Pass by German Aachen Cathedral continue… September 16, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Air Tickets, Europe, France, Germany, Greece, Hotels, Ireland, Istanbul, Italy, Jerusalem, London, Museum, Paris, Rail Pass, Sightseeing, Tickets, Tour , 3commentsAmong the classical texts translated at Aachen was the highly influential treatise by the first- century Bc Roman architect Vitruvius Pollio, in which the principles and traditions of earlier architecture, secular and sacred, were incorporated. The palace chapel can be seen to be essentially Vitruvian in nature. It followed Vitruvius’ octagonal scheme (which involved geomantic consideration of the ‘eight winds’). (more…)
A Slice of Big Apple August 2, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Accommodation, Cars, Destination, Hotels, Italy, Motel, New York, Restaurant, Travel Clinic, Travelling Bag , 6commentsSix gritty months of fumbling with biros and over-read text books in a level tedium were wiped out. Wiped out by a five-hour flight to a city where riding the subway is an act of hedonism, and where the pollution on the streets works on the brain like speed, driving people scrambling to the summits of New York City’s towers of granite and power. (more…)
I travel in Rome continue… June 21, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Hotels, Italy, Jerusalem, Museum , add a commentAt Recanati, we are not admitted to the already thronged Leopardi house, and at Loreto the frescoes by Signorelli and Melozzo da Forli, let alone the Santa Casa, are impossible even to approach because of the crush of pilgrims. (Why did Velazquez, who painted only four religious pictures, come here? And why Montaigne? Descartes’s reason is well known, of course, to fulfill a vow to the Virgin for having received the inspiration of analytical geometry, even though he must have realized, as clearly as Noam Chomsky, that Euclidian geometry is innate. Carlo Borromeo’s visit, the last fifty miles of the journey on foot, may be attributed to piety and curiosity.) (more…)
Unforgettable Florence Tour June 20, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Hotels, Italy, Lodges, Restaurant, USA , add a commentThe Villa La Massa at Candeli, mentioned in D.H. Lawrence’s letters as an appealing residence, is now a restored, modern-convenienced fifteenth-century hunting lodge on the south bank of the Arno below San Miniato al Monte. It is also a combination of Palazzo and Fawlty Towers. We reserve a table at 7 in its “Verrocchio” restaurant, but at that hour are told to wait until 8, at which time the manager calls, apologizes that the chef is not ready, and asks us to spend a few minutes at the bar. The Massa’s nine other guests, formally dressed Germans, are already there and, having been told the same thing, plainly annoyed. At 8:30 we stroll by the cypresses and the river, which at this altitude and in freshet season sounds like a rushing Rocky Mountain stream. Eventually, at about 9:30, the high-vaulted Gothic restaurant opens and a maitre d’hôtel in an orchestra conductor’s frack takes our orders in German; or, rather, enumerates the limited selection of available dishes, prices unlisted, or unascertained, or unknown. A piano, semitone flat in the upper register, loudly serenades us with sentimental German songs. (more…)
My Perugia Travel Diary continue… June 19, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Aquarium, Art Gallery, Asia, China, Coliseum, Denmark, Destination, Dolphinarium, Egypt, England, Europe, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Gymnasium, Iceland, Istanbul, Italy, Library, Memorial, Morocco, Museum, Norway, Oceanarium, Paris, Planetarium, Poland, Restaurant, Round The World, The Nile , add a commentMass cremation pits containing ashes and charred bones indicate that he feared a plague, but Carthaginian skeletons with all their teeth have been disinterred as well as the tombs, yielding cataphracts as well as bones, of thirty Carthaginian nobles.
Spello, the most appealing of the Umbrian hill towns, is still enclosed by Roman walls with five gates, the main one bearing the legend “Splendidissima Colonic Julia Hispellum” over the arch. According to Spellan tradition, a phallus carved in the inner wall of the Porta Urbica does not celebrate Orlando’s (Roland’s) amatory prowess but the range and perfect arc of his actus mingendi. Spello is noted for its restaurants and truffled cooking, its steep, winding, and narrow streets—all one-way only—its Roman towers and amphitheater. A Vocabolaro del Dialetto Spellano, compiled by NicolettaUgoccioni and published here last year, contains, at a thumb-through guess, 20,000 words in current usage—by a population of only 6,800. (more…)
My Perugia Travel Diary June 19, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Accommodation, Air Tickets, China, Egypt, Flight Schedule, Hotels, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, London, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, Round The World, Singapore, South Korea, The Nile, Victoria Falls , add a commentThe Brufani Hotel brings back memories of dinners with the Buitoni (pasta) and the Perugina (chocolate) tycoons, not here but in their homes. To judge by the absence of any renovation in the Brufani in the intervening third of a century, we assume that hotels in the smaller Umbrian towns are also not likely to have been upgraded since Smollett and Hazlitt griped about them.
