Eternal Refuge

The last hotel we stayed in was in Letojanni .... and one place we stopped at to take photos was Zafferana Etnea which is famous for it's honey production.

On our last night we went to Barone di Villagrande Winery ... and if ever you fancy a bottle of white, it got the universay thumbs up ... and we tried, 2 reds and a rose, as well.

Letojanni
















Zafferana Etnea








Cheers -

There were 2 favourite towns that I visited when I was on Sicily ... the first of the two was Syracuse, which was also visited by St Paul (in the book of Acts). And, one of my favourite places that I visited when I was on Sicily was The Cathedral of Syracuse.

Amazing to see how it had survived earthquakes (you can see the twisted pillar of the 5th century BC Greek Temple)















One of St Lucia's bones -





We had a guided tour round the Cathedral, and the rest of the town


Archimedes -












At the end of the tour, while the others headed off for a cup of coffee, I walked to see the Fort, which is along the edge of the town ...








Then we went to the Archaeological Site ... to see the Greek Theatre (actually still in use, as you can see), the Roman Amphitheatre, as well as the site of the quarry that the stone came from ... including the Ear of Dionysius ... named after a cruel ruler, who was always listening to eveything.










Sorry, a lot of photos ... but a lovely town.

One of the places I went to when I was in Sicily was Villa Romana del Casale. It is a Roman villa, that was eventually buried by volcanic ash, and because of that, much of it's beauty has been saved. A vast villa, with some truly amazing mosaics ... hard to capture here


Believed to be the family who built this, as it's in the main visitor doorway




















This is the reconstruction of the Grand Salon



Gymnasium

The Long Gallery is 60m long

Bikini girls

On day 1 I went to Agrigento ... the Valley of the Temples


These first 2 pictures are especially for curiouswombat ... this is the national symbol (seen here on a 19th century light) ... hope she sees something similar! The second image is the earliest item found ... dated to the 7th century BC




Other items in the museum -

Lionine gutter -








These goats are some of the original breed ... Girgentana Goats


City Walls ... the oval spaces were actually Christian burial sites of the 1st & 2nd century AD


Roman arena


Temple of Concord ... mostly save destruction as converted to a Church










Temple of Hercules

Temple of Juno

After we had left the Cistine Chapel we walked across and into St Peter's. I have been to Rome before (more about that in another post) ... but I only have a couple of memories of the city. One is the sheer height of this building, the other is the statue of St Peter that has a damaged foot ... just where people go and kiss it.

( Judge for yourself what it is like )

I know I posted a few pictures from the Uffizzi but am going to post a load more.  The reason is that I posted a few pictures on Instagram, with a cross-post to Facebook, and a good friend of mine was actually in Florence on a day trip about the time I was (we should check if it was the same day!!).  She and her husband were celebrating their Ruby anniversary with a cruise, and had a day in Florence ... but like I said the queues were horriffic.  As they didn't have long they didn't attempt the queue.

Anyway I have known Liz over 50 years (and that is scary to type!!), and she and her father are both artists ... so am going to post a lot more of the pictures  - not ideal but a belated Ruby wedding gift.

( Happy Anniversary Liz & Steve )

This town I had never heard of is the place where I was actually staying ... Arezzo

It may have been unknown before I went, but I really enjoyed the visit

( Arezzo" )

Well I have warned you that there would be photos ... and there are! Not many compared with how many I took, but just to try and give an idea of the beauty of Central Italy ... and, more importantly, the history & heritage.

For day 1 I was in the city of Siena ....

( hot & beautiful )

One thing I didn't photograph was the actual specific Contradas .... I have decided I must have beed Sienese in a previous life, as one of the 17 groups is named for the giraffes ... my favourite animal


Typical Tuscany

The Sistine Chapel

To view every part of the great Michelangelo's masterpiece,  Just click and drag your arrow in the direction you wish to see.  You will get to see every part of the Chapel.  In the lower left, click on the plus (+) to move closer, on the minus (-) to move away. Choir is thrown in free.

This virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel is incredible. Apparently done by Villanova at the request of the Vatican .