The World Up Close

Falls on ice

2011-08-09T15:13:00.150-05:00

It is not too terribly common in Middle Tennessee for cold spells to last very long. For the temperatures to remain, not only below freezing, but in the 10's and 20's for several continuous weeks is nearly unheard of. I knew by the ice flows that formed and persisted along all the rock cuts along the interstate on my daily commute that my favorite waterfalls were freezing.

When a Saturday arrived, with a dusting of snow the night before, we bundled into warm layers for the day's 19 degree high, donned hiking boots to manage the ice and climbed into the car. Some of Tennessee's best waterfalls are located in Fall Creek Falls State Park. Just behind the visitors center lies the Cascades.When we climbed down the last few steps to the rock slab which, in summer months is a jumping of point for swimmers, we were rewarded with the site of an icy wonderland. The water had frozen into a milky white flow stone, with a steady stream of water still passing down over the rocks, and continuing down stream for the trip over Cane Creek Falls.

We quickly headed to the overlook for Cane Creek Falls. We Grinned like giddy children from ear to ear to look down on this 85 foot drop and it's plunge pool. The very large pool was completely covered over in a solid and smooth layer of ice, iced with the recent snow. There is a quick but not easy trail to the base of the falls, know affectionately as the "cable trail" due to the steel cable which helps the adventurous down to the bottom. We made our way carefully down, minding the ice that covered the rocks in places, me fascinated by my freezing gloves sticking to the steel cable, which robbed me of bits of material with every fresh handhold. At the bottom, we were greeted by an amazing overhang of blue and white ice at the fall's edge. The wall behind the falls feathered with icicles. Some tree branches overhanging the falls were encrusted with ice as well, an effect of the freezing mist given off by the still flowing water. It was everything we hoped for, and who knows if the weather will grace us with such amazing sites again this year. There is another small waterfall, which flows in just to the left of Cane Creek Falls, where the water lands and splashed on rocks, rather than into the plunge pool. With the freezing weather, this had formed a giant mound of ice, easily six feet tall, and ten feet in diameter. This was a totally unexpected formation, and if not for the water actively splashing down over it, and the long daggers of ice hanging above, I would very much have climbed all over it.

A quick drive or a pleasant hike away was the main event, Fall Creek Falls itself. Reputedly the highest waterfall east of the Mississippi, the Fall's falling water, feathered by the air in its long fall had sprayed the canyon walls, trees and rocks at its base with a halo of white, contrasting sharply with the dark water directly under the falls, where the water moved to quickly to freeze.
We hurried down the trail from the overlook to the base of the falls, anticipating wonder. As we rounded the last curve and pushed aside a ice encrusted branch, we entered the halo ring, delighted to find that the artificial snow being generated by the fall's mist had layered a foot deep, with a hard crusted surface we could walk on. Fall Creek Falls also has a companion falls, and as with Cane Creek, this one had formed a large stalagmite of ice. The falling misty ice had also clung to every plant within the ring, turning twigs into snowy branches, and reeds into thick white fun noodles, protruding from the snowy earth like some strange white play-doh hair.

Italy Picture Bonus round

2011-07-29T14:33:00.016-05:00

here an odd assortment of photos that I missed when adding pics to various Italy blogs.

Michelangelo's Christ the Redeemer at Santa Maria Sopra Minerva

Inside Santa Maria Sopra Minerva

Wood inlay at the church with the leaning tower of Pisa

ceiling in same church

Ceiling of Santa Croce Florence

Raphael rooms at the Vatican

View from the Necropoli at Tarquinia

Marble floot at Trajan's market

Me and my partner in worldly travels, in front of the Coliseum.

Capitol Hill, Roman Style

2011-07-19T15:07:00.060-05:00

It was late morning as we headed into the Roman Forum, this time, not merely to traverse it, but to explore its many ruins. In contrast to Trajan's market, which was still mostly empty when we left it, the forum was filling with clusters of tourists. Where we left off from the paved Roman roads, the earth was hard baked and dusty. We explored through the ruins, reading from our printed information about the ruins, listening to the snippets of information we caught from English speaking tour guides, whose colorful, antenna mounted scarves hung in the heat.

Despite being in the heart of such a phenomenal city, the forum fell into serious disuse and disrepair. Earth from Rome's surrounding seven hills filled in and debris covered much. It was not until the start of the 1800's that real excavation of the site began. Today, most of the buildings are merely bits and pieces still standing. Here several columns stand together, there a crumbling wall. But the forum is fascinating to me because of it's density. This was an urban landscape, a real city center. Full of temples, from that of Venus, to the Temple of Castor and Pollux the forum also housed arches commemorating various military victories, buildings used for various governmental purposes, the house of the Vestal Virgins, and the site where Caesar's ashes are believed to have been spread.

From the Forum, where Rome's Emperors ruled, we traveled to the Palatine Hill, where they lived. This place, whose name, if Wikipedia is to be believed is the origin of the very word palace, is a vast hilltop, covered with the scattered remains of gardens, multiple emperor's palaces, and perhaps a few temples. Also on the hill is the museum, housing finds from the surrounding palaces. Not only is the hill's history to be appreciated, but it's views. On one side, it overlooks the forum, on the other, Circus Maximus.

Foot weary and hot from our long day, we sought refuge in the cool darkness of San Francesco a Ripa. Our main reason for visiting was to see the Beata Ludovica Albertoni sculpture by Bernini. This heavily detailed sculpture was definitely worth our short visit.

The next morning, after two amazing weeks, we flew home.

Trevi and Trajan

2011-07-09T15:06:00.073-05:00

The next day we got up very early, well before any self respecting Italian would think of setting his alarm, and headed down to visit the iconic Trevi Fountain. In Rome in September, in the hours after dawn, the air is pleasant and fresh, but still, neither very cool or warm. The city smells of the cobbled streets, and the only sounds are the cooing of doves, and the occasional car. The fountain lies about a mile north of the ancient and heavily trafficked sites of the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, but the fountains manage to attract their fair share of the tourists anyway, despite being a relatively modern attraction. In a city whose history is best measured by millennia, the fountain was completed in 1762, less than 250 years ago.

The fountain draws the tourists for a few reasons, not least of which is that it is rather impressive. The large pool, and the sort of stone waterfall, ensconced with figures of Neptune, his horses and accompanying riders. All of this before a grand white roman styled palace. But there is also the various movies that have feature the fountain, perhaps most famously, La Dolce Vita. And on top of all that, there's the idea that throwing a coin in the fountain guarantees your return to the city, and who would want to miss out on that? But this early in the morning, there was no one else around. It was quiet and calm, and there was no one there but us to see us toss our coins in

From the fountain of Trevi, we traveled on to Trajan's Market. The site had just opened up for the day, and we were the first to get out and explore the streets and buildings of this former downtown Rome. The buildings are bare walled and empty floored. Unlike Pompeii, there are no relics to indicate whether this might have been a bakery, that a shop, here a tavern. But, there are discoveries to be made. This stairwell leads from a set of shops on a round plaza, up and behind, to a second level street, also lined with buildings. Here, a stone cover conceals the drainage below the street. Over it all are remnants of residences. Prime real estate then, as it would be now.

