Caserta (04/07/2016)

This time I decided to head to the city of Caserta and visit the immense Palace of Caserta, a Unesco world heritage site. So I took an early train from Salerno and reached Caserta at around 8:50. I then crossed the street from the station and found myself in front of the Palace (In terms of volume, it is the largest royal residence in the world with a volume of 2 million cubic meters.). I payed the ticket (6euros reduced price) and decided to visit the building first and the park after. The whole palace has 5 floors and 1200 rooms, including two dozen state apartments, a large library, a chapel and a theatre. Construction started in 1752 for the then king of Naples and Spain Charles III in the Baroque style by famous architect Luigi Vanvitelli, but wasn't fully completed until 1845. I walked up the amazing monumental staircase and reached the main floor where the monumental rooms started (Caserta has more than 40 monumental rooms completely decorated with frescoes when, in comparison, Versailles counts only 22 monumental rooms). All rooms were lavishly decorated with ceiling paintings, statues and baroque decorations and some were really impressive such as the Throne room, while other were peculiar such as the one with the two Prince's cribs and another with the first bidet in Italy. Next to the rooms was the Palatine Chapel which had unfortunately been bombed during WWII but faithfully restored and splendid looking. After visiting the palace I decided to head out and walk through the park; it is so big that they rent bikes and horse carriage ride just outside the door. I decided to walk instead and head up the main road that cut through like an immense boulevard. Along the way were many impressive fountains such as the Fountain of the Dolphins, the Fountain of Aeolus, the Fountain of Ceres and the Fountain of Diana and Actaeon which ended the park uphill with a beautiful waterfall. Next up was the English garden part of the park, with a completely different display to that of the orderly baroque rest of the park. Here were fake archaeological ruins, botanical plants coming from all around the world and many pavilions overrun by weeds. After thoroughly walking around I decided to head on, and after trying to exit the park from the top I found out I had to walk all the way back to the entrance to exit (another 4km). I was able to find a secondary exit right before the Palace where a local guard let me go out even though I wasn't supposed to. From there I walked further north and reached the small village of San Leucio, were another royal residence is located, also part of the Caserta one. This one was used as a hunting grounds, and then later transformed into a silk factory, thus a village was created around it to bring in workers from the nearby towns. Still today many silks are ordered by Buckingham Palace, the White House, Quirinale and Chigi palaces. The museum was unfortunately closed as it was lunchtime and would remain so till late afternoon, so I decided to eat and head on. In the village I found a small grocery store that sold meats and cheese that made a really tasty sandwich for me. Walking for a while, I passed under Caserta's park and then eventually after a long uphill hike reached the town of Casertavecchia, which used to be the old town of Caserta before being moved close to the Palace in construction. Once I reached the town center, by walking through its really pretty medieval alleyways, I decided to see the Cathedral which I found closed. However a couple from nearby Venice was also waiting to get in so we decided to wait for the custodian to open it. The locals told us he would come soon but first he had to take his daily drink at the bar; 20 minutes later he arrived and finally opened the Cathedral for us. The Cathedral built during the 12th century in the Romanesque style has a beautiful bell-tower under which runs a small alleyway and an interesting interior. Most of the columns are roman in origin, and several decorations are early christian and byzantine in style, such as the pulpit(very similar to that in Salerno's, Ravello and Amalfi's Cathedrals). The couple that entered with me though was quite strange and both were looking around for something, at first I though they might be thinking of stealing, especially when the woman went to the main altar and picked up the cloth covering it, however as soon as they saw me looking they explained they were looking for the spiritual center of the church as they were esoteric students and did so everywhere they went. That creeped me out a little bit so I just waved them goodbye and left. It was time to go so I got back on my feet and walked downhill until I reached, nearly out of energies but satisfied, Caserta's train station and eventually home in Salerno.

