Tuscany
"There is something about the Italian landscape that inclines even the most stolid nature to romance." Eleanor Lavish, A Room with a View
I am now returned from Italy, and France. It was a great holiday. I can't write in English anymore because I have been trying to go between French, Italian, and now back to German again. And tomorrow I am off to Prague, for the most frightening language experience of all so far. I am just praying there will be lots of English speakers, unlike when I went to Eisenach.
But, I am getting ahead of myself. So, for some reason the 'nanny' software on the computer in the villa in France would not let me onto livejournal. It didn't pass their child-friendly qualifications. Not sure why. And, well, the much more rustic villa in Tuscany didn't even pretend to aspire to an internet connection. So, I am back online at last but only briefly.
The highlight of Italy, aside from the amazing countryside which never gets boring, was a trip to Assisi. I tried to go there last year from Siena by bus, but no such luck. So, this year we drove, which was much nicer. It was much more beautiful and interesting than I had been led to expect from the tourist guidebooks I had read. I was disappointed however, that I was not able to see any relics of St. Francis himself. They had his cloak, and his horn and his chalice and a piece of paper with his handwriting on it, and that sort of thing. The church was build around his tomb which looked more like a large pillar of rock. I saw a postcard with a glass coffin displaying a complete skeleton which was supposed to be the remains of St. Francis, but the bones were not visible when I was visiting the tomb. Somehow, although I find it a bit disturbing, it is a more powerful experience to see the saint in the flesh. I like visiting St. Catherine's head in Siena. It is a nice quiet church, which I have even had to myself on occasion, or nearly. No chance of that with St. Francis. But overall the atmosphere was serene and in the spirit that I would expect followers of St. Francis to observe.
I am now returned from Italy, and France. It was a great holiday. I can't write in English anymore because I have been trying to go between French, Italian, and now back to German again. And tomorrow I am off to Prague, for the most frightening language experience of all so far. I am just praying there will be lots of English speakers, unlike when I went to Eisenach.
But, I am getting ahead of myself. So, for some reason the 'nanny' software on the computer in the villa in France would not let me onto livejournal. It didn't pass their child-friendly qualifications. Not sure why. And, well, the much more rustic villa in Tuscany didn't even pretend to aspire to an internet connection. So, I am back online at last but only briefly.
The highlight of Italy, aside from the amazing countryside which never gets boring, was a trip to Assisi. I tried to go there last year from Siena by bus, but no such luck. So, this year we drove, which was much nicer. It was much more beautiful and interesting than I had been led to expect from the tourist guidebooks I had read. I was disappointed however, that I was not able to see any relics of St. Francis himself. They had his cloak, and his horn and his chalice and a piece of paper with his handwriting on it, and that sort of thing. The church was build around his tomb which looked more like a large pillar of rock. I saw a postcard with a glass coffin displaying a complete skeleton which was supposed to be the remains of St. Francis, but the bones were not visible when I was visiting the tomb. Somehow, although I find it a bit disturbing, it is a more powerful experience to see the saint in the flesh. I like visiting St. Catherine's head in Siena. It is a nice quiet church, which I have even had to myself on occasion, or nearly. No chance of that with St. Francis. But overall the atmosphere was serene and in the spirit that I would expect followers of St. Francis to observe.