Now with the day in full progress, we turned from the business of Rome to it's governance, as we made the short walk to the forum.

What Lies Below: Capuchin Monks and Necropoli of Tarquinia

2011-06-29T14:30:00.004-05:00

After spending time in the beautiful Protestant Cemetery we headed to a different corner of the city to see how the Capuchin monks are interred at Santa Maria della Concezione. Here grotesque art lines the walls and ceilings. Human bones, those of devout former Capuchin monks, form the mosaics. But the effect, despite the material of their construction, while austere and solemnifying, is not at all repulsive. It was with great interest that we peered at each room, inside a rather unassuming looking building. They asked us not to take pictures, and we obliged, but you really have to see it for yourself anyway.

We then headed north out of Rome to visit the Necropoli of Tarquinia. We arrived in the late afternoon, and had the place nearly to ourselves. Tarquinia is the site of an Etruscan cemetery, where each of the tombs date from around the 6th and 7th centuries BC. Each tomb consists of a room carved out of the rock of the hill. a winding path leads from tomb to tomb, descend a set of steps through a little stucco entryway, and peer through glass into the rooms painted with nearly Roman figures. The quality and complexity of the murals vary with the rooms age, and show a variety of scenes from Etruscan life.

Before leaving we picked up a small bronze replica statue, like those many Etruscan works we had seen at museums throughout our trip, a memento of yet another culture which once inhabited this country. We returned to Rome for an early start on our last day in Italy.

Ancient Ruins Modern Remains

2011-06-19T15:03:00.000-05:00

After seeing what Vatican City had to offer, we leapt a little further back in time to the Roman era, when we went to visit the Baths of Caracalla. The baths are in relatively poor condition, but the towering bits of wall, and broken fragments of mosaic floor that do remain, are enough to impart the general idea of the scale of these baths, if not their opulence. Caracalla makes the well preserved baths we visited in Pompeii seem quaint, in terms of scale. We wandered the ruins, identifying the various areas of the baths based on the wikipedia information we had. It is hard to imagine, as with the Coliseum, the marble walls and various decorations which must have once covered the bare brick that remains today. What is even more difficult to grasp in my mind is the engineering complexity of the baths. I want nothing more, after seeing the ruins, than to see a functioning replica of one of these baths. Preferable life size, but a scale model would do.

From Roman times back to the future, and a visit to Rome's Protestant Cemetery was next on our todo list. The cemetery is easy enough to find, thanks to the prominent Pyramid which marks the grave of Caius Cestius, which well predates the Protestant Cemetery having been built around 15 BC. The Cemetery is all surrounded by a wall, and through the gate is a surprising green landscape scattered with headstones of every type. Lounging in the pools of light amidst the greenery and blooms, was the odd cat, another sanctuary. The whole place has the feel, not of a burial ground, but of some secret garden. After the hordes of tourists at the Vatican, this place was purely abandoned. We had it to ourselves.

Besides a few interesting headstones, and the beautiful mourning angel, the cemetery is most well known for two of its residents, and their sidelong buried friends. The first of these is Percy Bysshee Shelley, who's wife penned Frankenstein, and who himself was an accomplished poet. My own favorite poem of his, and probably the best known, is Ozymandias. He lies buried next to Edward John Trelawney, whose name I only noticed at the time because of one of Harry Potter's professors. But, as it turns out, Trelawney was a friend of Shelley, and when Shelly died in a boating accident in Italy, Trelawney was at the cremation, and took Shelley's heart, to give to Mary Shelley which she kept in a box until her death.

In a corner of the walled cemetery is the grave of John Keats, with its famous epitaph "Here lies one whose name was writ in water", but that's not all there is to the story. A friend of Keats, who was there with him through the final stages of his tuberculosis, abided by Keats's wishes by placing the epitaph , but not Keats's name on the tomb. This man, Joseph Severn used a sort of loop hole in Keats's dying wishes, and wrote a good deal more on that headstone instead. In full, it reads: This Grave, contains all that was Mortal, of a YOUNG ENGLISH POET, Who, on his Death Bed, in the Bitterness of his Heart, at the Malicious Power of his Enemies, Desired these words to be Engraven on his Tomb Stone Here Lies One Whose Name was writ in Water. Feb 24th 1821. That same year, Percy Shelley, a friend, wrote Adonais in honor of Keats. But still, the story does not quite end there. In 1879, Joseph Severn died, and was buried next to Keats. As a final honor to the dead poet, Severn's tombstone names the young English poet he is buried next to. Severn's inscription begins: To the memory of Joseph Severn, devoted friend and death-bed companion of John Keats, whom he lived to see numbered among the immortal poets of England.

Basilica di San Pietro

2011-06-09T14:16:00.000-05:00

The first thing that you will notice about Saint Peter's is that is it large. It is massive. It is difficult to really photograph this. The curved colonnades that reach around the plaza like a pair of gargantuan arms to gather you in are hard to grasp in return. The Piazza within these arms is filled with row upon row of chairs, presumably for services here. The people are routed along the right hand side, through security. Be sure to cover your shoulders and knees. Immodesty is frowned on here. You may be able to buy a pair of paper pants if necessary, but the cost is not so modest.

There are nuns and tourists here. there are Swiss guards here and there. We wandered first through the Vatican grotto, beneath the church, where many of the popes are buried. Our visit fell only a few years after the death of Pope John Paul II, and the passageway was crowding with people, several of whom wept quietly in the dimly lit, low ceiling hall. We did not linger long, feeling a little too out of place, too much like a tourist at a funeral, and headed into the church itself.

Because everything is on a grand scale, it is hard to really feel it without other people for scale. Those cherubs are nearly as large as adults. The statues in the nooks are really Goliaths. Everything in the rich hue of various marbles. Through the years of its construction, the hands of many designed its various structures, most famously Michaelangelo.

It is one of Michaelangelo's own works, the Pieta, which is the most famous piece of sculpture within the church. Christ's body, draped across the lap of his mother, the statue is highly finished and highly detailed. Like David, the Pieta is protected behind a barrier, because someone once took a hammer to it.

Overall I think the vastness of the church is decreased by its decoration, making the structure itself less imposing than, for instance, the austere interior of the Koln Cathedral. However, the greater detail does make it perhaps more interesting to explore and contemplate.