The entrance of the Palace

The monumental staircase

Detail of a frescoe

One of the many monumental rooms

The huge throne room

Two interesting cribs

The Palatine Chapel

View of the park

The park and its fountains

Detail of one of the fountains

The fountain of Actaeon

View from the top

The english garden

San Leucio royal residence

The bell tower of Casertavecchia

Interior of the Cathedral

The dome of the cathedral

Medieval alleyway in Casertavecchia

Amalfi Coast Walk (02/07/2016)

After reaching my aunt's house in Salerno in southern Italy on the 30th of June, I decided to walk along part of the Amalfi coast and reach the small town of Cetara. So waking up relatively late in the morning, I started my walk around 11am. Leaving the house, I followed the road that went uphill from Salerno to the town of Vietri sul Mare, and after about 30 minutes walk I reached the aforementioned town. I decided not to stop and visit it since I would probably do so on the way back, instead I continued my walk and took a right turn a few hundred meters later up towards the town of Raito. I walked through its small but pretty center, and stopped at probably the only bar in the whole town, to have something to eat. I got a hamburger with fries for only 2,5 eur, and decided to eat it while admiring the beautiful scenery from the main church's entrance over the gulf of Salerno and Vietri. Moving on I then reached the small town of Albori, part of the club the most beautiful villages in Italy. Its narrow streets were really picturesque and mostly empty as it was the hottest part of the day and lunchtime, so I just enjoyed walking through them alone. I then took an off road path leading through olive groves and vineyards overlooking the splendid waters of the Amalfi coast, and then heading back down to the main road. Once on the asphalt I continued walking past curves overlooking amazing beaches and cays, eventually reaching my destination; the town of Cetara. Being it at water level, the town sported an impressive medieval watchtower and a small marina for boats, and I was also able to enter the pretty main church with a baroque interior, a lavish dome made of majolica and a 12th century bell tower. I then decided to spend a few hours relaxing at the local beach, west of the marina, where I sunbathed and swam for a while. It was then time to head back, as I started my walk in the direction of Salerno. Without stopping I reached once again Vietri sul Mare about 1 hour later and decided to walk around it for a while. The main church was unfortunately still closed so I decided not to wait and maybe come back to visit it another day. So after seeing most of it I went back to the main road and concluded the day by reaching Salerno after a long and tiring but thoroughly enjoyable 25km walk.

Vietri sul Mare

Raito

The church in Albori

Gazing across the sea

View of the coast

Cetara beach amd town center

Saló & Brescia (28/06/2016)

