Delores E. Topliff
On the European trip I enjoyed this summer thanks to longstanding
relationships with exchange students or guests who’ve lived in my home for up
to a year or longer, I visited caves, castles, cathedrals, and locations dating
as far back as Irish churchman St. Columba landing in Scotland in the late 500s
to build a community. A friend and I even clambered into a Scottish cave above
the Irish Sea that once hid St. Killean from enemies, and sheltered us from
rain. Dianne is a woman after my own heart. After a quick business trip to
town, she spontaneously rushed me here... and here... and here...
One key tip? Go armed with a huge camera memory chip--or
money to buy more.
Our main Italy destinations, Bologna, Venice, and Ravenna,
are ancient cities pulsing with major events accomplished there, as well as
cathedrals and other structures going back to early times. In addition to beautiful
natural scenery these cities display legacies that had this history lover eager
to write, and sometimes forgetting to breathe. Here are travel tips, photos,
and site reports in the order we saw them.
After flying through the
June 23rd High Summer night in constant pink and blue twilight, and
photographing shining white Greenland, I changed planes in Iceland. Loving the
glowing air, plus the great Iceland documentaries shown on the plane,
I see it offers enough fascinating history, geography, climate, and people to
desire future exploration.
My first stop
was a town in Denmark an hour north of Copenhagen where Jane, her husband, and
four children live in a cute home one friend described as living inside an IKEA
Store. I love staying with and learning from locals. We visited Jægerspris
Castle which has belonged to Danish monarchs since the 1300s. After 1850 one
king’s commoner widow made it a workhouse-school for underprivileged women.
However, castle antics attributed to that time make me glad those walls didn’t
talk. But my hosts were great!
Next
stop? Flying to Madrid where I renewed friendships in nearby Escorial with a
family whose son I taught for two years, before arranging to meet my traveling
companions. Madrid’s massive Atocha train station on Emperor Carlos V Boulevard
lined with impressive monuments, statues, and parks has a huge garden plaza
inside perfect for meeting a friend from Spain I hadn’t seen for four years and
one from Argentina I hadn’t seen for eleven.
These
wonder women found a travel package with flights to/from Bologna, and five
nights in the Grand Hotel Elite (sounds like a movie title) with lavish
breakfasts for $325 each--we more than got our money’s worth and because of
much walking, actually lost weight (and shoe leather).
City officials set up one thousand chairs set up in the
cathedral courtyard for a week of free 10 p.m. showings of Casablanca with star
Ingrid Bergman’s daughter, Isabella Rossellini, present the first night to
introduce. (We didn’t stay--our hurting feet returned us to the hotel after a
delicious cooling gelato.)
I enjoyed Bologna’s elegantly dressed ladies nearly as much
as her magnificent buildings. Below is Victoria, our stylish guide in the art
museum. Sorry my over-worked camera blurred, (I’ve bought a new one since) but
hope you get the effect. I also snapped two older ladies who shared a meet and
greet during their afternoon stroll.
And then our days based in Bologna were over.
Watch for Part II of this blog next month. Until then, what
has been your best near or far trip to date? Please share your best memory or
travel tip so far.
I think my best trip so far has been to Minnesota! And then on up to Canada by way of the Cliffdwellers. Next time, though, I think I'll tag along with you. :-)
ReplyDeleteAgreed.. And thanks for post. With company arriving here I was AWOL :)
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to Part II.
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