Vatican Museum concluded

2011-05-29T14:07:00.000-05:00

After shuffling out way out of the Sistine Chapel, we wandered another long hall back to the main body of the museum, this one filled with various religious architecture. Finally we found are way to the Pinacoteca, the Vatican art gallery. The rooms are ordered chronologically, and the works are almost strictly of a religious nature, whether they be grand paintings of biblical scenes or representations of the various saints. The works range from the 12th to the 19th centuries and include several works by Raphael, the most impressive of which is The Transfiguration whose vivid colors shine in a dark room. Among the other authors to be found here are Giotto, Bellini, Caravaggio, Titian, Guido Reni, Bernini, and an unfinished St. Jerome by da Vinci. Also of interest, though the name is less well known to me, is Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, by Peter Wenzel, which shows a rather whimsical scene with flora and fauna from the world over.

The Transfiguration

Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden

From the Pinacoteca, we wound our way through the Pio-Clemento museum. Roman statues peered down at us from crimson niches, as we shuffled past, circling the roman mosaics set in the floor, cordoned off by velvet ropes, and finally into the octagonal courtyard, filled with still more roman sculptures.

After the courtyard we moved into the Egyptian Museum. This museum contains a decent collection of hieroglyph marked stelae, Egyptian statues, a few mummies, and some bronze votives. Of these, the statues and busts were the most impressive, several good quality pieces as well as a few very interesting pieces that show the Romanization of Egyptian gods, such as the toga adorned Anubis. Of particular interest to me where the final rooms of the exhibit which were not Egyptian, but which contain tablets written in cuneiform, the oldest of all writing forms , and also Assyrian artwork.

Finally, were were done with the museum, and ready to head to the Vatican itself. So we exited by the famous double helix staircase, whose two spirals once allowed guests to both enter and exit this way, but now it is used only as an exit.

Vatican: Il Museo

2011-05-19T15:01:00.000-05:00

After returning to Rome for the final time on our trip, we knew we had to get up pretty early to beat the lines to the Vatican Museum. By the time we arrived, there was already a significant line, and it took us some time after the museum opened to reach the doors. In the mean time, we were glad to have a bottle of water, and no small degree of patience. The wait was formed of a thick line of people who wound their way along the sidewalk around the outside of the walled Vatican City. Passing along the lines were vendors selling scarves and water, and even a few beggars. One particularly shaky elderly woman was so bent with osteoporosis that she walked completely bent over, pitching forward on her cane with every unsteady step. Her condition was thrown into doubt however, when she happened to turn her ragged shawl covered head and reveal a surprisingly young and healthy face.

Once at the gate, we purchased our tickets. The Vatican only accepts cash, despite theme park priced admission costs. Through the gate, We began our journey to the primary site. Down a gilded and painted hallway, we worked our way, shoulder to shoulder with a throng of people. Here and there, telescoping antennas, without there cars or radios, extended into the air, bearing scarves of every possible pattern and color, marking the pirates of these human seas: tour guides. Shouting above the din of shuffling feet and rustling clothes, they tried, seemingly in vain, to point out details in the artwork hanging here and there on the wall along the way, their languages nearly as varied as their scarves.

This hallway, filled to the absolute brim with people from the world over, was the Gallery of Maps. Every square inch of its surface decorated. All along its length were hung, not surprisingly, maps. Finally were poured out into the Raphael rooms. Here, you will find that many do not pause. Raphael seems like nothing, when there is Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel just ahead. But do not let your anxious interest hurry you here. There are four rooms painted by the artist and his school.

The first of these is the Room of Constantine, named for the first Christian Roman Emperor. While one wall is busy with scenes of war, the ceiling bears the simpler work of another author, Tommaso Laureti, and shows a statue of a Roman god, knocked from its pedestal and lying on the floor, replaced by a golden cross. The next room in the Room of Heliodorus, which depicts another scene of battle, as well as scenes with the namesake of the room, Saint Peter, Moses, Noah, and others. The Room of the Segnatura is a Hall of Fame of sorts. It is one of Raphael's most famous frescoes, and certainly my favorite of the Raphael rooms. The Disputation over the Most Holy Sacrament is a whose who of Christian figures, both from the Bible, and saints. On the wall opposite, School of Athens shows many great thinkers from Aristotle to Euclid, each with their own signs to help tell who they are, such as Ptolemy holding

a globe. Among the other figures present on the other walls are popes and cardinals, with Dante and Virgil gazing down from the ceiling. The fourth and final room is Room of the Fire in the Borgo, which depicts several historical events on its walls, including the namesake fire.

Finally, after somewhat more spacious time spent with Raphael, it is time to once again go shoulder to shoulder with the crowds to see the great Sistine Chapel. Here, no pictures are allowed. Here, talking is prohibited. Here, it is hot, and crowded, the air pervaded by a general murmur from the people, occasionally overridden by a harsh sshhhh! from the security. People snap photos anyway. Protected by the masses. We did take one discreet, rather blurry picture, no flash. Above, is that classic scene, hand reaching for hand. But all around it, on every surface, as with all the other rooms so far, there too is work. But this room is impossibly large. This room is long and tall. The perspective is worthwhile, but without the ability to move about the room and examine it, it is not enough. If I were to visit again, I would wait for some weekday, some cold day, some rainy day. Some day where maybe I might have it more to myself.

To be continued Thursday.

Siena Duomo

2011-05-09T13:25:00.000-05:00

The exterior of the Siena Duomo is a colorful collection of white, pink, and green marble, much like the Duomo in Florence, though this building is smaller. The facade is also heavily decorated with carved spires and arches, statues of man and beast, as well as being capped with a golden mosaic.

Upon entering through the wooden side doors, You eyes will be drawn briefly to the boldly stripped columns and vaulted ceiling, but if you visit during September, you eyes will mostly be inspecting the bared floor. Covered for most of the year in protection from trodding feet, the floor of the Sienna Duomo is covered with scenes done in marble inlay. It is difficult to believe that anyone once took the time to cut the various pieces of marble so finely that they fit together, puzzle like, on the floor to represent various biblical scenes. The works are fascinating in their level of detail, and contrasting colors.

Overhead, the vault looms, its height made heigher by the optical illusion created by its painters, who covered the vault with rectangles which grow progressively smaller.

Also worth a visit is the attached Piccolomini Library. Notable for its frescoes and brilliant painted arching ceiling, it also displays a number of decorated choir books, and a roman statue of the Three Graces. The choir books bear words and notes shown large enough for the group to read together from a distance, and are heavily adorned not only with beautiful borders and neat calligraphy, but also with perfectly detailed palm sized ink drawings.

In fact, the entire church is wrought with so many different forms of art, all very heavily detailed and intriguing, making this one of Italy's many not to be missed attractions.

