STOP PRESS! GRAND PLAN ANNOUNCEMENT: I have had a scathingly brilliant idea. Christmas 2006, I am going to rent a multi-room chalet up at the snows. You are invited to come and visit me for a fabulous white Christmas. You have a year and a half to save for it. If you can manage to save say $100 a fortnight, you will have enough money to fly out for Christmas and spend a few weeks wandering the countryside with ease. There's no excuse not to come and visit me!! Get to the bank and set up an autowithdrawal to a savings account today!

27 May

I really must finish doing May's journal entries, as it is now mid-June! Well it is isn't going to be that hard, because I am on the last day...

Friday all ready and there is still so much to see of Florence. I decided that I really had better go see the Duomo and Baptistry - after all they are the centre point of the city!

But first things first. I promised a friend of mine that I would try and pick up some body lotion. From a very special place - the Officina Santa Novella. I had no idea that this unpresupposing doorway would reveal a rather amazing building - the pharmacy was established in the early 13th century by the Dominicans and became a private family business in the 19th. It backs on to one of the cloisters of Santa Maria Novella; cloisters that are no longer open to the public because of all things, the building is now a police college. The products in the pharmacia are gorgeous, but very expensive. I bought a bar of soap (for 7 euro).

Next stop was an exhibition of working models of Leonardo Da Vinci's inventions. An interesting exhibition which included models you can actually move around a bit.

Then on to the Duomo.

The Duomo is very impressive from the outside, but inside it is relatively dull. After the wonders of the Duomo in Siena, Florence's Duomo is a bit ordinary. The baptistry, however, is stunning.

And there you are... the end to a fabulous week in Florence.

26 May

I decided to take a day trip to Siena. Too many people had told me it was wonderful for me not to go. And although the walk for the train station seemed about 20 kilometres long and all uphill, it was worth it.

I think I will have to make a screensaver to show you the whole place, as it was indeed, pretty awesome. But here are some of the architectual wonders:

But it is in the inside of these buildings that you see true magic. Inside the Civic Museum (remember these are all thumbnails and when you click on them you will get far more detail):

and inside the Duomo..... oh oh oh:

As well as the lovely frescoes, in the same room as the above, they had beautiful psalters.

25 May

24 May

It was so hot I had to go shopping to buy something cooler to wear. I had come prepared for medium heat, but 30 degrees every day was just not something I had packed for! I eventually found a shop Oviesse, which had clothes for the more generously built. The clothes were quite nice (apart from the usual problem of making hipsters for people over a size 18... you gotta be crazy - only a size 6-8 looks good in hipsters!)

The problem was that most of their lovely cool cotton tunic tops had long sleeves. Summer clothes with long sleeves? Whats with that? I bought a singlet top, which was at least relatively cheap and cool.

I headed for the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella. The frescos inside were gorgeous.

The disappointing thing was to discover that a chunk of the Basilica is in fact separated off as a museum. So you have to pay again to get in. However, for me it was worth it for the following 15th century frescoes of pavillions:

They also had gorgeous frescoes inside painted between 1365-67 (check out the gorgeous horses):

In the evening, I went to a concert. A group called "L'homme Arme" - this name might be familiar to some of you who have heard Concordia perform. How could I resist? Their program was to included Josquin des Pres, Dufay and Heinrich Isaac. All performed in a medieval church! Its the details of the fresco I particularly love.. at the top of the scene are two friends chatting to each other. L'homme Arme were excellent; a bass, two tenors and a counter tenor.

22 May

After dinner I decided to head out again. After all, it was a saturday night in Florence, gotta be out there don't I? I headed for the Piazza del Duomo and then heard drumming. There were masses of people, surging around, so I just kinda slotted myself in the moving bit heading towards the drums and was swept along. We ended up in the Piazza della Signora, when the drummers finally stopped moving. A drum band called Sambanda they were (from their tshrts) obviously sponsored by the Irish pub in the piazza.

