Neapolitan interlude

Buonasera! 

Last week Cliff and I popped over to Italy to explore some places around the Bay of Naples . . .

. . . and enjoy some local cuisine 

we explored the ancient streets of Pompeii . . .

were blown away by the frecoes at Oplontis and Herculaneum . . .

the skilful decorative brushwork . . .

the observations from nature . . .

as lively as the finches that twitter and flutter over the ruins today 

we walked on 2000 year old floors that would look great in an interior today

the brooding presence of Versuvius was always within sight . . . a violent thunder storm raged around us as we stood where Pliny had watched the eruption in AD79 

we ventured into Naples – down narrow streets like deep gorges surging with a mix of sharp modernity, decaying grandeur and an undercurrent of menace

and there in Naples I discovered the delight of a crispy, custardy, lemony sweet Sfogliatella

we stayed in a beautiful old town house 

a place for tired feet at the end of each day

and almost next door to the best Gelataria we've ever found . . . the flavours we tried (six!) were superb, this one is quite possibly the best pistachio ice-cream in the whole world – it may not green (because it doesn't contain any artificial colourings) but it tastes sublime!

six days was enough to recharge the batteries

Celia

xx

How do you select a holiday destination?

Do you visit the same holiday destination over an over again? Or, do you prefer to visit a different places? And how to you choose where to go?

Earlier this year Cliff and I saw a small exhibition at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge, it was about ancient carvings on rocks . . . some were 8000 years old! The exhibition PITOTI "explored the links between the world of archaeology and the world of film, digital humanities and computer vision". What was fascinating was the use of 3D printing to recreate the carving as models you could pick up and handle . . . something I'm sure will be much used in in museum displays in the future.

We found out the carvings are found in the Val Camonica, in Lombardy in northern Italy extending north from Lake Iseo (which is one of the Italian lakes near Como and Garda, but you probably haven't heard of it because it seems that the Italians want to keep it all to themselves!)

Last week we flew to Italy for a holiday, we stayed in Iseo and had a stunning view of Lake Iseo from our room. It was only a short walk to the railway station to catch a train up the valley to Capo di Ponte, the town nearest to a large number of the rock carvings.

I'd be lying if I said we joined the hundreds of other visitors to the Archaeological sights . . . in fact we may have been the only visitors that day! But there were some information boards and signs pointing the way up the hill outside the town.

We found a fenced off area with large boulders in a grassy area at the foot of a cliff . . . the boulders were covered with carvings!

Nearby we spotted a small museum full of photos and casts of most of the significant carvings; there were also some fascinating reconstructions of tools and cutting and carving methods. I think the person who showed us the exhibits was the museum founder, Dr Ausilio Priuli.

We were recommended to walk further up the hill to another park where there were many more carvings on the exposed rock faces.

Some carvings were easy to spot, others were subtle and indistinct; but it was a beautiful place and the rocks were surrounded by beautiful mountain wildflowers and trees.

The views were stunning!

We had a lovely relaxing week in Iseo – catching trains, boats and buses to explore the nearby towns and villages. I'd forgotten just how beautiful Italy is!

I bought vegetable seeds and had a pistachio ice-cream . . . that equals a perfect holiday for me!

Yes it rained at bit, but even the storms are picturesque when it's warm enough to sit outside with your shoes off!

Back home, I'm paddling madly to catch up with work. Fingers crossed the weather warms up this weekend so I can sow those vegetable seeds :-)

But right now I'm going to snuggle up on the sofa with a hot drink and a piece of Amaretto chocolate.

Ciao!

Celia xx