Firenze Fine

2011-04-29T15:30:00.000-05:00

The Duomo of Florence, also known as the Cathedral of Santa Maria dei Fiori, dominates the center of it's Piazza half a kilometer north of the Arno River. This structure stands out for its size and colorful detail, its exterior a dazzling pattern of white, green, and pink marble. Among its most prominent features are its grand dome by Brunelleschi, its bell tower by Giotto, and the Baptistery, which bore the bronze caste doors known as "the Gates of Paradise" by Lorenzo Ghiberti. The doors currently in place are replicas, the originals undergoing restoration in the nearby Museo dell'Opera del Duomo. The google maps street view provides an exceptional perspective on this church. In the early afternoon in mid September, we found the area surrounding the church to be pleasant and not too crowded. There was, however, an bit of a line to get inside, and since so much of the allure of this building is its exterior, we decided not to enter, but instead headed to one of the more peculiar museums in this city.

The Museo Di Storia Della Scienza houses a collection of scientific instruments and curiosities. The rooms contains ancient astrolabes and sundials, as well as levels and surveyor's instruments. The museum houses an early mechanical calculator, prisms, globes, microscopes, and an interesting collection of optical illusion toys. There are a variety of weather instruments, such as early thermometers and barometers. There is an entire room dedicated to clocks; early electrical machines and experimental contraptions make up another. Still other rooms stock devices used to demonstrate pneumatics, hydraulics, and other experiments or demonstrations of physics. Among the most disturbing collections are the surgery and obstetrics items, which display not only tools used to perform early medicine, which may include "skull and eye surgery; obstetrics and gynecology; lithotomy; amputation; removal and incision", but also the walls are lined with wax models on infants in the womb, many demonstrating all that can go wrong in childbirth with the clarity of a full color cutaway. The collection concludes with items related to pharmacy, chemistry, and measuring. But perhaps all of this, even as interesting as it was, would not have been enough to draw us to the museum. It was, in fact the rooms dedicated to astronomy that were of supreme interest.

There is a later room dedicated to more developed telescopes, but rooms IV and V hold the real treasures. These rooms house possessions and creations of Galileo. Among the collection of smaller items are the very lens through which he first saw the moons of Jupiter, and his very own middle finger. They also have the only two telescopes made by him still in existence today. It is accepted, though generally not well known, that Galileo did not in fact invent the telescope, but what he saw when he used them to look at the moon, the planets, and the sun, he used as evidence for the Copernican model of a sun centered universe.

Unsatisfied with merely the finger of the man, we headed over to the Basilica di Santa Croce, his final resting place, as well as that of several other world famous Italians. From the front, the Basilica's exterior matches that of the Duomo, but the sides are more plain. Within the walls of the church, despite the art and decorations, it is the many tombs, many laid into the very floor of the church, that attract attention. It is here that Florence built its empty tomb for Dante, who remains in Ravenna. Here also lies the body of Niccolò Machiavelli, author of the Prince and the Art of War. As I have said, here also lies Galileo, and finally Michelangelo Buonarroti, perhaps the most famous sculptor and painter in the world, has found his final rest here as well.

Statue at the Basilica

Niccolò Machiavelli

Dante's Memorial

Galileo

Michelangelo

A three Museum Morning

2011-04-19T13:25:00.000-05:00

After an afternoon in Pisa, it was back to Firenze for still more Museums. It was another early morning line, this time to get into the Galleria dell Accademia. Practically the only thing on exhibit here is the ironically giant stature of David. Entering the main hall, lined on each side with the far less known, and not completed slaves, also by Michelangelo, my eyes were drawn immediately to the far end. There stands the iconic work completed five hundred years ago. The work does not disappoint, the details of muscle and vein on the legs and arms, the large curled fingers of his lowered hand, all of it striking and fine. The statue itself is surrounded by a protective plexi-glass fence, this provided after the statue was attack and its toes damaged by a man with a hammer, a scenario not unlike that which happened to another work of Michelangelo, the Pieta, at the Vatican. The rest of the museum comprises of paintings, a plaster cast of the Rape of the Sabine Women original we had already seen outside the Uffizi, and one impressive room full of plaster casts of various sculptures. The casts are crammed into every niche, and fill the center of the room, leaving only a narrow route for tourists to explore. Also during out visit, there was on exhibit Marvels of sound Musical Instruments of the Italian Baroque (Meraviglie sonore Strumenti musicali del Barocco Italiano) which contained, among other interesting, highly ornamented pieces, a violin by Stradivari, a real surprise.

From the Galleria, it was on to the Museo Archeologico. This museum houses older works of art, including several Etruscan pieces. One of the most interesting of these is the empty eyed bronze Chimera. The museum as a whole has a somewhat abandoned feel. We saw no one else visiting while we were there, there were some construction areas seemingly abandoned partway through, and the room with the mummies didn't even have the lights on.

Chimera

Hittite Chariot

Egyptian Items

Bes

After that, we visited another of Firenze's well known museums, the Bargello. Here on display are several sculptures by Michelangelo. At the top of the stairs in the courtyard rest a collection of bronze birds by Giambologna, the most interesting to me being that of a turkey, done in 1567, when the birds odd appearance was still relatively novel. In a nearby room, Donatello gets his due, where several of his works are on display. Of the many pieces, the bronze David was by far the most interesting, because not only is it large and well made, but at the time of our visit, it was under restoration. For many pieces, restoration means being removed from exhibit and being replaced by a cardboard cut-out if it's recognizable enough, or merely a piece of paper printed with words that proclaim "Under Restoration" of something like. Donatello's David, however, underwent its restoration under the full view of visitors, in the very room where it usually resides. Laying upon his operating table, surrounded by a barrier that houses computers and technicians alike, David did not look entirely comfortable. Perhaps because we were able to better peer into his face, or examine the top of his head, but I suspect it was more to do with our ability to see into his very soul, where his soles ought to have been. For, as I assume is the case with all large bronzes, David is hollow, and he hasn't got a bottom any more than a vase has got a top.

Museum of a Genius in Vinci, and The Leaning Tower

2011-04-09T23:30:00.000-05:00

After spending the first part of the day at the Uffizi, we took a drive to a small town called Vinci. While there are multiple museums in the region dedicated to Leonardo, we felt it was more apt to visit one in the town which gave him his name. Here, in miniature, are reproductions of dozens of contraptions invented by the late thinker. From the notes of Leonardo come cranes and winches, clock mechanisms, flying machines, cannon, gun, and tank. There are screw presses and kilns, bearings, a level. There were simple devices to measure humidity and wind speed, as well as complicated mechanically powered transportation devices, like paddle boats, bicycles, and spring driven cars. Designs for rack and pinion steering, and even boat shoes and a diving suit.

In short, the museum houses models for contraptions of every sort which, while many may have missed the mark, embody the kinds of ideas, the tinkering sort of love for things mechanical, which would propel humanity into the modern era and age of industrialization several hundred years hence. He was also something of a painter, so they say.
We then ventured still further west across the isthmus to another well known town called Pisa. Here a tower stands, or rather peeks from behind the buildings of the baptistery and cathedral of the Field of Miracles. The biggest mistake in its construction, the foundation poorly laid, has become it's greatest success, making this cathedral one of the biggest draws for tourism in Italy, of all the lovely cathedrals found here. Today, the tower's leaning has been corrected somewhat and stabilized, and the city takes full advantage of its popularity.

