Today is the start of the 2012 Festival dei 2 Mondi (Festival of the Two Worlds), the 55th festival. There's lots of art and cultural activities and shows on here over the next 2 weeks. Unfortunately we are only able to attend one event because we're leaving tomorrow, so we've been to see Benjamin Britten's Turn of the Screw at the Teatro Nuovo . This is a beautiful opera theatre with very ornate decorations. There were some celebrities attending tonight because it's the opening event. We enjoyed the performance although the story is a bit dark and intense and is based on the novel by Henry James. The music was typical Britten.
It's hard to believe we've been in Spoleto for 7 weeks. The seasons have changed and we are experiencing hot clear sunny days with maximum temperatures around 30C. The birds are getting louder and we are serenaded by birdsong all day. We have doves, pigeons, swifts, blackbirds, finches and sparrows in the trees and bushes around our apartment and in the park across the road. The cuckoos seem to have quietened down but the swifts are whistling louder in the evenings.
On Wednesday we joined some of Norma and Laurie's other guests for lunch and a swim at Villa Mariana about 11km out of town. We sat under the trees and feasted on pizza, antipasto, salad and tiramisu, washed down with wine and then walked down the hill to their pool for a cooling swim. A great way to spend a hot sunny afternoon.
We've continued to try out the gastronomic delights of the restaurants here. We've decided that the best pizzas can be found at Tre Fontane near Piazza Carducci where the wood fired pizzas have a crispy base and a great variety of toppings. They also do a mean ravioli. The best coffees are at La Portella near the Rocca where great coffee is complemented by a magnificent view of the countryside. The best antipasto is at Nove Cento in Via Porta Fuga where the smaller "750" size is plenty for 2 people for lunch or try the "900" if you're really hungry. The best porchetta is from the man in Piazza Mercato; he's at the friday market too - just look for the van with the queue. Overall, the best meal we've had has been at Il Tempio dei Gusto near Piazza Mercato where we had a delicious Umbrian meal with great service, all for 40 euros. The most important words we've learned to use at a restaurant are "uno per due" which means "one meal for 2 people". All restaurants we've been to have been happy to let us share meals. Most will split the meal for us but we at least get extra plates to divide the dishes at the table. All servings are generous and we have never been left hungry.
Over the past week various sculptures have begun to appear throughout the town. These mark the 50th sculpture exhibition which began in 1962. Everyday we find new ones. The Spoleto Festival begins on Friday 29th June. This is the Festival dei 2Mondi, The Festival of the Two Worlds, which brings together modern and traditional art, dance, music and culture. We have tickets to the opera on Friday night to see Benjamin Britten's The Turn of the Screw at the Teatro Nuovo Gian Carlo Minotti.
We have less than a week left in this lovely town and we've had a fantastic time. It's such a friendly town and every time we are out walking people say hello to us. We can certainly recommend Spoleto for a holiday, if only for a few days. Our accommodation has been great. The apartments are well located and are roomy and comfortable. Norma and Laurie have been very friendly and helpful. Look them up at http://www.umbriaholidayrentals.com/ They have several apartments in the area. We've been able to get by without a car. The buses and trains are frequent and are reliable and we've been able to get to all the places we've wanted to visit. We've seen plenty of the nearby countryside using public transport.
Our trip from Spoleto to Florence was a bit longer than we planned. We caught what we thought was the train to Foligno where we would change to the Florence train, expecting a trip of about 3 hours. Unfortunately we couldn't understand the station announcements and we ended up on the late running express train to Rome. So we went to Rome first, where we bought some panini for lunch at the Roma Termini station, then we boarded the 11.13 train to Florence. We knew about this train because it's the same one we caught to get us to Spoleto when we first arrived in Italy. This time we had a very comfortable trip, in fact we had a compartment to ourselves until the last 30 minutes of the journey. We arrived in Florence at 14.48, about 3 hours later than we had planned. We found the Hotel Olimpia in Piazza Della Republica easily and booked into our room. The hotel is on the 4th floor - yes there's a lift - and is comfortable and central. We have a room overlooking a small courtyard at the back of the hotel so it will be quiet. After we settled in we went for a walk around the city to sort ourselves out. It's light enough to take photos without a flash until about 8.30pm so we've managed to take some photos of the Duomo without any crowds.
