I've tried many times to compose this post in my mind but struggled each time. How do you express that you visited the most exquisite gardens in Italy when you know that you cannot do them justice? Known in English as the Villa Melzi Gardens, i Giardini di Villa Melzi d'Eril are located on the shore of Lake Como in Bellagio and feature a neoclassical villa, acres of carefully appointed gardens, and an impressive selection of sculptures.
It's strange how travel myths can shape our perceptions. I always believed the grand Italian lakes were only for the wealthy and famous, not for someone like me. As it turns out, nothing could be further from the truth. On my third day in Italy, my friend and I travelled to the delightful village of Bellagio, perched at the tip of the promontory dividing the two southern arms of Lake Como.
I want to share one of my favourite days in Italy last June - though, to be honest, every one of those five days felt like a favourite - but this one was especially good.
I spent five days in Italy at the end of June and it was absolutely glorious. I was visiting my friend Sue, with whom I worked in South Africa twenty years go. Sue holds a very special place in my heart (for many reasons); she saved my trip to New York City in 2009 when she arranged for me to stay with her sister when my accommodation fell through at the last minute.
Trying to manage expectations when travelling can be similar to walking a tightrope and if you know how clumsy I am, you’ll know that I’m more often falling off the tightrope than successfully navigating it. I prefer not to over-plan our trips, preferring instead to explore and see where inspiration takes us.
Sometimes you do need to plan though and sometimes places will not meet your expectations.
When we undertook a five city road trip around Italy with Stephen’s parents, there was a lot of planning to be done. Ste’s parents flew in from Johannesburg, we from London and we met up with them in Milan. There was great excitement as Stephen and his father attended the Italian Grand Prix in Monza and our time in Milan was followed by time in Venice and Verona.
Porta Galliera, Bologna
Bologna was the fourth city that we visited on our road trip and it was the one I was most excited to see. I believed it would be more down to earth than other Italian cities, less touristy and more authentic. While Stephen and his father travelled off to see the Ferrari factory in Modena, his mother and I travelled into Bologna on the least successful bus ride of all time (although if your idea of success means missing your stop and travelling to the other end of the city and having to wait for an hour for another bus back into the city, then it was very successful indeed).
We were tired when we reached Bologna and we were grumpy, hot and irritable too. We also couldn’t agree on what we wanted to do. If you’ve ever travelled with friends or family before, you know that these are some of the most trying moments and you have to dig deep to find inspiration.
And that was when the unexpected happened. I didn’t like Bologna. As you know, I love street art and derelict buildings and am often featuring grime and inner city urban scenes on this blog but Bologna was too grimy, even for me, and certainly for my poor mother-in-law. And so I decided to take the unexpected and find the beauty in it. It wasn’t easy but I’ll take you on a tour of Bologna in my eyes. Did I succeed? You’ll have to be the judge of that!
Palazzo dei Notai and Piazza Maggiore Bologna
Asinelli Tower, Bologna
Palazzo dei Notai and Piazza Maggiore Bologna
Street scene, Bologna
Palazzo d'Accursio Bologna
Front of Palazzo d'Accursio Bologna
Neptune, Piazza Maggiore, Bologna
Inside Cattedrale Metropolitana di San Pietro
Would I visit Bologna again? Possibly not. There are so many places in Italy that I would like to see, not least of which are Rome and the Amalfi coast, that I possibly wouldn’t return to Bologna.
There is nothing so beautiful or insightful as a simple doorway, window or façade; they are the eyes of a city, providing us with a glimpse of the life and soul behind them.
Verona was the second city that we visited during our trip to Italy and although I loved Milan, it was nice to escape the hectic capital city for the quieter, more relaxed City of Love.
On our first afternoon, we took a long walk around and through the city and I simply couldn’t resist taking photo after photo of the beautiful façade, doors and windows. It was a great experience because I remember why each scene caught my eye and I made sure to compose each photo carefully, but it was rewarding to put all the photos together in the end and see how they came together as a collection.
The keystone of the 18th century Palazzo Carli reads satis beatus which translates as ‘sufficiently happy’. That wasn’t what caught my eye though, in the photo above, I loved the way the Italian flag contrasted with the burnt orange plaster of the building. This building was once the home to the Hapsburg ruler and is now NATO headquarters.
For me, this scene taken on the Corso Porta Borsari was so quintessentially Italian. I love the greenery flowing down from the balcony, the green-shuttered windows and the various states of disrepair of the paint and plaster. I love to compare street signs and direction posts in the cities that I visit.