An arched entryway leads into the high walled courtyard of this miracle field. Just outside this entrance we were very much surprised to find a troupe of Native Americans dressed in their best feather headdresses and leather tunics, playing pipe and drum for the tourist crowds. Inside the courtyard, the right hand side was cast in deep shade, and lined with stalls selling scarves, postcards, magnets, little statues of the building that lay just a little distance away. We located the office to buy tickets for the tower, a timed entrance, prices set to somewhat reduce the crowds. In the mean time, we explored the green grass lawns where, as in any sun drenched park in Italy, young couples lay in the grass. We visited the cathedral, squinting at the bright pure white exterior of all 3 buildings in the afternoon light.

The tower itself is set into a bit of a pit, not having merely leaned to one side, but also having settle all together, so that you must descend a few stairs to the doorway, before you can climb up. Climbing the 294 steps to the top is not just a little like walking on sliding belts in a carnival fun house. because the building leans so, as you circle round and round up the tower, you lean first to this side, then that. Without the visual cues of the outside, and due probably in part to our general assumption that steps are level, it is difficult to recognize the shift until you find yourself almost falling upon the opposite wall, and so round and round, back and forth, like so many upside down pendulums we went. The stumbling steps of countless tourists have worn into the marble steps smooth dimples. With a brief stop about midway up to explore the outside of the tower, and presumably to let the previous group head back down, we found ourselves at the heady slopping height of the tower.

Below, the afternoon crowds throng along the little shops, the locals doze, and beyond the reach of my ear through so much interfering sound, a flute and drums play music not at all native to this land, in costumes wildly out of place. And in all honesty, I do not feel like a tourist, sheepishly taking in the typical sites. I feel like an audience member at a comedy play. Let in on the farce, this fun house of marble 700 years in the making, waiting patiently for me and others like me, with the proper sense of humor, to come and see the show.

Firenze: Piazza della singoria and the Uffizi

2011-03-29T11:45:00.000-05:00

Florence, known to Italians by the more spirited name Firenze, was the beating heart of the Italian Renaissance, and is today the home of countless museums and masterpieces. But the museums do bring the crowds that come to see them, particularly the top most two, the Uffizi, and the Galleria dell Academia. The Galleria is the home of David, the Uffizi houses works by not only da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael, but also Titian, Caravaggio, Botticelli, and Rembrandt, amongst others. The key to seeing these works without a long wait is to arrive at the museums in the morning, to arrive before the museums open, before tour groups or many other tourists are up and about.

So we found ourselves on our first morning in a nearly vacant Piazza della Signoria, where the Uffizi is located. The Piazza itself is notable for it's collection of statues, as the site of the historical Bonfire of the Vanities, and the site of Palazzo Vecchio. Outside the Palazzo stands a replica of Michelangelo's David. Around the corner of the Palace is the Fountain of Neptune, Constructed in the 1500's, the crowning marble statue is not the original, housed in a museum. The rest of the fountain, in bronze and marble is mostly original, though it has been several times restored. But most of the statues are housed under the Loggia della Signoria. Here several dynamic sculptures, stood in the cool blue shadows of early morning. Among the statures are a bronze Perseus by Cellini, a piece by Giambologna called Hercules beating the Centaur, as well as the Rape of Polyxena, and several Roman sculptures. However, by far my favorite piece is the twisted spire of bodies of the Rape of the Sabine Women also by Giambologna.

Realizing a bit of a line was forming at the soon to open museum, we cut our visit to the outdoor statues short. This gallery brims with at least a few paintings from each of many masters of the paintbrush. Many of the works can be viewed at the Virtual Uffizi. Easily the single most famous piece here, despite all the well known artists is that of the Birth of Venus, by Botticelli. The Nearly 50 rooms of work on display take 3 to 4 hours to browse over everything, or you can skim through the works by the more famous authors more quickly. Thankfully, because the museum lets people in in groups, the rooms are not as crowded as you might think, and the works are generally easy to see. Pictures are not allowed, but photographs of most of the works can be found at the above link.

Palazzo Vecchio

David Replica

Neptune Fountain

Bronze Satyr on Neptune Fountain sheilds his face from the sun

Perseus

Hercules beating the Centaur

Rape of Polyxena

Four Angles of the Rape of the Sabine Women

The Uffizi Line

Tennessee Walking Horse Celebration

2011-03-19T14:16:00.000-05:00

While attending the Wilson County Fair this summer, we picked up a pair of free tickets to the Tennessee Walking Horse Celebration in Shelbyville. This is the premier competition for the Walking Horse, and having never seen a Walking Horse in action, we went down to check it out.

The event has a high school football game atmosphere, if say, the team were extremely popular. Parking was only a few dollars and not too far from the stadium. Outside the stands they were handing out thick newspapers filled with information about the competition, and a lot of full page ads for individual riders and their horses. At the entrance various local clubs were selling cold drinks, cotton candy, pizza and more. The bleachers were unusual. General seating consisted of the normal rows of seats, but the rest was divided by metal rails into little boxes, where the seating consisted of tan metal folding chairs.

The crowd was casual, jeans and t-shirts and baseball caps, despite the long coats and bowler caps of the riders. Each competition consisted of a group of riders circling the rink, slow then fast, then doing an about face and circling the opposite way, slow then fast. All of this to the beat of various fairground organ styled songs. The overall effect is somewhat intoxicating for a while, but after several courses of competition, it lost it's interest for me, and I became interested instead in the dozens of nighthawks flying in and out of the floodlights. Ultimately, we left before all the competitions were complete, having seen enough to fulfill our desire to see the show. I firmly believe that watching more than we did would require the patience of a NASCAR enthusiast.

The light atmosphere of the show is darkened by the practices historically used to achieve the blue ribbon walks. Soaring, which is both inhumane and illegal, is still practiced today, however, the Celebration has taken strides to identify and block from competition those who practice it. With stricter regulations and better detection methods, it can be hoped that the future of such a distinctly Southern tradition may continue to be carried on with a cleaner conscience.

Bologna afternoon

2011-03-09T13:47:00.000-06:00

We came to Bologna to see two things: a few of the towers the city is famous for, and the Basilica of San Domenico. We were caught up in the crowded and busy streets, and little more than glimpsed the towers of Torri Degli Asinelli e Garisenda. The haphazardly constructed city is given a coherent look thanks to the sandstone and terracotta tiles with which everything seems to be built. One of the most striking features of the city are it's colonnaded sidewalks which crowd the street and bring the cool darkness of evening to the early afternoon. They are so striking in fact, that these Porticoes of Bologna are on the tentative list for becoming a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Eventually we navigated the maze and located the Basilica. It is easy to pick out, among all the like colored buildings because in front of it stands a tall pillar, topped by a statue of St. Dominic, and beside it is yet another column, this bearing a statue of Madonna of the Rosary.

