in Italy – where we are going to connect with her in a couple of days.

After we got checked into our hotel we walked around with the specific goal of getting to the tourist office so we could get a San Marino Visa stamp in our passports!  Doesn’t do much good but it is proof we made it to another country (this makes our 5^th so far on this trip).  After that we just sort of relaxed with a bottle of wine in our room with some cheese (using our new knife!) and crackers.  Today, Tuesday, we set a goal to do laundry and to get Janeen a hair appointment.  We accomplished both!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Several things – we have now been in Europe for almost a month (OK, it’s been actually 28 day so far) and several things are clear.  1) It’s nice to have my computer so we can listen to our own music (along with my Bluetooth speaker); 2) not have an actual agenda so we can do things like come to San Marino and do laundry and get hair done 3) be able to communicate with all of you via this blog 4) drink really good inexpensive wines and eat really great foods 5) discover new things every day 6) and drive a car we are actually keeping.  So, while we still have 3 more months to go (and I expect several more countries) it’s nice to be here and see this part of the world I would never have expected to visit.

The last couple of days haven’t had much to justify putting words together and posting on the blog – maybe we are getting tired of writing, I don’t know but today was different. Saturday’s goal museum, The Story of Bologna, failed to be worth the effort to find parking and access to Bologna Centro.

Our AgriTurismo is in the area where Balsamic Vinegar is made; well the area around Modena is the “hot spot” for this stuff. I was checking, this morning, about tours or places to visit and found a link to Giuseppe Giusti – the oldest producer in the world! A tour was available at 10:50 and we headed out arriving with plenty of time to sign up.

Giuseppe Giusti is the oldest balsamic vinegar produced by a company in the world having been founded in Modena in 1605 – still in the family after 17 generations!

Now we have all tasted balsamic vinegar – used on salads, soaked bread with olive oil in it and in general, enjoyed the flavor.   Most of the balsamic vinegars we have used are 2 to 3 months old – maybe even up to 2 years old. The stuff produced here starts at 6 years old and just gets older!

The process of making balsamic vinegar is a safely guarded family secret – but basically true balsamic vinegar is made from a reduction of pressed Trebbiano and or Lambrusco grapes. The resulting thick syrup is subsequently aged for a minimum of 12 years in a series of barrels of successively smaller sizes. This is very similar to the process of the making sherry with the cascading solera system of barrels. The barrels are made of different woods like acacia, chestnut, cherry, oak, mulberry, ash and juniper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

True balsamic vinegar is rich, glossy, and deep chestnut brown in color and has a complex flavor. Just as a side note here, the most expensive balsamic vinegar is made in the attic – where it gets HOT and allows the vinegar to evaporate out water and concentrates the ‘juice’.

The process of moving from a larger barrel to a smaller one is done in stages with each successive batch being introduced into the prior years in small portions. Again very much like the sherry solera system. This long aged balsamic vinegar isn’t anything like the stuff we get and use all the time. That is a similar process but made in very large barrels and aged for only a few months.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After learning about the process, and seeing all the various barrels, we ended up having a tasting. We tasting several different levels included both a 25 year old and a 100-year-old balsamic vinegar. As the balsamic vinegar gets older it gets much thicker – taking longer to even drip out of the bottle, as we tasted it. Needless to say there was also the opportunity to buy anything they produce. I’m so glad we don’t have the ability to use this right now, being on the road for the next several months, so we were able to keep from purchasing anything. However, when we get back and settled into a place where ‘cooking’ seems like we will need to do again I’m confident we will be looking for the older, aged balsamic vinegar for our eating enjoyment.

Modena Centro on a Sunday was a relaxing, stroll through the park, and nurse a glass of wine with focaccia snack, autumn afternoon. The Military School uniforms were a colorful addition to people watching.

 

 

Today we headed out on foot to visit the Scuola della Carita is a real gem hidden in the heart of the city center. Beautiful Roman architecture, grandeur, breathtaking. What’s best about it – free entry. The second floor is a masterpiece of wall murals painted in the sixteenth century. The history reflects those times when many people suffered hard situations where the community helped through charity. It looks rather plain from the outside, but when you go up the stairs and see the murals you will be in awe.

