Italy - Frenchless in France

Nearby

I was going to head north after visiting Lecce but read about an interesting church not too far south that I decided to quickly visit. It is in the new to me village of Otranto which turned out to be a very pleasant place.

It’s famous for its 12th century floor mosaic covering the entire floor.

This is Alexander the Great who uses meat on a stick to get two griffins to carry him up over the earth to get a view.

The bones of over 800 Christians behead by Muslims in the church in 1480. The church was made into a Mosque. A year later the Muslims were defeated and it became a church again.

More photos from Lecce-such a photograpic city.

City symbol.

Figure, and maybe more, made of paper maché.

No matter what street you are on, there will be a church.

Column from Rome.

Seen near the Jewish museum, a symbol for Passover.

Another church front.

This ceiling looking like wood, is also paper maché.

Lovely

I read about Lecce in my guide book and it sounded fabulous with Baroque architecture all over the place. This type of architecure was used to call people back to the Catholic church after the stern reformation. There are twist and curls all over. Lecce is called the Florence of the south and I loved it. I was there for two days and have the photos to prove it.

Hidden courtyards abound.

Amphitheater in the middle of the old city. It was found, as is common in Italy, when construction was being done.

I’m used to foccacia being in one layer but this came as sort of a sandwich. Very good.

Another theater for plays and music.

Another intersting courtyard.

Closeup.

The fabulous Basilica di Santa Croce by night.

Rose window by day.

Wooden ceiling there.

Just look at all of the curves and decorations.

Top of a column. By the way, not everything was marble. Sometimes it was wood painted as marble, sometimes paper maché.

First Stop

I’ve always wanted to visit Puglia, a beautiful area of Italy, so I decided while in Paris to go for it. I had hoped to find a tour but most don’t start doing tours until May so I decided to be brave and do it by myself. How hard could it be?

I spent the night in a city called Bari. I’m on a lighthouse kick and seeing that there was one near Bari set out to look at it. It wasn’t in a pretty setting on a rocky coast with the sea raging about but back inland a bit. I looked at the map and saw a town called Polignano a Mare and decided to visit there. It had a very picturesque old section so I was glad I went.

The entry.

Lots of narrow twisting streets.

The lovely interior of a church there.

Great ceiling too.

Lots of great doors.

Another.

Although by the ocean, not a good beach.

A statue of the singer born here who first sang the world wide famous song, Volare.

A poem about the ocean-thus the fish.

Carnavale in Venice

A few years ago I was in Venice, with a visit to a few other nearby cities, for a month. It was wonderful. Not only is the city fabulous but during Carnavale there are people posing all over the city in magnificant costumes. Apparantly they spend all year designing and creating their costumes and then just come and stand around waiting for people to take their photos. No one is paid. It’s just done for the fun and tradition.

Walking from a hotel.

Strike a pose.

I loved this color.

Hard to tell if it is a man or a woman.

Look at that backdrop!

Last But Not Least

I ended my time in Italy in Vicenza, a city 30 minutes by train from Venice. Palladio, a famous Renaissance architect, did a lot of work here. It was an interesting city to roam around in.

It has one of the prettiest squares I’ve ever seen-not grandious like Venice but charming.

The white building is by Palladio.

A beautiful building on the other side housing a museum.

I stopped for a late lunch under a beautiful arcade.

Across the square.

How Italain is this?

An usual rear of a church.

Umbrellas in the colors of Italy’s flag. I think they should have used more umbrellas.