The huge basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli in the Tiber valley below Assisi was built to enclose the tiny church of the Porziuncola, whose walls are traditionally reputed to contain a stone from the tomb of the Virgin. Saint Francis died here in 1226, after, but not as a result of, throwing himself naked into the rose garden outside his small cell. His blood is supposed to have left a perpetual scarlet stain, but the roses bloom every spring, and the thorns have disappeared (miraculously). (more…)
Ambitious attempt: CASERTA continue… June 15, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Air Tickets, Aquarium, Art Gallery, Coliseum, Destination, Dolphinarium, Flight Schedule, France, Gymnasium, Hotels, Italy, Library, Museum, Oceanarium, Planetarium, Restaurant, Round The World, USA , add a commentImmediately opposite the Great Staircase to the west stands the chapel, which, at the king’s request, repeats the scheme of its counterpart at Versailles. Although Caserta evokes Versailles in concept and ambition, this is the only part of the palace that directly imitates its French predecessor. As at Versailles, the main theme is stated on the gallery level, where coupled Corinthian columns march in stately procession towards the apse. But despite this common feature, the characteristically French ambulatory has been omitted and the proportions of the whole have been to some extent lowered.
The central peristyle also leads to the royal apartments that occupy the south front and the short wing leading to it. (more…)
Terrace’s Garden: WURZBURG June 8, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Accommodation, Air Tickets, Beach Resorts, France, Germany, Hotels, Italy, Paris, Round The World, USA , add a commentIn spite of extensive damage by fire at the end of the Second World War, the Wurzburg Residenz remains the most important secular building in the Baroque style in Germany. This achievement speaks a great deal for the determination and intelligence of the rulers of the diminutive episcopal principality of Wurzburg. But the high standard of the Residenz in the constellation of European Baroque can be directly attributed to two men. The palace itself is the masterpiece of the court architect Johann Balthasar Neumann, who fused the traditions of the Bohemian and Viennese Baroque schools with new trends from France. In addition, the Wurzburg Residenz contains two stupendous fresco ensembles by the Venetian painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770). (more…)
The palace of Nymphenburg June 7, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Europe, France, Hotels, Italy, Netherlands, Paris, USA , add a commentThe palace of Nymphenburg on the outskirts of Munich owes its present form to the desire of the Elector Max Emanuel (who reigned from 1679 to 1726) to create a Bavarian counterpart of Versailles. We may be grateful that things did not turn out quite as planned, for Nymphenburg has interesting features not found in the French model. In fact, the principal delight of Nymphenburg lies not so much in the main course, so to speak, as in the dessert—the four delightful garden pavilions that rank among the finest examples of the Rococo style in Europe.
Max Emanuel did not start his palace from scratch : an earlier building had been erected by his mother Henrietta Adelaide of Savoy, who received the manor of Kemnat in 1663 as a gift from her husband. (more…)
Splendour Versailles June 6, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Italy, Lodges, Paris, USA , add a commentIn size and splendour Versailles has few peers in the history of Western palace building. In fact, the Roman Palatine itself is perhaps the only building complex that can rival the grandeur and historical influence of this palace. And like the Palatine, Versailles has undergone many changes, though fortunately far less actual destruction, even during the French Revolution.
Versailles was the creation of the Sun King, Louis XIV, who reigned for nearly three-quarters of a century from 1643 to 17154 And because practical requirements, new currents of taste and political upsets have led to many changes, a fair degree of imagination is needed to visualise the palace at the height of its glory. And Versailles repays the effort handsomely. (more…)
The Pitti Palace continue… May 28, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Europe, France, Italy, Museum, Paris , add a commentAll these rooms and others adjoining them in the Galleria Palatina now house a collection of more than 500 paintings of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The works include some of the most celebrated Madonnas of Raphael, crepuscular religious scenes by Andrea del Sarto, opulent portraits by Titian and exuberant allegories by Rubens. While some pieces of furniture and sculpture are also displayed, most of the sculpture has been removed to other museums, though Canova’s Venus still dignifies Room XXIII.