There is a series of 12 fresco’s on the walls painted by Dario Varotan in 1579 with stories from the Life of the Virgin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All of the paintings were well done and looked beautiful – they had a restoration about 10 years ago – and the entire room is quite stunning.  Well worth a visit.

 

 

 

Listed as number 29 on the best restaurants in the world, Le Calandre was a goal to reach while in Italy. Located not far from our hotel, what a surprise, we taxied over for a late lunch. Located in lovely space, Chef Alajmo is presenting wonderful and delicious dishes. Together with brother Raffaele and sister Laura, he is part of the 5^th generation of the family of Chefs. This place was awarded its third Michelin Star in 2002!

After meeting both Chef Alajmo and his brother Raffaele, we had a wonderful glass of Prosecco and looked over the menu. Raffaele came by and asked about our likes and dislikes and said he would plan our menu accordingly. We really didn’t have to decide ANYTHING which is always a treat. There were at least five course and as many wines over the next couple of hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At one point, one of the waters brought over a copy of Chef Alajmo’s book showing us the recipe for the dish we were having – saffron risotto with licorice, rosemary chanterelles and king oyster mushrooms – which was neat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, we ending up buying the book and having them ship it home for us after getting several signatures and notes from the Chef. It will be interesting to see the book once we get back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pictures really are food porn – it was a great meal and ranks right up there at the top for all meals we have had over the years.

 

 

Yesterday was just a recoup day – with a nice lunch thrown in for good behavior. Today we packed everything up and headed to Padua – about 40 minutes away from Venice but without all the water worlds apart. The main goal, of stopping in Padua, was to visit the Gardens.

“The botanical garden of Padua is at the origin of all botanical gardens in the world and represents the cradle of science, scientific exchanges and understanding of the relationship between nature and culture. It has largely contributed to the advancement of many modern scientific disciplines , in particular botany, medicine, chemistry, ecology and pharmacy.” UNESCO

Because of Janeen’s [who is writing todays blog] Huntington Herb Garden workshops and Herbals introductions, this garden has been on her radar for at least two years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Moorish” medicinal” which inspired the Italian drawings of Padua students under Francesco Bonafede, were taken from the actual plants grown in the university gardens starting in the 16^th century.

The garden had to be enclosed with walls to keep thieves out as the plants were so highly valued. There is still a Medicinals Quadrant to this day, but the garden expanded in the 18^th and 19^th centuries with the “collectors” of new world plants and flora. Many of these plants were “exchange” botanicals between students of the plant world. Janeen loved recognizing Huntington plants, and was in awe of the 1750 Ginkgo Biloba, a male specimen grafted with a female branch in 1850. The order and design of the garden is much like it was almost 200 years ago, with separate gardens outside the walls, planted around waterfalls, fountains and pools fed from underground springs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On a less academic note, I [Janeen} needed green relief, having had my fill of roundabout directions and diesel fumes (even in watery Venice). David has found new Mercedes to be a friendly steed, even amongst the narrow streets with Italian drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians.

 

 

 

Near the Botanical Gardens was our bonus of the day, Prato Della Valle, an elliptical square, the largest in all of Italy and one of the largest in Europe. A water feature divides its quadrants into green space, and statuary surround I’lsola Memmia. The bridge offers great photo ops.

 

 

On the way out of the garden we watched workers placing stones to make a new roadbed – lots of labor involved.

Today we split up – Jason and Terri went for a guided tour of Saint Mark’s Square and Janeen and I went to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum. Peggy is related to all the other Guggenheims around – but didn’t have all the money they did. Her father didn’t have enough time to score big points in the family as he died on the Titanic leaving the family without the vast sums of money the other Guggenheims received. However, we should not feel sorry for Peggy, she did get over $3 million (about 35 million today) so she did OK. She started out collecting art first in Paris and London then in the US and finally in Venice where she remained for over 20 years.