The church has a baroque interior, full of marble, plaster, and paintings from vatious artists. Perched here and there, are life size plaster angels.

The church is the final resting place of St. Dominic, who once served in the church which was expanded and renamed San Domenico after the Saint's death. At the front of the church lies the impressive marble shrine. The shrine has a tower of its own, and two of the statuettes that grace it were early pieces by Michelangelo. The church is also the burial site of Guido Reni, who painted St. Dominic's Glory above St. Dominic's shrine.

Tempio at Rimini, Mosaics at Ravenna

2011-03-01T14:00:00.000-06:00

When we arrived in Rimini, we found parking easily, and headed down the street to where the Tempio Malatestiano was to be located. Our directions where somewhat unclear, and we were unaware at the time that the actual name of the church is St. Francis. when Faced with an austere white marble church, we were uncertain. Was this the church that so offended the Pope at the time of its construction? We were prepared for something darker. But the church can be easily identified by the intertwined I and S, for Sigismono Malatesta and his mistress Isotta. The characters together resemble a dollar sign, and it is perhaps these marks, as well as the unusual carved details of elephants, part of Malatesta's coat of arms, which so offended the religious order. Not so much a church, as a shrine to his dead mistress, the Tempio was never fully completed as intended. It is in itself not a particularly important attraction, but is and interesting stopover.

Roughly an hour north of Rimini lies the town of Ravenna. Ravenna is considered a UNESCO World Heritage site due to it's fabulous mosaics located in several buildings throughout the town. A ticket can be purchased the provides admittance to several of these buildings, and they can be visited easily by foot in the main part of town. Also in the area is the final resting place of Dante. Though Florence was long his home, He died and was buried in Ravenna, a political exile. Florence has since tried to recover his remains, but Ravenna has refused, and in the early 1800's, 500 years after his death, they constructed a tomb for him among other famous Italians, but which still lies empty today.

Inside and Outside: Tomba Di Dante.

From the Tempio Malatestiano

Various Mosaics from Ravenna

waitomo: pretty much the most awesome thing ever

2011-02-19T15:00:00.000-06:00

After spending a restful night at Juno Hall Backpackers, we woke up early to a cool and dewy morning, and headed out to visit with the sheep and calves kept on the farm. Unfortunately, I'm afraid the hungry animals put up such a racket when they saw us that they woke up the rest of the Hostel's patrons. We headed from that small enclosure to a more open pasture, where a horse was grazing. After letting ourselves in to the field, we noticed a deer laying at the top of the hill. She noticed us about the time we noticed her, but rather than moving off, she made a bee line down the hill for us. My concern at being approached by a wild animal, even an herbivorous one, was eased when I saw she wore a collar. As we scratched it behind the ears, one of the farm owners passed by in his truck, and stopped and hopped the fence to talk to us.

He could see the surprise on our faces, so he explained how the deer came to be a family pet. In New Zealand, deer are invasive; all mammals are invasive, so, there are no hunting permits required, or hunting season restrictions. As a result of this, when the man shot a doe one year, he found her pregnant. He delivered the fawn and brought it home. And so it has stayed ever since, though she could easily jump the fence and leave. He then showed us a few deer tricks. She will stand behind him and put her front feet onto his shoulders. He then tried to get us to grab her tail, and when he found us reluctant, did so himself to show us how she can shuffle her hind feet forward.

After such an entertaining morning we headed just down the road to Waitomo Adventures to take the Lost World Epic 7 hour tour. Once all five tour participants and the 2 guides had arrived, we headed by van to a picnic pavilion and showers complex located on private property. There we suited up in heavy thick wet suits, rappelling harnesses, hard hats with light and white wellington boots. Not your every day outfit for sure. We then headed for a short walk across the countryside to a ropes course where we practiced using our two carbine clips to move along a rope trail while staying safely attached. Then we headed down to the entrance to the lost world.

A metal catwalk extends out over an open abyss. Over 300 feet below, the pit's bottom was a mix of misty green and wet rock. We were all safely clipped to a rope before being led onto the catwalk and being asked to sit back onto a bar that floated over nothingness. Once seated, our harnesses were clipped onto roped for the trip down. For safety, we were connected to our guides by a lead rope. And then came the hard part. Slide forward off the bar and sitting into the harness itself. Being supported over the drop by only a rope. Having done it, feeling the stability and solidness of the harness support, all fear was forgotten, and we began to feed rope through the clip to begin our descent.

For the first 10 feet or so, feet touch the rock wall. After that, the rock recedes and you hang in the open, the only contact to the solid earth, the rope, less than an inch in diameter. Through the mist below, the green became distinguishable leaves, individual rocks began to stand out, and then we were down, standing on our feet again at the bottom. And here we paused to eat before beginning the long journey out. Nothing fancy. Sandwiches and cookies in the strange light.

Our first task was to head across this gap to the far end, to scramble down boulders, to reach water level. The distance was not far, but the suits, designed to keep us warm in the cold water, heated up quickly. At the edge of the water, an eel, maybe a foot long swam, attracted perhaps by our head lamps. They live in the waters of the cave, and throughout New Zealand. But the lure of the cool water was enough to get me in, despite the dark surface and the eels it might hide. After all, the only other way out was a rather tall ladder.

The plunge into the waters marked my first wet suit experience. Cold water rushed in at the edges and stole my breath. The water here is deep, and we were headed against the current. Thick ropes lay hidden below the water, and we groped our way along as our suits held our bodies to the surface. The trip was an alternation of floating comfortably through deep water, and trudging through shin deep water with heavy water laden boots. In between we navigated across a churning basin at the foot of one falls, and attempted to climb right up another less dangerous one. We used a rope swing to climb into an upper chamber, then dropped through a hole back into the water below, with all lights out. We belly crawled beneath a boulder for the fun of it, and took a break on a sandy bar to have a surprise hot drink and a chocolate fish one of the guides had packed in all that way.

Finally, as we neared the end of the cave, too far from the entrance for light, but near enough for insects to wander, we paused a final time. We turned out our headlamps and looked up. Scattered across the ceiling like a pale green milky way shone a thousand points of light. They are glow worms. Hunters that lure insects with their light, and ensnare them with sticky strings, I had read about them in one of those strange fact columns in a magazine growing up. Here they were.

After spending a long time looking, we finally got back to our feet, and before long we saw light, as the stream flowed out into the day. climbing up out of that small valley to the never ending expanse of sheep fields, we began our trek back to our start point. The walk felt long and hot, and was fraught with manure. Finally, we crested one of the many rolling hills and spotted our pavilion. While we hit the showers, our guides cooked up steaks, sausage, and potatoes, and set out salads and drinks. We ate our food and talked about our travels, and finally loaded back into the van to return to the main office.