This is the doorway of the Ristorante Antica Torretta on the Piazza Broilo. I was very pleased with how this photo turned out and was glad that I decided to take it in portrait mode. To me this doorway looks so inviting with its leafy awning and I would certainly have wanted to go inside if the restaurant were open.
It wasn’t too late in the afternoon but the shadows were already beginning to lengthen. It was the house numbers that caught my eye in the scene above. I love it when I’m able to capture a perfectly framed façade…
…because sometimes the streets in Verona (and the rest of Italy) are very narrow and your view of the façade is slightly elevated…
… or even very elevated indeed. Despite not getting the perfect photos that I wanted, I decided to keep these photos because this is what I remember of the houses in Verona – the ornate steel work of the balconies, the shutters and the plants. I have always said that I will jump at any chance to live and work in another city and I like to imagine that I could live in the inner cities of Boulogne, Verona or Lille.
It looks plain, doesn't it? Well this is part of the façade of the Casa di Cagnolo Nogarola detto Romeo, the home of the entirely fictional character Romeo, of Romeo and Juliet. The character might be a fiction but this house was in fact the seat of the powerful noble Montecchi family and so the house is a fitting location to complete the myth of the star-crossed Veronese lovers.
This is just a small detail of the Palazzo della Ragione in the Piazza dei Signori. Construction of this destinctive building completed in 1196 and it was the frescoes and tile work on the façade that caught my eye. It is heart breaking when you see the remains of fresco work on these buildings. The buildings were once covered with them to a great extent but they faded, crumbled or were painted over as Verona’s fortunes changed over the centuries. You’ll often see parts of a fresco under an arch or somewhere that doesn’t catch direct sunlight.
The building has had many uses over the year but it is now home to the Gallery of Modern Art Achille Forti.
The Loggia del Consiglio in the Piazza dei Signori is not an easy building to capture. I specifically wanted to capture the details of the 15th century town hall, but to do so meant to elevate the angle once again. If you’d like to see the detail of the full building, I’ve uploaded it on Google +.
It took several attempts before I decided on this photo and even then, it wasn’t perfect. I wanted to capture the plainness and simplicity of the façade while still capturing it’s unique Veronese charm. I think it might have worked slightly better if I was taller!
This is the façade of the old Palazzo Cossali on Via Carlo Cattaneo. Again, the building was once covered by frescoes but these were lost in the first half of the 19th century. The building is now home to engineering firm Technital who have established that the building is structurally very true to its original form, except for the doorway above which was a 19th century addition.
And one final photo. This one was taken on Via Roma, really close to the location of Palazzo Carli in the first photo. I love the weathered wooden door with its ornate carvings, the burnt orange plaster and the steelwork on the balcony and the first floor windows.
What do you most like to see in a foreign city? What types of things catch your eye and make your travel partners sigh with exasperation as you capture yet another example of that something unique and quintessential?
I'll never forget the moment I first saw the Milan Cathedral in Milan’s Piazza del Duomo. We emerged from the darkness of the Metro on a particularly hot and humid summer afternoon and suddenly we all spotted the Duomo at the same time. I could tell that because all four of us took a sharp intake of breath and went silent. It certainly is an impressive sight.
On the day that we came back to visit, we made sure that we were at the Duomo bright and early in the morning because we had heard that the queues could get pretty long. We were dismayed when we arrived because the queues were indeed quite lengthy but we were amazed at how quickly the queue went and how efficient the organisation was.
Entrance to the Duomo is free but they do ask for a €2.00 donation if you’re going to take photos inside. We figured that I was going to take a lot of photos inside so I paid €5 just in case!
The Milan Duomo is as impressive inside as it is outside. Entrance to the nave is restricted to worshippers and there was a service in session when we arrived. You can see the somewhat smoky effects in the photo above and below from the incense. It was really beautiful and peaceful inside and I stood with my mother-in-law for some time while she watched the service.
We turned into the South Aisle and took a look at the South Transept. What impressed me most about the Duomo was the incredible detail everywhere we looked. I thought that these tiles were quite exquisite.
The Milan Cathedral or Duomo di Milano in Italian is the fifth largest cathedral in the world and it took a whopping six centuries to build! Construction of the Gothic Cathedral began in 1386 and was only completed as recently as 1965. It kind of puts the construction of the Sagrada Família into perspective; although not yet completed, construction on the Sagrada Família only began in 1882.
