Under The Stratovolcano

After our stay at Lido Latina, we drove mostly the coast roads south, through interesting beach towns such as Terracina, Gaeta, and Formia, then bypassed most of Naples, and eventually made our way to our basecamp in Pompeii. Some of the scenery along the way, broad, long, sandy beaches, cliffs overlooking coves and bays, could rival Amalfi or the Italian Riviera. Not so much conspicuous wealth as the Riviera and not quite as spectacular as the Amalfi coast, but great beaches and a more affordable-appearing lifestyle.

Anyhow, we are back in Pompeii, just outside the entrance to the world's greatest archeological park, at site #10, Camping Spartacus, our old friend; thus showing our solidarity with the world's enslaved masses while also benefiting from the reduced off-season rate we get with our ACSI cards. We like Pompeii not merely for the archaeology, but because of its location in the middle of the Circumvesuviana railroad, which runs regularly from Naples to Sorrento, serving most all the the sights on the Bay of Naples. In Naples we'll visit the museums; in Pompeii, we'll visit the ruins; and in Sorrento we'll catch the bus to Amalfi and the boat to Capri; and just walk about Sorrento, which we like. Maybe even do something new while enjoying some perfect weather and some of the best food in Italy.

On The Beach

Lido Latina...south of Latina, on the coast west of Rome,
are miles of undeveloped beach, a strip of dunes and
beach between the lagoon and the Mediterranean; we
spent the day here, resting, reading, relaxing, and blogging,
walking the beach, picking up beach glass; there was one
other camper; every now and then, a jogger or cyclist;
every few hundred yards along the beautiful sand
beach, a fisherman...we're enjoying a day off

Orvieto Cathedral, 2013

The only destination we really wanted to see again before Rome and south was Orvieto and its great cathedral, with which we were very impressed in 2011. I did four posts on Orvieto and the cathedral then, starting with http://roadeveron.blogspot.it/2011/05/orvieto-1.html. Very impressed.

On the blue roads out of Tuscany and into
Umbria, a procession of these little hill towns

We parked at the sosta, then took the funicular up the hill
and the bus to the cathedral

Another Italian Gothic; Zebraesque; a later vintage of Gothic, as France and
elsewhere were well into Flamboyant when this was done; not fully completed
until early 1600s; both the transepts issue in sizable chapels; and the apse is
squared-off, like an English cathedral

Orvieto's facade is said to be the best of the Italian Gothics;
I'd put it into the running for best Gothic facade, period; the
carving is incredible as are the mosaics; and there is none of
the usual damage from national or religious wars, revolutions,
etc.

Looking from one of the great panels up to the spires

Columns by the central door

Across the facade, bronze attributes of the Evangelists

Mosaic detail: after giving birth, Mary is having roast chicken; Vicki, with her
binoculars, sees so much more than I do

From the Baptism mosaic: most people don't know it, but the river Jordan was at
one time a Blue Ribbon trout stream

Interestingly, the nave has (beautifully-painted) timber vaulting; the transepts
and chancel have the more traditional four-part Gothic stone vaulting

The windows are half alabaster and half stained-glass

The Chapel of the Corporal, in which are housed relics, etc., related to the Miracle
of Bolsena (1263), in which drops of blood appeared on the altar cloth during
Eucharist, thus "proving" the relatively new doctrine of Transubstantiation; "two,
four, six, eight: time to transubstantiate!" (in the immortal words of Tom Lehrer)

Frescoes in the Chapel by Ugolino di Prete Ilario, 14th

This detail shows how, when cooked, the wafer bleeds

Moving right along to the starboard transept and the Chapel of San Brizo there,
here is the ceiling painted by Fra Angelica

The chapel has quite a bit of interest, hells and judgments and such, and portraits
of great writers, some of which I posted in 2011; but here simply (the blond in
black) is the artist, Luca Signorelli, who finished all this about 1499, and of whom
I think highly, despite the fact he was from Cortona, a town which to this day has
inadequate parking for visitors

Valley view from Orvieto, near the cathedral; a beautiful place

Siena Cathedral, 2013

It is large, old, historic, has interesting architecture, the best of all cathedral floors, and a great deal of world-class art. Plus it's atmospheric, visceral even, one of those special places, no matter how crowded. Our 2011 posts were http://roadeveron.blogspot.it/2011/06/siena-duomo.html, and http://roadeveron.blogspot.it/2011/06/but-wait-theres-more-siena-duomo-museum.html.