This is one of the most fun and amazing experiences I've had anywhere. It was difficult for me, as I am not in great shape, but it was absolutely worth the cost, the time and the effort. I would recommend this as the number one thing to do while visiting New Zealand if you are physically able. Simply amazing.

Urbino and the Museum of the Hard to Find

2011-02-09T12:32:00.000-06:00

Urbino is a bristling brown city that covers a small hill. Parking outside the city walls, we entered through the gates and wound our way up stairs and slopping narrow alleys between the crowded buildings to the Palazzo Ducale. The Palazzo is a UNESCO world heritage site, and its famous facade as well as the museum inside it are the main attraction of this small city.

Only we couldn't find it. We climbed the hill to the main piazza, and looked around at the buildings, and saw no signs. We did see a sign leading up some of the stairs we came to get here, but in the square, there didn't appear to be any museum. We circled back down hill, and returned searching again. Then, we realized that there was a small open doorway on the piazza, tucked into a corner near some construction. There was not a sign in sight, but here was the Palazzo Ducale and the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche. It's famous facade disguised by plywood surrounding construction work.

The museum, housed in this graceful palace consists mainly of Renaissance works. In fact, according to wikipedia, it is one of the most important such collections in the world. But despite the works by master artists such as Raphael and Titian, a small room known as the Studiolo steals the show. This small room, a sort of renaissance era study, is entirely decorated in wooden inlay work. The entire room looks like it is filled with shelves and cabinets, and the shelves are filled with accoutrements of a thinking mind. But all of these details are but works of art, created by perfectly cut and variously shaded pieces of wood fit together like a puzzle. While no pictures were allowed inside, the wikipedia entry about the Palazzo does show a few examples of the work in this room.

Family Reunion, Further evidence things do not always go according to plans:

2011-01-29T15:00:00.000-06:00

Late in July was the family reunion for my mother's side of the family. This is the third year running we have gotten together, and this year it was held at my uncle's house near Atlantic City New Jersey.

For the drive up, we decided to make a detour through D.C. to see if we could visit a few monuments. We first ran into trouble early Friday morning. We were stuck in interstate deadlock for several hours due to a series of accidents ahead of us. We would learn later that an accident involving 4 tractor trailers and 1 car resulted in a terrible fire that consumed everything but the cab of the front most truck, the tail end of the hindmost trailer, and the frame of the car. While the drivers of the big rigs survived, the two people in the car were not so lucky. We saw only the wreckage pass us on several flatbeds headed south, and the equipment tearing up and repaving the road at the site of the accident. There was also another tractor trailer on its side in the ditch here, a secondary accident caused by the traffic related to the first, and a situation just not high on the priority list this morning.

Finally, we arrived in D.C. hoping, with the few spare minutes we had left for a stopover, to see the sites. But unable to find parking, we merely circled about the monuments and the white house. As we drove up Constitution Ave. to the intersection with Pennsylvania, a policeman drove his car abruptly across our lane. He jumped out and began clearing the traffic from Pennsylvania, one hand on his holstered gun. This younger thinner Denzel Washington shouted at pedestrians crossing the street and a car that thought it could sneak around. Moments later, a motorcade passed, going from the white house to the Capitol Building. The limousines were flying the flags of the Commander in Chief. Having seen more than we could have expected with such little time to spend, we were on our way again.

Unfortunately, the morning's accident was not a singularity. We navigated several more accidents and lane closures, and a few tolls before finally entering the state of New Jersey. As we turned off the interstate, onto a small two lane highway for the rest of our trip, we though we were in the clear. This was not quite the case. We had not gotten very far before we encountered our last obstacles, a severed telephone pole and the apparently volunteer police. Due to the pole, we were detoured onto even skinnier country roads and looped back to the main highway, roughly half a mile further on. The tractor trailers crept down the roads and carefully navigated the 90 degree turns. After another 45 minutes delay, we were on our way yet again.

After 16 hours in the car, we finally arrived at my uncles house, to find almost everyone had gone to the boardwalk. Not really feeling like good company anyway, we made our way to a local diner, Julianos, where I enjoyed a great meatball sub. This was a bar, a restaurant, and also something of a convenience store. Coolers with beer for purchase lined the far wall.

The next day was spent with family, making food and watching the kids play. In the early afternoon, some, myself and my husband included loaded up in a couple vans and headed to the beach.

I have swam in the ocean along the Carolinas and northern parts of Florida. I found this particular beach surprising because you could walk out a fair distance without a drop off, and yet, there were pretty large waves coming in. We had a pretty good time. What I wasn't so excited about was the fact that the water left my skin slightly sticky to the touch. I have since decided, based on Internet research, that this was likely due to human effluent pumped out by the large metropolis just to the north. But at the time, I was not deterred from swimming. What did finally get me out of the water was a small crab that scuttled across my foot, and mistaking my ring toe for a small fish, grabbed me with his claw, and left me with effectively a deep paper cut across the top of my toe.

Having retreated back to the towels, the kids and a few adults headed up the beach to investigate a dead ray that was beached there. While this didn't exactly improve the beach's image in my mind, it was reassuring to know that Southerners aren't the only ones who poke dead things with sticks. But even we don't touch them.

By the time we returned to our stuff, Jake had gone wandering down the beach in search of us. Then, naturally, he stopped to investigate the rocks there, and found among other things a small starfish that had washed onto the sand. After showing it around to the kids and me, we headed back to the rocks to find it a perch.

On our way back from the beach, my aunt and uncle took us by Lucy the Elephant. You can see a good video about her right here. Things like this really strike my interests, and rest assured, on a return trip, I won't be swimming again, but I will be taking a tour.

The Cave, The Grand Hotel, and the Quaint Hostel

2011-01-19T12:06:00.000-06:00

After a day visiting monster gardens and saintly churches, we took a little time to visit something that is of the more natural world. Italy's Grotte di Frasassi consists of large caverns and large formations. The tour lasts just over an hour, and the entrance lies in a scenic gorge. If you enjoy caves, you won't be disappointed, the cave is a somewhat inflated version of the many smaller privately operated caves in Tennessee and Kentucky.

Finally, we headed to San Marino. A small town perched at the top or a isolated crag San Marino is, like Vatican City, a nation independent from Italy. We largely visited just to say that we had. We arrived after dark at our hostel, where a small and wrinkled elderly woman greeted us in her own hallway, and let us into our room. To anyone visiting, I would recommend Affitta Camere Franciosi as a nice inexpensive place to stay. Our room was equipped with a kitchenette, and the front patio was covered in tropical plants. The woman directed me to smell the large trumpet shaped flowers hanging heavily from one bush. The rich sweet smelling flowers were wonderful, and when I asked for the name she answered in Italian, and I was able to figure out when I got back home that they're called Angel's Trumpets here.