So they played and played and we (the crowd) danced and danced. It was huge amounts of fun, and painful knees and aching legs didn't slow me from dancing my socks off. I got back to the hostel and found out that they closed at 2.00am and it was 2.30. Ooops. But I knocked and the night manager was kind enough to let me in.

Sunday had a quieter day. Bumped into one of the blokes that was following me in the street and had to be quite firm again about the fact that I was not interested in him. Ditched him at the church of San Marco... ironic and appropriate. I went through the Museu de San Marco, which was great - sadly no pics permitted. Then I found some lunch on via Ricasoli where I sat next to an english couple and had to explain the difference between Prosciutto and Ham. They said they had just been to see "The David" and that there were no queues, so I decided to head there.

There he was... huge! I mean I know he is big, but I hadn't realised he was that big. Noone does, I gather. There was a great exhibition on celebrating his 500th birthday which included a video presentation that was amusing, thought provoking and intelligent. There were many many lovely icons to be seen - too many in some ways as they became a bit of a blur of gold after a while.

Headed back to the hostel to rest my aching knee. My italian room mates had had dinner the night before somewhere that sounded lovely so I decided to go there. In the culinary department it was well worth the walk. But, being all the way on the other side of the river (Piazza Santa Spiritu - Osteria Santa Spiritu) boy oh boy did my knee make me regret it. In fact this morning it is still complaining! Still... it was really really good. Smoked boar sausages with semi dried tomatoes and a lovely cheese for antipasto, and rigatoni with tomato and smoked ricotta, followed by a wickedly thick and bittersweet cciocolato fondente. (hot chocolate) Well worth the $30 it cost.

home to bed... well eventually, when the anti inflammatories had kicked in. Looked in the mirror and realised that three nights of going to bed afer 3am was showing and that I didn't have bags under my eyes anymore... a full set of crocodile skin hand luggage would be a better description! I decided not to get up in the morning and slept in until 10am when I woke up sneezing. I suppose I am paying the price for being in a much warmer country than switzerland... hay fever. Blech. Today.... today I haven't yet decided where I am going. Most of the museums are closed on Mondays apparently, so I think I will be churching it.

22 May

Got up Saturday morning (having breakfast included in your bed price is a great encouragement to drag yourself out of bed) and wandered toward the Duomo. There were crowds of people everywhere. Apparently there was a particular celebration/event on. Something to do with these guys, who were marching around playing music in rather outrageously feathered hats.

My instincts as usual told me to get away from the crowds, so I headed away, to the Palazzo Medici Riccardi. Sadly the room that I would really liked to photograph was one where photos were forbidden. I was to discover that this is the case throughout most of the museums in Italy, in contrast to France, where photos sans flash are fine.

However, here are a few pictures throughout the Palazzo:

After this I wandered back to the Duomo, and wandered around randomly. Found a great place to buy lunch; this food and wine stall (thats the only word I can think to describe it...) has been open since the 1890s. Basically it is a tiny little niche in the wall with enough room for two men and a counter. There you can buy a panini and a piccolo of red wine for 3 euro. Not bad value eh? You can see that hanging on the wall beside the niche are racks where you put your empty glass when you have finished with it.

20 May - FLORENCE

Florence is lovely but somehow unreal. The buildings at night loom, black and white, stark against the night sky. They look painted, like a scene from a movie; a set rather than real buildings. I arrived, late, but that is the way that all good italian holidays should begin.

The hostel is amazing. Painted throughout with fun imitations of great works of art, it is brightly coloured and kind of funky in a tacky way. The high ceilings and quirky corridors just add to its charm, and the garden of complex concrete furniture and statues are the finishing touch.

A hostel with free internet access is an unexpected extra too, and really close to the old town. The price isn't bad either. For 7 nights I am paying 150 euros... what is that, 210 dollars? Pretty decent really. The bed is a bit on the saggy side, but bearable (I hope).The night manager is very charming and we have had a lovely chat about life in other countries. Like most people I meet over here, he says that he would like to visit Australia one day, but that it is a long way away and expensive to get to. All true.