Facade; Gothic; Zebraesque...

The west window, a highly unusual Last Supper

The best thing about this visit was that the entire floor--all
of it in-laid Medieval/Renaissance marble marquetry--was,
this day, uncovered; here a zodiac

One of the complete set of Sybils that cover
the outer edges of the floor: the dog is
saying "Let's us canines and felines be
friends, now and forevermore"; the cat is
saying "Sure, Fido, just as soon as I scratch
your eyes out"

Another, um, mythological scene

And another

A battle scene: "only a flesh wound!"

Absalom volunteering for pike target practice; seriously,
every square inch of the floor is covered in these gorgeous
marbles

The great crossing dome

The Pisanos' monumental pulpit

In the starboard chapel, Bernini's exquisite
Mary Magdalen; same ecstatic pose as
the opposite St. Jerome; but showing lots
more leg

In the apse now, showing the Virtues; here, Temperance (just
having one); wait, no, Vicki says this was Prudence

Choir; incredible illusionary woodwork...

Thus, for example

A favorite perspective at Siena, at the crossing, by the pulpit,
looking up to the dome

Ceiling of the Piccolomini Library

With its dozen or so huge, colorful, detailed
frescoes of the life of Cardinal Piccolomini, later
Pope Pius II, by Pinturrichio; early 16th

Siena, 2013

It's difficult to leave Florence, but our clock is running down, and we wanted to ensure plenty of time for Rome and all the wonderful places on the Bay of Naples. So we decamped and headed for Siena, Florence's great rival in days of yore, a place we visited in 2011 (http://roadeveron.blogspot.it/2011/06/siena.html), and earlier too. Our goal was simply to walk around and take in the historical center, then to visit the great cathedral with all its art.

In the great central piazza

Thus; we skipped a great deal, satisfied with our 2011 visit

Including the Baptistry and its Donatellos, et al.

And the Duomo Museum (are they returning to work on the
14th century expansion plans?!) with 

Duccio's Maesta and other masterpieces

Content to take in sights en route to and from the Duomo

Thus

Florence Out-takes, 2013

You walk around town for a week (we did take one administrative day, for laundry, provisions, rest) and you see a few curiosities and other things that don't quite fit the, um, narrative...

They'll be back in 2014

Probably not a case of "beans in their ears"

Ponte Vecchio gold shop model of the Ponte Vecchio

Florence has many 12th and 13th century
towers; often they're just adjoined to another,
modern building

Darwine t-shirt

Watchdog

At the Uffizi, Vicki said get a picture of the
police in their funny uniforms; so I asked
these two to pose

Shoe store near San Lorenzo

The contagion spreads...

For ablutions?

The old-fashioned way...nice stuff too

Not so nice, at an up-scale shop

Perfect parallel parking prize of the day

The antipasti station at Antico Ristoro di Cambi

A vacant building papered in phony dollar bills--a protest
again (US) capitalism, we wondered?

Of course there was a running event going on one of the
days we were there

A great year...

Always in style

Coat of arms of the Bottiglia family

We camped at Florence Park Scandicci, 241 Via di Scandicci;
12 euros a night; when you turn down the alley, turn right,
ignoring the nice young man who will tell you it's for storage
only and enticing you to his sosta, same everything, for
20 euros a night; bus #6 runs 3 or 4 times an hour and gets
you to centro storico in 12-15 minutes