I decided to join my aunt who had to travel for work in the direction of Brescia. The first stop she had to make was in Desenzano del Garda; however it was a quick one so I just sat on a bench to wait. Next we stopped in Saló, I had around 1 hour so I decided to walk around and visit this little yet famous town. Though famous for being the site during WWII of the Italian Social Republic, a continuation of the Fascist government, it is also known for having a nice city center. Getting off the car I started my walk from the eastern end of town, it was very pleasant as the lakeside had a nice path with an amazing view across the lake. I then entered the Duomo, built in a late gothic style during the 15th century, though the facade remains unfinished. The interior was quite nice with a few relatively important paintings and some frescoes here and there. Walking on through lovely medieval and renaissance streets, I came back down on the waterfront and admired some really nice palaces, no wonder so many German tourists come to this part of Italy to spend their holidays. I then reached the western end of town where the Clock tower and city gate stood, just next to it I entered the Church of the Visitazione, with a pretty interior. I then crossed back through the whole town center, enjoying the sun and the pretty streets full of people, eventually reaching the far eastern end, where the Carmine gate is located and back in the car headed for Brescia. After a nice lunch in Brescia, I had a few hours to visit at least a few monuments in the city. So my aunt dropped me off in Piazzale Arnaldo, and I started my walk towards the main square. Once I reached Piazza Paolo VI, also named Piazza Duomo, I was struck by the beauty of it, with a nice fountain at its center, and the two impressive Cathedrals on its eastern side. Only the New Cathedral was open, as it was still lunch time, so I decided to see this one at least. Though named New, the Cathedral dates to the 17th century and is considered new as the Old one dates to much earlier. The inside was immense and full of light, with an incredible cupola and several art pieces around. Right next to the Cathedrals, stands the Broletto, the historic term for town hall in the region of Lombardy, which housed for centuries and still does now the civic government office of the city. The building dates to the 13th century, made of stone in the Romanesque tower, it also features a tower(54m), the courtyard though was later modified so parts of it date to other centuries such as its northern side which has a baroque loggia. I then continued on and reached the beautiful Piazza della Loggia, with the peculiar Palazzo della Loggia, which resembles so much the Basilica Palladiana in Vicenza. In fact the palace dates to the 15th-16th centuries and its construction was also overseen by Palladio and Sansovino, in addition the roof, though added in the early 20th century to replace a provisional wood covering added in the 18th century, is meant to replicate how it looked during the 16th century. Under the palace's arches stands the so called Lodoiga, a 16th century statue of a woman, that once served as a type of letterbox where citizens could attach letters criticizing the local government. On the other side of the square stands a long elegant portico, with the venetian astronomical clock tower, resembling the one in Saint Mark's square in Venice. Like in Venice, on top of the tower stand two figures, the so called Macc de le ure, the madmen of the hours, which bang a bell signaling the time. Moving on I passed by and entered the Church of Santa Maria della Caritá, which had an incredible baroque interior, full of lavish marbles and sculptures. Not far I reached the monumental area of the Roman Forum, which is considered to be the best preserved group of roman public buildings in northern Italy. I entered the archaeological site (ticket was 4,5 reduced price) and began the tour of the underground republican sanctuary, dating to the 1st century b,c, with amazing mosaic floor and wall frescoes comparable to those in Pompeii. Then back up and out to see the Capitolium dating to 73 a.d., the primary temple of the roman city, dedicated to the Capitoline Triad dating to 73 a.d, with many columns still standing and a dedication to emperor Vespasian. Next to that was the roman theatre, one of the largest in northern Italy, but still mostly underground and below other buildings. Once outside, a little further back towards the main square, I entered the Palazzo Martinengo Cesaresco, which hosted a small archaeological visit below the ground floor, with more roman ruins also belonging to the forum.
Heading back to the main square I found the Old Cathedral open, so decided to enter it. Built in the 10th century in the Romanesque style and a circular shape, it holds several interesting pieces of art, and has a really old crypt dating to the 6th century. My aunt then called me and I had to head back to the car, and while walking, I stopped to admire and take a picture of the Golden Bull, a small golden statue of a bull hanging from a wall in Via Trieste, probably put up there during the 19th century by a butcher who had become rich thanks to cattle meat. I then reached Piazzale Arnaldo once again, where I got back in the car headed home.

Inside the Saló Duomo 

View from the lakeside in Saló

View of Saló

One of the streets in Saló

View of the Old and New Cathedrals in Brescia

The medieval Broletto

Part of Piazza della Loggia 

The Palazzo della Loggia

The astronomical clock

View of the other end of Piazza della Loggia

The statue of Lodoiga

Interior of the Church of Santa Maria della Caritá

The roman Capitolium

The roman mosaic and frescoes

The roman theatre

Interior of the Old Cathedral

Pomposa Abbey (25/06/2016)

I decided to spend a weekend visiting my friend Mauro, and staying there for 2 days. We had planned to spend the time at the beach but he insisted I visit Pomposa Abbey, a large monastery located in the province of Ferrara about 30 minutes drive from his house. After parking the car, we went to the ticket office (ticket was 2,50 reduced) which was located in the Palazzo della Ragione across from the church's entrance. We then entered the Refectory, where the monks used to eat, with several nice frescoes remaining particularly nice that depicting the Last Supper. Moving on we entered the small museum, which holds many artifacts belonging to the church, such as frescoes, statues, column heads etc. Next to the museum we peered inside the Chapter House with some nice frescoes depicting Jesus and other saints. Finally we went inside the church itself, which was first built in the 6th century while the building now dates to the 11th century. The main hall was amazing, diving the two side naves were some really nice and interesting columns, and the upper part of the naves, the apse, and the entrance were all decorated with 13th century frescoes. They mostly depicted the Old and New Testament, while the apse depicted Jesus with the Evangelists and the entrance an incredible Last Judgment. Furthermore, the floor was covered in splendid mosaics, in the opus sectile style, with animal and human figures. After walking around inside the church, and admiring the beauty of it, we exited and gave one last look at the imposing 48m high Romanesque bell tower, before getting back in the car headed for the beach.