The other half of the main storey contains the former royal apartments, which were remodelled for the use of members of the House of Savoy in the late 19th century. In addition to furnishings of the period, the apartments contain a number of interesting Medici portraits by Giusto Sustermans, who died in 1681. (more…)
The Pitti Palace May 28, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Italy, Luxembourg, Museum, Paris , add a commentFor about three hundred years the Pitti Palace in Florence was the chief residence of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, first the Medici family, then their successors of the House of Lorraine. When Tuscany became part of the new kingdom of Italy in 1860, ownership of the palace was acquired by the ruling House of Savoy, and it was used by King Victor Emmanuel II as his official residence during the brief period (1865-71) when Florence was the capital of Italy. The buildings and grounds now belong to the state and are fully open to the public.
As the name suggests, the palace was not originally a Medici residence. The nucleus of the present complex was built during the 15th century by Luca Pitti, the principal lieutenant of Cosimo de‘ Medici, the ruler in all but name of republican Florence. While we can follow the stages of Luca’s political career in some detail from contemporary records and diaries, his true character is hard to assess. (more…)
Fontainebleau: A hunting lodge which saw four centuries of French history May 21, 2008
Posted by dodo in : England, Italy, Library, Museum, Paris, USA , add a commentThe huge and magnificent forest, the fresh water springs, its proximity to Paris, and its convenience as a halting place between the capital and the Loire valley, all pointed to Fontainebleau as the ideal site for the residence of a dynasty of kings passionately fond of hunting and obliged to make constant journeys round their domains.
Already in the twelfth century Louis VI, le Gros, built a dungeon there ; then Louis VII erected a chapel which is believed to have been consecrated by Thomas a Becket as he fled from the wrath of his master, Henry II of England ; St Louis founded a monastery to which Charles V, le Sage, added a `library‘, and this group of buildings encircles the Cour Ovale. (more…)
The Quirinal: The most venerable of the palaces in this city of palaces May 16, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Accommodation, Air Tickets, Airlines, Aquarium, Art Gallery, Beach Resorts, Coliseum, Destination, Dolphinarium, Egypt, Flight Schedule, Gymnasium, Hostels, Hotels, Italy, Library, Lodges, Memorial, Motel, Museum, Oceanarium, Planetarium, Restaurant, Round The World, USA , add a commentThe Immense Complex of the Quirinal Palace was the summer residence of the Popes until 1870 when it was seized by Vittorio Emmanuele. He died there in 1878 after receiving a message of pardon from the Pontiff he had outraged. The palace remained the home of the kings of Italy until 1946 and is now occupied by the President of the Italian Republic. Although the Savoyards endeavoured to remove the traces of the former occupants of the Quirinal, replacing the papal arms wherever possible with their own, the palace is essentially a monument to the taste of its builders, Gregory XIII, Sixtus V, Paul V and, to a lesser degree, Alexander VII and Clement XII. With its great irregular piazza it is among the noblest examples of that union of the baroque and the antique upon which the character of Rome so largely depends. (more…)
The Royal Palace NAPLES: A majestic situation for the palace of a vanished kingdom continue… May 15, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Accommodation, Airlines, Aquarium, Art Gallery, Beach Resorts, Coliseum, Destination, Dolphinarium, Gymnasium, Hotels, Italy, Library, Memorial, Museum, Oceanarium, Planetarium, Restaurant, USA , add a commentPelagio Palagi also worked for Ferdinand II. Some of the richest gilt stucco work is his and among the few pieces of furniture still to be seen in the palace is a set of gilt bronze chairs which are typical examples of his fantasy. The legs and arms take the form of winged maidens. Palagi’s work links Naples with Turin, where he was intensively employed ; and the two palaces were more closely connected when Vittorio Emmanuele became King of Italy. He entered Naples on November 7, 186o and on the following day he was invested with the sovereignty of Naples and Sicily in the Throne Room of Francis II, the last of the Bourbons. (more…)
The Royal Palace: The former residence of the kings of Sardina and of Italy May 12, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Accommodation, Air Tickets, Airlines, Beach Resorts, Cars, Destination, Flight Schedule, Hotels, Italy, Library, Lodges, Memorial, Motel, Museum, Paris, Restaurant, USA , add a commentIf it were not for the chimerical dome of the Cappella della Santa Sindone rising up so strangely to the left of the Royal Palace, nobody would suspect that this sober front concealed an exuberance of gilded, carved, inlaid, painted and looking-glass decoration surpassing the highest flights of fancy. But that exciting outline, combining the undulations of a pagoda with the zigzag step effects of a Mexican extravagance prepares the mind for the shock of the contrast between the incredibly rich interior and the flat, reticent exterior of the palace, so close in spirit to neo-classicism that it is difficult to believe in its seventeenth- century date. (more…)
The Alhambra: Cool courtyards of the Moorish kings overlooking Granada continue… May 12, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Accommodation, Airlines, Beach Resorts, Destination, Granada, Hotels, Italy, Lodges, Round The World, Travel Insurance, USA , 3commentsToday, stripped bare and despoiled, scarcely any furnishings remain to remind us of this well organised palace life.
