Ending thoughts and images

I’m writing this final post about our Italy trip on the flight back to LAX. I’m filled with good memories and inspired by the people we met, the places and sites we visited; by our miles traveled by foot, train, bus, funicular and plane; by the gastronomy; by the history and the art and the natural beauty of the countryside we traversed. Travel is such a great way to engage with the world, to consider different perspectives, to learn about cultures foreign to our own.

Perhaps ironically, our Italy trip ended in France with two days spent with our friends Jean, Claire and Huges, and in many ways, these two days were a highlight of the entire trip. As I mentioned in the previous post, we toured Lyon, the capital of Auvergne, where they live. Lyon is a very creative town with a lot of pride in its food and its unique culture and history.

Although it rained on our first day there, we walked about 600 steps up Fourviere Hill to see views of the city. 

Fall colors

Firefighters training on hose carries up the steps

Once at the top not only do you great views, but you can visit Basilica of Notre Dame, which rivals any of the other basilicas we visited in Italy (and it’s also a Jubiliee church).

The mosaics with gold tiles were particularly beautiful.

 

Below the Fourviere in the old town are secret passageways between streets that were originally built so silk workers could travel through town without getting wet. In WWII, resistance fighters used the tunnels to escape from German occupiers.

The passages hidden behind ordinary doors are called traboules.

Across the Rhine, Lyon showcases a moving statue and fountain by Bertholdi that blends realism with mythology. 

It’s so beautiful and dynamic, definitely one of my personal favorites from the trip. By the way, Bartholdi also made the Statue of Liberty.

 A more contemporary addition to the town are a series of murals by a company called CitiCreation. Here is just one of them.

After Lyon, Jean drove us to the medieval town of Perouges, which was idyllic. It feels completely authentic and not commercial at all despite its appeal to tourists like us.

Of course, we had to sample a local food specialty.

Man-powered wine press from the 1500s.

It’s impossible to share all the photos, and also impossible to show how grateful we are to have such good friends with whom to enjoy our travels.

This thought leaves me with a general reflection about the last 32 days away from home. What I miss most — and the reason I’m eager to return — are the relationships with people who feed my spirit, soul and imagination, people who serve as role models for living life fully and in integrity with who they are and who they want to become.

Our dear friend Patrick died while we were away. He and Randy were also great travel companions who joined us in Idaho, Arizona, Idyllwild and Colorado, as well as so many great times in and around San Diego. Patrick was one of these people who filled us up. He was a devoted husband and father. He was an extremely talented artist who used his creative energy to design and build stunning cabinets and wood furniture, to nurture a greenhouse of orchids and a garden with a koi pond, and to cook for friends and family. He spent his life studying and learning to be the best man he could be, to live in integrity and to care for the people he loved. It’s hard to return knowing he isn’t with us anymore.

We return with heavy hearts, full hearts and full bellies, with gratitude, with an eagerness to share the joie de vivre that we acquired in Italy and France. I return a year older, and we return now with 30 years of history together, a milestone we celebrated every day of this adventure. For all of these blessings, we count ourselves so fortunate.

Lyon, last but not least

Literally headed back west today from Turin to Lyon, which is a four-hour train ride thru the low alps, making a lovely bookend to day one when I saw the Alps from the sky. It’s clearly fall here now, the leaves have changed color and the snow line is getting lower.

Great views from the train lasted the entire route.

Jean, Claire and Huges met us at the station and we drove to old Lyon to our hotel. After sampling some Lyonnaise food for lunch, we made a beeline to the puppet museum so I could do some research for a forthcoming production. Too many pix that my phone died, but here are just a few.

Guignol is the name of the main character in French puppetry that also bears his name. He represents the a French silk workers who plied their trade here in Lyon.

I leave you with Pinocchio and his friends, as I head off for the evening. A bientot!

 

Torino, yes, it’s grand.

Our penultimate spot on this Italian adventure is Turin, or Torino, which is less than fifty miles from the French border.  The cuisine is, therefore, more French and the croissants are better than anywhere else so far. The language also differs from the Italian we heard elsewhere, sort of a mix of French and Italian. The architecture, too, is much more French than any of the other places we visited with grand, wide plazas surrounded by Baroque era buildings.

Gates in the Piazza Castello.

Porticos remind us of Bologna on Via Roma, the center city’s main high-end shopping street. 

Palace Carignano, now a museum.

Th Mole Antonelliana was intended to be a synagogue, but it was never completed as such. It is now home to Italy’s national cinema museum.

Beautiful galleries for shopping and eating.

19th century pharmacies still serve customers in style.

Caffe Mulassano has been serving tea and petite sandwiches since 1879.

Turin has dozens of sweets options, gelato, pastries, bicerin and chocolates, and is the origin of Nutella (also Lavazza, Fiat, Lancia, Olivetti and Cinzano.) Turin also is known for its truffles. Although I didn’t get pics, we had a delicious truffle-forward lunch today at Tabui, with tagliatelle with black truffles, bacon, parm and egg, angelotti with traditional butter and sage, and ratatouille, washed down by glasses of Nebbiolo and Barolo.

This is Po. He climbed out of the Po River here to welcome me.

As if all of this weren’t enough, we also had a great visit to the Museo Egizio, the largest collection of Egyptianalia outside of Egypt. The pics don’t do it justice, but here are a few highlights of 

hieroglyphics, sarcophagi and other fascinating 5,000 year old relics of an ancient civilization.

Yet more reminders of our mortality and our desire to leave behind a legacy that has meaning to future generations. 

Roma, Part II

Today has been rainy, but we added three churches to our list, making the total just under 30 so far. That is in excess of bottles of wine and cups of gelato! Although not as much as plates of pasta…

Speaking of pasta, I promised a Rome post that is life other than monuments and churches, so here it is.

Trastevere cafe

Trastevere flowers

Pilgrims outside the Vatican

Pain au chocolate and cappuccino in Tulipe

Fashion fun

My favorite dishware

Low fashion

High fashion

Mama and bicycle

Mask fountain

More skeletons, not for Halloween only

French security guards with guns

Luthier

Pizza

Laundry in the sun

Tiny car

Posing with skull and crossbones