After this, we went on a search for food. This being a pretty small town, there weren't too many options, and we finally Settled on the Grand Hotel San Marino It was a prix fixe menu, but unlike the seafood incident, we knew what we were getting into. From crisp spinach filled appetizers to lemon basil ravioli, steak and sausage main course, and small and sweet chocolate deserts, this was one of the best meals we had within Italy.

Sadly, we hardly stopped to take a picture of San Marino, and we were gone with first light for new adventures. We barely paused to take a picture of the entrance after coming down the hill as we left. San Marino is more than just a place to sleep and eat, and for those whose travel is a little more leisure oriented than mine, it would certainly be relaxing to spend a few days.

As good things must

2011-01-09T14:30:00.000-06:00

The last day of our August 2006 trip started out as we drove to fossil butte NM. There is a museum there, and a few trails. Along the road to the museum we spotted a ruffed grouse, and snapped a picture, though it blends in so well It's a little hard to make out. The museum has a video on the fossils, and some very nice specimens on display. We made some crayon rubbings from the fossil plaques they had on display, but at this point, I just didn't want to do a lot more hiking/walking. Instead of hiking, we went hunting for a fossil store. and we found one, back in town, with a nice man running the counter who sold us a basic fish fossil for a reasonable price, and a cross section of a petrified tree that looks nice on our mantle.

Having had our fill of fossils, we headed into Utah. Just as you cross the state border, there are huge red rocks that cut up into the air, but after a while they diminish, then disappear all together. By the time we arrived in Salt Lake City, the terrain had grown to resemble Idaho. We stopped in town only to eat at a Marie Calender's. We probably should have ordered pot pies, because the food we did order was so bland, I think the meat was boiled and not seasoned at all. It was perfectly edible, but I cook better food at home.

We continued on to Antelope Island, located in Salt Lake. And we did see antelope, as well as buffalo among the golden grass and sunflowers. Satisfied with a drive around the island, we headed back to Boise, stopping to eat a huge ice cream desert at the same Jaker's we'd had dinner at when we first began our trip. Finally, we returned to ground zero, and boarded the plane the next morning.

Basilica Di San Francesco

2010-12-29T15:00:00.000-06:00

Assisi is the final resting place of my Favorite Saint, and home to the most famous monks. Before the brilliant green lawn inscribed with the Latin word for peace, and before the arched entryway in the The Piazza del Loge mill monks in their brown robes, and nuns in their black and white attire.

The church is perched atop the hill here, and beyond it there appears only sky. The building is mostly white, and from the exterior, very simple, not at all the striking image many churches in Italy have.

The church is on two levels. The lower level, entered though the side doors is decorated in frescoes, and houses the tomb of St. Francis. Above, the vaulted ceiling sweeps upward, sunlight shines through stain glass windows into a dark interior. Here too, frescoes, by great masters of the both known and unnamed, grace the walls.

Lewis, Natchez, Avaleen, and some very good Junk.

2010-12-19T15:42:00.001-06:00

In mid July we took a little trip down to the area of Tennessee that is south of Nashville. This is one part of the state I haven't been to much, aside from once making a brief visit to the Natchez Trace Pkwy. And this visit too, began with a stretch of the Trace, and a piece of history that was new to me.

You might not immediately recognize the name Merriweather Lewis, but if I told you he took an expedition with William Clark, you might guess who he is. Well, after returning from that famous trip, Lewis became Governor of the Louisiana Territory. Business brought him along the Natchez Trace. While there is some controversy as to what brought his life to an end near Hohenwald, TN, it is generally accepted as a suicide. Merriweather Lewis died and was buried right here in Tennessee.

We made another stop along the Trace to take a short walk to see fall hollow. This aptly name little spot is a small hollow/holler/gully which two small streams pour into creating several small but pretty waterfalls.

In this area also is the Amber Falls Winery. This winery has a broad selection of wines. We tasted the sweet and semi-sweet, and were not disappointed by any we tried. We picked up a couple bottles, and then headed to Linden, and the Avaleen Springs Bed and Breakfast. The first thing we saw when we pulled up were orange tabby cats everywhere.
After the owner greeted us and showed us the cabin and the dinning/social area with books, movies and boardgames in the guesthaus, we were left alone to explore the properties 30 acres with trails leading past friendly fish in a beaver pond, small waterfalls, and little statues tucked in every corner.

For diner, we headed into Hohenwald to eat at the Junkyard Dog Steakhouse, whose quirky atmosphere and good food make it an unusual find for such a small town. The walls are hung heavy with decorations, ranging from old school sports pictures, to mardi gras beads and masques, to western items. The steaks were perfect, tender and juicy.

After returning full to the Bed and Breakfast, we spent the twilight relaxing in adirondack chairs, a cat in each lap, and a glass of wine as we watched bats dart overhead in the darkening sky. In addition to the relaxing atmosphere outside, the inside of the cabin impressed as well, with a cedar latter that could be used to climb to a loft, and a massive tub that, combined with the jets and the provided bubble bath made enough foam to fill my tub at home a few times over.

Overall, I was very impressed with this little corner of my home state. It's one area I hope to visit again soon, maybe to watch the leaves change, and have a good steak. Coincidentally, Hohenwald is also home of the Elephant Sanctuary

The Stone Monsters of Bomarzo

2010-12-09T15:00:00.000-06:00

Late in the evening we arrived in the town of Bomarzo, a town of so many brown buildings, huddled upon a bluff overlook the Tennessee like landscape of the Tiber River. While it's possible that this small town's history may go back to the Roman era, being named as it is for the god Mars, the town's primary claim to fame comes from the 1500's and a man named Pier Francesco Orsini, whose fiefdom, this once was.

Orsini oversaw the construction of a park, filled with unusual and large sculptures, carved into existing limestone on site. Now, 500 years later, these sculptures are marked with time and rain, and moss has found a foothold on many. Despite being relatively recent in the scope of Italy's long history, the structures seem a part of the forest setting, and timeless.

Known as Parco del Mostri, the Park of the Monsters, it is located somewhat off the beaten path. Through a small visitors center and cafe, a country lane leads down past chickens and cattle to the gated entrance. Beyond the gate lies a land of slightly grotesque fantasy.

Down a short trail to the left is the toothy head of Proteus.

Back down the main path, a giant Hercules is rending Cacus in two.

Just past these are the more beautiful Pegasus, and behind it, the tortoise, the woman, and the whale.

Beyond, you come to a house, not leaning with age as the Tower of Pisa, but built intentionally at a slant. It is known as the hanging house.

Nearby, there is a small courtyard, with several interesting carvings. At one end, an imposing Neptune presides over a mossy but empty font.

Also near here, a war elephant conquers a Roman soldier, a giant sleeping beauty rests, and a wide eyed dragon fights lion and dog.

But of all the interesting statues, by far the most striking is the ogre. This massive monster's mouth and eyes gape. The mouth forms a sizable doorway, and inside, in the dark, carved from the rock, are benches and a table, as cool and comfortable, and odd a place as you can have a picnic anywhere.