Milan

Last day of touring yesterday. Jim and I decide to visit Milan, as getting to the italian lakes from our base here in Oleggio would take about three hours! The hotel we're staying at is about 10 minutes from Malpensa airport but is miles from anywhere else. Fortunately, the hotel's shuttle is constantly moving between the airport and our base. From Malpensa, we can catch the coach to Milan (about an hour or so's trip).

At Milan's centrale station, the metro underground takes us to the Duomo and there before us is the amazing cathedral, began in the late 1300's. The gothic spires are dazzling, and each one is topped by a statue; the highest has a gilded Madonna at its apex. Inside, the cathedral is massive; Milan's duomo is the third largest church in the world. The marble columns seem to stretch into the distance like a forest of trees. The stained glass is vibrant and lovely in an otherwise rather gloomy interior.

Close by, the Vittorio Emanuel Galleria is a collection of high-end stores, including Gucci, Furla and even Mercedes Benz, for those must-have Benz accessories! It's Fashion Week in Milan and the Galleria is busy with make-up artists, designers and models administering last minute tweaks to their collections. I feel like a dwarf next to the tall and super-skinny models and Milanese women milling about the Gallery interior.

We head out to the Castello Sforzesco, the family stronghold of the Visconti, and then Sforza families. The castello served as a defensive bulwark; against the ancient city walls it incorporated one of the Roman gates, the ancient Porta Giovia. Today, the castle houses many of the art and sculpture collections of the two families. The green park covers 47 hectares and is now a city park. There are lots of students and tourists taking a rest on the grass or on the many benches under shady trees. Its an oasis in this busy, and rather grimy city.

Lastly we visit the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, a gem of a church next to the museum now housing Leonardo's Last Supper fresco. Unfortunately the fresco is not accessible without prior booking, and groups are limited to 25 people at a time. Next door, the Santa Maria delle Grazie has a beautiful cloister with formal clipped hedges; a central fountain trickles. Memorials to the Sforza family are within the church and in the cloister, and the profile of Il Moro, the "Moor" shows the strong profile of Ludovico Sforza, ruler and benefactor to Milan in the 15th Century.

Italian Riviera images

This morning we left our seafront view in Camogli (at left) to take the train to Genoa, on to Milan Centrale station, and then from the station to Milan's Malpensa airport. From there, our hotel shuttle has transported us out into the countryside in Oleggio, which is about 10km from the airport. So in all, we've spent most of today lugging suitcases on and off trains! We are now comfortable at our hotel, revelling in having Wi-Fi access again.

We found it beautiful and relaxing along the Italian Riviera; the season was just winding down after the very busy months of June, July and August. So our thoughts are May or September for an ideal holiday - good weather, less crowds and a guaranteed ocean-front restaurant table.

Here are some pictures from the last couple of days, beginning with Jim on the Cinque Terre track between the villages of Riomaggiore and Manarola. The smoothness of the path is apparent here; it really is a very comfortable walk. Along the trail, some images of a very friendly gull, and looking back to the village of Riomaggiore. It's a dream landscape, isn't it?

Cinque Terre

Last night we had dinner at a local restaurant in Camogli and the seafood was fresh and delicious. There was no english spoken so it was challenging to converse only in Italian! While waiting for our food, we were intrigued by the enlarged photo montage along one wall of the restaurant showing some of the events at Camogli over the last 60 years or so.

One photo showed a statue being raised from the seabed by ropes; two scuba divers appeared to be cleaning the figure as it was being raised. Our waitress wrote down 'Cristo degli Abissi, San Fruttuoso' which, when we Wikipedia'd, we found was the statue of Christ of the Abyss, dedicated to Italy's first scuba diver who died in the late 1940's. The statue was set on the sea floor in 1954 close the monastery we had seen the day before and is 17 metres below the surface. It was raised for cleaning in 2003, hence the photographs. A similar statue has been sunk in the Caribbean and another at Key Largo in the Florida Keys. We had seen a glass-bottomed vessel hovering near the harbour entrance the day before so it must be possible to visit the site, and the visibility must be fantastic.

Today we set off for the town of Riomaggiore, southern-most town of the Cinque Terre. Our intention was to walk the trail to Manarola, an easy 20 minute walk. The sky was blue, the sun shone and it was a marvellous walk along the track, the tiny town visible along the edge of the outcrop. Along the way we stopped for many photographs as the scenery is unbelievably lovely. Trails lead down to the water's edge and it was an ideal day for a swim - 28 degrees and no breeze whatsoever.

Unfortunately the track was closed from Manarola to Corniglia due to recent rains so we back-tracked to take another look at Riomaggiore before taking our train. A stream was roaring through the town, active even at summer's end. Grapes and terraced fields surround the cluster of town buildings and we were rather keen to taste some Ligurian wine! We did stop for lunch at a cafe near the Manarola track and I had a glass of white wine, which was cool and good so I'm hoping it was local to the area.

Tomorrow we leave for Milan for our last couple of days; we are staying at Oleggio and planning a trip into the city and also a trip to the Lakes. The italian weather is expected to continue fine and we're looking forward to warmer temps when we head home.

