First Day in Bergen

Jeremy and I arrived at the hotel around three this afternoon, and spent the afternoon/evening wandering around the city. Being Sunday, the museums we wanted to visit were closed. The church that the tourist office had told us would be open (as opposed to the other, supposedly closed for renovations) was closed (for renovations...think it might be worthwhile to check the other?). We had a grand time wandering around the old part of the city nonetheless.

I love turrets!

We saw the wharf and the fish market, where we sampled different types of smoked salmon (yum!), reindeer sausages (also yum!) and smoked whale (better left to the natives, according to us both). A fruity lunch of raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries made us feel much more able to face more sightseeing, so we went to Bryggen, a little neighborhood next to the wharf which includes characteristic tenement housing which is being renovated and has been converted to artisans' shops.

The old wharf, still plenty active

The fish market!

Dried fish

We think this is a cleverly disguised fire hydrant.

A little modern art to go with the older buildings

The tiles are glazed clay

Train station

Detail on the train station

Sweet locomotive on the station!

This turned out to be part of Bryggen, the old trading-tenement district

These were wholesale merchants' offices
and housed the merchants
 and all the (single) assistants for trading

They are reconstructing parts; I love how they show the work!

Jeremy and I had a little snort, but did not verify the claim

The cemeteries were quite recent...1800s and later

There's a violin maker here, too!
We wanted to visit, but didn't make it when he was open.

In the evening, we went up the funicular for the view. It was stupendous, although we were a little early, being there at eight...supposedly, dusk is the time to go. We did, however, see a darling goat on a precipice, casually munching some vegetation. We later read that it is a program to help improve the view; in past times, the goats were rampant on the hill, so vegetation didn't get tall enough to block the view. With the decline of local goat herds, the view was obscured. So the darling beasts are not just being picturesque...they're being useful!

The funicular. As usually happens, looks flat.
However, it is extremely steep.

A little model up at the reception house telling us
where the funicular cars are...it moves along with the real ones!

View of the old town from the top of the hill

The goats are used to keep the weeds down.
They wear shock collars which the posters hastened to say
didn't actually hurt the goats...and that the goats learn quickly
how to stay in their territory

View of inland Bergen (we didn't visit this part at all)

The ground was completely soft under the moss; lovely!

Wild blueberries abounded!

This tree kept looking at me!

It wasn't this hazy, but my camera didn't handle the sun's angle well. 

Heading back down!

The middle crab was a lavender color, and the body
was as big as a large man's hand

We decided to hang out at the wharf for sunset. At 10:15, sunset was clearly nowhere close to happening and we were getting chilly, so we decided to go back to the hotel. It is currently 11:15, and it is dusk. We're a little nervous about what it means for our morning daylight hours.

This was at 10:00 p.m. and the sun was still quite high

Wide awake in Norway,

Alexandra

Up above the world so high

I am writing this while in a Boeing 737-800 miles above the earth, mostly for the novelty. Not too long from now, I suspect that wifi will be freely available on all airlines, but this is the first time I have been on a flight that offered free wifi to all. Obviously, one must celebrate. Technical note, though: the service is rather spotty and somewhat slow. The interesting thing is seeing it load; I have Google as the home site set on this device, and I keep seeing the extension change...first Google.it, now Google.de. It's a rather silly way to mark progress through the sky!

Jeremy and I have officially started our adventure to the Great White North. Or at least, our Great White North. We drove to Fiumicino airport this morning (I felt rather like the country mouse in the city, truth be told...it's been a while since I have coped with city highways, although traffic was minimal at 7 of a Sunday morning), and are now winging our way to Bergen! We plan to explore Bergen until Tuesday morning, at which time we leave on a train trek across the country. A night in Oslo (seeing the Viking ship, with luck!), then on to Stockholm. We will arrive back home on Friday evening.

Love from above the clouds,

Alexandra

Tango Returns!

The tango festival has returned to Todi. This year it has been scaled down a notch (instead of European championships, it's the nationals, or something similar), so the stage is smaller (and, oddly, metal with frightening-looking troughs where the panels connect). However, it is lovely to see the dancers out and about. Last night was the first night, but we were too wiped out to go. Instead, we took a peek tonight. Scheduled to start at 10:30 (yes, p.m.), it ended up beginning around 11. It appeared to be more of a free dance than the competition phase, so the dancers weren't wearing their glitz, but the dancing was lovely. And I just love tango music!

Love,

Twinkletoes

Daytime view

Warming up!

The couple in the middle was our initial favorite

Art in Todi

There is a new initiative in town: the past three Thursdays have witnessed groups of artists or artsy people in specified locations to be together while they sketch/draw/whatever. I wasn't able to attend the first two (at the Giardinetti and the Piazza), but I did run up to La Rocca to see what was going on.

Such fun! There were about 10 artists exhibiting a variety of media, scales, and talents...and it has now inspired me to pull out my colored pencils again after a hiatus of more years than I care to consider!

Love,

Alexandra

I didn't want to be intrusive with my photography!

In Santa Croce...without a Baedeker

Last Friday, all 10 of us went to Florence for the day. I was thrilled, because as it turned out, we were able to get to two locations I have always wanted to see. In my several visits there, I haven't made it for various reasons...but this time, yes! We left Todi at 5:30 a.m. to get to the train in Perugia, then took the intercity (with compartments! My favorite!) straight to Florence.

Of course we went to the Duomo and the Piazza della Repubblica, the Uffizi (outside only), Palazzo Vecchio, and the Ponte Vecchio. But! We also got to Santa Croce (without a Baedeker...those who have enjoyed A Room with a View will appreciate the significance), which I had always wanted to see! Galileo Galilei is buried there, as is Michelangelo. We waved hello. The church itself is quite lovely, and I think the girls were impressed with the age of many of the frescoes (several dating to the 14th century).

My second highlight was the Bargello Museum. The structure itself, formerly a jail, is magnificent, and their ivory collection/armoury/sculptures were stupendous. Loved it. The museum is really just the right size to be worth entering without feeling like it should be a day's commitment.

We walked our feet off, then had dinner and went home, arriving in Todi at midnight. Needless to say, we all slept well the following day!

Love,

Alexandra

Square outside Sta Croce, I think

Santa Croce!

Oldest tomb..1360, I think

Imagine...all carved with hand tools!

Michelangelo's tomb! I loved the interplay
of fresco, marble, and paint

Galileo's resting place

Saluting Fermi

Interior, Santa Croce 

Bargello Museum tower

Interior of the Bargello courtyard