There's plenty to see here and we'll barely scratch the surface. Florence has about 40 museums and plenty of churches and piazzas so we'll get our fill of Renaissance art while we're here. We will see many artworks we have previously only seen in books over the next few days. The big problem for us is to work out which of our many photos to upload. You'll have to visit us to see them all. Our hotel is in the Central area and is close to the picturesque Ponte Vecchio and the Duomo. Florence is easy to walk around. It's flat and is hard to get lost. We can see why it's a favourite European city. There seems to be an influx of US college students - they are everywhere. Pretty well everyone here speaks English and it's a bit strange for us with the halting Italian we need to use in Spoleto.
On Wednesday morning we ventured forth to the Duomo - the Cathedral complex. The museum is very interesting and traces the different stages of the Cathedral and its various renovations. There are many sculptures, including Donatello's Magdalena and Choir Stalls. We were also within "touching distance" of Michelangelo's Pieta which is on display there.
This museum has a spectacular silver altar and cross which have been completely renovated. The renovations took 6 years and the altar was completely dismantled during the process.
After the Museum we climbed the Giotto Tower - all 414 steps to the top of the bell tower. There are 3 staging floors where we could stop to catch our breath, before we got to the top. WOW!!! The views over Florence are stunning and the climb was well worth the effort. It's not a climb I'd like to do in the afternoon when we're hot and tired though - certainly a morning exercise.
Then it was off to the Cathedral with it's magnificent dome. The Cathedral is built on the site of a Roman era "primitive" church. We walked through the well presented excavated area and saw some elaborate mosaic floors in the crypt. Next to the Cathedral is the Baptista which is spectacular. The walls and dome are covered in golden mosaics and the floor is covered in marble mosaics. The outside walls of the Duomo buildings are undergoing significant cleaning and restoration and where this has been completed the colours of the marble panels are vivid green and red and the carvings look like they've been painted.
Later in the day we explored some of the nearby piazzas and found more sculptures and artworks.
Thursday morning we headed towards the Galleria degli Uffizi on the banks of the Arno River. We couldn't take photos inside this museum so bought a guidebook to remind us of the wonderful artworks. There were plenty of tour groups, luckily they were rushing through so we took our time and let the tour groups race on ahead and spent about 2 1/2 hours there. Our audio guides were worth the investment as the various rooms and key works were well explained. Again many famous art works by Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, Tintoretto, Raffaello and Caravaggio. In the afternoon we visited the Galleria dell'Accademia to see Michelangelo's David. We had seen (and photographed) a copy of this statue in one of the piazzas but nothing can prepare you for the real thing. At about 6m high, the statue is huge and we just sat and looked at its perfectionfor about 15 minutes. There was a variety of art on exhibit with some modern art by Picasso and Andy Warhol and video as well as Renaissance sculptures and medieval art. Again no photos, so we bought another guidebook. By this time we've managed to complete the full set of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Michelangelo, Raffaello, Donatello and Leonardo. This website has a virtual your of the galleries http://www.uffizi.firenze.it/en/. Thursday evening we sat in one of the many churches listening to an organ recital.
Our visit has been leisurely and we know there is still plenty to see. Florence is a "shoppers paradise" with many shops and markets. Leather goods abound with jackets, handbags and shoes in abundance. Other popular goods are papier mache and leather masks and elaborately painted trays. We have done our bit to improve the Florentine economy while we've been here. The Ponte Vecchio is lined with jewellery shops and there are many many cafes and restaurants. We had a lovely seafood dinner at a restaurant overlooking the river. Huge prawns and lobster - YUMMY!! There's lots of street art about. Near our hotel a group of pavement artists do a different chalk drawing of a well known "old master" each day. We've also seen lots of electric smart cars. These little 2- seaters drive nose-first into parking spots and plug in to recharge. They can fit about 4 or 5 to one normal sized car park.
Friday morning we went souvenir shopping as we planned to catch a train back to Spoleto in the afternoon. This time we caught the right train and in fact didn't need to change trains at nearby Foligno as we expected - our train continued on to Spoleto. Once back in our sleepy little town we caught a bus from the station back up the hill to our apartment. We've done lots of walking over the past few days so will spend the next few days relaxing.
Next door is the Palazzo Collicola which has more artworks and the Noble Apartments which include furniture, renaissance, classical and modern art and sculptures, housed in rooms with ornately decorated walls and ceilings.
Then it was a pleasant, if hot, walk back to our apartment via Piazza Mercato and our favourite Porchetta Man where we bought roast pork for lunch. The streets are narrow and they still manage to get a row of parked cars and the local Navetta bus through. We have some lovely leafy streets near our apartment and we still marvel at the fantastic views as we walk around.