The Museum holds a portion of her collection in the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni where she lived and died. She had a fondness for collecting living artists and purchased works early on from a number of different artists– and married at least one (Max Ernst) having a couple of kids. When she died, the collection and the Palazzo were turned over to the Guggenheim Trust for management.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In walking around the place you really get a feeling it was a home and the artwork was displayed for her pleasure. One entire room is filled with Jackson Pollock’s works – I don’t recall ever seen so many in one spot. Other works by Salvador Dali, Marc Chagail, Alexander Calder, Max Ernst, Pablo Picasso and others make up the collection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we connected with Jason and Terri we had a quick bite to eat, a brief rest and got into a water taxi we had hired for a 2-hour water tour of Venice. Our driver was knowledgeable about all the various neighborhood buildings, the history of the area and how to get around. It was a wonderful tour, viewing at least five of the seven districts, including the Jewish Ghetto, Arsenal (still military), residential, rather than resort, canals, and views of church plazas and historic palaces.

Two recently renovated Palacios are available for an under market eleven million euros, but the resident ghost and bad luck of previous owners, keeps the money away.

 

Our taxi driver was a born in Venice waterman, who had crewed at the America’s Cup in 1991, and liked San Diego a lot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Early Tuesday, David and Janeen walked the Virginia Lees to a neighborhood water taxi pick-up for the rapid ride to Marco Polo Airport, then had a Café in a neighborhood shop, and reverently walked through .

St. Maria Gloriosa, to view the Michelangelo’s and impressive chapels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The church bells were our sound track for our stay at this beautiful VRBO.

Not all of those who Wander are Lost!

Today, we wandered around a bit but were never lost. After a late start in the morning, we huffed it to the Rialto Bridge – which was CROWDED as to be expected being one of the main photo spots for the Grand Canal.

 

We crossed over, taking a picture or two of course, and walked around to see the sights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting hungry, we crossed back over the and went to a nice restaurant for a lovely lunch – clams, soup, lasagna, salad, steak, lamp shank…all really lovely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch, we took the Vapareto along the Grand Canal to St. Marks Square for a walk around and to see where Jason and Terri are to meet up with their guide tomorrow.

We also walked past the Bridge of Sighs.

Of course we stopped for a espresso,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Janeen had Melon gelato (something she has been looking for since she had it in Provence 10 years ago!) and ultimately back over the Rialto Bridge (for the 3^rd time) heading back to our apartment and a coffee break and finally gelato stop along the way.

Generally a really nice day was had by all.

After checking out of our BW Travelers hotel, we went over to the Venice Marco Polo Airport and picked up Jason and Terri who arrived from Germany to spend a few days with us in Venice. After getting everyone in the NEW CAR we drove across

causeway to the City Of Venice! Needless to say there are very few parking areas but I had reserved a spot for our stay.

 

Once we navigated the parking structure

 

 

 

 

 

and purchased our vaporetto (water bus) tickets, we boarded Line #1 and motored down the Grand Canal to our stop S. Toma, where Greg, our host in the VRBO, was waiting.

 

 

After a short walk, we got to the apartment – overlooking Campo dei Frari, near Gloriosa dei Frari church.

 

 

 

 

 

We are on the second floor of a nice building next to a “rio”canal. This apartment has two bedrooms, a large living room, dining room, 2,5 baths a nice kitchen and LOTS of windows for light.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got settled in a few minutes and then headed out to Antiche Carampane, a restaurant Janeen and I had visited during our first visit (15 months ago) to share lunch.

Well, the restaurant did NOT disappoint!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jason and Terri were a little tired after a very long day so they took a nap – and then they went out for pizza while Janeen and I stayed home. Tomorrow, even if it is calling for some rain, we will venture out and do some exploring and actually take more pictures!

 

Our drive today was REALLY REALLY REALLY BEAUTIFUL but no pictures where taken.  Lovely views of snow covered alps…..end up near the Venice Airport where we will be picking up Terri and Jason tomorrow and going into Venice for several days.

Once we got settled into our hotel we went out looking for a self serve laundry and found one!  After an hour and half, we were back to the hotel putting ourselves together for our next big adventure – Venice!