People

It seems weird to talk on a public blog about other people, but I want to mention a few great folks. First, in Glasgow I met the full complement of Design is Central (Spot Specific) people. Plus, it was great to see D again. Jane and Al are vastly knowledgeable and interesting, as well as incredibly patient with all my odd questions about Scottish language and history. They can drink me under the table any day.

Leaving Scotland tomorrow will also mean leaving Lew and his girlfriend Marta. We've had a wonderful time talking, eating, walking, shopping, and touring. We visited Mary King's Close, a walk through the now underground tenements of earlier centuries. While the tour was spiced with gory tales, the experience of walking through the closes was really interesting.

So, I loved this visit to Scotland for the people, even as I saw fascinating bits of art and history.

Edinburgh Botanical Gardens

Art in Glasgow

There's a lovely collection out on the southern edge of Glasgow in a huge park. The museum's design compliments both the medieval arches and the natural setting. I hope to return to really take it all in some time.

Milan

First of all, I can't show you the results of the 20-year restoration of Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" because you can't take pics. I can assure you that it's extraordinary. The photos I've seen of this painting have looked soft and a bit out of focus. The real thing has power in the hands, light, positioning, colors, movement, all sorts of things.

I'm sorry we slipped through Milan quickly, but the Duomo and "The Last Supper" were worth the stop. We didn't anticipate the big shopping mall of the Renaissance (I thought I was taking a pic of an arch, but it continued into galleries of expensive stores). Even better, Maynard found the church of St. Ambrose (Ambroglio). He was a bishop who, among other things, baptized Augustine (later made a saint) and started a church in honor of his (Ambrose's) brother. By the way, this was in the 400s. Politics stepped in, and the final church was named for two saints, but some of the 5th century mosaics, carvings, and frescoes remain. I found a sheep I liked.

Dinner was especially good; Maynard had ossobucco, a Milanese specialty, and I ate two courses that included artichokes prepared in different ways. Then the dessert was divine.

Venice

We drank wine below the Rialto Bridge, watching gondoliers push off with their excited passengers. We climbed to the loggia of St. Mark's where we saw the city clock's animated figures strike the hour. We saw lots of mosaics! We ate baby octopi and spaghetti with cuttlefish (squid) ink. It rained, but who cared? I never expected to like Venice, but I did.

Ostia Antica

I only heard about Ostia, the ruins of the ancient port of Rome, when I read up on things for this trip. It's a great discovery: the city was abandoned as Rome declined because, well, everything was declining and the harbor silted up. In fact, the Tiber River changed its course. This meant that a city was gradually buried without needing a catastrophe like the volcano that preserved Pompeii and Herculaneum. Of course, like other sites, when folks in later times rediscovered Ostia, they plundered it. But a huge amount remains, especially if you like wandering around ghost towns. (The early Ostians even used mud bricks like western US natives.) Here is a sampling of pics.

Trastevere & Ghetto

We crossed the bridge (first built in the 6th century) to the island in the Tiber River on our way to the other side, the area called Trastevere. Originally Etruscan, more recently working class, and nowadays gentrified, the Trastevere has narrow streets and generally small buildings. Besides wandering about, we visited two churches: St. Cecilia and St. Maria in Trastevere. St. Cecilia had the gift for hanging on. An early Roman Christian martyr, in the year 230 she was first put in her own caldarium (hot bath) to boil to death, but didn't. Then she was sentenced to have her head cut off, but the executioner was so inept that it took 3 days for Cecilia to die. In 1599 her grave was opened, and a sculptor who was present at her disinterment carved her. Cecilia looks really good for a twice-martyred 1,370 year old corpse.

We were drawn to St. Cecilia and St. Mary in Trastevere because of their extraordinary mosaics. (We've been looking out for mosaics throughout Rome.) Also, we've been seeking early art, including frescoes. So, we knocked on the door of the convent at St. Cecelia's and were taken to some truly beautiful frescoes in the nun's private chapel. But we weren't allowed to take pics. Sorry.