Until the day when the Cross of the Reconquest was planted on the Torre de la Vela, much of the history of its development is uncertain. The summit of the Asabica, the Moorish name for the hill on which the Alhambra stands, was certainly fortified from ancient times and grew in importance in the ninth century, when this region was dominated by the Emirs of nearby Cordoba. Formerly it faced a similar fortification on the opposite hill of Albaicin — the palace of the Berber chieftain Zagui ben Ziri, a descendant of the Royal Family of Tunis. In 1238 Mohammed ben Alhamar, vassal of the Christian King San Fernando, occupied Granada, having first seized the fortified citadels of Jaen, Baeza and Guadix. (more…)
The Escorial: Nobility without arrogance, majesty without ostentation May 9, 2008
Posted by dodo in : England, Italy, New York, Spain, USA , add a commentThe first sight of the Escorial is breath-taking, whether seen from the mountains against the rocky outcrops and stunted willows of the plain, or from a rise in the Madrid road, reddish- brown against the bleak Guadarramas. A distant view-point is needed to appreciate its merits of mass and proportion, as well as the subtle variety of the roof-line: the dome and two bell- towers of the church at the centre, the slender spires of the towers at each corner and the pedimented elevation above two rows of engaged columns over the principal door. Approaching closer, these qualities tend to be forgotten in face of the oppressive monotony of the walls, on which the plain windows scarcely project, renouncing even the ornament of light and shade. (more…)
Queluz: A rose pink palace in the French eighteenth-century style May 8, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Accommodation, Air Tickets, Bank Note, Beach Resorts, Brazil, Denmark, England, Europe, Flight Schedule, Hotels, Italy, Library, Lisbon, London, Memorial, Museum, Portugal, Restaurant, Spain, Sweden, Travellers Cheque , add a commentThe palace of QUELUZ, near Lisbon, is elegantly rustic in a way that is very characteristic of Portuguese life and manners. It has a seductive grace, for its muted beauty grows on the beholder gradually, until at length the splendours of a more conventionally royal building seem almost vulgar in comparison.
The rose-pink colour-washed facade is cunningly designed with two low semi-circular wings springing out from a small central block. The southern side ends in a black onion dome above the chapel, and goes on at right angles in a series of dependent buildings of different sizes. The northern wing now contains a luxury restaurant in the original kitchens of the palace. (more…)
Tsarskeo Selo: The magnificent palace of the Empress Catherine the Great May 7, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Europe, France, Italy, Memorial, Museum , add a commentTsarskeo Selo - the village of the Tsars — now called Pushkino in honour of the poet who spent his adolescence and wrote his first poems there, is not its original name. Up till 1725 it was called Sarskoe Selo‘ — the village of Saari — derived from the Finnish name Saari mois, meaning `an elevated spot’. It is in fact situated on a hill, and the climate is very much more mellow than that of St Petersburg.
It was first referred to in 1702, when the Swedes, pursued by Russian troops, retreated to Saari. The battles that took place in the Neva basin led to great devastation, and it is by pure chance that the hamlet of Saari was spared. (more…)
