Back from my travels...
I'm back at Dad's - we returned from Tuscany by way of Alsace (my beloved Strasbourg makes me think of a certain Greek hippie commanding his Gaulish troops there!) this morning, after a wonderful holiday! My only regret is that we didn't have enough time: I didn't get to see a lot of things I wanted to. This was because there were some days which had 2 excursions, so you had too little time in each place, and also because the coach had to drop us off on the edge of various towns. When your group is mainly older and/or slightly disabled people, this is not helpful. For example, I didn't get to the Duomo in Siena or the main ones I wanted to see in Florence, because it would have taken a fair hike to reach them, and there wasn't time. However, I have seen (among other curious things) the mummified head and finger, and the chain scourge of Caterina Benincasa in Siena:
O lips that the live blood faints in, the leavings of racks and rods!
O ghastly glories of saints, dead limbs of gibbeted Gods!
the Volto Santo of Lucca ("I'm just a sweet transvestite..."), the Piazza della Signoria and (best of all, as least known) Pietrasanta - a picturesque small town with lots of lovely buildings.
O lips that the live blood faints in, the leavings of racks and rods!
O ghastly glories of saints, dead limbs of gibbeted Gods!
the Volto Santo of Lucca ("I'm just a sweet transvestite..."), the Piazza della Signoria and (best of all, as least known) Pietrasanta - a picturesque small town with lots of lovely buildings.