The Last Supper inside the Refectory

View of the cloister, church and tower

View of the interior

 

View towards the entrance

View of the church and tower from the front

Amalfi Coast (4-11/06/2016)

As nearly every year we had organized a week in June to come to the town of Positano, where my grandmother always rents a hotel room for seven days. We departed from Verona airport and reached Naples airport 45 minutes later. From there we took a taxi and reached Positano around midday. For the next two days we spent the time in town and at the local beach of Fornillo. On the 6th however, I decided to head to Ieranto Bay, on the western end tip of the Sorrento Peninsula. So I took a bus from Positano and got off right before Sant'Agata sui Due Golfi: from there I walked for about 2 hours or 8km and reached the small village of Nerano. I then decided to take a quick swim at the Spiaggia dei Tedeschi (Germans' beach) in Marina del Cantone and then resume my walk. From there it was another hour to my destination; the walk was very pleasant, and the views were amazing, it ran along a beaten bath just below the mountain crest with the bay of Nerano on one side with crystal clear waters and then reaching the medieval tower of Montalto with a sheer dropping cliff on either side but with beautiful views all around. I then started my descent down towards the beach passing through wonderful olive trees and by different types of cactuses until I reached the bottom. There were 2 spots to choose from, an actual small beach with a few people already laying down on it or a concrete platform jutting out over the water that used to be part of what was a mining complex operating here until the 1950s. I opted for the platform and after setting down my stuff I immediately diving in the inviting wonderful water. There were plenty of fish and the water was cold yet very pleasant, I then dried out and relax for a few hours before it was time to get back on my feet and walk back. I detoured around the industrial ruins to take a picture of the view across the bay towards the island of Capri and then resumed my walk back. After reaching Nerano again I took a bus to Sorrento where I then caught my connection to Positano. After another day relaxing in Positano's beach, on the 8th we decided to go to Capri. We took the 10:30 boat that reached the island in about half an hour, we then descended into Capri's main port, Marina Grande, and got on the small bus that brought us to the top in the town of Anacapri on the western side of the island. From Anacapri we then took the lift all the way to the highest point of the island, the Monte Solaro, with wonderful views all around particularly towards the Faraglioni. We walked back down to Anacapri where we strolled around the town center and visited the church of San Michele which had an amazing majolica floor mosaic depicting the original sin and paradise filled with animals. We then headed to the Villa San Michele, built by Swedish physician and author Axel Munthe in the early 20th centuy, with views over the port and towards the Sorrento peninsula. The interior was very nice (thoufh the ticket was overly priced probably cause it is owned by Sweden) the gardens were exquisite with many plants and flowers and a terrace with an incredible view, overseen by two statues of sphinxes one of the Etruscan period and the other Egyptian. Below the villa we took the so called Phoenician steps (allegedly by the phoenicians) that took us down towards the Marina Grande. Having some time left we decided to take a plunge in the nearby beach called Bagni di Tiberio, which used to be a roman villa right on the waterfront/ After a quick swim we headed back in time to catch our boat to Positano.

Positano

Fornillo beach in Positano

The path leading to Ieranto Bay

Looking towards Marina del Cantone

Ieranto Bay and Capri in the background

A view of the platform in Ieranto Bay

View towards Capri

The Montalto tower and its olive trees

View of Positano from the beach

Marina Grande in Capri

Monte Solar, highest point in Capri

View from the top towards the Faraglioni

The majolica floor of the church of San Michele

Interior of the Villa San Michel

The garden of the villa 

The Egyptian sphinx

The Bagni di Tiberio beach