Tomorrow I am mainly planning on trying to avoid the crowds. The hostel is fully booked and I am figuring this is not a good sign for the museums and sights around the place. Perhaps I will go to Fiezole or something and save the museum visits till Tuesday. All the museums etc are closed on Mondays because they are open on Sundays. I have forgotten my best bra so might try to do a bit of shopping in the morning. we shall seee.....

10 May

Last weekend was my choir's tour of la Drôme - a region in the South of France, in the area of Ardeche and Provence. Hmm... there was so much to see, I am not sure I can fit it on one page, but for you, I will do my best. My friend Jon was kind enough to drive, so between he and I and Mary-Velma, we had a grand road trip.

The Gite I was staying in was... um... basic. My room had two double beds and a bunk bed. But because the double beds were too awful I ended up sleeping in the bottom bunk, which was so low I couldn't even sit on the edge of the bed. The village is called Chantemerle and has quite a picturesque village square, as well as a rather lovely old church where we rehearsed on Friday morning and sang on Saturday night. There is even a little grotto beside the church, and as well as some lovely statues, the end of the church is beautifully painted.

Dinner was in a town called St Paul Trois Chateau, in a very lovely Slow Food restaurant.

On Friday after rehearsals, a few of us headed to Grignan.

As you can see from the photo, it is a medieval walled town with a grand chateau at the top, with a large chunk of renaissance additions. .

Unfortunately because it is not high season the tour of the chateau was only being offered in French. The idea of paying quite a chunk of money for a tour I couldn't understand didn't appeal (can't think why), so instead I just wandered the grounds, enjoying the exterior, including some lovely gargoyles.

In the evening we all met up and rehearsed before performing in the rather spectacular church at Clansayes, which features a tall tower with a large statue of Mary, gazing out over the valleys below.

After the concert we enjoyed a few drinks with some of the locals, and then went to the Gite where various others in the choir were staying, for dinner. I think that perhaps the photos of the drunken revelry are best kept within the choir!

The next day was mostly a free day, so a few of us headed to the markets at St Cecile les Vignes. Its quite a pretty village, with a lovely little church, and near the rather spectacular looking Suze la Rousse. So much to see, so little time!

While at the markets, we bought some lovely fresh goats cheeses and crusty bread for a picnic by the pool back at Jon's Gite. While some stayed sunning by the pool, a few of us went to a Museum of Silk.

In the evening the choir met for a wine tasting and then sang for our supper at the church in Chantemerle. Afterwards we were treated by the Village to a lovely buffet dinner. The choir sang on, of course, until they just about had to turn the lights off to get rid of us! I have been teaching the choir a few new songs... 'The Rattling Bog' and 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot' (with hand signals) to start with.

Sadly the last night passed, and in the morning we had to start the journey home. However, we weren't in THAT much of a hurry, and squeezed in a visit to Vaison la Romaine. There were some Roman ruins, a lovely cathedral built on and out of Roman ruins, and an impressive Chateau in the middle of the very hilly medieval town.

The cathedral showed, as do many in France, the evidence of the reformation. It saddens me to see beautiful stone carving vandalised, whatever the reason! The cloisters were still very lovely.

1 May

Interesting tidbit of the day: Turnips are still known as Neeps in the north of England and Scotland.

I have realised that I haven't put up any photos of Perouge yet! How terribly slack of me! Why didn't you demand photographs? Its all your fault you know. <grin>

The museum in Perouge had a few interesting things, but also was a bit heartbreaking. There they had original documents from the 15th century up on the walls, but in old frames, without any care for the pieces. Take a look at these photos and see how the documents have fallen down in the frames, and one frame actually has a piece missing out of the glass, which was just covered over with a piece of material. It was truly heartbreaking. The guy that works there and I had a long discussion about it all, and he told me how frustrating it is for him to work there and not be able to persuade the community to allow him to do something to conserve these precious documents.