This is La cappella di san Giovanni il Buono or the Alter of St John the Good in English. The inscription on the pediment reads “Ego Sum Pastor Bonus” which translates as “I am the good shepherd”. These were my favourite two photos from inside the Duomo.
Just left of the alter stands the famous sculpture of San Bartolomeo Flayed which was completed by Marco d'Agrate in 1562. If you’re squeamish, it might be a good idea to page down at this point and not read the next sentence…
… ready? The sculpture depicts the saint’s flayed skin thrown over his shoulders like a stole. It is pretty grim but what is notable about the sculpture is the incredible level of detail. Click on the photo above to see the blood vessels, tendons and ligaments; it really is quite impressive.
One of the stranger things you will see at the Duomo is the mummified corpses of important Catholic saints. I think this is a bit bizarre to say the least, even though I know that Catholics are not alone in this particular practice. Then again, I won’t even walk over graves in a graveyard so I guess I just like the dead to remain undisturbed and restful.
This is Cardinal Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster who died in 1954 and was beatified in 1996. If you click on the photo above, you can see his gnarled and mummified hands.
On that note, we decided it was high time for a breath of fresh air! This final photo shows the detailed carvings in the front doors of the cathedral.
We certainly enjoyed our visit to the Milan Duomo and I would recommend going inside. You can pay extra for guided tours and access to the terraces but we thought that there was more than enough to see without taking those extras.
Duomo di Milano
Piazza del Duomo
Milan
Italy
Opening times: Daily 7.00 – 18.30
Entrance: free plus €2.00 for a photographic pass
Brace yourself! Tonight is a bumper photo post and as always, it comes with a bit of a story. Very often when I go on a trip, I’ll save one of my photos and add it to my photo folder at work. My PC at work is set up to rotate a selection of photos as my screen saver and it is always a matter of some pride when a colleague will say that they love the photos on my screen saver and I can reply that they are all mine. Of course, they always express surprise that I have any creativity whatsoever because accountants aren’t exactly known for being arty!
For the longest time, I’ve wanted to share these photos with you and so it was pretty fortuitous when I received notice of this month’s travel link up: your favourite travel photo(s).
And so here you go… all fifteen photos that are absolutely my favourite travel photos. I’ve left links all over the post if you’d like to visit the original posts on the blog.
Turkey was the first place I visited when I began this blog in 2008 and this photo was taken of the celsus library at Ephesus.
I’d wanted to visit Italy since I was 20 and finally got to visit last year – twice! This photo was taken in Riomaggiore, Cinque Terre.
This was my favourite of the photos I took during this year’s Chinese New Year celebrations in London.
The ceiling of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. This is where you can visit the Last Supper.
Given my love of Serbia, it should be no surprise that I would feature a photo from there. This was taken during my most recent visit to Novi Sad.
The good news is that next week I’m finally taking you inside the Duomo in Milan. It is as opulent inside as it is on the outside. I loved this photo because of the inclusion of both the lion statue and the Duomo.
I’d heard about the beautiful turquoise lakes and rivers in Bosnia but nothing quite prepares you for a sight like this. I’m sure I’ve said this before but I would move to this country in a heartbeat. I think I left my heart somewhere here on the road between Mostar and Sarajevo.
People often say that they don’t like Milan but I don’t really understand that. I really enjoyed my time there and spent many long afternoons simply walking around or drinking coffee in sidewalk cafes. This was taken in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II which is one of the most beautiful structures I have ever seen.
I can confirm that you can never take too many photos of the London Eye. It is simply not possible. This photo was part of a post I wrote about London at dusk.
Somehow I’ve always liked this photo of the gondolas in Venice. I like the composition and the contrast of the blue material in the gondolas against the blue sky. I still have so much to tell you about Italy!
Taken during our most recent visit to Mont St Michel in France. I just loved the detail here of the old Gothic abbey and the blue sky.
The most beautiful bridge in the world. This photo was taken from Koski Mehmet Pasha Mosque where they promise you the best views of the bridge in all of Mostar. The view from our hotel Villa Anri was pretty special too.
I love this photo because it was hard to decide which was more impressive in the Museo D'arte Antica in Milan – the exhibits or the frescoes.
I love this photo simply because it was taken on the first day of spring this year. London is beautiful when the sun shines!
And finally, my favourite photo of all time. I took this on my first night in Bosnia on the eve of my 40th birthday. There was nowhere else on earth I wanted to be more than there in Mostar. I’ve printed two enlargements of this photo – one is hanging in our bedroom and the other is in my brother’s lounge.
Do you have a favourite travel photo? Feel welcome to link to it in the comments below!