Camogli, San Fruttuoso, Portofino

Here we are on the Italian Riveria. We are staying right on the beachfront at Camogli, and from our windows we see the seafront promenade, with its row of shuttered villas, the shingled beach and the domed belltower of the old church. Further along the bay the port of Genoa is clearly visible; it seems enormous at night with all the city lights glittering.
Ferries take passengers along the Ligurian coast to Portofino, and further on to the Cinque Terre, the five 'lands' of Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso. Unpassable for most of its history, the Cinque Terre opened up to tourism in the 1980's and is now a national park and a designated 'area of outstanding natural beauty'.

The towns cluster along the rocky outcrops with spectacular walks between them along paved coastline paths. For 5 euros, you can walk the trails easily (5 hours) or with more difficulty by taking the higher and steeper option (12 hours).
Our first day, and from Camogli we take the ferry to San Fruttuoso, a tiny stretch of bay dominated by its 10th century monastery and final resting place of christian martyr Saint Fruttuoso. There are three 'hypotheses' as to why this bishop, who suffered his martyrdom in Tarragon, Spain is buried in a remote cove in the Capodimonte. The most popular theory is that the saint himself indicated where his remains should be laid, speaking to some of his disciples in a dream.
We explore the monastery. From the upper cloister, mullioned windows face out to a very blue sea just metres below. The lower church reveals excavations of medieval tombs and, in a lower cloister the more recent tombs of the Doria family, Genoese wealthy merchants who enlarged and improved the monastery and church in the 13th Century.
The tiny cove at San Fruttuoso is slowly filling up with sun-worshippers, some who have come via the many walking trails. Hikers unload their backpacks with relief, strip off to their bathers and take a swim. Many are walking with their dogs, and we watch one terrier rub himself along the shingle until he's throughly got rid of his itch, and then leap into the water with his owners.
Another ferry takes us further on to Portofino. We learn from an Italian guide that Portofino means "bay of dolphins" from the italian Porto Delfino. The water is azure and so clear we can see fish swimming just below the surface. The approach is truly beautiful, with the rose, ivory and sepia-coloured villas clustered around a harbour dotted with sailing boats and ocean cruisers. We stop for a picnic lunch and watch the ferries come and go from the jetty, it's busy but not frenetic and the pace of the town feels relaxed.

Il Campo, the moving image

Jim has been experimenting with his camera, which unlike my SLR, can take moving images. Here's Siena's Piazza del Campo. The Campo was first laid out in the 1100's on the site of the Roman forum. The turretted tower of the Palazzo Publico can be seen; this is today's civic museum and contains the Simone Martini frescoes I've written about in my post below.
Thanks Jim! (and you might see a Where's Wally moment.. didn't realise Jim was filming :-0)

Siena

A very quick trip to Siena today; three hours at most.

Time to admire the main piazza, the Campo, where the annual bareback horserace - the Palio - is held. Siena is flying the flags of the many contrade who compete in the race each year, the turtle, the unicorn, the lion and so on.

Another kind of race is taking place today, with vintage cars tooting their way through the Campo as they begin their rally. We visit the Museo Civico and admire Martini's Guidoriccio da Fogliano, Captain of the Sienese army, riding victorious against the Montemassi. The fresco stretches the entire upper wall of the room and the landscape of Siena is barren against the midnight sky. On the opposite wall Martini's Maesta of the Virgin Mary enthroned is all gilded arches and blazing blue and rose tints.

Our last stop is the amazing facade of the Duomo; carved saints, angels, animals, flowers and fruit jostle for space on the green and white marble surface. The belltower, banded in black and white and rightmost in the photo, was completed in 1313. This church is massive and impressive - as my guidebook says, Siena had defeated Florence 80 years earlier and the city was 'feeling its oats'. Siena was by now its rival's equal as a middle-class ruled republic.

Siena has a brief and sharp downpour as we head back to the main stazione and our last evening in Montepulciano. Tomorrow we travel up to the north of Italy, and the Cinque Terre for the last leg of our trip.

The Tunnels of Montepulciano

What a surprising town we have here in Montepulciano. Walking along the main Corso, many tiny shopfronts advertise wine-tasting, art, clothing and shoes for sale. Really most of them look too small to accommodate more than a handful of people, but, descend their stairways and twist and turn round some corners and you can suddenly find yourself several layers down in an Etruscan tomb.

Evidently there is a maze of these underground basements and tunnels in Montepulciano once connecting the palaces above. It does give the feeling of living on a giant anthill. Yesterday we explored the tunnels below the Pulciano wine cellar, descending past rows of wine barrels and looking through various holes in the levels to the well below; eventually we fetched up at an Etruscan tomb. And rather incredible it was, 30 feet or so below the wine cantina to look in on a cave scratched out of the stony earth and marvel at a structure made centuries before Christ.

We climbed the Palazzo Communale later in the day to take some pictures of the main square, the Piazza Grande. The view from the tower is marvellous, stretching away to Lake Trasimeno in the distance and the hazy mountains of Tuscany. It was blowing a gale up there, making me clutch on to the decrepit iron railing for support.